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Having her in my portfolio would do as much as having Tony Richmond would have done, and I hoped to God I didn’t have to walk away from this one.
My stomach twisted and turned, a combination of nausea and nerves, but I held my composure better than I even thought I could.
“Well, you outdid yourself,” Mrs. Collier finally said, glancing up at me. “I didn’t think you knew where I wanted to go with this, but it proves to me that you have understood my vision and brought it to life.”
I let out a quiet breath of relief.
“Do you want me to make any changes?”
Mrs. Collier shook her head. “No, this is excellent. I really like it. When do you think we can start?”
“As early as next week,” I said. The more she asked and I answered, the lighter I felt. I’d thought if she rejected me again, this was it. I would have to throw in the towel. But now, she wanted me to go through with it.
I could still pull this off. And what do you know, my nausea backed off a little too. A lot of it was panic-induced.
“Next week it is.”
“If you’ll have the furniture removed by Monday morning, I can have my team here bright and early to get started,” I said.
“I’ll take care of it and transfer you the money.”
I nodded and stood, holding out my hand. Mrs. Collier took it with her perfectly manicured hand, her skin soft and nails polished, and she smiled a million-dollar smile at me.
When I left the large mansion, I didn’t run and skip and hoot. I walked out gracefully and climbed into my car. I drove through the large gates, and only when I was about a block away did I let out a squeal.
Finally, after so much had gone wrong, things were finally turning around.
Mrs. Collier had started with only two rooms, but now she’d mentioned she might want to do more. And if she did, it was only going to get better from there.
I tapped on my screen in the car and let my hands-free system dial Mia.
“She went for it!” I cried out as soon as Mia answered.
“Are you serious?” Mia said with equal excitement and relief. “I really thought it was over.”
“Me too,” I agreed. “But we need the team there on Monday morning. Will you take care of it?”
“Absolutely,” Mia said.
“Good, the money should be in later today, so we can take the next steps.”
“I’m on it.”
Thank God for Mia. If it weren’t for her, my business wouldn’t have been nearly where it was now, no matter how hard I would have worked. Mia worked behind the scenes, but she helped me keep the carefully constructed house of cards upright with me.
She was a saint.
“I’ll be there in about half an hour,” I said. “I just need to stop at home and get into something more comfortable.”
“Why don’t you just stay at home?” Mia suggested.
“Are you sure?”
“Yeah, I’ve got it covered here. No more clients for the day, right?” When I confirmed our meetings were done, she continued, “I know you’ve been under the weather, and you can design at home too. Put your feet up, and I’ll call if something comes up. Worst comes to worst, you can come back later.”
“I don’t know what I’d do without you,” I said.
We ended the call, and I drove to my apartment. I was ready to get into pajamas and get back in bed. I hadn’t told Mia that I was pregnant yet. I hadn’t told anyone other than Sadie. I needed some time to wrap my head around it first. After that, when I knew how I felt about it, I could start telling people and planning ahead. I just needed some time to myself.
