Page 28 of We Met Like This
I grunted and she laughed. “You’re not wrong,” I said. “I wasn’t planning on brunch today. I was planning on T-ball and home.”
“Home by way of the Ripped Bodice?”
She knew me well. The Ripped Bodice was an indie romance bookstore I loved that just happened to be a good stopping point between my house and hers. I tugged on my ugly shirt. “There is only love there. No judgment.”
She smiled, her eyes taking in my outfit again. “I should’ve prepped you for brunch. It’s just been awhile since we’ve had time together without the kids or parents.”
“True.” It had been at least a few weeks. “Speaking of meet-cutes, you have a great one. A costume party, Chase thinking you were someone else because she was also supposed to be dressed up as hot Rapunzel.”
“I was not hot Rapunzel,” she said. “I was normal Rapunzel.” My sister looked a lot like Rapunzel. She’d inherited light hair and eyes from my dad, while I’d inherited dark hair and eyes from my mom.
“Well, either way,” I said. “The story finishes the same. You both talked into the night and forgot whoever you were supposed to be meeting that night. Who was your Flynn Rider that night anyway?”
“I actually had a boyfriend when I met Chase.”
“What? How did I not remember that part of the story?”
“You were too busy imagining a hot Rapunzel.”
“So whatever happened to the boyfriend?”
“Chase was charming and relentless and I couldn’t resist.”
“Sounds stalkerish,” I said.
“It wasn’t,” she said. “You had to be there. It was sweet.”
The waitress came to our table. “Can I start you with something to drink? We have dollar mimosas today.”
“Um, yes, please,” I said. “That’s a bargain.”
“Just water for me,” Audrey said.
“You’re off the clock,” I teased. “Alcohol is required for the occasion.”
Instead of smiling and sayingFine, just one, like I expected her to, she nodded at the waitress. “Just water.”
“Guess I’m partying alone this morning,” I said.
After the waitress brought back our drinks and we put in our food orders, Audrey sighed and met my eyes. “So what’s going on with work? Have you talked to your boss yet?”
Here it was, the Audrey motivational speech. My body instantly went on high alert, straightening my spine and grounding my feet. A memory of us sitting at the kitchen table and her poring over the college classes I’d signed up for, helping me switch out two, came to me. “We’re speaking soon,” I reported now. “About becoming a full agent and dropping the assistant responsibilities.”
“Soon, Maggie? That’s not specific enough.”
“I know, I’m working on it.”
“What’s the holdup?”
I’ve been sleeping with him!I screamed inside my head, but regardless of how much I shared with her, I couldn’t share that. She’d never look at me the same again.
She straightened the fork and knife on the table so they aligned perfectly with the square pattern on the tablecloth. “How does your savings look? Are you going to be able to handle a straight-to-commission type job? You’ve been putting some away from every paycheck like we set up years ago, yeah?”
“Yes. I think I could survive for about a year. I do have some reoccurring commission from our shared clients that will help too.”
“And if you made a few good sales right away, I’m sure that savings could stretch out for longer,” she said.
Tiny beads of sweat formed along my upper lip. I wiped them away. “It helps that I’m with a well-known agency that gets dozens of submissions a day. I should have free rein with the authors the other agents aren’t interested in. Plus, once my name and picture are added to the agency website, authors should start emailing me directly. Then I won’t have to wait for the other agents to pass. I’m hoping for several new clients as soon as Rob says go.” At least I hoped my transition happened that smoothly, because even though I had some contacts and some success, I knew it would take a couple more years to get a good footing in the industry.
