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“I need to let Shiloh out,” she finally says. “Go sit on the couch, and we’ll talk.”
I do as I’m told until a few minutes later when Leila joins me with Shiloh, who jumps up for pets and licks. His excited energy does not match the stress between Leila and me.
“Okay. Let’s get this out in the open. It shouldn’t matter if we’re photographed together if this is real, and it hurt me when you said it.”
I sigh. “I know, and I’m sorry.”
“What’s with you today? You seemed weird when you picked me up, and it only got worse when we were at that club.”
“I just got into my head about how different we are. You hate clubs, and I was dragging you to one.”
“We talked about balance, remember? You’re not going to love everything I do, and I’m not going to love everything you do. What matters is that we try to make it work. Unless you don’t want to make it work anymore.”
“I do. It was just a bad week at work with all the reshoots, and I took it out on you. I’m sorry for getting into my head.”
“And you should be sorry for throwing that guy against a wall. He wasn’t even being sleazy. He seemed genuinely nice. Honestly, I think you might’ve been more his type than me.”
“Shit. That was a mistake, too. I’ve messed up all night. Do you forgive me?”
“Yeah, but next time you freak out about our relationship, can you clue me in? If we’d just talked about it earlier, we would’ve had more fun at that club.”
“You were miserable.”
“Only because of your dumb comment about the photographers. I actually liked the music there, and it wasn’t overly crowded. It wasn’t the worst place I’ve ever been, but you had to be a jerk!”
I can’t help laughing. “Wow, I really screwed that up. You didn’t hate it?”
“I didn’t. We could go back sometime when you’re in a better mood. As long as you’re not permanently banned.”
“I won’t be. They’re used to it.”
“You could get into some trouble for this.”
“I probably will. Nothing I’m not used to. I shouldn’t have flipped out like that.”
“If I weren’t so annoyed, I might’ve found it kind of hot.”
“I’ll take it.”
We settle onto the couch and watch a movie until we’re both tired and ready for bed. I still feel like there’s a layer of tension between us, but it’s better than before, and that’s what matters.
Chapter Twenty-Nine – Leila
I’ve decided to implement Monday morning meetings at the Frills office. I know I’m not officially the manager here, but now that we have three of us working, I think it’d be good for us to spend at least some time every week going over our schedules and discussing projects. Clementine wasn’t thrilled at the idea, but our new hire Sophia loved it.
“Good morning!” I say when I walk into find both Clementine and Sophia already at the office. I set a tray of three coffees and a bag of bagels on the empty table near the front of our small office space.
“Hey, Leila. You brought coffee? You’re a life saver. I didn’t have time to stop this morning.”
I hand Sophia her cup. “I hope I remembered how you like it.”
She takes a sip and smiles at me. “Perfectly sweet. Thank you!”
“Of course. And thank you both for agreeing to these meetings. I thought it would be good for us to ensure we’re on the same page every week.”
“As long as we don’t waste too much time,” Clementine says.
I avoid the urge to roll my eyes. “We won’t. So, today I wanted to propose an idea. I know you both specialize in private homes. I was thinking, if you were both okay with it, I could be the contact person for businesses or other public spaces, and the two of you can handle the private side.”
The girls think for a moment before both nodding yes.
“I hate doing public spaces,” Clementine admits. “Business owners are way pickier than homeowners. If you want to deal with them, go for it.”
“I prefer houses, too,” Sophia says. “But if there’s any overflow, I wouldn’t mind doing some public stuff, too.”
“Perfect!” I say, clapping my hands together. “I was hoping you’d both agree.”
With that part finished, we go over some of the current projects we’re all working on and the emails we have for potential new clients. We’ll have to bid on a few, and we’re hoping our lower bids will win out. My strategy is always to bid low enough to win but high enough to manage the clients’ requests for the space.
“Good meeting,” I say as we’re wrapping up. “I did have ulterior motives for this first meeting. I have a call with Rebecca later today, and I wanted to ask if you guys have anything to share with her.”
