Page 78 of Out of the Shadow

I chuckle. “That they do.” I tap the container. “Have you seen Angie?”

Marlene shakes her head. “No. She hasn’t come down yet.”

“Wow. Must be some bug. I’ll go bring this up to her.”

I grab the plastic container and start toward her door, but Blaine intercepts me. “Hi, buddy. Are you ready for the debrief?”

“Sure am.” I hold up the soup. “Let me bring this up to Angie and we’ll be right down.”

His brows pull together. “Is she sick?”

“Yeah.”

He puts his hand on my shoulder. “Go take care of your woman. We’ll start when you get here.”

“Thanks.”

My woman. I like the sound of that. Smiling, I continue my path to her door, when it opens and a bedraggled Angie enters the office.

Blaine calls out. “Oh, Angie, you’re here.”

She waves and the tissue she’s holding flaps.

Blaine continues, “Heard you’re under the weather. Let’s get the meeting over with so you can go back to bed.”

“Okay,” she croaks.

I take her by the arm, but she flinches away. Wow. Must be some strong bug. Something in her demeanor seems off, though, like she’s not really sick. “How are you feeling?” I try to place my hand on her forehead, but she turns away from me.

“I’ll be all right. I just need to get my head back on straight.”

“Got you some wonton soup.”

She half-smiles. “Thanks. Please put it in the fridge, and I’ll take it back upstairs when we’re finished down here.”

I leave her to do as I’m told, more worried about her now that I’ve seen her. My whole body is abuzz like before I’ve walked the red carpet, but I’m not sure why. Returning to the conference room, I take the empty seat next to Angie.

“Great. Let’s hurry through this meeting so Angie can rest. First off, the folks at the network are excited by what they’ve seen so far. We’re fast-tracking the editing process and hope to have the show on the air within two months.”

I nod. “Impressive.”

Blaine discusses a few more details, then turns his head to Kaitlyn, who hands us our paychecks. One-hundred thousand dollars. A very good down payment to my new life. One I’m going to build right here, in Aroostook. With Angie.

“I wanted to add to what I said last night. You two are dynamite on the screen. We’re hoping that the studio will green-light a second season and we want you both to star. Perhaps with a few new realtors, to keep the concept fresh.”

Angie raises a tissue to her nose and blows. She picks up her check. “All this sounds great, but I really need to go lie down. Thank you for this opportunity. I’ll never forget what you’ve done for Russo Real Estate.” She hustles out of the room.

“Excuse me.” I push away from the table and catch up with Angie on the stairs. “Angie. Wait. Let me help you.”

“No, King. Please leave me alone.”

I don’t want to push her if she’s feeling crappy, but I have a sinking feeling something else is at play. Going against my better instincts, I acquiesce. “I’m just a text away.”

She nods and finishes trudging up the stairs. I return to the conference room.

“How’s she doing?”

“You saw her, Blaine. Whatever bug she has, it’s awful.”

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