AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Fred let out a long, low chuckle. “Oh, Leo. You done fucked up, son.”
Leo dropped his head in his hands. Humiliatingly, his eyes began to prickle. This job was everything to him, and now it was over. “I can hand over my current projects to Vanessa or one of the other event directors. I always keep notes, so it shouldn’t be too much of an issue to transition. And I understand that you won’t give me a reference, so I won’t ask for one, but—”
“I’m not firing you, Leo.”
He jerked his head up. “What?”
“Are you quitting?”
Leo blinked, then blinked again. “I… No. No, I’m not quitting.”
“Good. So there will be no talk of handovers and transitions. You have Thelma Vonn’s seventieth party coming up, and she was very insistent about two dozen Chippendale dancers. Last I checked, that hasn’t been confirmed, and we’ll need to lock them in by the end of the month. And Quincy Boorhouse’s kid’s party on the hundred-foot yacht needs another once-over. You’ll need to contact the coast guard to get it all buttoned up before they can do anything.” Fred tapped his computer and frowned at the screen. “I’ve just gotten an inquiry about a vow renewal in Fiji, and with your experience in the South Pacific, I think you should get the project.”
“You’re not firing me?” Leo asked stupidly.
Fred arched a brow. “Do youwantme to fire you?”
“No, I just…don’t understand. With Ari and Cora…”
Fred sighed and rubbed his forehead for a moment before answering. “I’ve had a couple of days to think about them, and their betrayals still hurt. They lied to me. They stole from me.” He lifted his gaze to Leo’s. “You didn’t. You just acted like an idiot who forgot the internet exists, and that fact-checking isn’t that hard when you’re talking about public figures like lead singers in a fake band.”
Leo’s neck grew hot. He snorted, embarrassed. “Were you just waiting for me to come clean this whole time?”
“I knew it’d happen eventually. You’ve got too much integrity to live with something like that,” Fred said casually, like that simple line didn’t shoot a spear through Leo’s chest. Fred flicked his hands. “Now go. You’ve got work to do.”
Leo stood, then extended his palm. “Thank you, Fred.”
The other man stood and shook Leo’s hand across the desk. His grip was firm and sure, and Leo felt his heart settle. He still had a job. He still had this man’s respect. It didn’t fix everything, but at least his life wasn’t in complete shambles.
“Say hi to Amelia for me,” Fred said as he took a seat again, his eyes back on his computer.
Leo walked to the doorway and paused. “We’re not in touch anymore,” he admitted. “I think I messed that up worse than I did this.”
Fred lifted his gaze and watched Leo for a beat. “I wouldn’t be so sure, son,” he answered quietly.
The words rang in Leo’s head all the way back to his car, and during the entire car ride back to Stirling. By the time he was back at his grandparents’ place—at Marlon’s place—Fred’s words had settled somewhere deep in Leo’s heart.
And he made a decision.
TWENTY-SEVEN
Amelia adjustedher purse and squared her shoulders. She locked her apartment door and did a double take when she saw the door open to number 303, with a young couple trying to fit a couch through the door. They dropped it halfway through the threshold and scowled at each other.
“Are you relations of Mrs. Gordon?” Amelia asked. She pointed to her door. “I’m her neighbor.”
“We’re moving in,” the man said, wiping sweat off his forehead. “I’m Eric. Nice to meet you.”
“Kayla,” the woman said.
Amelia shook hands with the two of them, frowning at the slice of apartment she could see through the door. It was utterly bare of Mrs. Gordon’s knickknacks. “I didn’t even know Mrs. Gordon moved out,” she said, feeling oddly hurt.
Yet another person leaving her stranded. It wasn’t that she loved Mrs. Gordon, but the old lady had been a constant in her life since she’d moved into the building.
“The old bitch disappeared overnight,” Mr. Petrovski said, poking his head through the open door. “Didn’t even take her cat. Now Her Majesty is shaking her rear at my Winston all hours of the day and night.”
“She didn’t take her cat?” Amelia gaped. “Did she die?”
“One can only hope,” he replied, then slammed his door.
