AllFreeNovel
Share Us
But then he said, “I’m having a hard time understanding why this is so difficult for you to comprehend.”
The little cactus on his desk started screaming again, pleading to be catapulted at Adrien’s nose.
“Whyare we going to Victoria?” I pushed through my teeth. “Is it for work?”
He shrugged. “For you it will be.”
What the fuck did that mean?
“And how long will we be there for?” I tried.
Another shrug. “I’m not sure yet.”
Ria, please! Please, please, please smash me into his idiot face. I’ll do such a gory job of scratching him up! There’ll be so much blood! I swear!
“Can you give me an estimate?”
He leaned his head back and pretended to think about his answer. “At least a week.”
I tried coming up with an excuse—any excuse—to get myself out of being dragged to the other side of the country with him for a full week, but I could tell from the anticipatory way his head was tilted that he was just waiting for me to argue.
“I’ll pack for a week, then,” I said, managing to keep the irritation from seeping into my voice this time. “And just to be clear, we’re flying scheduled? Like with a public airline?”
I assumed the answer was yes since he was booking a ticket, but I wanted to make extra sure. The absolute last thing I needed was for him to trick me into showing up at the wrong airport or terminal or something.
“Yes. I don’t use my jet unless I have to. It’s not good for the environment.”
I blinked, my brain halting. “You’re… worried about the environment?”
He frowned at me. “Aren’t you?”
No, I was. I just…huh.
The cactus quieted down just a tiny bit. But only until I made the mistake of giving Adrien my date of birth.
“You look a lot older,” he said, chuckling. And then I had to count backward from five again. “Oh, and you should probably head home now. You’re already late.”
I didn’t even want to know what that meant.
* * *
I had a plan.
Jamie was supposed to be at work and Toebeans usually napped until the evening, so I was going to go home, pack, and open a bottle of wine so I could seethe in drunken peace.
But then, Adrien happened.
“Excuse me, are you Ria Sanchez?”
I paused midstep, frowning at the two men standing at the apartment door. There was a crap ton of cardboard boxes and building supplies stacked neatly behind them.
“Yes… that’s me.”
The older man with the scraggly Einstein hair glanced down at his phone. “You’re late.”
“Pardon?”
“Mr. Cloutier said to expect you fifteen minutes ago. We’re here to build the tree.”
