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“She sounds like a great mom.”
“She was.”
Julie and her boys disappear behind the front door of a single-story house painted beige with a large front window and a swing hanging from the tree on the well-kept lawn.
Grateful Chloe is still holding my hand, I ask what hasn’t left the back of my mind. “Is your dad okay?”
She stiffens. It kills me, as I’m left wondering if she doesn’t want to talk about it in general, or doesn’t want to talk about it tome.
“It’s okay if you don’t want to tell me,” I say, taking the high road.Don’t make this about you, dumbass.“Just know I’m here if you need someone to confide in.” I’ll gladly share her burdens if she’ll just open her heart and let me in.
“I don’t.” Her voice, whisper-thin and fragile, touches a place deep inside me. “No offense.”
“None taken.” I am absolutely offended.
Which means I’m in this deeper than I thought.
Chapter Thirteen
#ThroughThickAndThin
Chloe
Isit atone end of the rectangular table in the conference room of Media Management Corp LA for our weekly meeting and large content planning session and try to stay focused on the ideas being passed around rather than the text I received from Finn this morning.
Good morning.
Yep, those two little words are all he said. But now all I can think about is that he thought of me when he woke up and took the time to tell me. I’ve stared at the text no less than five times, yet to come up with something to text back. The simple consideration is teeming withmore. Because the fact is we’re no longer just working together. We’re developing a relationship outside of the Landsharks, and looking across the table at my coworkers, I sense it’s not the same case with them, romantic or otherwise.
“It’s clear our fans want more behind-the-scenes content,” Rena says, breaking into my musings. She and her assistant are here this morning, too, making sure we’re focused on the Landsharks’s brand and meeting their expectations.
“Agreed,” my boss says then clicks to the next slide on the PowerPoint presentation filling the drop-down screen. “And you’ll notice to combat the decrease in organic reach, our trick is to repost content multiple times throughout the day. We’ll double those efforts this week with the Thanksgiving holiday to take advantage of PTO.”
“On Friday, we’re doing a live Twitter chat with the guys,” I say, “again hoping to take advantage of people home from work. We’ll kick it off with a picture of their favorite Thanksgiving food and segue into the Landsharks Love Toy Drive taking place next week. Finn would also like to visit the Children’s Hospital in the coming weeks so I’m happy to arrange a group visit there.”
Julie’s son, Josh, left a big impression on Finn. As we left the park on Saturday he talked about both of her boys with reverence, as if he was remembering his own childhood with his brothers. I can somewhat relate in that I think of Jillian like a sister. I don’t know what it’s like to live under the same roof as a sibling, to have to fight for the bathroom or television or attention, but I do know what it’s like to come to Jillian’s defense, to laugh and cry with her, to tell her my secrets.
“Sounds good, Chloe. Thank you. We’ll also run a special campaign for Landsharks Love,” my boss says, taking my introduction to pull up the appropriate slide and elaborate.
“Perfect,” Rena says.
Discussion continues on tone of voice, retweets, what time of day posts are most effective, social monitoring, and a reminder about our main goal: gain team support.
The Monday meeting ends with donuts, coffee, and a chance to socialize. Before she leaves, Rena pulls me aside. “Could I speak with you for a minute?”
Oh, shit. She knows. She knows Finn and I crossed the professional line and I’m about to get replaced. Or reprimanded. Or both. I follow her out of the conference room, her assistant striding out of earshot. That doesn’t bode well. I run my sweaty palms down the legs of my jeans. I’d rather be at the dentist getting a root canal than here.
“Finn called me this morning,” she says.
“Oh?”
“He wanted to tell me he was enjoying this more than he thought he would and that you were easy to work with.”
“That’s good to hear.”
“It is, considering I was worried he’d be difficult. But I also had a feeling you were a perfect match, so thank you for proving me right.” She smiles.
My posture relaxes. “You’re welcome.”
