The Summer Girlfriend

Chapter One

New York City

Present Day

There was an unopened box of Smith's Sweets salted caramel chocolate chip cookies waiting for Noelle Lewis in her kitchen cabinet.

She'd been thinking about the cookies for hours. Earlier at her day job while organizing a new beach reads display, she'd daydreamed about dipping the delicious cookies in milk before taking a big bite as she sat on the couch and searched through movie options on streaming services, pretending to look for something new, only to end up choosing Brown Sugar for the billionth time. Unfortunately, though, her date with her favorite cookies and early-2000s rom-com would have to wait. Because tonight was reserved for her side hustle.

In the dimly lit bathroom of Galactic Karaoke in Koreatown, Manhattan, Noelle hastened to unravel what felt like a yard of toilet paper, and she handed it to her client, Sheree, who stood at the bathroom sink, crying tears of anger because her cousin was ruining the joint bachelor-bachelorette party for Sheree and her fiancé, Justin.

"I don't know why she's here," Sheree grumbled, accepting the wad of toilet paper. She swiped at the running mascara that now streaked her brown cheeks and looked at her reflection in the mirror. She emitted a weary sigh and turned her tearstained face back to Noelle. "Why bother showing up if you don't even like me or my fiancé? She's drinking up all the liquor that she hasn't lifted a finger to pay for, and she's being a bitch to Justin's friends, but she thinks she's flirting. Lord knows why I let my mom guilt me into choosing her as my maid of honor."

"They say that weddings bring out the worst in people," Noelle said gently.

Secretly, Noelle had to admit that Sheree's cousin Raven was a bit much. Earlier at dinner when Sheree had introduced Noelle to the rest of the bridal party; her fiancé, Justin; and Justin's friends, Raven had looked Noelle up and down with pursed lips like she'd just finished sucking on a sour straw. And for the past twenty minutes, Raven had hogged the microphone and was currently making her way through Rihanna's catalog. Her off-key rendition of "Rude Boy" was terrible enough to make someone's ears bleed. It didn't help that she insisted on attempting to dance like Rihanna while she sang. She needed to sit down, expeditiously.

But it wasn't Noelle's job to fan the flames of drama. She was here to smile and seamlessly adapt, all in an effort to make the bride's life easier. It was why she'd pulled Sheree into the bathroom when she'd noticed her eyes brimming with tears.

"Listen, you don't have to let Raven ruin your night," Noelle said, taking Sheree by her shoulders and looking at her head-on. "Think of the bigger picture! In a couple months, you'll be married to the love of your life and living happily ever after. One drunk cousin won't ruin that for you, will she?"

Sheree sniffled and allowed herself a small smile. "I really do love Justin," she said. "I can't wait to marry him."

"Of course you can't." Noelle beamed, satisfied that she'd managed to lift Sheree's mood. She reached into her purse and retrieved a tube of mascara. She always brought mascara, disposable spoolies, and makeup remover with her on nights when she had a wedding or wedding-related event. Brides tended to cry a lot. Noelle didn't judge. Most brides were stressed the hell out and barely sleeping. Also, it wasn't her job to judge.

She instructed Sheree to widen her eyes and look up as she reapplied mascara to her lashes and wiped away the residue of makeup on her cheeks. When Sheree shivered and rubbed her hands up and down her arms, Noelle shrugged off her leather jacket and draped it around Sheree's shoulders.

"No more tears," Noelle said. "Not when you look so beautiful."

Sheree looked at her reflection again and glanced at Noelle sidelong with a smirk. "You're good at this. I see why you have a five-star rating."

Noelle smiled and shrugged, like it was no big deal. But truthfully, she took a lot of pride in her five-star Bridal Bestie rating. Noelle wasn't one of Sheree's oldest friends, and she wasn't a wedding planner or a wedding crisis manager, for that matter. She'd been hired by Sheree to be one of her bridesmaids.

Sheree, a twenty-nine-year-old workaholic accountant who struggled to find time outside of the office to make friends, found herself in a tricky predicament when her outgoing fiancé Justin wanted all five of his line brothers as groomsmen. Sheree chose three cousins and her old college roommate to make up her bridal party, but she needed a fifth bridesmaid. Through the bridal grapevine, Sheree was made aware of Bridal Bestie, a website where a person could contract a professional stand-in to act as a bridesmaid for their wedding. That was where Noelle came in.

