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“Ah, yes. Let’s talk about this brain of yours.” She stood, her hair falling over her shoulder, and grabbed a piece of paper lying on top of her desk. Pushing the hair out of her face, she turned to face me with a lifted brow. “Between your IQ and this eidetic memory of yours, I think we can find something for you almost anywhere here. I have an opening in my accounting department. But you have a face that would work perfectly in personal relations. I suck balls at that shit, and it’s usually Annabelle who handles all our media needs. But she’s mainly in Tennessee with Zander and their kids.” She pursed her lips, thinking for a moment. “Or you can start by shadowing me, and I can train you to become one of our road managers. I’ve been short-staffed, and just between you and me, tours suck the life right out of me.” She shuddered as if unable to ward off a bad memory. “I haven’t been able to replace my best RM, so you would kind of be saving my life if you took that one.”
“But why would you give me a job?” I cried, completely overwhelmed and no longer able to hold on to my emotions.
Her face softened, and I was suddenly jealous of her children, because I knew this was the expression on her face every time she looked at them. The understanding in her eyes, the gentle smile that told me to trust her and she would take care of any evil that could possibly ever touch their world. Her son and daughter were so lucky to have a mom like Emmie. It was something I had given up ever seeing on my own mother’s face long before she had even met Malcolm. “Because I like you. Which isn’t something that happens all that often. Look, I’m a total bitch. I wouldn’t spit on someone if their face was on fire if I didn’t like them. Those who I like, they become family to me, and family is the most important thing in my life. I have job openings, and you need a job. Let’s help each other out.”
“But—”
“The road manager position pays more because you have to deal with so much crazy shit, but they all come with pretty good benefits,” she said, cutting me off. “Health, dental. Paid vacations. But the drawback is that I’ll be your boss, and I run a really tight ship. Basically, I’m a tyrant to work for, and everyone in this building will tell you to run for the hills while you still can.”
Tears started leaking from my eyes. “I don’t know what to say.”
“I totally get it if you want to take a few days.” She grabbed a stack of papers from the corner of the desk. “These are the jobs that I have open. Take a little time and look them over, decide which one you think you would be the most comfortable doing, and come back on Friday. We can discuss everything then.”
In a daze, I left her office. When I got outside, I was still unable to find my voice to even hail a cab. Scanning the papers Emmie had given me, I read over each job opening, what they entailed, and how much money each position offered. But it still didn’t make sense to me. She wanted to help me. She understood what I went through with Malcolm.
She had been a victim of abuse too.
Maybe that was what I was having the most difficulty understanding. Emmie Armstrong was so strong. It was why she had been my celebrity hero for so long. It was why I always wanted to be just like her. To be told that she had been physically hurt by a parent made her more human.
My phone rang, jerking me into alertness. Pulling it from my pocket, I saw it was Lindsey. “Can I borrow that dress with the killer back to it?” she asked by way of a greeting, and I could hear the excitement in her voice. “Harden is taking me to dinner later, and I totally need something sexy to wear.”
“Yes, of course you can. Do you want to wear those heels Riley gave me for Christmas?” I sounded completely normal, which kind of freaked me out with how twisted my head was right then.
“You don’t mind?”
“Of course not. Take them. Have fun.” I stopped on the corner with a group of other people waiting for the light to change so we could cross the street. “When can we meet this guy? I’m really starting to wonder if he’s a real person or not,” I teased.
“He’s just really private. But I was thinking soon. I really like this guy, Mar. And the best part? My parents will love him. Dad is coming into town in a few weeks, and I’m actually thinking of introducing them.”
My eyes nearly popped out of my head for the second time that day. “Holy shit, Lin. That is major. You never introduce your boyfriends to your parents.”
“He’s not technically my boyfriend. Not yet anyway. But he asked me to go away this weekend, and I told him yes. So…yeah. Crap, I need a wax in the worst way!” She groaned, then laughed. “Afterward, I’ll introduce you and Riley to him. Okay?”
“Sounds like we need a spa day. We can totally do that tomorrow if you want. I need some girl time with you and Riley.”
She let out an exasperated breath. “I know. We’ve missed you. Or, at least, I have. If I’m not out with Harden, you’re out with Cash. And we haven’t seen each other for longer than five minutes the last few weeks. I’m totally jealous of your boyfriend right now.”
“Then it’s a date. Tomorrow.”
“I’ll make the arrangements,” she promised. “Thanks again for the dress and shoes. See you later!”
Laughing at the whirlwind she had just made of my head all over again, I kept walking. With my friend’s distraction, I had been able to wrap my head a little more around the realization that I had a job waiting for me with the coolest chick I had ever met. All I had to do was decide which one I wanted.
I stopped at the coffee shop near my apartment and grabbed a frappe. Sucking down the sugary, caffeinated drink of the gods, I took a seat at the back of the shop and read over the details and expectations of each job Emmie had presented me with for the third time.
Right away, I knew there was no way I would ever even consider the PR position. I hated being in front of cameras, and I normally spat out expletives whenever a member of the press so much as said my name. The accounting position was pretty straightforward. With all the math classes I’d sailed through over the years, I knew it was something I could easily see myself doing.
And being totally bored with.
But it was safe. And the starting yearly salary alone would give me a comfortable life.
The list of things a road manager was expected to do, however, was two pages long. Some of them had my eyes widening, and I even snorted a time or three picturing myself doing some of them. Basically, it sounded like I would be babysitting the “clients” while they were on tour. Just thinking about the list alone was exhausting.
Shaking my head, I lifted my phone and was about to call Cash to ask his opinion on all of this when my screen lit up with an incoming call. My heart fell to the floor in dread when I saw who it was.
Jane.
She never called me first. Whenever I talked to her, it was on my usual call to Dad or one of my brothers. In my gut, I knew something was wrong, and my fingers shook when I answered the call.
