Page 86 of Don't Quit the Day Job

"Yeah, in a little bit," he says, lowering his voice. "I just wanted to see how everything's going."

"I mean, it seems like you're busy right now, like you have been all week, doing other things, huh?"

"I mean, it has been crazy," he says.

"Max, the doctor sent me an email," the girl says, and my jaw drops open. What doctor, and why would Max care? What is going on?

"Hey, I am so sorry, Lila. I actually have to go."

"Okay, so—" But before I can even finish my sentence, he's hung up. I'm not happy. I'm not happy at all, and I don't even know what to do. Is Marie his girlfriend? An ex come back into his life? I hate that I still don’t have the answers to these questions. Whoever she is, it sounds like he cares about her. I hate being an over thinker. I hate not being brave enough to ask him all the questions rambling in my brain. I just don't understand it, and I don't know if I have any reason to question him about any of it because who am I to him, really?

I pull out the frozen pizza from the freezer and turn the oven up to 400 degrees. I don't really want frozen pizza, but I nixed the idea of ordering Chinese takeout, as I don't know how much longer I'll be able to work for Max if he does have a woman in his life. I feel like the jealousy that is vacationing in my stomach would never leave if I stayed with him. I call Skye to distract myself from thinking about Max, and I'm happy when she answers on the second ring. "Hey, I was just about to call you!" she answers.

"Oh, you were?"

"Yeah. So I know you said you weren't sure about doing the dancing thing, but there is a party coming up on Saturday and we need another girl. I was wondering if you might be free."

"I don't know." I say, but then I think about Max and Marie, whoever she is. "I mean, you enjoy it, right?"

"It's fun and it's great money," she assures me. "And it's not like the guys do anything. They can't touch you unless you want them to, and then they'll pay you loads of money."

"Okay, I guess."

"Oh, by the way, I was speaking to Kingston today."

"Yeah?" I probe. "Don't you speak to him every day?"

"Well, yeah, duh, but it's what I overheard him saying when I left the office."

"What did you overhear him saying?" I'm confused now. I have no idea what she's talking about.

"Well, anyway, he was giving me a list of tasks, which by the way, he sucks as a boss. Anyways, as I was leaving, Remington comes into the office…"

"Okay."

"…and they start talking about Max."

Suddenly, I'm all in on the conversation.

"What did they say?"

"Well, Remy lowered his voice and whispered something to Kingston, and Kingston was shocked."

"What did he whisper?"

"I don't know initially what was said, but then Kingston said something like, 'Marie's pregnant? Holy shit.' And then they both looked at me, and then I left the office, so I didn't get to hear anything else."

"Oh, wow." My heart drops into my stomach at the news. "So that's why she needed to go to the doctor, or why the doctor was emailing her."

"You know her? Who is she?"

"I have no idea who she is, but I think she might be his ex-girlfriend or something. A couple of weeks ago he had a call and he was just saying her name over and over and he's been out of the office and I was just on the phone with him and I heard her speaking to him.”

I hear my voice cracking. I feel like I'm about to cry.

"Hey, are you okay?" Sky says, and there's real concern in her voice. "I'm sorry."

"You've got nothing to be sorry about. Why wouldn't I be okay?"

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