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“I thought I taught you the value of loyalty.” Alanna poured herself a generous glass.
Sabrina stared into her wine. “Don’t worry, I got my comeuppance. Chip and Raul voted me out two weeks ago when I suggested a complete rebrand.”
Alanna laughed. “You lay in bed with snakes, you’re bound to get bit on the ass.”
Sabrina sighed. “I should have seen it coming, of course.”
“Of course.” Alanna took a long sip from her glass and enjoyed the rich, slightly sweet flavor on her tongue.
“Doesn’t matter anyway,” Sabrina continued. “Fresh Perspective is hemorrhaging clients. Everyone in the industry has read that delightful little hit piece you wrote. I’ve been trying to jump ship to another agency, but I’m toxic.”
Alanna sat back in her chair and breathed in the floral perfume from the surrounding rose bushes. “You know, I’m glad you stopped by. Thisschadenfreudefeels so good.”
Sabrina leaned forward. “I really am sorry, Alanna. I betrayed you. It didn’t feel good at the time, and I knew immediately it was a mistake.”
Alanna took another long sip of wine. Was Sabrina telling the truth or did her “crisis of conscience” hit after she got booted on her ass? It didn’t really matter. The result was still the same.
“We could have saved the agency, you know,” she said. “If you’d just stuck by me, we could have flushed Jordan Boon as a client and none of this would have happened.”
“Biggest regret of my life, I swear,” Sabrina said and reached over to refill her glass.
Alanna should have felt regret, too. Losing her company had, after all, been a devastating blow. But without Sabrina the Betrayer’s betrayal, she would still be stuck with Chip Rupert the Third as her business partner. She would be up in Los Angeles at this very moment, probably drinking too much, pouring her money into expensive clothes, and banging all the wrong kinds of men to fill the emptiness inside of her.
And, she would have never met Sully.
Alanna sat back in her chair, rocked by the realization that Sabrina the Betrayer had actually done her a favor. She didn’t want that life any longer. More importantly, she didn’t want to be that person.
Holy shit.
“So…” Sabrina’s voice was soft as she circled the rim of the wineglass with a dainty finger. “I’ve heard you’re meeting with some of our old clients. You’ve found a way out of the non-compete clause, haven’t you?” Her pale eyes gleamed with hunger. “You’re starting your own agency.”
Alanna responded with a languid smile. “Maybe I am.”
Sabrina threw back the last of her wine and put down her glass. “I want in.”
Alanna burst out laughing. The balls on this woman!
“Sabrina, you impress the hell out of me,” she admitted. “You always have. You’re fearless. You’re brazen. And you’re damn good at PR. But I wouldn’t hire you for a non-paid internship.” Alanna stood and picked up the half-filled wine bottle. “I might forgive—one day—but I’ll never forget.” She laughed again at Sabrina’s sour look. “But don’t worry, you wouldn’t want to join my agency anyway. I’m staying here.”
“Here?” Sabrina’s forehead wrinkled in confusion.
“Yucca Hills.”
Sabrina looked around as if somehow the rose bushes and numerous bird feeders could clarify the situation. “Why? There’s nothing here.”
Alanna could only smile. “You wouldn’t understand.”Everything is here.She waved Sabrina inside. The younger woman seemed dazed as she followed Alanna through the kitchen.
At the front door, she turned back to Alanna. “What the fuck am I supposed to do now?”
An idea popped into Alanna’s head.
“Wait here,” she commanded, then jogged up the stairs and into her room. Hanging from the bedpost was the floral Gucci handbag she’d been unable to part with at the Goodwill store forsentimentalreasons. Alanna reached inside the bag, felt around, and retrieved that sentimental reason. In the palm of her hand, she held a small white box. Inside, wrapped in layers of tissue paper, was the elegant cat figurine Sully had purchased for her. Alanna’s heart tightened in her chest. That day had been so beautiful, so perfect until it’d all gone horribly wrong.
Without opening it, she placed the box next to her peace lily on the windowsill and then returned downstairs with the empty purse. Sabrina stood next to the front door, looking uncharacteristically unsure of herself as she nibbled on her maroon bottom lip.
“You know what I’ve always liked about you?” Alanna asked, walking up to the woman she’d mentored for the past several years. “You remind me of me when I was your age, aside from all the stabbing in the back. And because you’re so much like me, I know you’ll land on your feet.”
She held out the bag. Sabrina hesitated a moment, but Alanna recognized the glint of avarice in the other woman’s eyes. She understood that hunger all too well. She’d once felt that if she could armor herself in enough luxury labels no one would see the poor, small-town girl beneath. But Alanna didn’t need that armor anymore. She was strong enough without it. Maybe, one day, Sabrina would outgrow it, too.
