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“And he’s not good enough for me?”
“No. He’s not,” he said flatly.
“He’s Camden Percy,” I argued.
“That doesn’t mean anything.”
“It does here.”
“Then, maybe you should get out of New York.”
I narrowed my eyes at him. I was getting upset again. “My life is in New York. I have this amazing new job and a boyfriend and friends.”
“Savannah is home.”
“So?” I spat back at him, pushing off of the edge to glare at him. “Ash, why do you even care? You’re not my brother. And you’re certainly not single. You don’t get to have an opinion about all of this.”
“I know that kind of guy, Mia,” he said, grabbing my arm before I could walk away. “I’ve seen plenty of guys like him treat girls like you like shit. I can recognize it when I see it. He’s an asshole.”
“Can you recognize that you’re being an asshole?” I jerked my arm back. “Let me go.”
He dropped my arm. “Amelia …”
“What are you, jealous?”
He stood there in surprise. As if he had never considered the option before. And that hurt all the more.
“Just … go home to Lila, Ash.”
Then, I turned and walked away from him. A part of me knew that he was right, but I just wasn’t ready to admit it. But at the same time … he wasn’t ready to admit his jealousy either. So, I didn’t owe him anything.
7
New York City
October 17, 2014
“I’m out early today, Shannon,” I reminded my manager.
Her eyes were wide. “What? Who approved that?”
I paused, fear spiking through me. It always did that at Elizabeth Cunningham. It didn’t matter if I’d gotten the time off approval ages ago. Working in high fashion was as terrifying as The Devil Wears Prada made it out to be and sometimes worse. The adrenaline hit when I had to eat lunch and it was something other than a salad or getting coffee and it wasn’t skinny. The pressure was intense. Taking time off was worse.
“You … you did,” I reminded her. I pulled up our shared app and showed it to her. “See, I have a half-day today and Monday off.”
“How are you going to make up this time?” Shannon asked.
“I can stay late the rest of the week. My brother and his best friend are in town for the weekend.”
“I didn’t approve this.” Shannon looked like she was going to have a panic attack.
That was when Harmony Cunningham slipped in. “Actually, I did.”
I blinked in surprise. Harmony mostly modeled for the company, but her mom had slowly been giving her more responsibilities. All things considered, I liked Harmony way more than everyone else. Her mom was a nightmare.
“Oh, thank you, Harmony.”
“No problem, Amelia. And don’t worry about making up the hours. I’ll be in for the rest of the day and Monday to help around.”
Shannon opened her mouth to object, but Harmony shot her an imperious look, and Shannon dropped it. I’d realized that about Harmony. Few people could argue with her and win. The only person I’d seen her have a full-blown argument with was Katherine Van Pelt. It had been a thing of nightmares during Fashion Week. All over a guy at that. I mean, Penn Kensington was gorgeous, but he wasn’t worth your career. Not that either of them was likely to lose it with the connections they had, but still!
“Go have fun, and if you want to bring the boys, we’ll be at 360 tonight!” Harmony offered.
I flinched and hated that I still did. Club 360 belonged to Camden, and I no longer did. I didn’t go there anymore unless I was dragged with fashion friends since it was the place to see and be seen.
“I’ll pass, but thanks for the offer.”
Harmony followed me toward the entrance. “Hey, don’t let Camden keep you away. Fuck that guy.”
I laughed. “Thanks, Harm. It’s not him. I just want to spend time with my family, you know?”
Harmony gave me a sympathetic look, like she didn’t believe me. And hey, I didn’t believe me either.
“Next time,” she offered like an olive branch.
“Definitely. Bye.”
“Have fun!”
I waved good-bye as I stepped out onto Madison Avenue in my all-black outfit and black high heels, wrapping my black peacoat around my shoulders. What I wouldn’t give for some color in my wardrobe, but that just wasn’t done. In Savannah, I’d grown up in pastels, but I couldn’t imagine anyone in New York fashion wearing lavender or mint. This was what I’d signed up for.
I was nearly to my apartment in the West Village when I got a text from Derek, saying that they were almost there. Derek had moved back to Savannah to take his place in our family law firm in August after he’d finished up a year of working for one of his Harvard professors. Though I knew the real reason was the big breakup with Marley.
