Page 36 of Ten Christmases Without You
“I wanted to.”
Before she could say more, there was a rustling, and he was whispering to someone.
“Hey, I’ve gotta run. I’ll call you back.”
“No worries. Don’t feel like you have to if you’re busy. I just wanted to thank you.”
“You’re welcome!”
She ended the call and plopped down onto the sofa, cradling her phone.
Why had he gone to all the trouble to do that for her? Buying her a dress was a pretty big gesture. Had he meant anything by it? Wouldn’t it be so romantic if he surprised her on New Year’s Eve? Or, in some fantasy land, if she surprised him? Emmy pulled her laptop off the coffee table and opened her computer to see if there were any flights to Chicago tomorrow, just for kicks. She searched, but there weren’t any direct flights. Who was she kidding anyway?
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
January 4, 2017
“Happy New Year.” Vivienne ushered Emmy into the lofty office space.
Emmy walked across the trendy cement floors, past the warehouse-style windows overlooking the city, and sat in the velvet-padded chair across from Vivienne.
“How was your New Year’s?” Vivienne asked, distracted by something on her computer.
“It was nice,” Emmy lied.
She hadn’t gone anywhere. Charlie hadn’t called her back since she’d thanked him for the dress. Although she’d told him not to worry about it, she’d still hoped he would. She was actually surprised he hadn’t gotten back in touch, given that he’d gone through the trouble of buying her the dress and having it delivered. But the mixed signals made her realize how difficult any kind of long-distance relationship would be. It was her luck that the one guy with promise was right out of her reach, like everything else in her life.
So she’d called Madison to tell her the sob story about how she had nothing to do and then spent New Year’s Eve in herapartment with a bowl of vanilla ice cream and a movie. She’d only been able to stay awake for the first thirty minutes of the film before dozing off and eventually going to bed.
“How was the party?” she asked, leaning forward in an attempt to divert Vivienne’s attention from the computer screen.
The woman’s long nails were moving a mile a minute on her keyboard.
“Hm? Oh, it was fabulous as always. You should’ve come. The place was so happening, the DJ continued for an hour after we’d paid him to stop. It was an absolute blast.”
Emmy smiled for Vivienne’s benefit. She clasped her hands in her lap and focused on the gray sky out the window, as Vivienne typed away.
“So sorry. There’s a fire drill with the Banks’ account. Give me just a second more.”
Emmy had only scheduled a thirty-minute conversation, and she was already down to twenty minutes. Was that enough time to prove herself worthy of a promotion?
Vivienne finally pulled her gaze from the screen. “Tell me: What brings you into my office today?”
Emmy swallowed and cleared her throat. She purposely hadn’t rehearsed so she’d sound more authentic. Practicing would only make her nervous, and she wanted to be as calm as possible since she was asking for more responsibility. But now she was mentally scrambling to get her points into a concise list, given the time crunch.
“First, I wanted to thank you so much for offering me the opportunity to work at The Moreau Agency. You were so, so kind to give me a chance.”
“Are you quitting?” Vivienne blurted.
Emmy couldn’t tell if the rise in her tone at the end of her question was anticipation, or if her inquiry was out of curiosity. What she didn’t see was worry. Did Vivienne want her to quit?The thought of it blindsided her and she scrambled to regain her train of thought.
“Uh, the opposite actually. I was hoping to be more involved with upcoming client campaigns.”
Vivienne’s computer pinged, and she turned back to the screen.
“I have a lot of ideas,” Emmy continued, “and I think I could offer a new perspective. Even something as simple as the Parody Music line—I saw you closed that one. I could send you some of my concepts.”
“I’m so sorry. Give me one more second.”
