Necessary People (9780316494212) by Pitoniak Anna

Author:Pitoniak, Anna
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: None
Publisher: Hachette Book Group USA
Published: 2019-05-21T00:00:00+00:00

A few weeks later, Willow finally agreed to meet me in person. She wasn’t saying yes to an on-camera interview yet, but this was the most important step before that.

Eliza looked pleased when I told her. “Good,” she said. “I knew you’d get there eventually. How soon can you meet her?”

“The day after tomorrow, it looks like.”

“And you and Jamie will both go? Where does she live?”

“Florida,” I said. “The Panhandle.”

“So if you can get her on the record, we’ll have”—Eliza started counting on her fingers—“George, Willow, the hotel employees, the voice mail from George’s boss, the guy from Bayer. What am I forgetting?”

“We’re working on the other girl, the BMW girl. And one of George’s old friends from Danner. He’s on the verge of quitting. I’m telling him that he should get out ahead of this.”

“The right side of history. No one can resist that line.”

“So what do you think?” I said. “Do you think we have it?”

“Just about,” she said. “Get Willow to commit to an interview, and we’ll start putting the package together when you’re back.”

Jamie and I were on a flight to Panama City the next afternoon, the sky already darkening as the plane took off from JFK. As I watched the fading ribbon of sunlight across the western horizon, I was aware of a vague panic gathering underneath my rib cage, my pulse and breath quickening. The airplane was climbing a steep trajectory into the sky. The engine revved and slowed, the cabin rattled in the thinning atmosphere. I closed my eyes and tried to breathe through my nose. A moment later, I felt Jamie’s hand squeezing mine.

“You okay?” he said.

“I don’t like flying.”

“Is that really what’s going on?”

I opened my eyes just long enough to see Jamie’s look of concern. Then the plane gave another violent rattle and I shut them again.

“When was the last time you went home?” he continued.

We can talk about it some other time, Jamie had said, years ago. That meant now, apparently. “It’s been a while,” I said.

“But you must think about it,” he said. “Isn’t this right around where you grew up?”

The plane was bouncing like a kite in the wind, my hands gripping the armrest. “You really know how to pick your moments,” I said.

“Maybe if we have some time tomorrow, we can take a drive and—”

“Jamie,” I said. “Jesus. Just leave it alone, okay?”

It had been cold in New York, sterile and chilly on the plane, so when we stepped outside in Panama City, the warm humidity came as a relief. It washed over me like a familiar greeting: the pudding-like night air, the glow of sodium lamps in dark parking lots, the constant buzz of mosquitoes. Jamie heard my sigh and turned to me.

“You okay?” he said.

“Yeah,” I said. “Sorry I snapped at you.”

He spread his arms wide. “Who can stay mad when you’re in the South? I love this place. I’m sick of winter and it hasn’t even started.”

“Does Florida count as the South?” I said, dropping my bag in the trunk of the rental car.

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