Page 82 of Gambler's Fallacy

“Yes, sir,” Havoc says, saluting.

Vortex helps me up, and I let the two of them escort me upstairs.

All I want to do is sleep, but I think that maybe when I wake up, things will be okay.

They have to be.

SEVENTEEN

SEVEN

I stareat the event manager office door and shake my head. “I don’t want to go in there,” I beg.

Caleb raises his eyebrows at me. “Did I say you had a choice?”

I swallow hard. “No, but…” I trail off when he gives me a look. “Master,” I try, keeping my voice low, “it’s too much.”

I’m not even lying.

It’s only been two days since Trent stopped me from turning myself into a smear on the ground, and I’m still shaky and tear up at the worst times. I don’t know how I’m going to face Linda without becoming a mess.

I don’t want her to see me like that. Not again.

Caleb takes my hands into his. “Pet. I’m going to be here with you. Linda is not going to do anything bad. You think she’d risk pissing off her boss?”

I squirm, clinging to his hands. “I mean, no. But you won’t be there the next time I go to work, and what if she decides to take it out on me then?” I plead.

“She will not,” Caleb assures me. He lifts my hands up, kisses the knuckles, knocks on the office door.

“Come in!” Linda says.

I cling to Caleb’s hand tighter and dig my feet in, but he ignores all of that as he opens the door and practically drags me inside.

“Good morning, Linda,” Caleb says.

Linda smiles at him. “Morning, Boss.” When she looks at me, her expression falters, but she recovers and smiles gently. “Hi, Seven.”

My heart drops into my stomach. This isn’t going to go well. She’s only doing this because Caleb is right here, and it’s not going to last, and I don’t want a repeat of the last time. “Hi, Linda,” I say, my voice a near-whisper. “I’m… I’m really sorry.”

“I’m the one who should be sorry,” Linda says.

She gets up from her desk, and I scoot back a few steps. I’d be out the door already if Caleb weren’t holding my hand so tightly.

Linda stops moving. “Oh, honey. I’m really, really sorry. Caleb explained—very briefly, he didn’t share anything private—some of your mental health concerns. I shouldn’t have gone off on you like that. Honestly, you were reminding me of my daughter, and I think it was a coincidence of bad circumstances.”

I flinch. If she treats her daughter like that, Ireallydon’t want to have anything to do with her. I look pleadingly up at Caleb, but he doesn’t relent. My shoulders slump, and I look down at the floor. “It’s fine,” I lie. “I understand that you don’t want to have me here and all.”

“That’s not true,” Linda says. “You’ve been a great worker, Seven. The queens love having you, and you don’t complain about doing what a lot of assistants would considermenialtasks. And everybody loves how enthusiastic you are about the shows.” Her smile widens. “Several of the queens were asking when you’d be back, and I know Olive in the sound studio misses having you help out.”

I fidget with my long sleeves, resisting the urge to drag my nails along the skin beneath. “I’m sorry I messed up. It was… It was a bad day.” And it had been. That’s not a lie. The idea of going to work, for Linda of all people, had been so much.

Too much.

“All right.” Caleb cups my face. “Pet, do you want to keep working exactly as before? We can also have you assist one of the other departments. Olive said she’d take you full time, but I know the stage operator said he’d take you on, too.”

Linda nods. “And Georgie in costuming tried to claim you too. Everybody loves having you, Seven.”

It’s a strange, surreal thought.

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