After passing a thorough background check, Sheree was able to sift through the agency's available professionals in the area. There must have been something about Noelle's profile that Sheree liked, because she took the next step, which was to request an agency-arranged meeting with Noelle. They got coffee in order to feel each other out. Then Sheree chose the Ultimate Best Friend package, which meant that in addition to being a bridesmaid in her September wedding, Noelle was contracted to attend tonight's bachelor-bachelorette party, as well as Sheree's bridal shower next month in August.

The story that Noelle and Sheree had agreed to tell was that they'd met a few months prior at a Lagree class and had quickly become close friends. Justin knew the truth, of course. But the rest of Sheree's family had easily accepted the tale because Sheree attended Lagree religiously. Noelle, however, hadn't ever heard of Lagree before meeting Sheree, so she'd watched countless YouTube videos of people bending themselves into pretzels on workout machines just in case anyone asked her a question about the class. So far, Lagree hadn't come up, and it probably wouldn't. But Noelle liked to be prepared anyway.

"Come on, let's head back," Noelle said, urging Sheree toward the bathroom exit. "You've got more singing to do. Maybe you can sing 'We Found Love' if Raven hasn't already."

Sheree laughed and smiled at Noelle gratefully as she followed her out of the bathroom and down the dark hallway back to their private karaoke room. One of Justin's groomsmen had managed to steal the mic from Raven, and he was belting out "Don't Leave Me" by Blackstreet. The other guys were surrounding him and singing backup. Raven stood in the corner of the room with her arms crossed, glaring daggers.

Noticing that they'd returned from the bathroom, Justin rushed over to Noelle and Sheree. He wrapped his gangly arms around Sheree and sported a lopsided, drunk smile.

"Everything good, babe?" he asked. Sheree grinned up at him and nodded. Justin looked over Sheree's head at Noelle. "Thanks for helping her, Nola."

For a second, Noelle considered correcting him. But he was drunk, and it honestly didn't matter if he got her name right. She wasn't a permanent fixture in their lives. She'd been working with Bridal Bestie for almost two years, and sometimes when she got along really well with a client, she wondered what it might be like if they tried to be real-life friends. One of the reasons she was so good at this job was because she didn't struggle to connect with other people. In her high school senior year superlatives, she'd been voted Most Friendly. But it was a lot harder to make friends as an adult. She'd long ago lost touch with anyone from the University of Maryland, and lately she saw less and less of her best friend and roommate, Tati, because she spent most nights at her boyfriend André's place. Noelle was happy for Tati. She was blissfully in love and had finally found her person after kissing one too many frogs. But Noelle still missed her. Both things could be true.

Sheree would probably be cool to hang out with in real life. But these days, Noelle was more concerned about the money.

She'd had various side hustles over the years. Bartending, cater waiting, walking dogs, babysitting toddlers, walking dogs while babysitting toddlers. Being a hired bridesmaid was by far the easiest and highest-paying side gig she'd ever had. With her side gig money, her paychecks from her main job at Hidden Gems Books, as well as doing food delivery and rideshare driving, combined with a bit of financial aid and private loans, she almost had enough money to go back to college and finish her bachelor's degree. Finally.

Suddenly, across the room, an argument broke out between Raven and the groomsmen. While Sheree and Justin went to intervene, Noelle checked the time on her phone. 12:03 a.m. Her contract stated that her services were no longer needed after midnight, so her work here was officially done.

When there seemed to be a break in the bickering, she approached Sheree, lightly tapped her on the shoulder, and whispered, "I'm sorry, but it's after midnight, and I'm going home now." She lowered her voice another fraction. "Um, I just want to remind you that the remaining fee for tonight is due tomorrow by twelve p.m. and you can pay directly through the website. I'll send you the receipt to reimburse me for my ride home."

"Oh, of course, of course!" Sheree twisted around and gave Noelle a firm, warm hug. It felt nice. Even if their friendship was pretend. "I'll pay everything asap. Get home safe."

