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“Ally gave it to me.”
“I should have known. The two of you are quite cozy these days.”
“Please, can we not talk about this now? I need to tell you something important. So, pretend you don’t hate me and just talk with me.”
“What could you possibly have left to say to me? Because honestly, I can’t take any more.”
She sounded beat down. I knew that was the only reason she was allowing me to continue without putting up a fight.
“Mia,” I began softly. “I’m sorry for everything you’ve had to deal with this weekend. I know it can’t be easy for you to see me and be near me. To find out secrets about Ally and me you never saw coming.”
“Yeah, it’s been a hell of a weekend. But it’s almost over, so at least there’s that.”
I ran my hand through my hair as I tried to figure out how to start the conversation. Instead of manning up and telling her flat out, I took the coward’s way out.
“How will work be tomorrow with you not speaking to Ally?” As soon as the question was out, I wanted to suck it back in. I should have just told her and ended the call. But I didn’t. I was prolonging our talk because I just wanted to hear her voice.
“Work tomorrow will be fine. Ally and I are professionals. We leave all of that nonsense at the door.” She was making an effort to sound strong, but her voice was betraying her. The words came out shaky. I heard her sigh on the other end.
“I’m sorry. I just wanted to make you smile again. You know, since I ruined your weekend and all.”
“My mind has been consumed with work, so my weekend wasn’t very relaxing to begin with. But your presence certainly didn’t help that.”
There it was—she gave me an in. If I was going to do this, I needed to do it now.
“I was actually calling to talk to you about work and your InStyle photo shoot.” I waited, hoping she would put two and two together.
“Say it, Terry.” Mia wouldn’t do me any favors by letting me off easy.
“InStyle approached me to do your pictures for the shoot. I’ve done other things for them in the past, and they really wanted me on this job. To tell you the truth, I jumped at the chance.” I sighed. It was out there, and she was silent. “You were always my favorite subject, Mia. My pictures of you were always beautiful—like you. I know how important this is to you, and I promise to take some beautiful shots of you, darlin’.”
Nothing. Silence still hung on the other end.
“Are you there?” This, I hadn’t expected. She could yell at me all she wanted. She’d earned the right. Silence was another thing altogether, something I wasn’t prepared for.
“Wow, a moment of pure honesty. I must say, I’m shocked.” Her voice was thick with sarcasm. It was fake and sounded off. She had a rough weekend, and this wasn’t helping.
“Terry.” There was a question in her tone, but she wasn’t showing her hand yet.
“Yeah, darlin’, I’m here.” My voice was soft, smooth. I was trying to sound comforting, trying to be what she needed for once. I picked up my whiskey and swirled the glass around, and the ice made a clinking noise.
“Are you drinking?” she asked. My head involuntarily nodded in response. Almost as if she heard me, she spoke again. “You must be nervous. Tell me, do I make you nervous?”
“Like you wouldn’t believe, ma’am,” I drawled. It was amazing how well she still knew me. She giggled in response. A hint of my Mia was coming through. I wondered how much more I would see before the conversation was over.
“Always the gentleman, Terry.”
I decided to try my luck and ask her about the interview. “Are you nervous about tomorrow?”
“No, I’m not. Now that I know you’ll be there, I think it will be okay. Besides, you always did take good pictures of me, right?”
I half expected a sarcastic comment to slip across her lips, but all that came was a sigh. Soft enough that I could tell it wasn’t meant for me to hear. “I’m going to take some beautiful pictures of you.” I raked a hand through my hair, confused and happy with the turn our conversation had taken.
“How did you get so famous that InStyle wants to do a feature on you?” I asked.
Her laugh rang out from the other end, infectious as ever. It felt good to hear her laugh, to be the reason for her laughter, and to laugh with her.
“You’ve done well for yourself. I’m so proud of you.” I told her.
