Page 43 of Power Plays & Proposals

Near the end of the call she paused, and I waited for her to ask about Erin's video.

"I don't understand something. If you've had your license for 6 years, why do you only have a few months of recent experience?"

Not the question I was expecting. "I got my license and then worked towards getting my MBA in business."

"You didn't mention an MBA."

"That's because I didn't finish the last semester of my schooling."

"So it wouldn't take very long to get it?"

"No." While looking for more jobs, I’d also looked into seeing if I could finish my degree online.

"Well that's all I need to hear. I have an unusual proposal for you."

Can't be worse than the last one. "Let's hear it."

"I've been contacted about opening up a second salon by an exclusive resort company. They're in the process of finishing a resort in Glacier Bay and they want a salon that can handle high-end clients. I need someone to manage my business from Glacier Bay for me. What do you think?"

My jaw dropped open. "Are you serious?"

"You'll need to train in Crestfield until the resort opens, but if you want the job it's yours." She rattled off a salary amount.

The amount would be enough to move out on my own and afford my bills. It was even enough for me to start saving."I'll take it."

With hope for my future finances restored, I felt up to working at the bakery on the fifth day. I got up early and put on my favorite bakery t-shirt, that said I've got 99 problems, but a batch ain't one. I stepped out of Maria's apartment ready to go to work.

The apartment door next to our’s opened and much to my surprise, Lou stuck his head out.

I gave him a little wave. Hoping he'd go back inside.

Instead, he stepped out into the hallway. "Lia, I thought you were going to Court with Nate."

Fiddling with the hem of my shirt I shook my head no. "I haven't heard anything from him, so I didn't think he'd want me there."

Lou grumbled and said something about Nate being an idiot under his breath. "Trust me, he wants you there."

"What would I even do there?" I asked him, my voice laden with uncertainty. It was a debate I'd been having for the last four days.

Lou gave me a sympathetic shake of his head, his eyes held understanding. "Sometimes just being there is all you need to do. In a faceoff, there's nothing I can do for Nate aside from being where he needs me to be. I can't help him get that puck when it drops, but he knows where I am when he needs to send it to me."

Much to my surprise, his analogy made sense to me. "I made everything so much worse for him."

The weight of my guilt pressed down on me, and I looked down at the laces on my sneakers.

"Did you though?" he asked. "

His response caught me off guard. "His life became a media circus because of me."

He laughed, "Have you met Erin? It's been pretty tame compared to when she talked him into that ridiculous TV show. Before you, Nate had two things he thought about. Penelope and hockey. Everything he did was for one of those things."

But my guilt lingered, and I stubbornly refused to hear what he was telling me. "Penelope got hurt because of me, and I don't think he can ever forgive me." I admitted quietly, the words heavy.

"From what Nate told me, it was all an accident. He's been meaning to get rid of that rug for a while."

A tiny bit of hope cracked through the guilt, until I remembered that it was all pretend. "That sounds great and all, but we only pretended to be engaged. Nothing about our relationship is real. He only made a show of it to help his chances in court to get custody of Penelope."

He looked at me like I was an idiot and grumbled under his breath. His next words were a beacon of wisdom in the darkness of my doubts. "To quote the great Wayne Gretzky, 'You miss one hundred percent of the shots you don't take.' Don't you think it's better to find that out for certain than to assume it and miss out?"

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