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Except when I see the number on the screen, I realize it’s not Clay.
It’s a local number, and while I normally decline those, today, I’m curious.
So I hit the answer button.
“Hello?” I say slowly.
A woman clears her throat. “Is this Jade?”
The voice is familiar. I sit up a little straighter in surprise. “Yes.”
“This is Eden St. Claire. We met last night.”
For some reason, I’m nowstandingon my bed. The hand not holding the phone is now buried in my messy hair, and my eyes are as round as the moon.
“Ummm…” I stammer. “Hi.”
She lets out a breath. Hell, even her breathing sounds confident.
“I wanted to call and apologize for the way I treated you last night.”
Somehow my eyes get even wider. I don’t speak as she continues.
“It’s never my intention to turn someone away from the lifestyle, and it was wrong of me to make you feel ashamed of something that is meant to be liberating and empowering. I was wrong. I’m sorry.”
I’m still standing on my bed. Rory and Lorelai are chatting a little too eloquently in the background while I fumble for something to say that isn’t,um, okay.
She speaks again to fill the silence on the line. “I think you should pursue whatever it is that interests you, but you need to do it foryou.”
“I want to. I promise it’s for me.”
“Good,” she replies.
“Does that mean you’ll teach me?” I blurt out.
“Uh, no, wait—”
“Not for him. I promise. I just…” My voice trails. Carefully, I climb off the bed and hit the power button on my TV. Then I sit on the mattress and stare at the carpet as I compose my thoughts. “I’m a people pleaser. I feel like I do everything to make other people happy, and I just…don’t want to be like that anymore.”
“I’m not sure this…”
“I know what you’re thinking,” I reply before she can continue. “I should probably go to therapy, and I mean, I can do that too, but you could also be like…a role model for me, you know? Maybe if I just came into your club at night, you could teach me to be more dominant. Teach me how to talk to people without being such a pushover. Make me more like you.”
I’m rambling, and I literally have to bite my lip to keep from going on and on.
Just as I expect her to shoot me down again and give me another quote-unquotegoodreason for why she can’t do this, she says, “All right, fine.”
My mouth is hanging open as blood rushes to my cheeks. “Wait, what? Seriously?”
“Just a couple nights a week, and I’ll tell you everything I know. Think of it like a mentorship.”
“Yes! Perfect!” I squeal. “I have money saved up, so I can totally pay you.”
“That won’t be necessary.”
I’m practically beaming with excitement when I hear a car door slam outside. While Eden talks, saying something about protocol and nondisclosures, I rush to the window to see Clay walking up the driveway to my door.
“I have an opening at ten o’clock tonight. For one hour,” she says, stealing my attention.
