Page 80 of Forever Wild

Izzy

Ugh. I’m sorry. You seemed so confident in it.

I had felt good about it. I had absolutely crushed my presentation on MyUsual. It had been surprising enough when Conrad’s assistant had invited me to New York for a meeting after I intentionally left Jameson’s name and our meeting at the New Year’s party out of my initial correspondence, but apparently, Conrad’s memory is in fine form, and he was able to put two and two together when he saw my name and “Hungry Guy” in the proposal.

Me

They claim it’s just not the right partnership for them. The main investor called me himself this morning to let me down, so at least it wasn’t an assistant brush-off?

Izzy

And this investor is…

Me

You know I can’t tell you. If I hadn’t told you about the meeting before I read the over-the-top NDA, I wouldn’t even be telling you this now.

On that note, a friendly reminder not to tell ANYONE.

Izzy

You’ve already made that clear.

Me

It’s a terrifying NDA.

It is too. I wasn’t even allowed to tell people that I went to New York for the meeting. I feel bad not looping Jameson in, especially since he was the one who introduced me to Conrad, but I’ve also never had a legal document make me anxious like the Ferguson Brothers Investment Firm’s NDA. That thing is intense.

I guess that’s the silver lining of them turning down my proposal to partner with Hungry Guy as investors in the multi-restaurant app that makes ordering your usual quick and easy.

I jump as a knock sounds on the door, a rare sound in my small town. Most people just walk right in.

“Come in,” I yell, making my way to the door.

My mom and Janice breeze in, letting in the cold of late February before Mom closes the door with a bang behind her.

She holds up a carton of ice cream, saying, “We came to see how you are doing.”

“How I’m doing?” I ask, unsure what she means.

“Yes.” She thrusts the ice cream at me before bustling over to the cupboard, grabbing two cups of water. “Janice just told me at coffee about the article. We came right here.”

I stop trying to open the ice cream long enough to shoot my mom a confused glance. “What article?”

Janice and my mom both go completely still, causing me to pause as well. “What article?” I repeat.

Tentatively, Janice starts to explain, “Well, Bryn, it’s...”

A loud bang echoes overhead, and Kelsey’s footsteps pound down the stairs, the sound so much louder than expected for someone as petite as my oldest sister.

“Bryn, did you see—” She halts mid-sentence, taking in our mom and Janice. “I assume you’re here about the article?”

Mom nods, adding, “She hasn’t seen it yet. We were just starting to tell her—”

“Here.” Kelsey doesn’t wait for Mom to finish, shoving her phone into my hand instead.

As I read, I feel the color drain from my face and the tears that start to leak from my eyes. “This isn’t...”

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