Page 138 of We Met Like This
His laugh vibrated from his chest to mine as he held me tight.
ONE YEAR LATER
New York was not LA. It was hot and muggy and crowded and vibrant and exciting and interesting. It was full of people always in a hurry because there were so many places to go. And buildings that rose so high into the sky they touched the clouds. It was loud with honking horns and ringing bike bells and shouting cab drivers and construction workers and also music and laughter and conversation. And there were trees. More trees than I was expecting. Some with little iron gates around them in the middle of a sea of concrete. There were vines that climbed up brick walls and potted flowers that sat on porches and hung in window boxes. Food carts dotted corners and people played guitars with boxes full of change in front of them.
It didn’t surprise me that this was the heart of publishing.
“This place is so full,” I said, Oliver’s hand in mine as we headed for the Ritz-Carlton.
“Full of what?” he asked.
“Of everything,” I said.
“You want to move here?”
“I want to visit here. Way more often. But no, LA is home.”
He squeezed my hand. “You excited for this?”
Kari’s AI book came out on Tuesday to rave reviews, and right now at the ballroom in the Ritz, we were having a book launch. Lots of important people from the industry would be there and we would celebrate Kari and her success. She took a risk. She stepped outside her genre and it was paying off in a big way.
“I am. I have some editors I want to talk to about Lacey’s book.” I had clients now. Lots of them. Even some of my old clients had found me and joined me for their current projects. And I’d sold more than just Kari’s book. In fact, I’d been featured inPublishers Weeklyas a Rising Star. I was still paying back my parents’ loan and barely managing my bills, but I was on my way.
“Don’t work too hard. This is a party too,” he said. “A celebration.”
“I like celebrations.”
“I know you do.”
At the front doors to the hotel was a larger-than-life cutout of Kari’s book cover. I passed Oliver my phone and he took a selfie of us standing in front of it. Then he turned the phone toward me, showing me the screen. “Your sister is calling.”
I nodded for him to answer the FaceTime call. The image that came on the screen was my sleeping niece. “Adeline wanted to wish you luck tonight,” Audrey said. Her daughter was seven months old now and the sweetest baby ever.
“Aw, I miss her,” I responded, taking over holding the phone.
“Hi, Audrey,” Oliver said. Yes, it had been weird at first, anytime the two of them interacted. And perhaps I hadn’t fully anticipated the feelings of jealousy I’d have at the beginning.But then those feelings faded away, because aside from the few stories they shared from the past, they really were like strangers getting to know each other. It was obvious I knew more about Oliver than Audrey ever had.
“I know you’re busy,” Audrey said. “I just wanted to say congratulations. Tell Kari hi from me and that I adore her book.”
“No advice for me tonight? It’s my first big party.”
“You should be giving me advice, little sis. You’re killing it.”
“Love you.”
“Love you too.”
We hung up and Oliver and I finished our walk inside to the ballroom already full of people dressed up and enjoying themselves.
On a big table just past the doors were stacks and stacks of Kari’s book. She’d signed them earlier to give away to the guests tonight.
Kari met me in the middle of the ballroom and brought me into a hug. “Don’t be alarmed, but Rob is here.”
“You invited Rob?” I asked.
Rob. He did not go quietly. We fought and threatened each other weekly for three months after I signed Kari. But he didn’t sue me. And I didn’t expose him. Then one day, he just stopped. I didn’t ask him why, not wanting to reopen dialogue. The romantic in me told me it was because he fell madly in love and his anger disappeared. Sloane had said, “Let’s hope it’s not with his twenty-four-year-old assistant.”
“I did not invite him,” Kari said now. “But you know how publishing is…”
