Page 52 of Dance with Me on New Year's Eve

“Not wrong exactly, but we don’t consider a coffee date with you to be wasting our time, Roxy,” Mari said carefully.

“I was looking forward to just chatting, actually,” Hazelsaid with a tentative smile.

What?

Ugh, I’d blown this too. They wanted to just hang out like friends? I must be misunderstanding. “Oh. Um, sorry.”

Hazel laughed. “Stopapologizing, Roxy.”

“I like to think we’re friends, or at least I’d like to be,” Mari said slowly.

Now I knew I must be hearing wrong. She couldn’t want to be friends with me. And Hazel … I looked over to see her nodding along.

“I’m sorry, what’s going on?” I heard myself say, like an idiot.

Hazel sighed. “This isn’t an intervention, Roxy. We just thought you wanted to spend time with us. It seems you didn’t, and that’s OK,” she said with a touch of impatience.

My heartrate jumped. The last thing I wanted to do was hurt her feelings. Or anyone’s. “Oh, I’m sorry—”

Mari frowned and cut me off. “Seriously, no more apologizing,” she said gently. “If it makes you more comfortable, let’s talk about your work responsibilities, OK?”

The feelings of shame only increased at their responses, but I swallowed and nodded. “Yes, all right. So, as you know, I’m doing three jobs.” I looked back and forth between them. “I’m co-managing your new project to set up the counseling center by December 31, Hazel, and still serving as your assistant in your other endeavors, such as book marketing, events, and other outreach. Mariana, I’m also still in charge of event planning at the resort.” I paused. “It’s a lot of work, and I love doing it all, but—”

“It’s way too much,” Hazel finished for me, and her brow creased. “Roxy, I feel terrible. I didn’t put all the pieces together about how much work we’ve put on you. I’m really sorry.”

“Same,” Mari said with a troubled expression. “I knew you were busy, but I didn’t realize it wasthatmuch.”

“I mean, it’s mostly been manageable, and I like working for you both. Truly, I’m lucky to have these responsibilities.” I bitmy lower lip. “I shouldn’t complain.”

Hazel let out a strangled laugh. “No, you’re just being polite. We’ve dumped a ton of stuff on you, and you have every right to complain.” When I opened my mouth to object, she shook her head. “No, you absolutely do. Let’s figure out how to fix this.”

“What can we do to help?” Mari asked.

“Well, I have a few ideas, but …” I paused and took a deep breath. I’d practiced this part too, but it was still gut-wrenching to say—to admit I couldn’t do it all. “Potentially the most impactful change would be to hire another event planner for the resort. Or maybe an existing employee can take on those responsibilities.”

They looked at each other, a silent thought passing between them, and I tried to squelch the queasy feeling of regret rising in my stomach.

“Consider it done,” Mari said.

“We should’ve done that months ago,” Hazel added.

My jaw dropped. “Oh. That was easy. Are you sure?”

“Absolutely,” Mari said with a smile.

“Will that be enough, or do you need me to find a new assistant too?” Hazel paused, putting her long purple fingernail to her lip for a moment. “Or maybe the better question is, what do you see yourself doing in the future, once the new center is open?”

I maintained steady eye contact even though I was still shaky. “I need to think about it some more. Am I … am I understanding right that you are open to some different possibilities?”

“Of course! There are any number of useful roles—hopefully professionally fulfilling ones—you could take in the new center. I mean, you know that as well as I do, as you and Jeff drafted a list of positions we’ll need to hire in the future.”

I nodded and pasted on a polite smile. “Yes. I would appreciate some more time to think about it, if you don’t mind.”

“Sure,” she said breezily as she took a bite of the orangescone in front of her. I realized I was also famished, but eating could wait until I got home.

“Are you hungry? We can order some food,” Mari suggested.

Apparently I’m incapable of hiding any feeling on my face now. Ugh, I’d need to work on that. “A little, but it’s no big deal.”

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