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“Not so fast.” I tug Frankie back into the room. “You are going to make up a story to get Kenna back here tomorrow. She needs to win her real match this time.”
Jacobs groans and says, “Oh dear.”
“Oh yes.”
“Whoo-hoo.” Frankie swaggers out into the hallway, making me laugh.
Kenna may hate me, but I have to try and fix this. I might lose my job, and I probably will lose my friendship with her brother, but I can’t lose her.
Chapter Nine
Kenna
Huddled under my blanket, with used tissues littering the coffee table, I stare at the television while I switch from one channel to the other. I’ve been in this position all night. All I have to show for my crying jag is puffy eyes and an empty carton of ice cream. Darn you, vanilla. I’ll never buy this flavor again.
A knock sounds on the door, and I jump. It’s very unusual for anyone to stop by, especially the morning of a work day. I haven’t even told my brother about the incident and the eventual “letting go” of my position. The last thing I need is for him to be mad at Pryce. I feel stupid that I thought there was more to our date and the kiss than there really was. The fact that I can’t hide my feelings for him anymore makes me glad I don’t work there anymore. If I had to see Pryce every day, I think I’d want to crawl into a hole and hide.
I rise and go toward the door when I hear from the other side, “Kenna, it’s me, Frankie. Open up.”
I fling open the door. He grabs me, pulls me into a hug, and lets me bawl my eyes out. “I’m sorry. I called you ten times last night, but you never answered. I violated about ten different data privacy laws to get your address, but I don’t care. I’ve been worried about you.”
He leads me to the couch.
“Why are you here?” I ask. “I don’t want you to lose your job too.”
“I have good news.”
He pauses as if I am supposed to guess. I motion for him to continue.
“You get a second chance.”
I gasp. “That’s amazing. I will do any lousy job anyone wants me to do.”
Frankie cringes. “This is not exactly about your job right now, but more on that later. Granddaddy Jacobs feels one percent bad about you losing your job over something you had no control over.”
“And?”
“He wants to make it up to you by giving you a second chance to find your Music City Match.” He sings the title of the show to the theme song, and I want to hurl.
With a snort, I reply, “You have got to be joking.”
“Nope. Isn’t it great?” He stands and wanders down my hallway.
“No, it isn’t. What are you doing?” I follow him to my bedroom.
“Helping you get dressed.” He rifles through my bedroom closet like he owns the place, flinging possible clothing choices onto my bed and turning his nose up at others. “You are going to the studio and let everyone see how classy you are. Show them you are not ashamed.”
I grab his arm while he evaluates a blouse. “But I am ashamed.”
He pulls out a pretty pink sundress that still has the tag on it. “This will be perfect. It brings out your eyes. And wear those cute wedge sandals that accentuate your calves.” He shoves the sundress into my hands and says, “Let’s go. You can change at the studio. and after that, you’ll need to go to hair and makeup. You got some serious dark circles, girl.”
“Thanks, Frankie,” I say in a deadpan tone. “I can always count on you to tell it like it is. But I can’t go. What if I see Pryce?”
He winks. “Even better. Let him see with his own eyes what he’s missing.”
Before I have a chance to refuse, he ushers me out of my apartment and into his car. This is the dumbest thing I’ve ever done, aside from agreeing to be on the ridiculous game show the first time. I guess the least I can do after this horrible situation is to go out on my own terms. I’m going to crash and burn anyway so I might as well go down with a smile on my face and a real date. Maybe that person will actually like my company.
Off set, I pace while I nibble on a fingernail. Frankie whistles when he sees me and indicates the sundress he picked out. “Girl, you look awesome.”
