“I already did it.”
“Then, undo it. Tell the banks to return your money and restore the original loans.”
I chuckle. “It doesn’t work that way. That money belongs to the banks now. It’s theirs.”
Georgina mutters something expletive-laden under her breath that makes me smile even wider. “All right,” she says, her voice brimming with resolve. “As of this moment, I owe that same exact amount of money to you. I don’t care how long it takes me, I’m going to pay you back every cent, with interest.”
Oh, how I’ve missed this back and forth with my beautiful fireball. I’ve only been without her for a matter of days, but it feels like years. “You know I won’t accept a dime from you.”
“I’m not giving you a choice. I’m going to Venmo payment to you every month, on the first.”
“Which I’ll decline with the push of a button.”
“God, you’re impossible! Do you have any idea the trouble you’ve caused me?”
“Trouble?”
“With my father! He saw that email and freaked out. He was like, ‘How did you get your hands on a hundred thousand bucks, Georgina Marie?’”
“Did you tell him about me?”
“Of course, not! I told him that same cancer charity from before came to the rescue again. But he didn’t believe me this time. He barely believed me last time, regarding the pay-off on his condo. He was like, ‘Tell the truth, Georgie. Where is all this money coming from? Did that same jerk who sent you the expensive stationary bike also pay off your student loans?’”
Admittedly, knowing that Georgina’s father thinks I’m a jerk isn’t optimal. But, hey, at least, Georgina told him about me. And, even better, she’s talking to me again. Which means I can now see a path forward to convincing her to take me back. “Ah, so your father knows of my existence?”
“Only because I couldn’t avoid telling him where I got the Peloton.”
“So, what did you finally tell him about the loans?”
“That I’m secretly working for a drug cartel.”
“What?”
“That was a joke. I wish I could have told my father that. Telling him I’m working for a drug cartel would have been preferable to telling him I fell head over heels for the asshole CEO of River Records, and that, unfortunately, that asshole sneaked off and had sex with a movie star, and now thinks he can buy my trust and affection by paying off my student loans.”
Okay, I realize a whole lot of what Georgina said wasn’t good for me. Particularly, the part where she’s still convinced I had sex with Isabel. Also, it’s not ideal she called me an asshole. But I can’t focus on negativity when Georgina started her diatribe with the amazing words: I fell head over heels for the CEO of River Records. During our magical week together, Georgina and I never said we were “falling” for each other. We said we felt “addicted.” And that we were “crazy about” each other. We said we liked each other “so damned much.” But we never once said “I’m falling for you”—which, of course, is a close cousin of “I’m falling in love with you”—which, in turn, is only one tick shy of “I love you.”
“So, how’d you explain the loan getting paid off, if you didn’t say you were a drug mule?”
“Well, since my father wasn’t buying the cancer charity anymore, I told him the head of River Records is an eccentric billionaire who loves doing random acts of kindness. Which is actually kind of true. So, I told him you’d paid off my student loans, along with the student loans of Zasu, the other reporter working on the special issue.”
I scoff. “And he bought that?”
“No. He’s not a moron. Don’t insult my father’s intelligence.”
I laugh. “You’re the one who told him the lie. Not me.”
“I’m his daughter. I’ve been insulting my father’s intelligence since I was sixteen and putting pillows under my covers to make it look like I was in bed, fast asleep, when I’d actually sneaked out a window to go to a party.”
I chuckle heartily. “You were Ferris Bueller. Oh, God. Please tell me you know that reference.”
“Of course.”
“There’s no such thing as ‘of course’ when it comes to you and pop culture references. Did you put pillows under your covers a lot, little Miss ‘Sneaky’ Ricci?”
“Probably, like, ten times. And it always worked like a charm. Until it didn’t. Hoo-boy, the day I finally got caught wasn’t a good one.”
I laugh, and so does Georgie, which then makes every cell in my body electrify with excitement. Hope. Love. “I’m not a billionaire, by the way.”
“Huh?
“You told your dad an ‘eccentric billionaire’ paid off your loans. I’m not a billionaire. Give me twenty years and I will be, though.”
“You’re a millionaire, though, right?”
“About five hundred times over.”
“Why are you correcting me on this? Isn’t it ‘on-brand’ for the world to think you’re a billionaire?”
My stomach tightens. “I’m not ‘on-brand’ with you, Georgina, and you know it. I’m just me.”
She’s silent on the other end of the line, tacitly admitting she knows I’m speaking the truth.
“Georgie, I know you don’t trust me as far as you can throw me—which I’m sure would be out a third-story window, if you could swing it—but, please, come home. Sleep in the blue room, while we work this out. My house feels so empty without you. My heart feels like it’s rubbing against a cheese grater. Come home.”
“I can’t do that. I’m way too hurt. As sad as it is for me, I think we should agree to be friends and business colleagues, and nothing more.”
I scoff. I can’t be Georgina’s friend and business colleague. Not in a million years. I want every inch of this woman. But, hey, at least she’s not telling me to fuck off and die. And she did say it would be “sad” for her to be nothing but my friend.
She says, “Thank you for paying off my student loans. I appreciate it. But don’t you get it? It doesn’t change anything between us because I was never with you for your money. We could have been staying in a mud hut for a week, or a rundown motel, and I still would have fallen for you. We could have been eating Taco Bell for every meal, taking hikes with peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, or working out at some local gym filled with nothing but soccer moms. And I still would have fallen for you. It still would have been the best week of my life. A fairytale.” Her voice cracks. “Because I would have been with you.”
Oh, God, what have I done? My heart feels like it’s physically breaking. “Georgie, I feel the same way. I know you don’t believe it was just a kiss with Isabel, but it was. I know you won’t forgive me for that kiss, even if you did believe me. But can you at least forgive me about the grant? You got my texts explaining that, right?”
“Have you talked to CeeCee about that?”
“No.”
“Good. Don’t say a word to CeeCee about the grant, please. I want to hear what she has to say, in her own words, without any undue influence on your part.”