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Rachel and Michelle both grin at me, and Raven can’t stop raving about the designs until she finally ends the call to go to bed.
When she’s gone, Rachel and Michelle both beam at me.
“I can’t tell you how proud I am,” Michelle says. “You’re our resident super star; you know that?”
I shake my head. “This is a lot.”
“It is,” Michelle says, nodding. “But I have faith in you. You’re going to be the top coordinator on this thing, and who knows, in a few months, we might go to London to scope agents and models.”
My stomach turns when she talks about the timeline.
I glance at Rachel before I look at Michelle again. “Can I talk to you alone for a moment?”
“I’ll get a cup of coffee,” Rachel says and she leaves the office.
When she’s gone, Michelle frowns.
“What’s wrong? You don’t look nearly as excited about this as I thought you would be.”
“I’m thrilled,” I say. “This is the break of a lifetime, and I didn’t think I would go somewhere in the company this soon. The art…it’s incredible to be back into that. But…”
“What is it?” Michelle pushes.
I clench my hands in my lap and look at Michelle’s desk.
“I’m pregnant,” I admit. “I’ll be showing in a couple of months. And this project is huge, and it might be a mistake to give it to me. Maybe you should get Rachel to do the whole thing. It was her idea to start with and—”
“You’re pregnant?” Michelle asks with a frown. “Why didn’t you say anything?”
I shrug. “It’s been a tough couple of weeks. I’m still trying to wrap my mind around it, and doing it all alone again—”
“Nat! Alone? What happened with Mason?”
Michelle isn’t my boss anymore. She’s switched to friend mode. It’s such a long story, with so much to tell, I can’t pack it all in now. I give her the briefest overview.
“Why didn’t you tell me any of this?” Michelle finally asks.
“Because I was terrified of what I felt,” I say. “And work was busy, and you were buried in this stuff, and my problems shouldn’t be yours.”
“Your problemsshouldbe mine, Nat,” Michelle said. “We’re friends. First and foremost. We also have the luxury of seeing each other every day at the office, but I hate that you couldn’t talk to me.”
I shake my head. “If it makes you feel better, I’m not very good at talking toanyone. The only reason Dianne gets anything out of me is because I pay her to. So it’s an obligation.”
“You can pay me,” Michelle says with a wink.
I laugh and shake my head. “Maybe you really should consider Rachel for this. She’s better for the job, anyway. I’m so new at this, I’m not really a designer, and—”
“Nonsense,” Michelle says. “You’re perfect. You have incredible talent, and there’s no way I’m kicking you to the curb because you have a personal life, too. We’ll just have to explain to Raven—”
“Could you wait until I tell my brother? He doesn’t know yet,” I say.
“Right,” Michelle says. “Sometimes, I forget you and Noah are siblings.”
I nod. Now that Noah lives and works in Paris, I don’t see him as often as I used to, and the last while, we’ve both been so busy we’ve barely talked. I still have to break the news to him that he’s going to be an uncle again. And only then do I think we can tell Raven. I’d hate for him to learn from his fiancé, as my boss, that I’m pregnant.
“We’ll figure this out,” Michelle says. “I’m serious, don’t you worry about it. The last thing I want is for you to lose this opportunity. Raven had Ava and raised her alone when she started Ruby Blue, so she won’t let a baby get in your way.”
I nod, relieved. We’re all in the same situation, in one way or another. And it makes me at ease. Michelle has my best interests at heart, and I’m so relieved she wants to make it work for me.
