Page 88 of The Life Experiment
How would you rate your energy level? (1 being very low energy and 10 being very high energy)
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
What are two things you are grateful for today?
How busy my job keeps me
I don’t know. Chocolate muffins? Or maybe finding out Angus was a liar before I got in too deep. Let’s stick with the muffins
What are you struggling with today?
Everything, I guess. Everything is difficult
Do you have any additional notes on what you would like to discuss in your upcoming counselling session?
Why I am such a gullible, clueless idiot
Nerves rattled through Layla as she inspected her appearance in the bathroom mirror. With beads of sweat tracing her brow, Layla dreaded to think what her heart rate was. Saira would probably see her data and panic.
While Layla wouldn’t say she felt awful, she didn’t feel good either. Public speaking always made her underarms prickle with sweat. Usually, she could feign confidence and push through the moment, but Layla had never presented to the entire board of Senior Partners at Mayweather & Halliwell.
‘All you can do is your best, kiddo,’ David had said when Layla called him last night.
‘What if my best isn’t good enough?’
‘Well, it’s always good enough for me and your mum.’
Layla had to fight an eye-roll at the unhelpful sentiment. ‘That’s sweet, but you’re not the ones who pay my wages.’
‘So what? What do those stuck-up lawyers know, anyway?’
Despite herself, Layla laughed. ‘They know a lot.’
‘Not as much as my little girl. I always say you have the brain of ten men. Go prove it.’
After hanging up, Layla felt she could do exactly that, but now that the presentation was ahead of her, she wasn’t so sure. Her confidence in the yellow suit Maya convinced her to wear was wavering too, even if Michelle had called it a ‘power move’ when Layla walked into the office that morning.
As she gnawed her lower lip, Layla wished more than anything that she could call Angus. His calm, measured tone would soothe her in an instant.
No, her brain snapped.No thoughts of Angus. Not now. This is too important.
But it was no use. All Layla seemed to do was think of Angus. His broken expression, his assertion that he wanted her… For what felt like the hundredth time since their showdown three days ago, Layla wondered if she should have heard him out.
While there was no denying her fury at Angus’s lies, there was something in the way Angus spoke about himself that broke her heart. How could someone with as much going for them as Angus think they were a failure? Did he really live with so much shame? Layla didn’t know, and she hadn’t given Angus the time to explain. She’d shouted and fled, but with every step she took, Layla’s gut told her that she was making a mistake.
But fleeing was easier. Fleeing meant that Layla would never have to see the look on Angus’s face when she admitted to her death date.
See, he’s not the only one who’s been lying, her conscience pointed out.Can you really judge him?
As a bitter sigh left Layla’s lips, Rashida burst into the bathroom. ‘Don’t even think about doubting how great you look,’ she commanded.
‘Rashida’s right,’ Sinead agreed from close behind her. ‘I’ve never seen you look so on point.’
‘Or so nervous.’ Approaching her friend, Rashida reached into the cosmetics bag Layla had set down beside the sink. ‘Here, let me help.’
As Rashida touched up Layla’s makeup, Sinead smiled. ‘You’ve got this, Layla. What you’re doing will change this company forever.’
‘It better. The working group didn’t put so much effort in for you and Michelle to mess up at the last hurdle,’ Rashida joked, sweeping a sheen of highlighter across Layla’s cheeks.
