Page 78 of My Totally Unfair Deal

I haven’t touched Eliza’s room since she left—haven’t even let Reba clean it. I tell myself it’s out of respect, but that’s bullshit—I’m afraid. Afraid that if I walk in, I’ll find a single thing that still smells like her and completely lose it.

It happens anyway.

I spot a corkboard resting against the inside of her closet door. One she must’ve forgotten in her rush to pack. I pull it out without thinking.

It’s covered in pinned ideas and color palettes, scraps of lace, miniature printouts of wedding venues…

And pictures of us.

Candid ones. Me laughing. Her curled up beside me in one of my sweaters. One from the wine tasting where she got every answer wrong and didn’t care.

She printed these out?

My hands are shaking before I realize it. My chest tightens with heavy guilt.

I’ve been drinking too much, working too little, and canceling most of my client calls because none of it matters anymore.

Eliza didn’t just change the trajectory of her life. She changed mine. Made me care again. Made me want something.

And I walked away from it.

“Because of Jackson…” I mutter to myself. “To not fuck up the longest-running friendship you have left.”

I carry her manifestation board to my bedroom and grab my keys. I have one final client to handle, and then I’ll come back and reassess how to un-fuck what I’ve done…

I scan the seating area in a sleek, overpriced Midtown lounge, looking for my last target, but I don’t see her.

As I turn around, a redhead settles into the seat next to me at the bar.

“You waiting on a date, too?” she asks, looking nervous.

“Something like that.” I nod toward the gift bag in her lap. “What are you celebrating?”

“My boyfriend’s birthday is next week, but I’m surprising him with an all-expenses-paid vacation to Bora Bora next month.”

“Let me guess,” I say. “You two one-up each other every occasion in the gift department?”

“No, this is my first attempt at giving him something grand.” She beams. “He usually goes over the top, but between his birthday and him getting a huge promotion at S&HP, I figured I should finally splurge, you know?”

“S&HP?” I set my drink down.

“Yeah, he’s going to be the new president.” She pulls out her phone proudly. “They already updated the website with his picture. See?”

Fuck.

The man on the screen is the same one who hired me tonight.

“People thought I was crazy for helping him pay for business school,” she adds, still smiling. “But look how that turned out.”

“Wait, back that up,” I say. “You helped pay for him to go to business school?”

“Yeah.” She beams. “I know he’ll pay me back, but I was just so inspired by his work ethic and I love him so much, you know?”

Jesus…I raise my hand just as the bartender passes. “I need two more whiskeys, please. Actually… make it three.”

“I’m cutting you off after one more,” the bartender mutters before walking away.

“Tell me how well you think your relationship is going with this guy,” I say to the redhead. “I’m curious…”

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