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“You don’t have a guest shower you’d rather I use?” she asks.
“Nah. That one’s got better water pressure, and the shampoo and soap are already in it. I’ll get my extra stuff out of the linen closet and use the other one.”
She nods. “Thanks.”
“You’re welcome, Rocky.” I flash a wink her direction. “In fact, you’re welcome here anytime.”
Raquel
When life gives you lemons, buy some ballet slippers and dance across those fucking lemons until they’re lemonade. But maybe don’t drink the lemonade. Because, feet.
Speaking of my feet, these dogs still ache from last night’s SAG Awards. I would love nothing better than to stay in bed for the rest of the day, but it’s pretty damn hard to stay in bed when your manager shows up at your apartment with a chip on her shoulder.
I really wish she’d take a fucking day off.
“What a shitshow last night was,” Heidi says loudly as I hunker down on the couch with my laptop, searching for some pointe shoes on Amazon. Yes, I’m not a ballerina. Yes, I’ve never even played one in a movie. And, yes, I’m growing more pregnant by the day. But I do not care. These ballet slippers are the last thing I need, I’m more than aware of that, but the more time I spend trapped in my apartment, the more I search for useless items to buy.
Last week, I found one hell of a deal on gardening gloves.
And a few days after that, I managed to find the cutest watering can.
I do not have a yard. I own exactly zero plants. But one day, if I ever do take up the chosen hobby of green-thumbers around the world, I’ll be ready.
All of this online shopping is completely unnecessary, but it gives me something to do. Something to find joy in. Something to kill the time while Harrison is off somewhere else and I sit here and have to deal with my manager’s stank face.
I pick up my phone at the thought, wondering why I’m having to go through this alone. Harrison doesn’t normally leave me to the wolves anymore. If anything, he plays defense for me, blocking a lot of the heat and taking it on himself, but I haven’t heard from him since last night.
Me: What are you up to?
I groan to myself even as I hit send for my lame attempt at being casual. The good news is that he answers anyway.
Harrison: Just at the office, finishing up some stuff for work. Have to be ready for next week in New York.
Somehow, even with the abrupt move to LA and all the metaphorical hand-holding he does for me, Harrison has managed to settle into some kind of work routine. Hell, two weeks after he officially moved here, he already had a temporary HawCom workspace, hired two assistants and several California-based employees, and found the perfect spot just outside of LA to break ground for his company’s new West Coast headquarters.
Truly, it boggles my mind and makes me wonder if he’s a secret vampire who doesn’t need to sleep.
I reread his text message, hoping maybe I missed something, but nope, I didn’t. Vague and brush-off-esque was his answer, and I purse my lips as I start to type out another text and try again. This time, though, I allow myself to be a little vulnerable. This is not a guy I’ve known to play any sort of games. Maybe it’s time I stopped believing I have to. I’m already dreading having to spend next week without him; I don’t need to dance around myself so much now that I don’t get to see him beforehand.
Me: Am I going to see you today? I’d really like to. ?
His response is instant, but still, not exactly what I’m hoping it will be.
Harrison: I will definitely try. Just have a lot to get done before next week.
“Are you even listening to me?” Heidi asks loudly, and I jerk my head up from my phone. Obviously, I haven’t been, but I don’t tell her that. She’ll make Daenerys’s fiery dragons look like puppies if I open up her Pandora’s box.
“Of course.” The problem with my plan comes into stark clarity as she stares at me, quite obviously waiting for a response to a question of which I have no knowledge. “Just…repeat that last part maybe.” Or, you know, the last hour or so since you’ve been here…
“Jesus, Raquel.”
My phone goes off with another message, the vibration ringing just enough into the silence that Heidi notices it.
She rips the phone from my hands like I’m a freaking child, and I jump to my feet as fast as I can to try to steal it right back. Given the size of my now almost six-months’ preggo stomach, that is to say, not all that quickly.
