The speech I’d practiced at least a hundred times with variations based on objections was delivered with a calm, cool, collected demeanor that didn’t match the chaos racing through my head.
I’d gotten Sam’s blessing to do this. He’d come to terms with what might happen to Simply Stark even with all the work I’d put in, but I could still save Zara. As much as she’d hate that, and maybe hate me, I could give her the choices and chances she’d never had before and to finally put herself first.
“You have…” Clint glanced down at his watch, fixing his shirt cuff. “Eighteen minutes. I arranged this talk after seeing your vision and passion for the work, and to discuss your future with Waverly Hotels, and you’re pitching someone for our interior design internship? Is this how you want to start things off? Asking for a favor?”
Fixing this was my only chance, not just putting a broken thing back together, but making it better than before.
“It would be me doing you a favor to help you get someone like Zara here at Waverly.”
“This is the woman who worked with you and Kathleen.” His mouth twitched “She mentioned something about an engagement.”
I cleared my throat. The weight of this settled on my chest like a three-ton stone. “Our engagement…I’m coming clean to you, Clint. It was never real. We pretended to be engaged to get on Kathleen’s good side and stay there.”
He leveled his gaze at me.
My hands clamped onto my knees, refusing to squirm.
“And how’d that turn out for you?”
My head dipped.
“She didn’t seem too happy with how things turned out.”
“It was a bad day for both of us, but she got fired because of it.”
Clint let out a low whistle. “Why isn’t she here with you today?”
“I’m not her favorite person right now.”
He leaned back in his chair, lifting his leg and resting his ankle against his knee. “So this isn’t concern for a fellow colleague. This is something more.”
“It’s both.” I looked into his eyes. Launching into the story of how we came to be fake fiancées, I laid it all out on the table for him. Everything—well, not everything, but everything PG-rated that brought me to his office.
“You didn’t answer my question from before. How was it, pretending to be engaged?”
“Frustrating and hilarious and confusing and infuriating and breathtaking.”
He apprised me with a look. “It may be you know a bit more about being in a relationship than you thought.” And a chuckle.
I let out a huff of stifled laughter. “Maybe in a small way.”
“As for getting on Kathleen’s good side, I can’t blame anyone for doing everything they can to stay there. We’ve been working on this merger for over two years. I’ve never seen a more hands-on owner in my life.”
He rocked back in his chair, eyes boring into mine.
I held his gaze without a flinching. If this was a battle of the wills to win even a chance at getting her back, I could go all day.
“The interior design group doesn’t have a home base. Did you know that? We’re a global company. That team works setting up new properties whenever we acquire them, and they’re on-location during the acquisition. We like them embedded to bring as much of the regional flavor to each hotel as possible.”
“I understand.”
“This means continuous travel. Months at a time spent in different locations crisscrossing the globe to keep us at the top of the hotel game.”
“She’s always wanted to travel.”
“What about you? You’re willing to watch her go.”
I stared down at my hands, clasped in front of me, my forearms resting on my knees. If they offered her this job, she’d be gone. Globetrotting, discovering new and exciting places leaving her past behind. Leaving me behind.
“She’s talented and deserves to have her chance at her dream.”
“So this is your grand gesture? You plan on standing outside of her window with a boom box until she’ll talk to you.”
I laughed. “It’s part of it. I do have a few other tricks up my sleeve.”
The office door opened and the assistant from earlier poked her head in. “Clint, I’m sorry, but we need to get you in the car if you’re going to make your flight.”
Sighing, he pushed himself up from the chair. “It’s always go-go-go. Rachel keeps me on track though.” He took my hand. A firm, but friendly shake.
It was done. At least part of it. There were still a few more things to put in place—and then the whole ‘getting Zara to speak to me’ thing, —but I’d keep trying to make her dream come true, even as my future turned murkier by the minute.
My phone buzzed in my pocket. I stole a glance. Charlie at Sports Central. Pushing it back inside, I silenced the vibration. It wasn’t what I wanted after all.
Clint’s assistant rushed into the room and gathered up a few things from his desk, while he slipped on his suit jacket.
“Do I have any calls in the car?” He buttoned his blazer without a hint of worry about the time. That must be the benefit of having other people worry about that for you.
She shot a quick glance at her phone and shook her head. “You’re clear until take off, then you have a couple calls once we’re in flight before we land in Rome.”
“Rome? I thought we were going to Berlin.”
“The updated itinerary was sent to you this morning.” She opened her folder and slipped out a piece of paper holding it out to him.
He waved it off with a smile. “That’s what I pay you for. If I kept my own schedule, I’d end up in Paris, Texas instead of France.”
“If I recall, that’s when my new contract showed up on my doorstep.” She laughed and slipped the paper back inside her folder.
They carried on with their conversation as if I weren’t there. Should I see myself out? They were blocking the door. Then again, they were leaving anyway. I hadn’t gotten an answer from Clint, but he seemed like he’d been on board.
“Worth every penny.” Clint stopped at the door, holding onto it. Rachel narrowly averted slamming into his back. With a quick dip of his head, he swung his gaze to mine. “Leo, let’s keep this meeting going. The car can bring you back once it’s dropped me off. That work for you?”
“I’ve got nowhere to be.”
“Then hurry up. If we put Rach behind schedule, there’ll be hell to pay. So what else do you have planned for your no-longer-fake fiancée? I need more details on that presentation.”
We set out to the airport in a black-tinted SUV. I laid out my entire playbook for Clint and he nodded and laughed along.
By the end of the ride, I felt hopeful that I could pull this off.
We didn’t pull up to the normal departures terminal, but straight onto the tarmac.
Rachel climbed out of the driver’s opened door and answered her phone, waiting for Clint to follow.
He shook my hand again. “Good luck, Leo. The next time we’re in the city, you’ll have to fill me in on how it all goes.”
“I will. Thanks for everything, Clint.”
“Don’t thank me just yet. Wait until the ink is dry and you haven’t slept in a month.”