Page 77 of Fluke
“Has Chuck given you any trouble today?” she asks.
“No, actually. He’s been well-behaved.”
She looks impressed. “I expected him to have a tantrum. I’m not sure if I’m happy about that or if I’m sad I don’t have a reason to fire him.”
I snicker.
“I shouldn’t be saying that to you,” she says. “But I suppose if I can’t be honest with my senior staff, then I’m among the wrong group, right?”
Senior staff. I sit a little taller as pride washes over me.
“Do you know what my favorite thing about you is, Pippa?”
“No.”
“You don’t take any shit. You know what you want and aren’t scared to go for it. No one better get in your way.”
Really? “Thank you. That’s very kind of you to say.”
My mind scans through all of the things in my life that haven’t felt that way at all.
Choosing to forgo med school. Telling my parents. Telling Greg. Taking a job with a matchmaking company even though I had no background in the field and it didn’t pay extremely well.
Moving to Kismet Beach and into a small apartment that needs more work than I can put into it. Putting myself out there with the project proposal at work.
The fear of giving things with Jess a try.
I don’t know who Bridgit thinks I am, but I have to disagree.
“Have you confirmed the details for the retreat?” she asks.
“Well, yes and no. I’ve talked to my ex-husband, and he’s willing to give it a try.”
She grins.
I turn toward my computer screen. “I’ve been playing around this morning with different options to see what makes the most sense.” I open a spreadsheet and enlarge it. “The leading contenders are Silver Springs, like we talked about, or this little place outside of Miami.”
“What are you leaning toward? I personally liked Silver Springs. It’s centrally located and there are a lot of different options we can explore.”
“I agree. But here’s the catch …” I highlight two columns. “Everything in Silver Springs is booked for a month, more or less, starting this weekend. Carrington, the place by Miami, has options available next weekend.”
“Oh.”
I swivel around to face her. “This won’t be a problem once we solidify our packages. I’ve been in contact with a few proprietors in each area, and they’re more than willing to work with us on reserving rooms as needed. But, for right now, this is what we’re looking at.”
She places her elbow on the armrest and thinks. “I really think Silver Springs is the way to go.”
I shrug.
“Are there openings this week?” she asks.
“Yes. All week until the weekend.”
“So you could go tomorrow?”
What? “Yeah, I mean, if I’m not coming to work.”
“What about your ex-husband? What’s his name again?”
