Page 16 of Keep Your Friends Close and Your… Work Enemy Closer?

"Thank you. I'll do my best of course." No pressure. No pressure at all.

And with that, she stood up briskly and walked away, leaving me alone with Jared, whose eyes still bore into me, the excitement coming off him palpable.

"Venus La Fleur..." he said out loud. "She's so—"

"Don't even say it." I finally turned to glare at him.

"Say what?" he asked innocently.

My eyes narrowed even more. "She's so hot. Or whatever misogynistic thing you were about to say."

"What I wasgoingto say," he countered in a snarky voice, "is she's so popular and in demand right now."

"Mm-hmm."

"And I'm thrilled to be on this project with you... as equals."

My mouth fell open. "Excuse me? As equals?"

"Yes, as equals. That's what Veronica said."

"She never said that."

"She didn't not say it."

"Are you goading me on purpose?"

"Goadingyou? No, I'm notgoadingyou. If I wasgoadingyou, you'd know it."

"Why do you keep emphasizing goading?" I asked. "Despite what you may think, it's not a dirty word."

"Please. I know whatgoadingmeans."

"Stop it."

"Stop what? Saying goading? Goading, goading, goad—"

"Oh, my God. Could you be any more immature?"

I stalked away before I said something worse, fully submerged in that anger phase, the steam coming out of my ears probably visible to the entire room. Ending up in the phone booth, my new home away from home, I couldn't believe this new twist in the plot of my life.

This had the potential to be the biggest project of my career, a humongous bestseller in the making if we could get Venus on board. She was a huge star. Huge.

But it could all be ruined by Jared. Or worse, if it was successful, he could totally be a man about it and claim all the credit, which I could absolutely see happening. It was clear as day, the image in my head of Jared grinning ear to ear at our book launch party, surrounded by literary elites and Hollywood types, as he accepted all the accolades for our New York Times bestseller.

The image only made me fume more as I furiously texted back and forth with Mona, the fact that Jared had said we were now equals ringing in my head, a death knell for my future career.

I knew the logical thing would be to go to Veronica and ask her, but it seemed like such a weak, insecure move.The bigger person would find a way to handle it all on their own without running off and crying to the boss.

Mona thought the same, suggesting I do my best, and if any problems truly arose, then I could go to Veronica. She also said to document everything, which was brilliant advice.

But her next words chilled me. "You two seemed to get along great at karaoke night," she wrote. "I don't think it'll be as bad as you're anticipating. And maybe you like Jared more than you think you do."

Was she serious? I typed out a few different replies, deleting them all before I pressed send, Mona's response to my indecision a bunch of laughing emojis. A few seconds later, she knocked on the glass side of the phone booth, holding a big cup in her hands.

I opened the door for her. "What's this?" I asked as she handed it to me.

"I made your favorite. Iced passionfruit tea with lots of sugar. And I put a donut on your desk."

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