Page 74 of Love in Focus

“We also have her video work on file, but I figured you’ve already seen it, so I didn’t bother forwarding that email,” Pauline adds when I don’t respond right away.

I’m surprised to realize that, with how busy I’ve beenlately, I haven’t thought about Celeste in a while. Despite the quieter pace of life in the suburbs, socially and professionally, I’ve been busier than ever. I’ve been dividing my time between helping Kiara and Val plan their wedding, throwing myself into work, and making new—as well as reconnecting with the old—friends here in SoCal. It’s been chaotic, but the good kind that helps me fall asleep exhausted every night but wake up feeling rejuvenated and ready to tackle the day in the morning. I can’t remember the last time I’ve been this happy.

But now, with my ex’s face right there in front of me, I’m so caught off guard that my voice barely comes out when I say, “We did.”

Pauline covers her mouth with her hands. “Oh dear. Did you not like working with her? We can remove her from the list, then, no problem.”

Slowly, I trace Celeste’s photo with my fingers. I take a breath, and then another, trying to gauge how I feel about her now that the initial shock is fading away.

“No,” I finally say. “Let’s bring her in and see what she has to say. She’s one of the best media artists I know. We probably won’t find a better person for the job.”

We schedule a meeting with Celeste for the following Monday. Technically, meetings with freelancers are done in the conference room with the whole team, but I tell everyonethat I’d like to handle this one on my own. And my coworkers are all busy enough with other projects that they’re more than happy to let me take charge.

After how emotional things were the last time we saw each other, I have no idea how things will be when we meet again. So I can’t help but tense up a bit when she enters the conference room—early, of course. Her hair is longer, flowing gracefully down her back like a silky black waterfall. But other than that, she looks the same. Still unforgettably hot and irritatingly sexy.

As she takes a seat across the table from me, she looks around, her eyebrows lifting as she takes in the sleek interior of the conference room. But then her gaze lands on me, and her eyes soften with an all-too-familiar tenderness that makes my heart skip a beat.

I take a deep breath and lean forward, facing her. “Hi,” I say. “First things first… how did you even know that I work here? Are you actually interested in this job?”

Celeste blinks. “Oh, I definitely am. It sounds cool, and I’m not saying that for the hell of it. But I’m also here for you, Gem.”

Gem.The familiarity of the nickname almost makes me tear up. “How so?”

She nervously bites her lip before continuing, “I saw that you moved back to Irvine last year. And I was worried that something happened, with you or your family. Going back to your hometown aftertwelveyears? That’s a pretty big change. It reminded me of what I had to do in college, and I wanted to check in to see if everything was okay.”

“Oh.” I sit back in my chair. I was expecting a lot of different things, but Celeste popping back into my life because she wasworriedabout me wasn’t one of them. My heart flutters again, and I feel like I’m about to cry again. Not because I’m sad, but quite the opposite.

Tears escape from my eyes, and almost immediately, Celeste comes over to give me a hug.

“Oh, no, Gemma baby,” she says. “Is everyone okay? I’m so sorry—”

I wave my hands in front of me before she can continue. “No, sorry.” I’m freely crying now, but I’m smiling, too. “Everyone’s fine. I’m sorry I made you worry. Thank you, really. But no. I just needed to get out of San Francisco. And I got this new, higher-paying position close to home, so.”

“Wait,” Celeste says, cocking her head to the side. “But then why are you crying?”

My cheeks heat up in embarrassment. “Oh, I’m… happy. Life’s been so good since I moved back to SoCal. And now you’re here in front of me, saying you applied for a job because you’reworriedabout me? I feel so blessed.”

Celeste’s face softens, her shoulders finally relaxing as she smiles. “I’m glad to hear that. You deserve nothing but the best.”

My heart’s beating loudly in my chest now, irrepressible and undeniable. “Thank you, Celeste. Really.”

She peers at me from under those damn long lashes of hers. We stay there like that for one long moment, inches away from one another.

She clears her throat. “Okay, well, since everything is okay, I also wanted to talk to you about something else.”

I frown. “About what?”

“I…” Celeste trails off and looks away from me. She starts to say something, pauses again, and then finally goes on. “I think I overreacted. Back when we were in SF. There was a lot going on, and I was super overwhelmed, even more than I realized at the time. Yes, some time apart was good for us, and I don’t regret that part, especially after seeing howhappyyou are now. But I didn’t need to completely disappear from your life again, and I’m sorry. I regretted it a lot over the past year, to the point that I’m sure my therapist is sick of me talking about you.”

“Wait, you’re in therapy?” I ask, since I’m still wrapping my mind around everything else she just said. “I am, too!”

Celeste’s eyebrows shoot up in confusion. It’s probably not something to be super happy about, but after all the drama that went down with James admitting he chose to cheat on me instead of going to couples counseling, I can’t help but feel relieved. My advice columnist days are long gone, but I’m so glad Celeste and I areactuallyworking on ourselves.

When I don’t say anything else out loud, Celeste’s expression deepens into a frown. “Wait, you didn’t go to therapy because of me, did you?”

“Kind of?” I admit honestly. “But also, not really. What you said about me, about how I kept jumping from relationship to relationship… it made me realize I had a dependency problem. So I’ve been working on that.Andstaying single for the past year. It’s been helping a lot.”

A huge smile blooms across Celeste’s face. She looks so genuinely happy for me that I smile, too. “That’s great to hear, Gem. I’m proud of you.”

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