Total pages in book: 78
Estimated words: 78164 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 391(@200wpm)___ 313(@250wpm)___ 261(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 78164 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 391(@200wpm)___ 313(@250wpm)___ 261(@300wpm)
Ripley: Gannon works fast, but Kelly runs faster.
Renn:
Jason: Yikes.
Bianca: Oh, lord.
Me: What did I ever do to you?
Ripley: I think Kelly is asking herself the same question this morning—what did Tate do to me?
I reach into the shower and turn the water off.
Me: She had to work this morning. It’s no big deal.
Bianca: I believe you.
Jason: I don’t.
Me: You know what *I* don’t believe? I don’t believe I had to fly commercial to Columbus. That’s what I don’t believe.
Renn: But if you’d have flown Brewer Air, you wouldn’t have met your fake girlfriend.
Me: SHE IS NOT FAKE.
Ripley: Her name was.
Jason: Have you thought about looking her up online?
Ripley:
I stare at the phone. Yes, motherfucker, I did. And it wasn’t helpful.
Me: You guys are wrong. You don’t know her like I do. We shared something special. We had a connection.
Ripley: Suuuuuuure.
Me: Your jealousy is getting ugly, Rip.
Ripley: Please.
Me: I’m not dog sitting Pancake and Waffles anymore.
Ripley: Yes, you will.
I will. He’s right. I love those damn dogs. But I’m not telling him that.
I glance at the clock.
Me: I don’t have time for this. I have to get ready for work because some of us don’t get to stay home all weekend and enjoy ourselves.
Gannon: I’m quite enjoying myself right now.
I’m going to kill him.
I close out of the app and don’t look at it again.
Instead, I jump into the shower and try to figure out how to get ahold of Kelly Kapowski.
Chapter Eleven
Aurora
“Good morning,” Tally whispers from my office doorway.
I look up and return her hesitant smile. Her brows pull together as she takes me in, undoubtedly noticing my frazzled state. Is it bedtime yet? Running on five hours’ sleep over the past three days will do that to a person.
“Are you okay?” she asks.
“Come in and close the door behind you.”
“What’s going on?” She takes a seat across from me. “With all due respect, you look … not your best.”
“Gee, thanks.”
She grimaces, and I smile.
“I’m joking.” I sigh. “It’s been a long weekend, and I’m exhausted.”
“How did the conference go?”
I shrug. “I don’t know. I wasn’t there.”
She flashes me a look like I’ve lost my mind.
“We have a meeting in an hour, and you’re going to hear it then. So I might as well tell you now,” I say. “Charlie is gone.”
“Charlie is dead? Oh my God.”
“No,” I say, shaking my head. “No, he’s not dead. But he has left the company.”
Her eyes widen. “Why?”
“He called me … well, he called me on Friday, but I didn’t get his messages until Saturday. Basically, his mother was put into hospice, and he needed to be home with his family.”
“Oh, man. I hate that for him. Is he okay?”
My heart tugs in my chest. “I think he’s as okay as anyone can be when you find out that your parent is passing away.”
A wave of despair breaks over me as I recall the moment that I found out both of my parents had been in a terrible accident, and that my father had passed, and my mother was on life support. A ball of fire settles into the base of my throat. For a few seconds, it’s hard to breathe.
“Wow,” she says on an exhale. She stares out my office window as if she’s trying to process it all.
I glance at the legal pad full of notes I took on Saturday evening with Charlie. He insisted on sharing every file, note, and inspiration he had for the Raptors rebrand. I’m awed by his marketing prowess and vision. I also wish I’d had more time to learn from him. For someone leaving a company, especially under such dire circumstances, he was certainly upstanding in how much time he spent preparing his assistant.
I’m convinced, however, that more than anything, he was keeping himself busy until his flight took off on Sunday morning. Preoccupying oneself is something I can relate to these days.
Tally sighs. “Not to be insensitive, but what do we do now? Are they replacing him? Are we just waiting around until he comes back?”
“I honestly don’t know. I assume that’s what we’ll discuss in the meeting this morning.”
“So I’m guessing you flew back from Columbus on Saturday?”
I nod. “I came here straight from the airport Saturday afternoon. We were here until nine o’clock that night, just going over things and …” I frown. “I don’t think he wanted to be home alone with his thoughts. And since I’ve lost both of my parents, I was a good sounding board.”
“Was that hard for you? I mean, I can imagine that it would be difficult to talk about losing your mom and dad, especially when someone else is in the heavy emotional stages of it.”
“I don’t think anyone ever enjoys talking about things like that. But I guess I feel like if I can use my grief and pain to make someone else feel more seen or heard, then at least it’s doing some good.”