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“Itistoo expensive.”
“Good work costs money.”
“I know,” he says, almost defensively. “I just didn’t think that choosing some furniture and deciding on pink walls would cost this much.”
And there it is. Again.
His words feel like a punch to the gut. Cruel, lethal, and targeted at me. I try to keep my expression neutral, but apparently I fail because he immediately starts to backtrack.
“That’s not to say you and Cynthia aren’t doing a great job,” he says quickly. His eyes are wide and nervous, like he realises he’s said the wrong thing. “It’s just—”
I don’t wait to hear whatever excuse he’s able to come up with. Instead, I scoop my tablet and laptop in my arms and stand up. “I’ll find a different room to work in.”
My voice is robotic and it takes all my strength not to let the lump forming in my throat choke my words.
“You don’t have to leave. I—”
“You’re clearly a very busy and important man,” I say as I stride toward the door. “I wouldn’t want to distract you with silly things like picking out furniture or choosing the right colour for the walls.”
“Amber—”
I step across the threshold and let the door slam behind me.
7
FINN
Two hours ago,I didn’t think it was possible for this day to get any worse. As I watch Amber storm out of the room, I realise that I was definitely wrong.
I woke up this morning with an email from my uncle waiting for me at the top of my inbox. That, in itself, wasn’t cause for concern. As CEO, my uncle is a familiar name among the sea of emails I get every day. But they usually don’t come from him. More often than not, they’re from his ever-rotating army of assistants contacting me on his behalf. It’s rare that I get an email directly from him.
FROM:Ernest Belmont
SUBJECT:Budget
BODY:Send the revised budget report over by the end of the day.
My uncle has never been one for pleasantries, but the bluntness of the email is out of character even for him. It doesn’t help that the budget report is currently my biggest nightmare. Zensi Designsis charging a lot more than my initial plans allowed for, and I’m having to move money around from other parts of the plan to make it work. It’s not a huge problem, but it’s definitely a growing one, and it seems like Ernest is well aware.
My chest constricts as I reread his one sentence email.
Maybe that’s why I said it.
“I just didn’t think that choosing some furniture and deciding on pink walls would cost this much.”
I regretted it as soon as the words came out of my mouth. There was something in her eyes, a deep hurt that bubbled to the surface as soon as I said it, and it made me feel like I’m the worst person on the planet. Right up until then, I thought we’d been getting along pretty well. She’d opened up to me slightly, even had the nerve to call mecheap— a word I don’t think has ever been used to describe me in all my 32 years.
I liked that.
I liked that she didn’t care about offending me. That she was happy to tell me her truth without worrying about what I’d think.
And then I went and ruined it.
I know I should apologise — Iwantto — but the irritatingcall incomingtune starts to blare from my laptop speakers. I glance at the door, still shaking from the way she slammed it behind her, and then draw my gaze back to my laptop screen.
I should go after her. Let her know that I’m not as much of dick as I may seem. Turn on the old Hawthorne charm that’s never failed me and get her to shine that beautiful smile back on me once again.
But I don’t. Instead, I dial into the call and fix a strained smile onto my face as my screen fills up with the grimacing face of my uncle.
