Page 91 of Rainstorm

Ariel heads to her room, mumbling about the stuck-up suit at the bank and capitalism, but I know secretly she’s thrilled to bits at this development.

Now, not only is my life changing, hers is as well and both for the better.

Of that I am certain.

???

No matter how long the dark night lasts, the sun always rises and a new day always dawns. That’s a promise that never fails to be fulfilled.

That’s how I feel right now.

The weeks have flown by, but my new day is beginning to dawn on the horizon.

I might still be living with Ariel, but now she’s going to allow me to help with house expenses. I have a job that I like, plus I’m confident that my friend and I will soon be opening the doors to our new bakery business, and that it’s going to prove to be a great success.

I feel a big responsibility resting on my shoulders, but it feels really good. Despite the empty space in my heart, I feel alive, excited and I dare say even enthusiastic about the future.

Chase hasn’t come looking for me, and even though I don’t say it out loud, that both comforts me and upsets me at the same time.

I no longer see his car outside in the morning or when I come back at night. Ariel says that he doesn’t live here anymore, that’s he’s gone. Well, I can’t say that he didn’t warn me. I think the memories were too much for him too. I push all that to the back of my mind and concentrate on everything else going on in my life right now.

“Oliver, do you have a moment?” I ask when I see him at the door of the agency. That man is so hard to pin down that if I don’t catch him right now, who knows when I’ll get another opportunity to talk to him about an idea that’s been on my mind for several days now.

Although my initial thought is to head to the meeting room, Oliver suggests we go to his office instead, where he sits in the chair behind his desk, while I remain standing, nervously clutching the file containing my proposal in my sweaty hands.

“Come on, Roselynn, out with it,” he comments on my obvious nerves. “Are we headed for bankruptcy? I thought things were improving.”

“Actually, they are.” I smile. “Don’t worry, the bills are all paid and there are no outstanding eviction notices.”

He smiles back, pulling at the neck of his linen shirt, which as always, he’s wearing untucked. He’s like the Charlie Sheen character in Two and a Half Men. Well, the nicer version of that man.

“So what’s up? What’s with the funeral face?”

Oh God, here we go.

“Okay, boss, I’ve been thinking,” I start, opening my folder as I take a seat in one of his luxurious leather chairs, nervously smoothing the fabric of my grey slacks.

“Relax, Rose, I don’t bite.” Clearly he’s amused, but I’m pretty nervous since this is my first official proposal for the agency.

Why I didn’t find a dummies guide for this?

“As I said, Oliver, I’ve been thinking. We’ve been focusing on promoting images for our existing clients, which is all fine and good. However, I believe there’s room for us to expand our portfolio into an area that we haven’t considered before, one that could prove to be very lucrative, and the beauty of it is that it’d require virtually no outlay, since we already have everything we’d need if you were to give the green light to go ahead with my proposal.”

“Okay,” he says slowly, as he leans back in his chair. “You have my undivided attention, so tell me more of what you have in mind.”

Thank fuck for that—I’ve caught his interest. Focus, Roselynn!

“I want us to offer exclusive pictures and custom-made covers for books.”

He raises his eyebrows and places his finger on his lip. Is he going to go for it?

“With the huge variety of models we represent, we already have a wide variety of pictures to choose from, plus Rodrigo—the photographer—has monthly sessions to keep their individual portfolios up-to-date.”

“Yes, I’m aware,” he comments.

“Dean, our designer, is currently underutilized, so it’s only sensible to make better use of his skills,” I continue. “I have a couple of samples here to show you the kind of thing we could do, plus some examples from the sales platforms.”

“I think someone has been doing their homework,” he murmurs wryly.

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