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“Oh shit.” Hugh bounced into his chair.
She went back to hers. “Ah, don’t worry about it. Adro quit too, or he will tomorrow. No job to go to, he just wants out, and half the team are Gabriella’s creations now anyway, and they all hate me already.”
Hugh did the hand head thing. “Lord, I ballsed that up. I’ll talk to her. After I’ve talked to Roger. I want you to have my job.”
Foley frowned. “What do you mean?”
Hugh gestured to the room. “This job.”
She looked at him blankly. No wonder he was holding his head. It was a did you deliberately hit yourself with a hammer moment.
“You can do it. And I’ll help. Roger will support it.”
She sat forward. “Hang on, you’re not kidding? Roger didn’t support me enough to have Gabriella’s job and you think I can do your job?”
“Yep.”
She stood up. “Shiiit, really?” She sat down. “General Manager.” This was insane. “Me.”
“Why not.”
“What about Abraham in finance or Brenda in—”
“Nope.”
“I used to wear a hard hat and hold a stop sign.”
“And you did a degree part-time and you’ve worked in every major department. People respect you, except for maybe one or two, in your own damn area, and that’s not your fault. You can do it and I’m going to convince Roger you can.”
“I haven’t sorted out the Beeton house. It’s going to rot and we’re going to lose it.”
“That’s going to take a miracle.”
“I messed up with Drum.”
“I didn’t say you were perfect, Foley. You did your best with him.”
She groaned, hands screwed into defensive fists. “I can’t manage Gabriella. How am I supposed to …? Hugh, this is mad.”
“That would be an issue, but look, you’d be her boss, that would help.” He rocked into his chair back. “I’ve freaked you out.” He smirked. “Good. You’d better tell me if you want this.”
Did she want it? Jesus. It was a far bigger job than she’d ever be bolshie enough to apply for. “You’ll help when I get stuck?”
“I’ll be a phone call away.”
He was grinning insanely at her. “Go on. You want it. I know you do.”
She did want it. Her gut was churning, her head was whirling. A job this big, this scary, it called all her ambition to attention at a time when she had absolutely nothing to distract her from focusing on work. Yes. Yes. Yes. “I want it.”
Hugh pushed his chair back and propped his feet on the desk, folding his arms behind his head. “You need to sit on this for a day or two, let me work the details out.”
A day or two and she might get to keep Adro, and Nat’s suspicions were still in play. She blew Hugh a kiss and left him to his self-satisfaction. Other than her dad, he was the best man she knew and it was such a bummer they’d been in lust not love.
She floated back to the department high on the possibility of a future where she wasn’t Frustrated Foley anymore, where her professional life was miraculously on track. And her personal life, well, it was a work in progress, and so long as she didn’t think about Drum, it wasn’t too terrible.
Mark was sweet and he wore clothing that fitted and he didn’t make her hang out in a cave. They did normal things together like eat in restaurants, play video games, watch movies and fall asleep in front of the TV. He was contactable by phone, he was presentable to parents, he did admirable work and he cared for her. And if she wasn’t in love with him, maybe it didn’t matter because she’d ached with love for Drum and that hadn’t been enough to make him stay.
Gabriella pounced before she got back to her desk. She cornered Foley in the empty corridor. “I want you to know I won’t tell anyone what I saw.”
