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“I mentioned Florida to my mom,” I say.“God, am I ever going to be free of him?”
Emmett looks at me, sympathy in his eyes.“Can you call the company and ask them what happened?Maybe you can still salvage the internship.”
I sigh.“I’ve already tried.The internship coordinator won’t return my calls.His assistant finally said it’s unfortunate and he’s very sorry, but the funding has dried up and there’s nothing he can do about it.Oh, and I’m welcome to apply again next summer.
“It’s May!”I groan.“Every internship has been filled for months.And even if I could get another one, what’s to stop Anthony from pulling it out from under my feet again if he’s the one who did this?I should have known that even eighteen hundred miles wouldn’t be far enough to get away from him.”
I take a deep breath before I spiral headlong into hysteria.I can do this.There’s always a way.
“I can look for a job here, but I don’t know how I’m going to pay my half of the rent in the meantime.I spent the last of my scholarship money on a freaking plane ticket to Florida.I don’t even have my job at the coffee shop anymore.When I told Milo I was quitting at the end of the month, he talked his niece into coming to New York to take my place and work for him.But she arrived earlier than planned and he told me today he can’t afford to pay us both, so I don’t even have that.Can you cover me for a few weeks?Or a month tops?I’ll find something.”
Emmett is looking at me with stricken eyes.“Ava, we sublet the apartment for the summer, remember?We have to be out by the first.”
I can literally feel the blood drain from my face.How had I forgotten that?When I’d been accepted to the prestigious summer design program in Florida for graduating college seniors, I’d been equally thrilled about going and worried about leaving Emmett to pay the rent on his own.He’d insisted I go, telling me he’d love the chance to get out of New York for the summer, and suggested we sublet our apartment.It’s rent controlled and in coveted Greenwich Village, and it had been snapped up in two days.Emmett, who’s an aspiring actor in addition to being a gifted tattoo artist, had applied to some new reality show that’s filming in Las Vegas over the summer.If he doesn’t get it, he’s planning to stay with a friend in LA and look for acting jobs to supplement his income while working at his friend’s tattoo place.
“Crap!What am I going to do?”I push away from the table and stand, pacing the short length of our kitchen.
“Could you crash at Serena’s?”
I shake my head.“She’s spending the summer in Europe with her parents.”
“What about that girl you worked with on your senior project?”he suggests.
“I barely know her,” I say with a strangled laugh.Other than Emmett and Serena, my roommate my first two years here, I haven’t made many friends at NYU.It’s easier that way.Besides, I’m too focused on my grades to have much time for anything else; school has to come first.I’ve known all along that my college degree is what will buy me my freedom.
Ha!Some kind of freedom.Although I’ll have my degree in two weeks, I’ll be unemployed and homeless.
“We have two weeks.We’ll figure out something,” Emmett assures me.He looks at my untouched carton of noodles.“Are you going to eat that?”
I push it across the counter to him.“Let’s face it, Em.I’m fucked.”
* * *
I wake up to the intoxicating smell of bacon and coffee.Emmett must be making breakfast.He’s hopeless at putting together anything resembling dinner, but he can rock the hell out of bacon and eggs.I glance at the glowing blue numbers on the clock next to my bed.Eleven o’clock.Thank goodness it’s Saturday.I stumble out of bed and make my way into the kitchen.Sure enough, Emmett’s standing in front of the stove wearing a pair of well-worn gray sweatpants and the apron one of his girlfriend’s gave him as a pseudo-joke that’s emblazoned with the words MASTER CHEF, whistling as he places six perfectly cooked slices of crispy bacon on a paper towel.
“You’re awfully cheerful this morning,” I grumble as I pour myself a cup of coffee.I wrap my hands around it and take a healthy gulp.I had tossed and turned for over an hour last night, sleep eluding me as I tried to figure out what I was going to do.When I’d finally slept, my dreams had been filled with images of the girl handcuffed to the radiator, only in my dreams, the girl had been me.I’d woken up feeling vaguely aroused and completely unsettled.
“Yes, I am!”he says, a smug smile on his face.“Because I have figured out the perfect solution to your problem.”
I look at him skeptically.“You have?”
“Yep.Sit down and I’ll tell you while we have breakfast.”
I sit, helping myself to some bacon, a slice of toast, and a spoonful of fluffy scrambled eggs.
“You know that reality show I applied to be on?”
I nod.“The one in Las Vegas?”
“That’s the one.I got an e-mail this morning.I’ve been accepted for the show!”
“That’s great!”I jump up to throw my arms around him.“You totally deserve it.This is going to be your big break.I can feel it.Everyone will see this gorgeous face of yours and fall in love with you,” I say, pinching his cheeks.“Look out Channing Tatum, there’s a new heartthrob in town!”
I laugh at the look of exasperation on his face as he carefully disengages my arms.
“Sit down, Ava,” he says.“There’s more.”
I sit back down, take a bite of toast, and look at him expectantly.
