Page 124 of From Rivals to I Do

I laugh and tell her about how I was watching her through the glass, and she holds her face in her hands,

“Honestly, it helped me get through the meeting,” I say, still laughing. “I was very anxious, and somehow that calmed me down.”

“Oh, well, I’m glad you were at least entertained by my ineptitude for office work,” she replies.

“Tomorrow will be a much lighter day, so we should be able to go over all of the procedures,” I say as I calm myself.

“So, you mean I’m not fired then?” she jokes.

I shake my head in no response.

“How about we call it a day?” I say, looking at the clock.

“Are you sure? It’s only two,” she says.

“My schedule is clear for the rest of the day. We can come back tomorrow and get everything figured out then,” I say, releasing a long exhale.

“You’re the boss,” she says with a laugh.

Chapter nine

Chapter Nine

How do I still have a job? He must have been desperate to have someone in there if he’s still keeping me around after today. I made a complete fool of

myself in front of him and all of the people in the meeting room.

I try to focus on my breathing while I ride down the elevator, but it still does nothing to help calm my nerves or control the thoughts in my head.

At least he let me go home early.

When I get to the first floor, I’m surprised to see it’s pouring outside. But, of course, I wasn’t expecting rain today – which I never really do because I have a

terrible habit of leaving the house without checking the weather.

I didn’t bring an umbrella with me, so I’d have to take a cab home to avoid getting soaked with rain. I can’t afford to have to call out because of a cold right

now. Several taxis are driving by, but none of them stop for me while I wait. So I downloaded two ride-share apps on my phone and compared the prices for a

minute to see which I could afford. It turns out I can’t afford either.

I’m about to just suck it up and walk to the train station when a black car pulls up beside me. The window rolls down, and Mr. Kapino sticks his head out and smiles at me.

“Need a ride?” he asks me and opens the door.

“I’m in Queens. I don’t want to put you out,” I say, yelling over the pelting rain and city noise.

“Don’t worry about that,” he replies, pushing the door wider before scooting over.

I hop in, thankful to be out of the rain, but I’m shivering and freezing in the dry air.

“Thank you. I was just about to call a cab, but they were all so far away,” I lie, so he doesn’t know how broke I am.

“Queens makes a lot of sense,” he says, and I wrinkle my brow, unsure of what he means. “I mean because of why you were late. It’s a long train ride.”

I laugh and nod my head in agreement.

“Do you live around here?” I ask him to make small talk on the ride.

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