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Oliver waited inside, not a hair out of place, like he’d been there with a garment bag all along.
“You are a wizard,” she said with a smile, breathing a sigh of relief.
He looked her up and down and waved an open hand. “If I were, I’d wave a wand and undo whatever all this is. Tell me what happened again?”
She shut her door and kicked off her soggy shoes. She kept emergency flats in her file cabinet for days she just couldn’t handle heels for another second. Who knew they’d also come in handy for freak fountain accidents.
“I went to talk to the bartender,” she said as she crossed the commercial carpet that was more just a layer of stiff fuzz. She rattled open her bottom drawer and pulled out black slides with a hint of a block heel. “He made me another drink; I drank it and tried to undo my wish.” She sat at her desk and opened her makeup stash drawer. She had a plan. She’d spent the morning with natural hair, but stringy, chlorinated hair wasn’t going to fly. Not for lunch with a celebrity. A sleek topknot with a bold lip would do.
“And how did that lead to you falling in a fountain?” Oliver gave her a curious look as he unzipped the garment bag.
A black cap sleeve with a flared skirt. Perfect.
Lucy grabbed her brush from her drawer and attacked the damp tangles, whipping them up into a pony she then spun into a bun and stabbed with pins.
“When the drink and the wish didn’t work,” she said, talking around the pins sticking from her mouth, “the bartender suggested I try true love’s kiss to fix my problem.”
Oliver circled behind her desk and hung the dress from her bookshelf. “Interesting. But again, how does the fountain come into play?”
Lucy found her hand mirror and tube of flaming-red lip color and set to work. “Because”—she spoke and painted at the same time—“true love’s kiss made me think of Caleb and how our relationship might be a lie, that maybe we aren’t that great together and I’m only telling myself we are. I went to see him, and thanks to all the honesty, we broke up.” She rubbed her lips together and snapped the tube’s cap back on.
Oliver couldn’t hide his half smile. “I’ve always said you were settling for him and telling yourself he was the one.”
“Thanks. I know that now,” she said, smiling wryly.
He held up his hands. “I’m just saying.”
She stood and shooed him toward the door, needing to get changed. “Yes, you’ve shared your piece, and I thank you. Now get out.”
“You haven’t told me about the fountain!”
She opened the door and pushed him out, knowing it was only a matter of seconds before Joanna came to collect her to leave for lunch. She looked side to side to make sure no one would hear and quietly muttered, “A pigeon attacked me, and I fell in the fountain outside Caleb’s building.”
Her closing door cut off the sound of his laugh.
Once alone, she peeled off her damp dress and reached for the new one, glimpsing the price tag as she pulled it off and silently thanking Oliver for not breaking the bank. The circle skirt fluttered around her hips with a vintage flair, and the bodice completely shielded her bra. She considered hiring Oliver as a personal shopper. By the time she stepped into her dry shoes, Joanna knocked on her door.
Lucy took a deep breath, preparing for the most important part of her day and doing her best to ignore the fact that she’d been injured, harassed, mutually dumped, and nearly drowned all before noon on a day she wished would be perfect.
Not to mention, there was a non-zero chance her boss was about to tell her she didn’t have a job anymore either.
“Lucy, a quick word,” Joanna greeted as she stepped inside her office. She eyed Lucy’s new outfit with an efficient glance but didn’t ask questions. “Cute dress. Before we go, I just wanted to assure you that everything is under control.”
Lucy’s heart leapt with relief. “You mean I’m not—?”
“No, you’re not. I spoke to Jonathan and reminded him he can’t run this place like his own personal club.” She scoffed and rolled her eyes with an annoyance rooted in sibling rivalry, Lucy was sure. Her face then shifted into something much more serious. “We are going to have to address what you mentioned about his treatment of you, however. That is a very serious allegation.”
Warmth spread over her cheeks in dread of the inevitable. “I know.”
Joanna’s eyes swept her office: her computer, her succulents, her makeup pouch, the damp dress hanging from her bookshelf. Her gaze lingered on the dress before she turned it back on Lucy. “It seems like you’ve had a bit of a difficult morning. Are you sure you’re up for lunch?”
“Of course!”
Joanna smiled, but it was reserved. “I expected no less from you. Though I have to say, your impressive ability to perform under distress should not justify the distress. Too much expectation is put on women to adapt, when it is in fact the obstacles they face that need changing.”
Lucy silently agreed.
Joanna leaned in with a conspiratorial glint in her eye. “What I’m saying is, just because you can put up with it doesn’t mean you should have to. Now”—she took a sharp breath—“I hate to ask you to do this, but I know you are more than capable of compartmentalizing to make it through this very important lunch with Lily. We will see to this other issue when we return. Ready?”
Lucy had woken up ready that morning, and despite her day so far, she still was.
“Yes.”
