Oh. “About what?”Please don’t say the kiss.
“Getting that drunk. I have no idea how I got home,” she says. Is she for real or playing with me? “That’s scary. I didn’t do anything stupid last night, did I? Oh God. Did I embarrass myself?”
I shake my head, disappointment hitting me. She doesn’t remember. But I do, and now I am stuck in this torture chamber by myself.
“You were fine, just happy and chatty,” I tell her.
She looks relieved. “I just have the sense that I did something regrettable.”
Yeah, you kissed me.“You’re fine. I just wanted to check in and see if you were okay.”
“Thanks. Wait, did you walk me home?” she asks.
“Yeah, Felix asked me to.”
She seems surprised by this. “And you’re positive I didn’t do anything?”
Now is your moment to tell her about the kiss and how you want to do it again, and that you would like to take her out on a date.
But I don’t.
“Nothing. You were giggly the entire way home, and that was it.”
“Right. I guess I can handle that. Thanks again for the coffee, I’ll see you on the plane.”
I nod and make my way back to my hotel room, feeling defeated.
18
COLLETTE
My phone rings, and it’s Jo. I answer on the second ring, grinning because today is the day she hands in her resignation and officially becomes a New Yorker.
“Hey! Did you hand in your …”
“I got fired.” Her voice cracks.
I still. “What?”
“Cameron called his dad when I handed in my resignation. He didn’t know what to do with it. David came down and fired me on the spot. Said I was disloyal. A bad influence.” She’s sobbing now. “He had security escort me out, Lettie. Like I was some criminal.”
My hand grips the phone so hard my knuckles go white. That piece of shit. My sister gave that club five years of her life. She was the best physio they had, and everyone knew it. She got passed over for a promotion she deserved, so the owner’s unqualified son could have the job, and now she’s being fired for having the courage to leave.
“Oh my god, Jo ...”
“And my visa.” I hear the panic spike in her voice. “Shit. My visa is tied to my job. I have a week, maybe less, to pack up and leave the country.”
She can’t breathe, I can hear it through the phone, the short, shallow gasps that come when your chest tightens, and the world feels like it’s closing in.
“Jo, breathe. Just breathe.”
“I don’t know what to do. I have to pack up my entire life in a week.”
“Listen to me.” I switch into the voice I use when shit hits the fan, the one Pierre calls my general mode. “You’re going to be fine. I’m calling HR right now. We’ll work something out. The Mavericks want you. I’m sure we can expedite everything, just like they did for me when I left the Devils.”
“But my visa ...”
“I’ll handle it. Go relax for a moment and then start packing what you need and what you don’t need. I’ll call you back in a few hours.”