Page 10 of Stuck Together

“Oh, hallelujah.” Kendra threw her head back and cheered, but Emma stared at me with furrowed brows.

Emma crossed her arms over her chest and leaned against the couch. “Then why are you so glum?”

I sighed and dropped my head back on the couch, meeting Emma’s gaze. “I'm not so sure that I'm happy about it.”

“Well, why the hell not?” Kendra asked in a sharp tone.

“I didn't get the job I applied for.” I wasn’t sure how to tell them about Logan. Emma had heard every sad story I had about Logan. She was the one that helped me move past him and start dating again shortly after we started college. Kendra knew of him, more in a legendary sense. Every time one of us met a guy we sensed was a player, we called him a Logan.

“Okay.” Emma’s expression turned pained and I could only assume that was because she picked up on my emotional distress over this job. “Then what job did you get?”

“Well, apparently they just had an advertising executive resign. And the owner was impressed with my resume. She also knew all about Daniel and how he was with women and didn’t care. So she hired me as an associate advertising executive instead.”

Both girls jumped up and squealed.

“Oh, my gosh. We have to celebrate.” Emma ran into the kitchen and grabbed a bottle of wine while Kendra grabbed three glasses.

“Hold up. Before we start celebrating, you need to hear the whole story.” They both stopped and looked at me. The confused look on their faces made me regret not telling them where my interview was today and who exactly it was with. Considering my history with Logan and the heartbreak I endured, they’d be against this. If they’d known in advanced that I was interviewing with his grandmother, they very well may have stopped me from going. Which was exactly why I didn’t tell them. “I'm not so sure it's a great idea that I take this job.”

They looked at me like I had grown three heads. It was a rather outlandish thing for me to say considering my situation was more than a little desperate. I groaned and sunk further into the couch cushions. “So, you know Logan? The guy who broke my heart.”

“You mean Mr. Takes-my-virginity-then-leave-and-never-comes-back-breaks-my-heart, Logan. That guy?” Emma scowled. Her tone and lovely term of endearment for Logan put a smile on my face. It took a lot to get Emma to talk negatively about someone, so when she did, watch out.

“Yeah, that guy.” I rolled my eyes.

Emma plopped down next to me. “What about him?”

I looked her in the eyes and the anger she held in her expression both warmed my heart and terrified me. I loved that she cared that much for me, and that she was ready to fight this man she’d never met just because he hurt me in the past. But her reaction to my next words terrified me. She wasn’t going to be happy about this, and regardless of what she thought about him, I really needed this job.

I bit my bottom lip before I continued. “Well, he’s my new boss.”

“Oh, shit,” Kendra whispered from behind, and Emma’s jaw dropped.

“Yeah. Oh, shit is right. If you would have seen how he looked at me today, you would’ve punched him in the gut. There was so much anger and dislike in his expression. His words were neutral enough, but the way he looked when he saw me almost broke my heart all over again. I swear I thought I was over him.”

Emma gasped and clasped her hands to her mouth. “What are you saying? That you're not over him.”

“I'm saying I don't know.” This right here was why I didn’t tell them who my interview was with. If they knew, Emma especially, that there was a chance I’d see Logan today, she never would’ve let me go. Me getting over Logan had been hell on both of us. But she was a true friend and never left my side. “To be honest, I’m not sure if I'll ever be over him.”

“Oh, this is not good. This is not good at all.” Emma stood and started pacing around the living room.

“Come on, ladies.” Kendra grabbed the bottle of wine and popped the cork. “How bad could it really be? You haven’t seen the guy in, what, a decade or more?”

“Fifteen years,” I said. Kendra poured a glass of wine and handed it to me. I drank half the glass in one gulp. She reached over with the bottle and refilled my glass before I had a chance to stop her.

“Maybe you just need to jump him. Show him what he’s been missing after all these years. A good hate fuck always soothes old wounds.” Kendra waggled her brows at me.

“I am not going to jump him, so get that ridiculous idea out of her head.”

Emma glared at Kendra as she took a glass from her. Hopefully, some wine would settle Emma. She looked more upset by this than I felt. “What did he say?”

“Not much. At least not to me. As soon as he saw me, he asked to speak to Althea in private. I don’t know what they talked about, but the look on his face wasn’t good.”

“Wait a minute.” Emma sat down next to me, her glass already empty. “Althea? As in his grandmother. You knew this was a possibility before you took this interview, didn’t you?”

I held up glass up to my lips and nodded.

“Dammit, Madison. How could you knowingly do that?” Emma scolded.