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I wasn’t giving up on the book, either. But for now, with the success from the show, it was definitely on the back burner.
I was making enough money with my art to support myself, and with the coming pieces going to other galleries, I’d keep making a steady paycheck off of it. I’d made enough for me to quit my job at Leads Energy. But… I couldn’t bring myself to do it.
It felt like a final nail in the coffin, something that would obliterate our relationship, what was left of it anyway.
Just as I’m heading onto the elevator with a mail cart loaded down, my phone pings with a text.
I rip it out of my pocket and hold my breath when I see a text from Jane.
I’m okay. How are you?
It pains me to see how cordial we’re being, but at least we’re talking.
Good, working.I hit send, then write,Can I see you tonight?
It’s the first time I’ve asked since the show, the first time I’ve risked it. I craved her, craved seeing her, wanting to hold her, kiss her. Show her how much I still loved her.
Her mother be damned.
I can’t tonight. Maybe tomorrow?
I let my head fall against the elevator wall and sigh. I thought for sure she would say yes. I really did.
It’s game night, is my only reply, unsure how to continue the conversation. I stuff my phone in my pocket and roll my cart out onto the floor.
When I get to Jane’s office, I give Lisa a polite smile and leave the mail on her desk.
Chapter Fifty-Six
“Courage is grace under pressure.”
-Ernest Hemingway
Jane
I stare down the long conference table as the clock ticks down to the moment I’ve asked everyone to come and join me.
Molly stares at me, concern in her eyes.
“Are you sure you don’t want me here?”
I smile at my new friend, her phone in her hand where she no doubt was texting our friend group chat. Ever since they all helped me out with Carl—ever since I’d decided to confide in them all—Molly, April, Viviana, and Quinn have become some of my closest friends. I’ve never had a group quite like them before, and no matter how the day turned out, I would be grateful that I could lean on them.
“I’m sure. You’ve done enough and this.” I tap my finger on the file in front of me. The one Liam Stokes had hand-delivered himself this morning. “This is something I need to do on my own. It’s time I stand up for myself.”
“Okay,” she hedges, unsure if she should leave or not, no doubt. “Only if you’re sure?”
“I’m sure.” Another reassuring nod from me and Molly exits the conference room.
Then I wait to see who will arrive first.
I’m not sure how this will go, who will be more shocked and who will try to threaten me. But deep down, there’s this resolve that lingers. I’m done playing the puppet to my mother’s messed-up game.
I’m also done not seeing Warren any longer. I haven’t been fair, he hasn’t been fair, but life isn’t, right? We’ve both made some mistakes, but I was confident we would eventually come out stronger. I just had to figure out how.
The door to the room opens and my mother strides in. Gone is her ratty bathrobe and makeup-free face, instead, it’s the same mask she’s worn all of her life. Cold, hard, and determined.
“Jane, what’s going on?” Mom sets her bag on a chair and places her hands on her hips just as the door opens again and Jasper walks into the room, eyeballing me and my mother.
