Page 118 of Keep Your Friends Close and Your… Work Enemy Closer?

"They did. On Friday."

"If you even say Max was the one to fire you..."

"Actually, he was."

I wasn't ready for her reaction, but she laughed loudly—so loud I had to pull the phone away from my ear.

"Oh, sweetie," she said breathlessly. "That's so harsh it's hilarious. And what nerve considering he was doing the same damn thing."

"Right? Although heiskind of the CEO, so..."

"CEO. C. E. Shmo. Whatever. They're not the boss of you and me."

Her words made me smile, a rusty one as if I'd forgotten how. "No, they're certainly not. Not anymore."

"But..." She paused, drawing out whatever she had on her mind.

"Yes?"

"But I saw you two dance at the gala, and I know for a fact that man has it bad for you."

"Oh, um, well, we had a very brief thing..."

"Of course you did. The chemistry between you two is obvious to anyone who bothers to look. So not anymore I take it? Since he fired your ass?"

"No. Definitely not anymore."

"But did he say why? Or was he just a total asshole about it?"

I took a few minutes to tell her the details, explaining how he did it "for my own good" supposedly, not able to hide the sarcastic venom from my voice.

"So he thinks you should start your own publishing company?" she asked once I was done explaining everything.

"Yes."

"And is that something you want?"

"Yes, definitely," I admitted. "Someday."

"Someday? Why not now?"

"Well..." My voice trailed off because I didn't really have a great answer to that particular question. "Um..."

Venus laughed again. "I can see I stumped you. Well, look, I'm obviously committed to working with you and publishing this book through Insight Ink. However..."

I held my breath in anticipation of what she might say.

"However," she repeated, "whenyou start your own business, I will fully support you in that. Maybe with my next book. Maybe with my husband's memoir sometime or my close friends. Or I'll just give you a shoutout on my social media. I don't know what yet. But I think you should absolutely go for it. Just do it."

Who knew Venus La Fleur could be so sweet? "That is so kind of you. Thank you so much."

"Of course." I heard some voices in the background and sensed Venus was distracted. "Okay. I've got to get going. But we'll talk soon. All right?"

"Sounds good. And thanks again for your understanding. I can't even tell you how much I appreciate it."

After we said our goodbyes, I heaved a huge sigh of relief. It'd been a small miracle that Venus had been so accepting of this absurd situation I'd caused. So I'd been fired, and that truly sucked, but I could still complete this mission and then move forward. And at least I had enough money to support myself, unlike a lot of people when they lost their job.

The buzz of my phone interrupted my thoughts, and I quickly answered when I saw it was the doorman. "Miss Annalise, there's a flower delivery for you here. Should I send it up?"

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