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“Hey girl, don’t go reading nothing into what you see now. Things take time,” Lars said with a sad smile.
The words of the board members came back, and she thought she was strong enough to wait but now she wasn’t sure. She might have been passed over for a reason all of those years. Maybe everyone saw something in her that she didn’t. She didn’t make connections well and here she was trying to show she could.
“This old man has to get to bed early but I wanted to stop by and tell you I believe in you, Jessica.”
Jessica went into the office and sat down looking out of the window. She wondered what was she doing here?
“Jess, how you holding up?”
“I don’t know.”
Beth sat in the chair next to her and moved aside the yarn in it.
“You don’t say that. We don't say we don't know,” Beth said.
“I think for once it might be true.”
“What happened to the woman who said that if somebody can think of the problem, then the answer is already out there?”
Jessica gave a humorless laugh. “I think that woman ran into the love of her life and then couldn't make up her mind until it was too late about what she really wanted.”
“I saw Lars come in.”
“It was hard not to see Lars as there was no one else here.”
“Did he have any words of wisdom for you?”
“No, he's too kind to tell me the truth.”
“Well, this isn't you and I can't take having you like this. So, it seems as though what you need right away is to be in a different place.”
“What?”
“You heard me. What do we always say? That the mind that makes the problem usually can't solve the problem. So, the place that caused the problem, you usually can't find the answer in that same place. Take yourself an overnight bag and go to the meeting.”
Jessica looked down at her phone and then she looked at Beth.
“Beth?”
Beth grabbed both of Jessica's hands and held them in hers.
“I want you to go do what's best for you. Right now, what's best for you is a change of scenery and pace. I'll be here till the end of the week, and I won't leave until you come back. I want you to know that me sending you to Ms. Prince doesn't mean I agree with her. I just think that you need to have something jolt you out of this funk that you're in.”
“I feel like I'm leaving you.”
“Jessica, normally I'm jet setting all over the world and I come back to you. I think it's okay for us to switch roles just this once.”
Jessica didn’t have to be prodded anymore. She ran upstairs, packed herself an overnight bag, called a cab and then went to the airport. She needed some time to think. She needed some time to find out just how strong she was.
* * *
Brian was almost back in Peace. What had made him decide to drive back to Peace instead of flying like he left. He was in a rental car. He had left his car at the Peace Airport. This whole trip had just been a mistake. His personal phone had died. He hadn’t remembered to bring the charger, so he was stuck with his work phone for the day.
Then on the same day, his other charger didn’t like the rental car and frizzed. The only thing that was working out was that this car came with a charger for his personal phone. Oh, the problems of living with an android and an Apple device.
Usually after a meeting Brian was happy to get back to his home base. In fact, he had originally planned on going home to his condo in New York after this conference, but he couldn’t do it.
He had to talk to her. Jessica had to explain what had happened that she missed coming for breakfast. All the while that he was talking in his meetings, his mind was really on if he had given Jessica enough time. He knew good things didn't last but in this case he thought he might have self-sabotaged. He had been working all of his life for his career. As he went to sleep last night, he thought how arrogant it was for him to expect Jessica to give up the start of her career. He knew that they were going to be able to work it out, they just had to make some sacrifices.
