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Chapter Twenty-Seven
Cassie
Ifelt it was a good sign that Alex messaged me while I was still at my grandmother’s condo. I even said so out loud.
“See?” Angela said. “It’s fate.”
“I hope so,” I said. “I’m still nervous, but at least now I don’t feel like I’m going to take over his evening with the news.”
“You shouldn’t feel that way,” Angela said. “Because this isn’t something that you need to feel like is your fault or anything like that.”
“I know, but I do,” I said as I grabbed my things. “But here I go, ready to do the right thing and have the talk. So, wish me luck.”
“Good luck!” Gigi cried out.
“Let us know how it goes,” Teresa called after me.
I held up my hand to show her I had heard what she said; then I headed out the door.
My heart raced the entire time I drove over to Alex’s mansion. He had said something about me watching Lucy for a couple of days, which really wasn’t a big deal in my mind. But I wasn’t ready to find him packing his things as soon as I walked through the door.
“Oh,” I said. “Did you mean you needed me to start tonight?”
“It would be ideal,” he replied. “But I know it’s really short notice. If you can’t take her tonight for whatever reason, I’ll just give my friend a call and he’ll come over to keep an eye on her until you can get her tomorrow morning.”
“No, I can watch her tonight,” I said. “I’ll just take her over to my place with me tomorrow to get a few things to bring over here, it’s not a big deal.”
“Thank you, a ton, really,” Alex said. “I hate to call you up on short notice like this, but this thing came up for work while I was at the gym, and the best way I can handle it is if I’m there in person, you know? So, I figure I might as well get my ass up to Denver so I can deal with it quickly before it blows up any worse.”
“Right,” I said, slightly annoyed with how he hadn’t even stopped packing when I walked in. “And you’re going to be gone how long?”
“I’m hoping three days tops,” he said. “I know I said two in the text, but a kid I sponsor got injured, and there’s really no telling for sure how long this is going to take me until I get over there and see how bad it is and how much damage control needs to be done in the media.”
“I see,” I said, though I really didn’t. “Three days, huh?”
“Look, if it’s too long or you can’t do it, just tell me up front,” Alex said. “I can figure out something else. I didn’t ask for you to come over here and make a thing of it.”
“I’m not making a thing,” I retorted. “I guess I was just wondering if this is a personal favor or if you’re going to pay me.”
He gave me a look I hadn’t seen before, and I honestly wasn’t sure what had come over me. The words were out of my mouth before I even realized what I was saying, and now that they were in the open, there wasn’t any taking them back. I knew I was the one who was overreacting, and I was making a big deal out of something that really wasn’t a big deal in the first place, but the more he didn’t react, the angrier I became.
“I can pay you; it’s not a big deal,” he said. “I’ll pay you double, even. You can call it the short notice fee, and I’ll pay you for the round-the-clock care. How’s that?”
“You know I don’t want you to pay me,” I said. “I guess I’m just trying to figure out what’s going on. It seems so out of the blue for you to be taking off like this. I don’t know what to make of it.”
“There’s nothing to make of anything,” he told me. “I’m going away for work. This happens sometimes. I told you already that part of what I do now is sponsor other kids who are doing the same thing I did when I was younger. There are times they do get hurt, and when that happens, I need to be the one to show up if there’s no other sponsor doing it.”
“Why?” I asked.
“Marketing. Saving face. Keeping the tabloids at bay. There’s a variety of reasons. This is already going to be all over the media, and I guess it’s a good idea to have coverage of the entire thing rather than just the skewed opinion of whatever reporter has decided to cover the story. In the world of a social influencer, bad press can ruin your image and even break you sometimes.”
“I don’t know, sounds weird to me,” I said.
“Well, that’s the way it goes,” he shrugged. “I know it’s not the same line of work as you do, so you might not get it, but it’s part of the big picture of the shit I do.”
“And this is going to take you three days?” I asked again.
“I already told you if it’s a problem, then I can find someone else to take care of Lucy,” he snapped. “I don’t know why this is such a big deal to you, Cassie. Since when do you get worked up about things like this?”