Each Bridal Bestie client was different, but what they had in common was that they needed Noelle's help in some form or another. People with big social circles weren't in need of her services. More often than not, her clients were a little lonely.

Maybe that was another reason that Noelle was good at this particular side hustle. She knew how loneliness could house itself inside your body and sit on top of your heart. Even six years later, she still vividly remembered the emptiness she felt as she'd packed up her junior year dorm room, knowing full well that losing her scholarship meant that she wouldn't be able to return to UMD to finish her senior year. Her ex, CJ, hadn't bothered to say goodbye to her, even though he was the reason she'd gotten into trouble and lost her scholarship in the first place.

But then again, the only person she could truly blame was herself. No one had told her to get mixed up with him and jeopardize her future.

As Noelle stepped outside onto the sidewalk, a group of girls walked by, laughing among themselves as they marched on in their high heels. It was early July, and the air was hot and muggy. People were out and about, enjoying summer. Noelle couldn't remember when she'd last taken time off to do anything that remotely resembled summer fun. Unless she counted the afternoon last August when she'd gone to that run-down indoor water park with Tati, and middle school boys had catcalled them while they'd floated down the lazy river.

Noelle lived in New Jersey, a state lined with beaches, but she hadn't been to the shore in almost three years. Working and saving every bit of money to go back to school was more important.

Her phone vibrated with an alert that her car ride was four minutes away. At the same time, she heard the karaoke bar entrance door open and close behind her. She turned around and came face-to-face with one of Justin's groomsmen, Brian. He was medium height with light brown skin, and he must have come to their outing straight from work, because he was still wearing a suit, although he'd ditched his tie and unfastened the top buttons of his shirt.

Noelle had noticed Brian looking at her across the table at dinner, and upstairs during karaoke, he'd sat unnecessarily close to her on the couch, "accidentally" brushing his hand across her thigh as he'd reached for his drink.

In her line of side hustle, Noelle was often hit on by drunk guests who were excited to see a new face in their familiar ecosystem. But she held firm on maintaining boundaries with her clients and their loved ones. It was the only way to keep things professional. And on a personal level, she had no interest in dating right now. Why willingly give away what little time and energy she had to someone who more than likely wouldn't bother meeting her halfway? She'd learned the hard way not to set herself up for disappointment in that regard.

"You dipped without saying goodbye," Brian said as he approached her with a lazy smile. His cheeks were flushed, and his eyelids drooped. He was drunk, obviously. "Broke my heart a little."

Noelle forced a smile. If Tati were here, she would have told Brian to fuck off without thinking twice. But Noelle hadn't been hired for an Ultimate Best Friend package in a while. It had been an unusually slow summer for Bridal Bestie. Last summer, Noelle had worked at least two weddings a month. This summer, she'd worked one wedding in May, and the wedding she'd been assigned to in June had been called off at the last minute because the wedding planner had discovered that the venue was hiding a black mold infestation. Noelle had zero weddings lined up for July and August. Weddings were just too expensive now. People were opting to get married at the courthouse or to elope abroad. Noelle needed this gig with Sheree. It was good money, and she didn't want to screw up her payday by cursing out one of the groom's best friends.

"Yeah, I'm just tired," she said, stepping toward the street and putting space between herself and Brian. "I'm heading home now."

He nodded and crossed his arms over his chest. "I'll stand out here with you. This city's dangerous. Somebody might try to snatch your pretty self up."

He winked. Noelle fought the urge to grimace.

Most days, she wore a Hidden Gems Books T-shirt and a pair of jeans and sneakers. When she wasn't working, she wore whatever clothes she bought off the sale rack. For her Bridal Bestie gigs, with the exception of the bridesmaid dresses that were provided for her, she borrowed cute clothes from Tati. Like the sleeveless navy blue bodysuit, high-rise barrel jeans, and silver Mary Janes that she wore tonight. A few days ago, when Tati had last been home, she'd styled Noelle's hair in goddess braids that fell down her back, which Noelle wore loose.

All this to say, Noelle was aware that she looked nicer than usual tonight. And because of her five-foot-three-inch height, she was also aware that people sometimes assumed she couldn't take care of herself. But she didn't leave the house without pepper spray in her purse and she wasn't afraid to use it.