Page 13 of What We Got Wrong

And dragging Mel into this mess, not giving her any sort of heads up…that was the worst of it, really. Her friend didn’t deserve to be put in that situation. They’d spoken for a few minutes about it the night before, over a quick drink, but Quinn knew that Mel was upset. And, of course, she was. Who wouldn’t be?

Quinn pulled the emergency stop on the treadmill and hopped off. She jumped in place a few times, trying to shake off the feeling that she’d completely let someone down, someone she cared about very much.

“You are a mess,” Mel called out, walking into the gym. She was not there to exercise, that much was clear, given that she was already in her professional outfit for the day, a monochromatic black number with pleated pants, a snug double-breasted vest, button-up shirt, and tie. The masculine outfit was feminized by elegant makeup, mostly subtle but with soft ‘siren eyes.’ Quinn had never been a makeup person, it just didn’t fit her personal aesthetic, but she had the utmost respect for the amount of time and effort that other people put in, not just to applying cosmetics but also learning the latest trends and techniques.

“You are sleek as hell,” Quinn replied. Her friend wasn’t wrong about her, but damn, Mel looked good.

“I know, right? I’m so handsome.”

Quinn nodded, grabbing her water bottle out of the holder in the treadmill and taking a swig. “I feel kind of like a mess, honestly.”

Mel smiled, one of her genuine grins, made even more special because of how rare they were. “Do you want to talk?”

“Of course,” Quinn said, because what else could she say. She had screwed up and needed to deal with it.

She followed Mel out of the gym, down a long hallway towards the front of the hotel. There was a pair of burgundy barrel chairs tucked to the side of one walkway, just off the lobby, and Mel planted herself in one of the seats, signaling for Quinn to join her.

“I’m sorry,” Quinn said before Mel could speak. Her friend waited for her to go on, a single eyebrow raised. “I fucked up. I should have told you how complicated this was going to be for me before we got here. At any point, really: when we submitted the bid; when we got selected; when we were on the freaking airplane to come here. I’m sorry.”

“You’re a worm,” Mel added, before smiling again at her. “Dude, we’re going to be okay. I get it, we’ve all done stupid things because of a beautiful woman.”

“She is gorgeous, right?” Quinn responded, appreciating the brief aside. Despite everything that happened, she couldn’t stop herself from throwing that admission out into the universe.

“So pretty,” Mel agreed. “And, hey, I’ve had time to reflect—"

“And hook up with the cute girl from the front desk,” Quinn interjected.

“That may have had a minor impact on my mood,” Mel said, her sly smirk returning. “I’m going to choose to forgive you. I’ll be honest, though… The thought I keep coming back to is just… I cannot believe that Quinn ‘Perpetual Nice Guy’ Miles did something so douchey like springing this on me.”

“No, I know. I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have.”

“I think I’ve come to respect it, actually,” Mel said, and Quinn was pretty sure that she meant it. “But I will hold this over your head for the rest of the week. I’ll probably be over it by the time we fly back to Detroit.”

“That’s totally fair,” Quinn allowed, though she was obviously aware that it wasn’t up to her.

“And I want to understand, like…what’s the plan here,” Mel said, and she gestured her hands around in a large circle, as if to indicate the hotel, the conference, the awkward situation all at once.

“Absolutely nothing changes,” Quinn assured her. “We’re here to make connections with J&P, along with their vendors/suppliers. We’re here to get the Prism name out and try to drum up business for the group. We’re here to show them how we can develop different types of trainings, facilitate workshops, and—"

“Look damn good doing it,” Mel interrupted, as if that’s actually what she thought Quinn was going to say.

“Sure, that’s obvious,” Quinn agreed, laughing.

“That sounds good,” Mel said. She thought for a moment before she added, with a sigh, “I need you to get your head out of your ass, though. If you aren’t in this, we’re not going to be successful.”

“That’s also fair,” Quinn replied carefully. “I think I just needed to get seeing her again for the first time over with. I’ll be better.”

“Are we at all concerned that her father is floating around here?” Mel asked. “And why do I feel like I’m in high school having to put that out there?”

“I don’t think there’s a concern at all with him putting this together,” Quinn assured her friend, before adding sadly, “She wouldn’t have told him anything about us.”

Mel nodded, and there was another extended pause before she spoke. “So…do you want to talk about it?”

“Talk about what?” Quinn asked, trying to be stoic.

“Dude, you can try to be tough all you want. I need you to, given the position we find ourselves in,” Mel said. “But I remember how you were when we met, how much whatever happened between you was still messing with you, what…like a year later?”

Ah, yes. That.