Her lips tighten into a frown. “He still hasn’t called you back to tell you for himself?”
“No,” I say and massage the bridge of my nose. I have a killer headache forming from staring at the computer screen for far too long. “He hasn't and he's not going to. I talked to Daisy and she doesn’t know much, just that he’s still really angry.”
Mom is silent, the look on her face unreadable as she studies my features, which are an equal blend of her and my dad.
At last, she reaches out and slides a strand of black hair behind my ear. “Stop checking the Internet,” she orders. “Stop checking the Internet, stop searching for this man, and move on with your life.”
“Mom,” I groan. “I’ve potentially ruined him. How can you tell me that?”
“Don’t mom me, Lucinda Jane. If you did ruin him, you’ll know because then he will call you to tell you what he thinks of you. I know it hurts, and it's going to hurt for a while because you were stupid—” I huff loudly, but she narrows her eyes and continues. “Now you're paying the price for being stupid. But if you sit around and let this eat away at you, it’s just going to hurt worse. Call Jamie. Go out. Have fun. I’m tired of seeing you around here so much.”
I give her a sideways look, releasing a laugh, my first genuine one in a week. “I'm sorry what did you do to my mother because my mom would never tell me to go out with Jamie because I lose my phone and come home without my shoes.”
She rolls her brown eyes. “If it will get you off this couch and make you take a shower, you can lose your phone every week and I’ll replace it for you.”
“I want you to come with me to see Bailon,” I tell Jamie a couple of nights later as we down drinks at her place. At my statement, she arches her dark brows.
“Thought you said you ate before you came over, but that pi?a colada seems to be going to your head a little fast.” Because I don’t crack a smile at her joke, she sighs then turns her shot up to her lips. “Alright, Luce, I’ll bite. When are you suggesting we do this?”
“Tomorrow. Hell, we can go tonight.” I had spent most of the day stressing over ways to do my part in fixing my mistake, and the only solution that makes sense is to talk to B directly. I know I won’t be able to speak to Victoria—the other woman in the photo—but at least I can implore Bailon not to sue Jace and EXtreme. “If you don’t want to go, it’s fine and I’ll—”
“Luce,” my best friend exhales, “don’t even give me that bullshit. You want to talk to the man; we’ll go talk to him tomorrow before my shift starts.”
And Jamie keeps her word. She meets me at Bailon’s swanky building at 2:00, dressed for work in a set of Hello Kitty scrubs. “Don’t look at me that way.” But the corners of her mouth tug upward as we take the elevator to the fourth floor. “I happened to like these scrubs.”
“That song is in my head, you know,” I say, trying to find something to focus on to calm my nerves. I’m scared to death of visiting the man, but I know it’s unavoidable. If it helps Jace at all, begging and pleading with B will be worth the embarrassment.
“Major rager OMFG,” she says dryly, repeating a phrase from the song I’m referring to. It had played the night we went out when I first returned to Massachusetts, and she’d rolled her eyes and said that she wanted Avril Lavigne to go back to being complicated.
The elevator doors open, and I let out a breath that scorches my lungs because we’re so close now.
“It’ll be fine, Luce. And if he’s a dick—”
“Nice to see you again, Ms. Williams,” a voice greets me from the U-shaped receptionist’s desk, and the fear in my chest expands when I take in the sight of Sonora. shit. I tentatively approach, Jamie close on my heels. Instead of the derisive expression I expect to encounter, the redhead turns sympathetic blue eyes up to mine.
“I didn’t realize you…”
As my voice trails off, she releases her throaty laugh and casually lifts a shoulder. “Bailon gives me a lot of personal leave, which is why I’ve worked here for the last few years.” She drums her ruby-painted nails on her desk, sucking in her bottom lip. “You didn’t make an appointment. He usually likes everything to be on his schedule.”
“I wasn’t sure he’d want to see me,” I admit, casting a quick glance toward the narrow hall that no doubt leads to B’s office.
“I’ll make sure he does. Just have a seat and give me a few.”
The redhead disappears down the hall, and I hear her knocking on one of the doors a moment before she starts to talk in a hushed voice. My stomach churns violently, so I wrap my arms around myself as Jamie makes small talk. She’s halfway through telling me about her twin sister’s new boyfriend—who has a toddler, which scares Bella more than the second coming of the Black Plague—when Sonora returns.
“He said come on back, Lucy.” As I walk past her desk, she stops me, laying one elegant hand on my wrist. “I hope you work things out with Jace. Everyone screws up. Especially me.”
With every move I make in the direction of B’s office, my heart feels like it’s closer to giving out. I know that if I knock, like I always do, the fear will overwhelm me. So, I step inside of the large office, nervously smoothing my fingers over my burgundy skirt. “Mr. Bailon?” I say as clearly as my voice will allow.
He glances up from the paperwork on his desk. Immediately, his gaze glides past me, to Jamie. His dark eyes gleam, but he quickly narrows them to cast a withering stare at me. “Ms. Williams, please sit down.” As I sit on the edge of my chair, he parts his lips, preparing to speak, but then I start to talk.
And I don’t stop.
I know I sound like an idiot as I tell him everything, starting at the beginning with my departure from Java-Org to the morning Jace fired me, but I don’t care. As soon as I’m done, I lean back and take a deep breath. “I’m so sorry that I did something so stupid, but please don’t take it out on Jace and the company. Please don’t sue.”
He covers his mouth with his hand, tapping his index finger to his cheek. “I have no plans to sue him.”
A jolt rushes through me. “What?”
“I don’t plan to sue him. You should be worried about Victoria—it’s her tits you took a picture of. She could press charges against you.”
“Is she?” I breathe, and B rolls his brown eyes up to the ceiling.
“She’s furious—I’m not going to say she isn’t—but she’s also a fan of looking at herself. I think you’re safe, Miss Williams. The future of your career—not so much.” God, I hate being reminded of that. Hate that I’m right back where I started. “Now, is there anything else I can help you with today or—”
“Then what are you going to do to Jace?”
His dark gaze narrows and he glares at me for several uncomfortable seconds before he steeples his fingers on his desk. “Just because I don’t plan to sue him doesn’t mean I can’t affect his business. It’s never a good thing, Miss Williams, when trust is betrayed in our type arrangements.”