Page 78 of Better Left Unsaid

By the time Jeff hung up, I realized I’d only retained about five percent of what I’d even heard him say. But I didn’t have time to let it weigh on me, so I buzzed Daphne. “Daphne, please call Dom and get the details of the shoot we’re doing together. He’ll know what you’re referring to.”

* * *

Thirty minutes into my meeting with the features editors, and we knew we were missing something.

“We need to make a splash. I want this issue to stand out. I’m open to ideas.” I made my plea and waited.

“You’re writing the letter from the editor,” one of the girls said, sitting up while she alternated between chewing on the back of her pen and hitting it on the mahogany table, “but what if you also did a full article?”

I considered the idea. It wasn’t bad and not unheard of. In fact, often the editor-in-chief contributed articles—Mom certainly had done it plenty of times before. “On what?” I asked, looking around the table, still waiting for the ideas to start pouring in.

A seasoned editor spoke up, “What if you brought back thehow-to? You could add your voice to something totally unique and rare since we don’t do them often anymore.”

“Yeah, why is that, by the way?” I asked the group. I always enjoyed reading how-to articles myself, but she was right, we hadn’t done many of them in recent years.

She shrugged. “They became overused. Your mother didn’t like that they weren’t special, so she challenged us to find new ways to feature the information.”

Tapping my finger on my chin, I recognized the truth in her words. “I respect that, but I also really like the concept, so I’m running with it. At least for this issue. I just have to find a good topic. Thanks for the idea, Suzette. Okay, good work here, everyone. Send me drafts as you get them. I look forward to seeing what you all put together.”

With everyone slipping from the conference room, I stayed put because, while it was one meeting down, I still had another to go.

Doodling on my notepad, I toyed with a few topics for my article and jotted down notes and some very rough ideas, but nothing felt right. It had to have a fun, flirty vibe, but also make a real contribution to the issue—my first issue. Did you know how hard it was to come up with something like that? It was like asking for lightning in a bottle.

* * *

After the day I’d had at work, I was actually excited to see Paolo and take the evening to relax. Usually, I’d insist on taking my work home and getting back to it after I put Isabella to bed, but then Paolo called and reminded me—not so subtly—what we’d talked about on our first date. You know, the line about living my life. So when he’d invited me to have drinks at his hotel’s pool, I agreed.

Honestly, it was a great decision because this was exactly what I needed. I couldn’t have been more at ease than I was sitting in the hot tub as I scrolled through social media on my phone, kicked my feet in the water, and waited for him to come back with our drinks.

The decision I’d made that I was regretting was telling my sisters about the date because my phone chimed with a text, and I knew it was them. They’d been all over this thing with Paolo like white on rice.

Jade:I’d call him Daddy.

Perla:Why would you do that?

Maria:Because he’s older?

Jade:That’s one of the reasons.

Maria:All right, well, I won’t be doing that, but I guess I could understand the whole daddy thing. There are things he says or does that makes me think he has that way about him where he’d take care of me.

Bianca:Aww, that’s sweet.

Allegra:Maria doesn’t like people taking care of her like that. She’s way too independent for that. Hello, are we forgetting who we’re talking about? Maybe Paolo’s not for you. Best to leave your date with him and not string him along.

Maria:Allie! I’m not stringing him along.

Allegra:Sleep with him.

Maria:What?

Allegra:Sleep with him. Then you’ll know for sure. It’s a big tell.

Bianca:Chemistry is a big tell. I had known my feelings for Knox before I slept with him because we had chemistry. It’s more than just sex.

Jade:It is a big part, though. No pun intended.

Maria:He’s back with our drinks. Talk later!

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