AllFreeNovel
Share Us
She breaks into a soft smile, then turns back around as her friend leads her to the passenger’s side of her car.
I exhale as I watch them drive off. For a moment, I simply stare at the empty parking space before me. Then, I pull out my phone and head into my contacts.
“Gary?” I say as soon as he answers. I walk over to my door and open it. “Meet me at Per Se. Let’s say I just got hit with a wave of inspiration.”
Chapter 5
Mia
TwoWeeksLater
“Wow, Mia, this is…cozy,” Ava says as she steps into my one-bedroom apartment on 38th Street.
A small kitchen to the right upon entrance, a stacked washer and dryer to the left, and the rest of the open floor plan is a living room with a built-in bookshelf along one wall and two giant windows with an immaculate view of the Empire State Building with plenty of natural light. To the left of the living room are the bedroom and bathroom, both small but cozy indeed. Plus, everything from the kitchen appliances to the countertops and bathtub is newly renovated. It only looks bare bones right now because I have yet to unpack and properly furnish it.
“I know it’s small, but I think it’s charming,” I say, shutting the door behind me.
I cross toward the living room, where the majority of my unpacked boxes are situated, until all the furniture I’ve ordered arrives. On my way to one of the boxes, my foot catches onto a jacket I have folded on the ground. It’s Carter’s.
I bite my lip. Despite everything, he let me keep his too-expensive suit jacket. I wonder if he’s doing okay.
“You know I never cared much for a lavish lifestyle,” I say, pretending I didn’t just miss a random guy who drove me around the city for a few hours. I take a seat on the floor next to a box of my books. “I only lived in that brownstone with Michael because that’s what he wanted.”
“True.” Ava joins me on the floor and begins unpacking a box of kitchenware. “Before you met Michael, you always had the smallest apartment of all our friend group.”
“My interior design work has always been the best of everyone’s, though.” I lift my chin up high as I remove a few books from the box. “Besides, I’m going to be so busy working. I’m hardly ever going to be here.”
Perhaps the most impulsive of all my decisions this week was quitting my job at Studio 42 Entertainment. It’s where Michael and Kristen work too. I don’t want to see both of them every day now that I know the truth. The very idea of it makes me sick.
“Your final interview is today, right?” Ava asks, organizing the dish towels she’s taken out from the box.
I nod and rise so I can begin stacking my books on the built-in shelf. “After today, I’ll know for sure if I got the internship. Thanks again for helping me unpack, by the way. It’s been impossible to convince my parents to go back to Hudson since the wedding, so I’ve gotten little to nothing done.”
My parents are both extremely supportive of me, but Mom is a worried mess now that Michael and I are no longer together. She thinks the entertainment industry is too unstable for me to live on my own. She saw how I struggled to support myself after I graduated college, but that was back when I was working entry-level assistant jobs. I’m a production manager now. My experience allows me a lot more financial security, despite how much higher up I plan to go.
Although, the internship I’m hoping to land is a bit of a step down from production manager. I guess Mom has a justifiable reason to worry about me.
“Have you talked to Michael since your last argument?” Ava asks. She collects some of the kitchenware from off the floor.
I shake my head, placing a few more books on the second shelf. “He made it pretty clear he didn’t want to talk any further. I think his ego is bruised after everything.”
Hedidsay something about it not being over just yet, but I don’t know what he means by that. I’m assuming he must still be clinging onto the hope our relationship is redeemable. That definitely isn’t going to happen.
“He’s hurt. People say confusing things when they’re upset.” Ava opens one of the drawers to add my utensils in it. Thankfully, she knows my usual apartment setup like the back of her hand. “At least he silenced the media. Hardly anybody saw the pictures of you playing Runaway Bride down the streets of Manhattan.”
I scoff, but I can still feel my cheeks flush. I never want that many eyes on me everagain. “He did that for himself more than he did it for me.”
Although, I am grateful all the videos and photos people captured of me were taken down as quickly as they were. It could have turned out much worse.
“I still can’t believe you quit your job,” Ava says, returning to the living room to dig out the dishes from another unpacked box.
“It’s not like I could keep working there. I’d rather be a little broke than have to see Michael again.”
Ava carries a stack of my brand-new rose-pink plates from a thrift store nearby—I’m definitely doing what I had to do to make ends meet for now—and heads straight for the precise cupboard I would have suggested she place them in. “At least you sold your car for a good price.”
I sigh. “It helped me get my place in a pinch. But if I don’t get hired somewhere ASAP, then I might really start worrying.”
The internship might be entry-level, but it pays well and is at a company on amuchlarger scale than my previous job. The project I’d be working on is from the producers of a lot of my favorite shows, so at least it’ll be a great experience. That’s if I’m one of the five candidates in the running for the final position.
