“I’ll see you in two hours.” The phone disconnected.
Claire half-ran back into the kitchen. She picked up a broom and banged it into the ceiling. She and Mindy now needed to cram two weeks’ worth of work into five days. It was going to be chaos.
There was a thwack behind her. She turned. Luke was piling Brad’s other five binders onto the kitchen island. He pushed her prescription bottle across the island at her and raised his eyebrows.
“Yeah, yeah,” she said, popping the top and swallowing one of the pills. “Thank you.” She kissed him on the cheek and ran upstairs. The biggest project of her career was back on. Maybe all wasn’t lost.
“So, boundaries,” Mindy said as they rushed across the parking lot two hours later.
“Yes. Very important. Strict business hours, extra charges for last-minute changes.”
“This is new for us,” Mindy observed. “So you’re not going to answer Brad’s three a.m. calls anymore?”
“No,” Claire said firmly, brushing a dog hair from her blazer. “No calls before eight or after six, except for proposal days and the day before.”
Mindy grabbed her hand. “I love boundaries.”
Claire smiled. As much as it pained her to admit it, maybe Luke had been right. There was no way they’d be able to keep up with the intense client catering they had been performing for Brad. It wasn’t sustainable, especially not at their base fee. Happily Ever Afters’s wild standards had affected Mindy too. But she had never once complained.
“You’re the best, you know that?” Claire said, pulling her friend in for a side hug. “Our company would not be what it is without you.”
“Stop, you’re making me blush.” Mindy shoved Claire, and she almost bounced off a parking sign. “Well, this certainly sets the stakes a little higher for Heather’s interview this afternoon.”
Shit. In light of Brad’s proposal potentially being back on, Claire had completely forgotten about the interview.
“It’ll be okay,” Mindy said, gripping Claire’s arm like she was teetering on a ledge. “She seems so promising, and if she wants to work with us, it’ll give us an extra pair of hands this week. And she could help with Darius and Nick’s proposal.”
They had reached the doors of the studio offices. Claire opened her mouth, then clamped it shut. “One thing at a time,” she said and thrust open the double doors.
Sure, her heart was skipping like children playing hopscotch and she had an immediate urge to start leafing back through Heather’s criminal background check. But that was going to have to wait.
Brad’s secretary wasn’t there. His door was ajar. Claire and Mindy looked at each other. Mindy adjusted a strand of Claire’s hair, then nodded.
Claire ignored the urge to kick the doors open, opting instead to knock twice before entering.
Brad looked up. His hair stuck up like he had jammed a fork in an electrical socket. Purple bags hung under his eyes. “Watch your step,” he muttered.
A potted plant was tipped over in the corner. What must have once been a vase was now a sparkling pile of shards on the carpet. A painting on the far wall was crooked. Was that a dent in the drywall? All signs pointed to a pissed-off Goldie.
“So,” Claire said, pulling a stack of stapled papers out of her manila folder. “Thank you for your interest in Happily Ever Afters.” She slapped the papers on his desk. At least that had remained unscathed.
“This is an updated contract,” she continued. “You’ll notice there are several changes, including an inconvenience fee for the short window, and updates to our business hours.”
Brad flipped to the last page and scribbled his signature without looking at the document. “I’ll do whatever you want. I just need you to fix this.”
“Great,” Claire said, sliding the packet into her folder. “Let’s talk.”
An hour passed while they hammered out the details.
“All right.” Claire handed a copy of her notes to Mindy as they walked away from Brad’s office building. The sun beat down overhead, but a breeze wicked away the sweat on Claire’s forehead. “I’ll do everything from the helicopter company to the ranch. You confirm with the restaurant and the caterers.”
“Done,” Mindy said as she pulled out her phone.
Claire took a deep breath and looked up at the sky. “I don’t know if I have it in me to jump back in with Brad. But it’s only five more days. And it’s all for Karen.”
“For Karen.” Mindy offered a fist bump, and Claire accepted.
“What time is Heather’s interview again?”