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‘Tough love’ they call it in addiction circles. And it was that. Because it was pretty damn tough on the person trying to give it too.
I hoped Todd could understand that someday.
I pulled up a photo of Lana on my phone and touched the screen just under the apple of her cheek. I’d gotten so used to having her with me almost every night, and I missed her.
What if she was right?I suddenly wondered.
What if this is all a sign that we weren’t meant to be after all?
I hated having that thought, but it felt like everything good that happened recently was falling apart before my eyes.
I decided to go to bed and try to sleep. And hope things looked brighter in the morning.
48
LANA
“What the hell happened last night?”Chelsea sat at her desk, fingers laced together in front of her, her expression stern.
I knew this was coming as soon as I walked into the office that morning. Everyone turned to look at me, and Maddie looked like she wanted to cry.
I understood how she felt. I’d barely slept, and I’d cried so much that I felt wrung out.
I knew what I was walking into, and I knew what I had to do. But it hurt, and not crying in front of Chelsea was going to be some kind of miracle if I pulled it off.
“When you asked me if anything was going on that you should know about,” I started, “I wasn’t entirely truthful. Dylan and I have been seeing each other.”
“Lana—”
“I know, I know,” I said, putting a hand up. “But I didn’t think you needed to know since it wasn’t causing any issues.”
When she tilted her head and raised her eyebrows, I said, “At least, it wasn’t at the time.”
I explained what happened in as much detail as I could stand, down to the things Todd said to me that caused me to throw water in his face.
Chelsea, to her credit, listened calmly and without interrupting me. Then she sighed.
“That’s a hell of a story. He had no right to say those awful things to you, so I don’t think your reaction was out of line. But think of how it looks for the agency, Lana!” She tapped her desk. “You can’t keep things like this from me. I wouldn’t have tried to force you to stop seeing Dylan, but I needed to know. We could have had security outside to keep Todd from getting in, anticipated problems and tried to stop them, ifonly you’d told me.”
She was right. I should have confided in her when the reputation of the agency was on the line.
“I’m sorry, Chelsea. It was a mistake not to tell you. Do you think the collab’s still going forward? Have you talked to Shane or Vera?”
Her expression darkened. “They canceled the meeting we had scheduled for this afternoon. I tried to get them to come in so we could discuss things, but they opted to leave for Colorado early.”
Fuck. That was it. They’d clearly changed their minds.
I nodded, struggling not to cry.
“I’m so sorry, Chelsea.” I stood and smoothed down my blouse. “Thanks for giving me the opportunities you have here at Berman. I need to go, but I’ll email you a formal resignation by tomorrow.”
“Lana, I’m not sure you need to resign over this. I personally don’t want to lose your talents here at Berman. Maybe take some personal time, let me talk to Alexander and see how he feels.”
She stood and walked around the desk to touch my arm, almost causing the tears to come in earnest.
I shook my head. “Thank you so much, but there’s no need for that,” I said, my voice breaking. “I’ll email tomorrow,” I blurted, then I turned and rushed from the office.
I’d screwed up my relationship with Dylan, and I’d screwed up Deft Rock’s collab, hurting both the brewery and my career.
