Page 104 of A Whole New Play

I need to get out of here before I do something stupid like beg him to tell me what I can do to prove I’m good for his daughter.

I wrap my hand around the door knob. Before I can turn it and leave, Coach says, “I know you care about Valerie.”

My shoulders tense, but I force myself to turn and meet his eye so he can see how sincere I am when I say, “I really do.”

His expression is somber. “Then I have to ask, if you care about Valerie, do you truly believe that you are what’s best for her?”

Fresh pain, laced with self-doubt, cuts through me. “I don’t know.”

“You should think about it.” He inhales through his nostrils. His eyes look tired. “Please… for Valerie’s sake…”

I huff a noncommittal sound and then leave the office. I walk quickly, trying to leave behind my coach’s request before it can settle in the back of my mind and make me doubt my relationship with the most incredible woman I’ve ever met.

But as hard as I try, I can’t outrun Coach’s words. They haunt me well into the late night.

Even with Valerie curled in my arms after watching a light-hearted romantic comedy, I find myself staring up at the ceiling of my bedroom, wondering what in the hell I’m going to do.

The last thing I want is to end things with Valerie, but I can’t shake the possibility that I could be holding her back. Or what in the hell I’m going to do if that’s the case.

32

VALERIE

“Oh my god, Valerie. I am so proud of you. My daughter… a CFO. Ah! Can you believe it?” Mom gushes so loud that she draws the attention of those dining at the tables around us.

I sink into my seat, hoping their attention doesn’t last. Kobu is a fancy sushi restaurant. The atmosphere is designed to be subdued and calming. Mom’s exuberance is out of place.

“I didn’t say I was taking the job,” I mumble.

A gong sounds near the front of the room, drawing the room’s attention. Thank goodness. Otherwise, they’d see how quickly my mom’s smile turns into a scowl.

“Excuse me?” She clips.

I sigh and sit up straight. This conversation is going to be a doozy. I shouldn’t slouch and give my mom another thing to criticize. “I said, ‘I didn’t say I was taking the job’.”

Will just called me ten minutes ago to tell me he and Henry would officially like to offer me the position of CFO for their company. The interview was only three days ago. Considering two of those days were the weekend, I expected the men to take more time to interview other candidates before making their decision. That’s the only reason I answered the call outside of Kobu.

I thought Will had another question to ask me to help him and Henry make their decision. I had no idea he would be calling to offer me the job. Or that my mom would choose that moment to walk up behind me and eavesdrop on the conversation.

I should’ve lied when she asked for details about the job.

Or, at the very least, I should’ve been vague.

I definitely shouldn’t have told her I’d been offered the CFO position. Especially when I wasn’t certain I wanted the job.

Now, I’ve set myself up to endure more of her characteristic disappointment with my life choices.

“What in the world do you mean?” Her voice hardens. “Why would you ever turn down an opportunity like this?”

I steel my spine to withstand the weight of her impending disapproval. “The job is in California.”

“So?”

“And it’s at a start-up,” I continue. “It’ll be risky to uproot my life and move to another state for a job that could not exist in a year.”

“But it could also be the opportunity of a lifetime!” She shakes her head. “And since when are you adverse to taking risks? Aren’t you the same person who up and quit her high-paying and respectable job just a few months ago because she felt like it?”

“My decision to quit was more complex than that.”

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