“Bill fired me.”
We were enveloped by the dim seclusion of the concrete and metal steps. My voice echoed off the walls, dialing it up to surround sound.
“That sucks.” He rubbed his hands up and down my arms. “But you hated that job.”
Was he kidding me right now? My chest tightened and my blood hammered in my ears like it could start spilling out of them any second. I’d been fired. There was no upside, no silver lining. I shook his hold off my arms and took a step back.
He broadcast it to Bill and Valerie about staying up all night alone to work on today’s presentation. How had Kathleen figured out we weren’t engaged? Had she seen a picture of him cozied up with some woman’s cleavage, or had our over-the-top denials exposed our lie?
My cheeks heated and my hands trembled. I hadn’t even had a chance to help with his new presentation. Maybe I could’ve seen something that would have improved our chances. He’d taken the whole thing on, leaving me hanging there as the shitty lab partner no one wanted to get stuck with, not even telling me there was an issue.
“You got me fired.” My clipped words barely made it past my clenched teeth.
“It’ll be okay, Z. You can come work for Simply Stark.” He smiled and took a step closer like it was no big deal.
Newsflash, it was a huge freaking deal. “With what accounts, Leo?” I shrugged and shook my head.
“We’ll make it happen. We’re a great team. It’ll take us a few months to get things up and running, but we pulled it off. If the Shining Twins hadn’t gone to Kathleen, we’d have won the job.”
Accounts like Winthorpe and the Waverly Hotel Group did not fall out of the sky. Simply Stark wouldn’t have been on its last legs if it were so damn easy to come up with events jobs in this city with no effort, capital, or experience.
“Do you think I was with Easton Events because of the warm and welcoming atmosphere and friendly coworkers? I was there because it paid. I needed a job and it paid what I needed. Sam hasn’t even been paying you. You don’t even know if you’ll still be there and you’re family.”
“I’m not saying it’ll be easy, but we’ll figure this out.”
“Figure this out?” I dragged my fingers through my hair until they caught on my bun. I ripped them out, probably making myself look like a psycho in the process. But the look on his face, like everything would be just fine and dandy, sent my blood pressure skyrocketing. “I can’t afford a temporary stopgap. I can’t even afford a fucking cup of coffee. And you want me to take a chance on a company that can’t even play its single full-time employee?”
“Calm down, Gingersnap.” He stepped closer.
I shoved both hands against his chest before balling them into fists. I snatched them back and clutched them against my chest. My heart rabbit punched against my ribs. “I don’t have the fucking luxury of calming down.” I pressed the heel of my hand against my forehead. “Tyler’s tuition is due in a week. My rent is due in three weeks, and I have one paycheck left. If I’m lucky, unemployment will keep me going for another month, but even so, my brother will have to go home, crushing his spirit and destroying everything he’s worked for. I can’t believe you did that to me. I can’t believe you got up there and fucked me over like that.”
“Zara—”
“No! You could’ve told me what was happening. You could’ve given me the chance to help.”
“You were already on the train. You needed to spend time with your brother.”
“I needed to protect him. I needed to pay his tuition. I needed my chance to save my life, not you trying to save it for me,” I barked at him, blinking back the tears. “This is why I don’t trust people,” I spat the words fast and furious before spinning on my heels and rushing down the stairwell. My ring scraped against the painted metal on the way down, adding to the echoing call of my name from above.
I rushed for the exit and out into the street, where the bright sunlight blinded me. A taxi screeched to a halt in front of me, and I rested both hands on the hood before jumping in the back. I rattled off my address.
“There are easier ways to get a cab.” The driver looked at me through the Plexiglas divider.
I brushed the tears from my face.
“Are you okay?”
Staring out the window, I watched everyone else walking around, looking at their phones, laughing, grabbing a hotdog from the street vendors like my world hadn’t just imploded. The loneliness crowded in on me, threatening to swallow me whole.
“No, I’m not.”
43
Leo
The tin of popcorn beside me needed to be a hell of a lot bigger. August left it on my doorstep. I don’t even know how he knew, but he did. Leaving the Winthorpe presentation, I’d come straight back here. I couldn’t face Sam. I’d had one shot and I blew it. Not only had I blown the job, but I’d lost the girl.
Sam had found me after she left, hugged me and told me that it was okay, I’d tried my best. Only it wasn’t okay, and he was too damn understanding.
I’d been holding onto so many threads, trying to keep everything together, and it had collapsed all around me, taking my heart with it. The anger and disappointment shining in Zara’s eyes killed me. I was just another person added to her list of unreliable people she couldn’t count on.
My phone rumbled across the coffee table in front of me. I brushed off the caramel and cheese dust and stared at the unknown number. Hope flared in my chest. Maybe it was Zara.
“Leo, my man,” a familiar voice crowed on the other end of the line.
“Charlie?”
“Of course, who else would be calling you from New York?”
There was a list a mile long.
“All the guys got together with the producers and higher-ups. You got the job,” he screamed it through the line, and I jerked the phone away from my face.
A week ago, I’d probably have been yelling my thanks back to him, but now…bro-ing down with those guys turned my stomach. Leaving Philly felt wrong—not like my feet were cemented here and I couldn’t escape, but like I was finally putting down roots to things I cared about, even if they no longer cared back.
“Thanks for letting me know. When do you need my decision?”
“The fuck?”
“There’s a lot going on right now, so I need to make sure I’m making the right move.”
“You’ve got until Monday morning, if you need it.” His voice hollowed out like a deflated balloon. “Show up at nine and we’ll get you started”
“I appreciate this offer and your help.” Ending the call, I sat back and tried to picture the future I saw for myself.
What did this call mean for me? I’d be back in the spotlight, in a place where I knew what the hell I was doing. I’d be around people who knew what I’d been through and had gone through the same struggles I had transitioning to life after football.
Or, I could build something from the ground up. Be scrappy and fight my way into a business I had no idea about and could barely compete in—but I’d be doing something where I saw the happiness it brought people. Not thousands of fans going crazy in the stands, or producers in a studio, but people celebrating milestones, anniversaries, and happiness.