Page 46 of Check You Out

“The worst kind.” She crosses her arms and leans her hip against the counter. “And she’s getting some traction.”

My nostrils flare as I read through the rival petition again. “Some traction? She’s got over a hundred signatures, and she’s launched it this morning. We have seven hundred, and our petition has been around for a week. We’re both getting about a hundred per day.”

“She’s not posting on the local pages or putting up fliers like we did.” She taps her elbow. “I’d bet money that these signatures are from out of town or they’re bots.”

Sighing, I concede, “I still think there’s something up with her.” I tell Nicole about Bridgett’s visit the other day.

“Weird,” she replies. “Can we do anything about it?”

I shrug. “Maybe we can up our online marketing efforts.”

Nicole ponders this for a moment, and I know there’s nothing good working in that brain of hers. “Murder is—”

“Illegal,” I reply with my hands on my hips. “We’re not doing anything illegal, or violent.”

“Well shit.” She snaps her fingers. “There go my next five suggestions.” She looks up from the counter toward the street. “Oh hey, Xander’s here.”

The bell above the door twinkles, and the man himself walks in. He’s frowning. “Did you tell her?” he asks in a grunt.

My gaze darts back and forth between the two. “Tell me what? Bridgett Hartlett’s petition?”

His nose scrunches. “What? No. What petition?” Nicole rehashes the same story that she told me just a few minutes ago. He responds with a tsk. “Well, that fucking sucks. I’m on it.” He pulls his phone out of his pocket and starts tapping the screen.

Nicole stands on her toes and peers at the screen. “What are you doing?”

“Posting a rant on social media to distract people from Bridgett’s petition using my fake old man account.” A wicked grin spreads across his face. “What should I choose? Loud music, random cars driving down the street, children playing?”

“People existing in their own yards?” Nicole offers.

Xander’s fingers fly on the screen. “And… done! That will bury her post in a few hours and then everyone will forget about it.”

“What about our petition?” I ask with an eye raised.

“Bobby Trigger added a note that the library is the only good thing about this town.” Xander flips his phone around and shows me the post. Despite being posted only a few seconds ago, there’s already two people who have engaged with it.

“Well, I’m impressed. Do you think you could maybe help with my social media ads?”

He shakes his head. “I specialize in rage bait, not marketing.” He shoves his phone back in his pocket and looks at Nicole. “Did you tell her, Little Nicky?”

“No,” she replies and crosses her arms. “I wasn’t going to bring it up before you got here.”

He grunts. “That wasn’t what we agreed. You were going to introduce the topic, and I was going to close. We had a plan.”

She lifts a shoulder. “You had a plan, and I think it’s stupid. An intervention is a group approach, not a staggered one.”

My neck snaps as I swivel to look at the two of them. “An intervention? Why the fuck do I need an intervention? I don’t have an addiction.”

Nicole and Xander simultaneously roll their eyes and say, “Aidan.”

I blink and lean back against the stool behind the counter. “What about him?” I pick up my latte and take another fortifying sip. “Damn, this is good. Did you put extra vanilla in it or something?”

Nicole grins. “Yes. I also added some of the new apple syrup that I’m testing out for fall. I’m trying it out in as many different drinks as possible, and I’m hoping to get my boss to have more apple drinks than pumpkin drinks.”

“A fall themed London Fog.” I tilt my head from side to side. “I love it.”

Xander snaps his fingers in front of me. “Let’s focus! When are you going to ask Aidan out?”

I tilt my head to the side. “Never. He’s pissed off at me.”