Page 46 of Sweet Spot

Double crap.

ME: Help me I think I like him

SARA: Girl help ME! You’re at a fancy hotel with an absurdly gorgeous man who ran all over the city for you this morning. And I’m at the office on a Saturday.

ME: He has cute friends if you’re interested but I know you’re not.

SARA: I know. I’m not. I have no time for it.

ME: Well I thought I didn’t either.

SARA: You THOUGHT you didn’t?

SARA: Wait a minute. Does that mean you’re changing your mind about letting yourself like him now?

SARA: Neighbors with benefits??? Yes???

SARA: Please. Let me live vicariously through you.

SARA: Come on. Just say it. You’re falling for this guyyyyyy oooooh yeahhhhh

ME: I can’t be because things don’t happen this fast

SARA: When it rains it pours, baby girl. It’s not a saying for no reason

I scrunched my nose, unable to argue Sara’s claims. When it rains, it pours rang bitterly true to me. In my head, it had a negative connotation but now, it was positive. At least I hoped it was.

Typing some half-assed response to Sara, I hit send and tossed my phone across the bed, giving up on trying to make sense of anything. Of course the second the thing landed, it rang loudly. Lukas laughed as he watched me ignore the call.

“You’re not going to pick up?”

“No. It’s just Sara giving me a hard time.”

Coming over, Lukas picked up my phone. “The name says Elaine Gardner.”

My eyes shot wide open. “Are you joking?”

“No. Who is that?”

“Omigod – the investor!” I hissed, heart pounding as I threw the sheets off my body and scrambled to Lukas at the edge of the bed. He laughed as I grabbed the phone from his hand, watching me curiously as I frantically answered the call on my knees. “Hello?”

“Lia? It’s Elaine Gardner.”

“Yes, of course! How are you?” I asked breathily, despite my best efforts to speak with some shred of professionalism.

“I’m well. I hope this isn’t a bad time… I just want to call regarding yesterday’s meeting.”

My stomach twisted. For some reason, her tone gave me a bad feeling. I wasn’t sure what it was but it must’ve been obvious because I felt Lukas give me a little squeeze. Blinking, I looked down, oblivious to the fact that I’d grabbed his hand out of pure nerves and anxiety.

“It’s not a bad time,” I said, preparing a smile, forcing myself to try and be graceful no matter what she decided.

“Right, well, I want to let you know that I really appreciated your presentation yesterday. I really did enjoy your product and even more than that, I enjoyed your vision for the brand. You’ve clearly thought about this for a very long time,” she said, breathing in audibly as she took a long pause. “At this time, I have a very similar company I’ve been looking to do business with…”

Fuck.

My shoulders fell. I heard Lukas murmur my name but I ignored him, hiding my wet eyes from him as I half-listened to Elaine talk about some other chocolatier with a similar product as mine. The second I heard “conflict of interest,” I pretty much tuned out.

“It’s okay,” Lukas whispered as I nodded along to both him and Elaine, trying my hardest to be an adult about all this. But the wave of disappointment was strong and despite surviving that first big hit, I was still reeling. As the rush of adrenaline finally subsided, I heard Elaine’s warm laugh on the other end of the phone.