Page 64 of One Killer Night
I laugh again, picturing a hairless house cat, and this time the entire table looks at me.Shit.Since my smile isn’t going anywhere, I go aheadand stand, motioning to the door before excusing myself and clear my throat a few more fake-ass times. But thank god for conference room shades—nobody’ll know I’m lying since my phone’s already to my ear as I call her.
“Picture’s not enough? You needed the voice too?” she answers.
I’m stalking toward my office, grinning from ear to ear. “Joke’s on you. I just got fired from getting a hard-on thinking about you and the kitty I like most, except now people think I jerk off to PowerPoints.”
She gasps, faking shock. “Wait, that’s not a thing? Well, now I feel awkward.”
Her amusement joins mine as I close my office door behind me.
“When are you coming to get me? I want to move in already,” she whines.
I grab my backpack and shove my water bottle inside. “Listen, killer. I’m not even planning on sitting at my desk. I’m packing my shit and leaving.”Thanks to this terrible dry throat that must be a sickness coming on.“I’m coming for my baby, so she better be ready.”
“I’m ready,” she squeals. “Love you.”
“I love you too,” I say as the call disconnects and my boss walks in.
He’s staring at me from the doorway behind black-rimmed glasses, wearing another signature turtleneck. It doesn’t matter how hot or humid the weather gets; the man always wears a turtleneck.
He’s like a broker but cooler version of Steve Jobs.
“Hey, before your fake tuberculosis settles in and you jet to that cute little nurse waiting, will you grab those files for the Knox/DeLuca project for Nike? I want to give them a once-over.”
Fuck. I look over my shoulder and nod. “Absolutely.”
I like my boss. He’s an older, no-bullshit kind of guy who doesn’t care what the hell anyone does as long as the work gets done. He’s also always been a big fan of mine.
As he turns to leave, he pauses and grabs the doorjamb. “By the way, your work really impressed the people over there at Nike. They like your eye. I have a feeling I’m going to have to match a future offer,or I’m gonna lose ya to the West Coast. Either way, I just want to go on record as saying I’m proud of you, kid.”
My mouth falls open as he walks out, a half smile wavering between full-on shock andHoly shit. I don’t even know how to process the possibility of what he just said.
Nike wants me ... to design for them.What the fuck.
My thoughts feel disconnected, as if I can’t finish a sentence in my head before another happens. Goddamn. My mouth finally closes before opening again. Is this real life?
I reach for my phone to call my girl but stop short, still processing, because Goldie said this would happen.
“What if they love your work so much, they’re like, ‘We have to steal him away to design shoes for us.’ That’s your ...”
Dream. My fucking dream.
I let out a breath as I slowly sit in my chair, a laugh brimming. This is happening. It’s fucking happening ... the job, the girl, the life.
I run my hands through my hair before it all finally settles in, and I explode, boxing the air in celebration, swinging my arms out in front of me so hard it makes my chair spin sideways. I have to smack my hands down just to stop myself.
“Fuck yeah,” I breathe out, drumming a little on the desk. I’m breathless, my head falling back as I stare at the ceiling before I whip it back up. “Shit, what was I doing?”
I look around the room, totally thrown off before laughing to myself as I remember, so I lean over and pull open the bottom drawer of my desk.
It slides out gently, making all the files sway, and I root around, a smile still plastered on my face. I walk my fingers past project after project, my mind still whirling over all the possibilities I’ll be offered, not really paying attention to what I’m doing.
Will I have to move? Would she go with me?
The last thought hits me like a brick, drawing a deep V between my brows as I accidentally flip past what I’m looking for and land on what I’ve been hiding.
It’s as if my touch recognizes the worn paper, because my eyes are instantly drawn to the brown envelope bending under my finger. I swallow hard, all my happiness dulled and all thoughts quieted.
Any peace I felt before is doused by the chaos of life.Those two fucking unexpected bedfellows.
