Total pages in book: 79
Estimated words: 75481 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 377(@200wpm)___ 302(@250wpm)___ 252(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 75481 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 377(@200wpm)___ 302(@250wpm)___ 252(@300wpm)
“Of course you are,” he replied with a sniff. The dickwad. “But it took me so long to teach you how I prefer things and—”
“Who taught whom how to make spreadsheets?” I lobbed back.
“Whatever,” he huffed out. “Maybe take the weekend to reconsider.”
With that, he opened the door and slid into the back seat, not giving me another glance. He looked freaked. Good, maybe now he could see how truly useful I was to him.
Once I’d returned the clothing, I went home, thinking I would feel good about quitting, but I didn’t. I just felt guilty and mad at myself for jumping the gun, and quickly nearing despondent because what had I done? I rubbed at the ache in my chest.
Casey took one look at me and opened a bottle of wine. I’d come to appreciate a good red since meeting Rowan, so we always kept an eye out for sales.
I told him what had happened while he poured the wine.
“I think this calls for a celebration,” Casey said. “You’ve been wanting to quit since you got the job. So good for you.”
I took a long swig and nearly choked on it. It was like I couldn’t even breathe properly. Could I really walk away from him? This was about way more than this job.
“Shit. I just realized I’ll need a new job sooner than I thought, and I won’t be able to ask for a letter of recommendation.”
“I bet someone else would give you one. Anita or Kendall. It’ll be fine.”
“But what if I can’t find anything and can’t pay my rent?”
“Will you stop stressing? Need I remind you that you did fine when you moved here? And you still have the temp agency.”
I blew out a breath. “True.”
We ate dinner while Casey told me about a cute guy on his new production set. I just kept chugging wine until I passed out in the middle of our movie, and then Casey helped me to bed. And finally, all my awful thoughts and emotions faded into oblivion.
21
Monday morning, I was more determined than ever to move on, but I still went through the motions of getting coffee at the corner, then heading up the elevator, greeting the security guards as I went. By the time I was chatted up by Anita in the hallway, I was feeling melancholy about my decision. But just because you liked the people you worked with didn’t mean you liked the job. I enjoyed parts of it, true, but definitely not other parts.
I emailed my resignation letter to Rowan, specifying my last day as the end of the show season. He was on the other side of the room, and he pretended to ignore the ping of his incoming message. That was fine. As long as I knew it had come through.
But when more time had gone by and he still hadn’t acknowledged it, I couldn’t let it go. He stood to leave, and I blocked his way in front of the office door.
“What are you doing?” His breaths were choppy, and being that close to him and his smell was killing me.
“I need to know that you saw it and acknowledge it.”
“Yes, I saw it, okay? Doesn’t mean I have to like it,” he muttered.
“I know it’ll be busy around here the next three weeks as the show nears its finale, but I contacted the temp agency to help look for an assistant who is also interested in the design industry. I also put out an ad at a couple of design schools. You should have no problem finding someone.” Unless he was as particular about it as the last time. So particular that by the time I came along, he was desperate. Still, I liked to think he’d seen something in me that first day. “The summer will be a good transition for them to learn the ropes and gear up for a new season.” In fact, the paid eight-week summer break sounded perfect to me too, but those were the breaks. I was impulsive to a fault.
“Fine.” His eyes were blank, flat stones, and I didn’t like that. Didn’t like it at all. Not when I’d seen them all soft and dreamy and…fuck.
I touched his arm and felt him shiver. “Ro, listen, it doesn’t have to be like this.”
He screwed his eyes shut. “Don’t call me that.”
“What?”
“That nickname. It’s not appropriate for work, and people might…might get the wrong idea.”
“Because I called you Ro? People use nicknames all the time.”
“Yes, but you’ve only used it during…” He stiffened and looked away.
I hated when he was like this. It should’ve been music to my ears that it affected him so much, that he was so sensitive to such things, but not when he was trying so hard to shut me out.
He exhaled, his shoulders deflating. “For the record, I shouldn’t have freaked out on you during that photo shoot. I knew the designer wanted those shoes in the shot, and I’m nothing if not a perfectionist. I’m sorry I took my frustration out on you.”