Page 17 of Wrath

“I will, but I can’t right now.” I could hear him shuffling around in the other room, so I told her, “I’ll call you during my lunch break.”

Without giving her a chance to respond, I hung up my phone and shoved it back into my purse. I could hear Garrett getting closer to the office, so I quickly pulled up the files he had sent and started going through them. They were the shots he’d taken of the town square before and after the renovations, and like all of his work, they were phenomenal.

I was looking over the ones he’d taken of the bank when he appeared in my doorway and asked, “So, what do you think?”

“They’re really good. I’m very impressed.”

“I don’t know. I’m not sure I liked the lighting in the coffee shop.” He grimaced as he said, “I should go back and do a reshoot.”

“Really?” I looked back to check the images as I told him, “No. I think they look great.”

“And that’s why you’re still a novice.”

“Maybe so, but I know a good shot when I see it.” I could tell by his expression that he wasn’t convinced, so I added, “Just let me tweak a few things, and if you still aren’t happy with them, then you can go do your reshoot.”

“Fine, but I’ll expect them to be done today.”

“Won’t be a problem.”

Without saying anything more, Garrett turned and went back to his office. I spent the next couple of hours working my magic on the images of the coffee shop, and while there were a couple that were harder to manipulate, most just needed a couple of tweaks here and there. I emailed him the final edits, grabbed my purse, and started for the front door.

When I passed Garrett’s office, I called out to him, “I’m going to grab lunch. I’ll be back in half an hour.”

“What about...”

“Already emailed them to you.”

“Oh... okay. I’ll see you when you get back.”

“You want me to bring you something back?”

“No. I’m good.”

“Okay. I’ll be back in a bit.”

I gave him a quick wave, then continued out to the parking lot.

I’d just gotten in my car when my phone started ringing. I grabbed it out of my purse and smiled when I saw that Darby was facetiming me. I answered and was surprised to see that Susana was with her. She was practically beaming as she said, “Hey, hooker! I hear you have juicy tea to spill.”

“I don’t know if I’d say all that.” I started my car and turned on the heat. “You know I’m not one to kiss and tell.”

“So, you kissed?” Darby asked as she leaned into view.

“Not exactly.”

“But he came over, right?”

“Yeah, he came to fix the fan.”

“Ooo-kay,” Darby glanced over at Susana, then back to me. “Did he fix the fan, or did he fix you?”

“Well, after what I did to it, the fan is pretty much beyond repair, and after last night, I am, too.”

“Whoa. What’s that supposed to mean?” Darby gasped.

“Like I told you earlier, it’s complicated.”

I spent the next few minutes giving them the rundown of what had happened with Wrath. I didn’t go into explicit detail, but I told them enough to get Darby riled up. “He just left! You gotta be kiddin’ me!”

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