As she locked up on Friday evening, she turned to Lana.
“I’m calling it, after the week from hell, I’m making an executive decision,” Cleo said wearily.
“Oh yeah?” Lana asked cautiously.
“We don’t start until 10 a.m. on Monday,” Cleo announced.
“We don’t... are you sure?!” Lana asked as she took in what Cleo had just told her.
“Definitely,” Cleo replied. “If I can postpone having to deal with Jackson Copeland by another hour, believe me when I say I’m absolutely sure!”
“Oh, thank goodness for that. If I’ve to put up with his snooty assistant one more time, I’m going to scream right down the phone line into her ear until she hangs up,” Lana said with a weak laugh. “I really don’t understand why he has us dealing with so many of his queries, I mean, doesn’t he have an entire office floor of people for that?”
“If I remember rightly, I think he mentioned something about him paying them to make him money, and therefore they shouldn’t be wasting their time dealing with these small tasks,” Cleo sighed.
“He just has a face I wouldn’t get sick of punching, you know?” Lana said with a smirk.
Cleo laughed heartily. Wow, did she need that.
“Remind me again why that’s not an option? I mean, whyarewe putting so much time and effort into just one client? We’ve never done this before,” Lana asked.
Cleo took a breath. “He’s too powerful in this city to have as an enemy. If he chose to blackball us, it could end us. So, for now, I will do all I can to keep him at bay. We just have to get through this build and then slowly try to push back, but I can’t outright turn him down. He would ruin us and not even blink an eye.”
“Yeah,” Lana agreed softly. “I thought you were going to say something like that.”
“I can’t risk my business, I won’t. He can give whatever orders he wants, and I’ll take on the bare minimum, because he’s known for doing this. For taking over and then buying out. He’s not getting mine,” Cleo stated.
“You knew? And took him on anyway?” Lana seemed shocked.
“No, it wasn’t until he started pushing for me to do additional work that I put out some very cautious feelers to some old contacts I have. That’s when I found out,” Cleo said, feeling a mixture of defeated and disappointed in herself.
When she set up her business, it was to give her control over her life. After everything that had happened, she needed to take back control somehow. She’d be damned if she had to give that up. Especially, to someone like Jackson Copeland.
She filled her lungs until they burned, then released the breath slowly, letting the thoughts slip away… if only for the weekend. “What’re your plans this weekend?” Cleo asked as they turned onto Main Street.
“Connor and I are heading to his folks this weekend, and I’m meeting his sister, April, this time. Then I’ll have met the whole family. I hope it goes well. I’d hate for it not to,” Lana spun thering on her finger, showing Cleo how much it meant to her to get along with Connor’s sister.
“You’ll get on fine, and even if you don’t, that’s ok too. You won’t get on with everyone. Connor is the one that matters, and you have him wrapped, so you’re doing something right.” Cleo nudged her shoulder against Lana’s and was relieved to see her friend smile again.
“What about you?” Lana asked. “Do you have any plans with Ivy?”
“Yeah actually, we’re spending the afternoon together tomorrow then I’m going to her apartment because,” Cleo took a breath, “she’s cooking me dinner.” Cleo exhaled.
“That’s good though, isn’t it?” Lana queried.
“Yeah, it’s just, it’s the first time we’ll be somewhere private instead of in public bar or restaurant,” she said.
“Are you ready for that?” Lana asked gently.
“With Ivy?” Cleo replied much quicker than she had expected. Knowing that her attempt to play it cool had come across as the complete opposite. She knew that she wanted Ivy, and so did Lana.
“Not that,” Lana raised an eyebrow with a smirk and then calmed her features. “You know what you need to tell her before it gets to that. You’ve spoken about it a lot more in recent weeks than you have in years.”
“I know. I just, she’s light and sunshine, and all that’s good in the world. I don’t want to be the one to bring any sadness to those eyes. I couldn’t bear that,” Cleo admitted.
“You won’t, but you can’t hold it in either, she deserves to know. If you're going to take this next step with her, she deserves to know all of you first.”
Cleo stopped as she realized they were almost at the coffee shop. She turned to Lana but didn’t quite meet her gaze. “What if,” she paused, before trying again, “I don’t want her to lookat me differently. I can’t bear the thought of looking into those beautiful green eyes and seeing anything other than happiness.”
