Page 101 of Everything She Wanted

“Let’s talk about it over lunch sometime this week.”

“You’re the best.” She looks over at me with excitement, and some of the tension surrounding me dissipates. I smile at her warmly as she walks out of my office.

When she’s gone, I turn to look at Eshaan’s peonies and my smile slips away. I will find a way through all this.

35. Fillers and Feelings

The week passes in a flurry, so I don’t even have time to ruminate too much. With Nick leaving, he spends most of his time training the IT guys, and with my successful pitches, I get to hand-pick my team to help with future ones, almost like I’m in management—but without the salary perks. It’s still exciting, but I feel the wind being taken out of my sails. Increasingly, I’m thinking Eshaan is right; they’re not going to promote me. I debate whether I should just ask Tom for a raise, having brought in so many funds for the company, but I don’t know if I have the confidence to do that just yet.

Matt is in all our meetings now as he’s staying to help with the transition once Nick’s gone, so we’re never alone together. It’s for the best, but my heart is heavier by the day.

In the evenings, I help Rachel with marketing for her online business to take my mind off things, or else I’m with Eshaan, finalizing the details of the ceremony. I’m even spending time with his parents, who are warming up to me more as things are about to get official.

I’ve almost forgotten about the texts, but I can’t deny that there is a lingering nervousness. I want to bring it up, but everything is going so well that I just can’t convince myself to. It’s probably nothing. I was wrong about Nick, and I’m probably just paranoid now about other things, too.

It’s 2 p.m. when a message from Jess flashes on my screen.

We haven’t even had lunch yet to talk about cuteee M.

With a bear holding a heart GIF.

I instantly reply with an apology, then peek at my calendar. It’s full every day for the next week. I text back and suggest drinks after work tonight instead at a swanky bar that just opened nearby.

Really? Yes, I’m in. Come grab me at 5:30.

“So, how was the rest of your day?” Jess asks as she leans back into the booth, perusing the happy hour drinks menu.

“Busy. Now I’m going through resumes to find the perfect team to build.”

“You’re so lucky.” She sets the menu down.

“How do you mean?”

My brain is too tired to go through options, so I opt for my usual gin and tonic.

“Going to all these conferences, pitching to billionaires, working on these big projects. All of it.” She looks at me, impressed.

“You could do it too, you know.” I smile at her encouragingly.

“Not really, I don’t have the qualifications.”

“That doesn’t matter as much anymore. Experience is just as important.”

She looks at me, unconvinced.

“You could always ask to work on a few other things. That’s what I did. I’m also happy to ask on your behalf if that’s something you’d be interested in.”

An idea starts forming in my head that I know Jess would love, but I’ll have to check first to see if I can make it happen.

“I’m not sure.”

“Just think about it.”

The waitress comes by and takes our orders.

“Is everything okay?” Jess looks at me curiously once we’re alone again.

“Yes, so great.” I lie so effortlessly now. It must be a latent gift. Some people develop allergies as they approach thirty—I seemed to develop a knack for taking liberties with the truth.