Page 69 of Rich and Bossy

“I know, and I appreciate it.”

I guess everything is good.

I just need to get her to forgive me. That’s doable, right?

No. Fucking. Way.

She hates your guts now.

I have to take a chance though. I have to.

I’ve never felt this way before, and I’ve never backed down when something got tough.

She’s still going to be mine.

CHAPTER 18

Hazel

“Miss Page,can I get you anything else?” Mom is still pretty much beside herself, even though this isn’t the first time Campbell has paid us a visit. She’s in full hostess mode, setting out cookies and sandwiches, while Dad does his best to stay out of the way. He’s a smart man.

Campbell is gracious as always. “Thank you, Mrs. Strous, I’m just fine. By the time I fly home, I’ll have put on ten pounds.”

Mom clicks her tongue in her motherly way. “You could use it. You’re both too thin.”

“Okay,thanks, Mom.” My smile is a little tight, sort of bordering on a grimace.

“I meant it as a compliment, Miss Page, honestly.” Mom looks horrified at my tone. She puts a hand on her hip. “I used to have a body just like yours until this one came along.” She pats my shoulder on the way past, and I do everything in my power to keep from melting into my chair out of pure horror.

Once we’re alone again, I turn toward Campbell. “And this is why I so rarely had friends over in high school. Sorry. She means well.”

“Don’t worry about it. It’s sweet. You should see some places I’ve worked out of—this is heaven.” She’s laughing as she looks over the list I gave her. “So this is everything that happened this week?”

“Yeah. I made it a point to keep a list of all the violations I witnessed, and I asked people outside of work to keep their eyes out, too. Everyone is being super secretive about it.”

I should probably tell her about my encounter with you know who, but I can’t seem to find the right time, or the right opening. Besides, he thinks I quit. That I gave up on this. I just did what I thought was best for Campbell’s surprise media blitz and all-out attack at once.

I still feel bad about lying to him, though.

Why? I have no idea. I know for a fact he’d lie to me in a second. Right?

“Excellent. The more of this we can document, the better. It will help a lot during the recruiting stages, and we can leak this stuff to the media to get the public on our side.”

I’ve already sent her the photos I managed to snap with my phone, risking getting in trouble for that, mind you. We’re not allowed to take pictures, like shipping boxes is some government classified business, but they can film us nonstop. I don’t care at this point. We’re building a case, step by step. Her encouragement is like pure adrenaline, giving me strength and hope. I was so close to actually giving up before I reached out to her.

Now, the array of papers and books and folders spread out over the table reminds me of one of those movies where a bunch of lawyers dig around to win an unwinnable case. I have to keep reminding myself this is real, that there’s no guaranteed happy ending.

“I made sure to double-check with everybody. Nobody is talking about it openly. Nobody says anything to anyone unlessthey’re a definite yes, strongly interested. Nobody who’s on the fence, and definitely no managers.” I uncap a bottle of water and gulp down a third all at once, my throat parched after talking for hours. I’d better get used to this. Something tells me I’ll be doing a lot of talking once this thing kicks off.

“Great. Let them get as cocky and self-assured as they want. The best way to do this is to hit them all at once, when they don’t expect it.”

I can’t help it. I feel sort of proud of myself, hearing her praise me. It’s like school when I would get a gold star on a test. It’s silly, I know. It doesn’t make it less true.

Campbell checks something on her phone and nods firmly. “Penn and Meadow are working on Decker as we speak. We want to get some media contacts out here in preparation for when we make the push.”

Media contacts. Real-big deal people, national-level stuff. It’s enough to make my nerves hum. “I can’t believe you’re able to do all this. They know we don’t have any funds right now, right? There’s no actual union yet to collect dues.”

“It’s pro bono. Hazel, you need to remember something.” Her voice is warm and friendly, but there is a professional edge to it, too. She can be firm when she needs to. “I know you still see yourself as the little guy, like this is doomed to fail. But this is so much bigger than you. I know you know that, somewhere up there.” She taps the side of her head. “But you need to believe it.”

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