Free Stories from New York #3 by Elizabeth Cody Kimmel Page A

think this has something to do with the photo shoot?”
    “It can’t be a coincidence,” Ivy said. “Garamond is the one who supervises everyone on a shoot like this, and my mom did just say there was a problem.”
    “You could just text your mom and ask,” Tally suggested.
    “No, I don’t want to bother her if she’s in the middle of something. And this seems big. We’ll just hang out and wait like she said to.”
    “Hey! I thought you guys were with the photo team this morning. How was your dinner?” came a guy’s voice.
    We turned and saw Whit coming in the door holding a half-eaten bagel. He was talking to all of us, but he was only looking at Ivy.
    “Oh, it was better than I remembered,” Ivy said. “You should have stayed.”
    “You’re right,” Whit said, shutting the door with his foot as he took a bite of his bagel. “There’s always the lunch special.”
    “Oh, are we going back to the Wok Emporium?” Tally asked, her face brightening.
    “We don’t all have to eat lunch together,” I said quickly.
    I couldn’t help it—now that I knew Ivy liked Whit, and I was so certain he liked her, I wanted them to get together for a lunch date. Maybe if she spent a little time alone with him, she would be able to figure out how she felt about it. I had been able to keep in touch with my friend Evelyn on Skype after she moved away—it was amazing how chatting by webcam could really make you feel like you were with somebody. Maybe Ivy and Whit could do the same. That would certainly guarantee that Dakota wouldn’t butt in.
    “Well, what’s the schedule for you guys today?” Whit asked. “Maybe—”
    The office door opened quickly, almost smacking Whit, who stepped quickly out of the way. It was Constantia, Helvetica’s assistant.
    “Good. You’re here,” Constantia said. “Has anyone else been in this office today?”
    “Garamond was just here,” Ivy said.
    “Yes, that’s fine,” Constantia replied. “But…no one else?”
    “Just us,” Tally said. “Is it another mouse?”
    Constantia seemed to notice Tally for the first time and gave her a perplexed look. “I’m sorry?” she said. “A mouse?”
    “In the studio?” Tally suggested. “Or a bat, maybe? That’s worse because they fly. I had one fly right at me once in school. I still haven’t recovered. I can’t even—”
    “I see,” Constantia said. “There are no bats at
City Nation
. Where is Dakota?”
    “She stopped at reception to talk to some junior editors,” Whit said. “I saw her on my way in. Do you need me to get her?”
    “No,” Constantia said. “But if you see anything unusual, please phone my extension immediately.” She shut the door quietly behind her.
    “What in the world is going on?” I asked.
    Whit shook his head. “I have no idea, but I bet you anything by the time Dakota gets here she’ll know all about it. She always gets the gossip first, and she was having a very intense talk when I saw her on my way in. She always knows who to talk to when something is up.”
    “That’s so funny that you said that about themouse, Tally,” Whit continued. “Rumor has it that actually happened a few years ago, and they had to shut the entire shoot down because the model got hysterical.”
    “Oh, it’s totally true, Whit. My mom was there!” Ivy said. “It wasn’t the model that got hysterical. It was the photographer!”
    “That’s hilarious,” he said. “Notice how Constantia said to Tally, ‘There are no bats at
City Nation,
’ but she didn’t say there were no mice?”
    “Yes!” Ivy said. “Apparently that was the only time anyone can remember seeing Constantia lose her cool. The photographer took off, and they had to get a junior editor to take the pictures. He was actually a really great amateur photographer, and after that shoot he ended up going professional. All because of a mouse.”
    “I don’t suppose we could use that story in
4 Girls
, Ivy?” Miko asked.
    “I have a