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“Oh, sure, he might agree that you need a right-hand person, but I’m not so sure he’d like that person to be me.” Her fiancé’s never hidden his jealousy where I’m concerned despite how we’ve both told him we’re like brother and sister.
“Seriously? He’s fine with you.”
“I wouldn’t go that far. He might slowly be coming around, but he isn’t quite there yet. At my homecoming party, he asked me if I was sure I wanted to be back and suggested maybe I should stay away a little longer.”
“He was joking.” Her tone carries the hint of defensiveness.
“Maybe.”
“Forget about Walker. I’ll deal with him. I’m serious, what do you say?”
“I don’t know. Why are you offering me a job?” My tone sounds more skeptical than I intend.
“I already told you. I think you’d be a great addition to my team. You’re in demand, my friend. The world is your oyster.”
“All right, enough with the idioms.” I roll onto my side. “Let me think about it, but thanks for the offer. I really appreciate it.”
“Of course. Take your time.”
“Thanks. Right now, I’ve got to get this difficult client back to Toronto and make sure she raves about ACE.” Though I mean to lighten the mood, I cringe a little at my description of Leighton.
Difficult. Am I being too harsh? I believe Leighton is more than her snooty glances and haughty tone. Either way, it isn’t like Eden’s ever going to meet her.
I end the call and flick off the light. I’m not sure about partnering with Eden, but one thing I know for sure is that I will do everything in my power to get Leighton home on time. And I’ll even go so far as to ask her for a rave review. Gus needs this.
6
LEIGHTON
Brring. Brring.I lift my head from the pillow and reach for my phone. I can’t see a thing in the dark, but I left it on the bedside table.
Groggy from sleep and the phone still ringing, I whip off my mask, squinting at the golden rays streaming in through the crack in the hotel curtains.
“Hello.” I sit up and grimace at the rasp of my voice.
“Hello, Leighton. It’s Everly Simard. How are you?”
My heart leaps and I’m instantly wide awake. “Ev-Everly, hello. I’m good, thanks. And you?”
It’s strange how I still get butterflies when she calls even though we’re friends. Or at least, I think we are. Everly has said as much. And stranger still, she isn’t famous. Well, not in the showbiz sense, and yet she still makes me more nervous than any A-List actor, director, or producer. She’s a successful businesswoman, and I hope to one day work with her.
“I’m great. It sounds like I woke you. Sorry about that.”
“No. No. It’s okay.” It’s after ten in the morning, and she’s three hours ahead in Toronto. I should’ve been up hours ago.
“I only wanted to see how you were doing. I saw your post and I was thinking about you.” Her voice is warm and gentle. “That was a brave thing you did.”
A fizz of warmth zips through me. “I don’t know about that. I don’t feel brave.” A strangled laugh, almost crushed by my overwhelming emotions, rushes from me. “More like a failure. But I needed to put it out there, you know. I can’t hide from the things I still need to conquer.”
The intense squeeze to my lungs only reinforces how I wish I could have this kind of conversation with my parents or more so, my father. My mother is merely an extension of him. What he wants, she wants. If only they understood my situation or at least tried to.
“Hey, don’t be so hard on yourself. Though it may not feel like it, you’re making progress. And I’m so happy you have your father with you.”
My heart plummets to my toes like a roller coaster nosedive, and on the flipside of that, bile bubbles and burns up the back of my throat.
The last time we talked, I told Everly how thrilled and relieved I was to have my dad driving back with me. Especially with all I’m dealing with.
Why did I say anything?
