“I’m not going to take it,” I told her. “But you and I need to have a meeting about salary. What Vance offered me made me realize I should be making more.”
Dionne hummed. She couldn’t really argue considering she’d taught me to constantly reevaluate my worth. “We don’t need to meet,” she said. “I’m going to pay you more anyway, considering you’ll be running the agency for me.”
I blanched. “What? Where are you going?”
“We’re opening a second location in Boston. It was between there and Philly. There’s been a lot of demand, what with some media companies being priced out of the city.”
“But what about you?” I asked. “Are you moving there?”
“No way, just getting things up and running for the next six months or so. I’m already interviewing people to manage that office so I can begin training as soon as I arrive.”
I picked through the couple gray hairs around Bruno’s snout. “What happens to my job when you get back?”
“You’ll go back to what you’re doing now, but at the new, higher salary. We can discuss that once we see how the next few months go.”
I should’ve been elated that I’d be getting more money to do the same job, not to mention a change of pace, but was she only handing me this to keep me from leaving? I hadn’t even argued a case for why I deserved it.
“I appreciate it, I really do,” I told Dionne, “but I think I need . . . more.”
“More money?” she asked. “We haven’t even discussed—”
“No. Just more.” I took a breath. It felt weird to say since I’d been pretty content up until recently. I supposed I had Sebastian to blame for reawakening this in me after Neal had killed it—the urge to do better. Be better. “I don’t know what that means yet. I’m happy to take your spot while you’re away, but when you get back, I need something else. Something to push me. I’m afraid I’ve gotten too comfortable.”
“Something like Boston?” she asked. “If you’re looking for a challenge, you could always go open that office instead of me.”
That wasn’t what I’d meant, but the suggestion made me pause. “Open it as in . . .?”
“Move there and run it,” she said simply. “Why not?”
I’d thought there wasn’t any higher to go under Dionne, but managing my own branch was certainly a step up—maybe several. “You’re serious?”
“Absolutely. Now that I think about it, you’d be a great fit, Georgina. With the aptitude and knowledge you bring to each assignment, plus a process you’ve honed over the years, you could easily take this on.” I heard her smile over the phone. “How does the idea of assembling your own team sound?”
“It sounds . . . interesting, if not a little daunting.”
“You never back down from what I give you, even if it feels like too much. You know you’re a natural leader.”
I tried the designation on for size. Hadn’t I led Modern Man away from the brink, along with many other companies? I didn’t often think of my role in those terms because the teams I joined were always temporary and usually had their own leaders, like Sebastian.
“Would I still get to work with clients?” I asked.
“I should hope so. Only the ones you choose to, since you’ll eventually get to know the strengths and weaknesses of the people under you. And who knows, Georgina. Maybe you’ll be lucky enough, like me, to find someone to mentor.”
A leader and a mentor. Maybe those were the ways to enrich my career outside of promotions and money. What I got out of my work wasn’t just a paycheck, but a sense that I had helped. If it weren’t for me, perhaps some of these companies would’ve gone under by now. Along with their employees.
“I like the sound of it,” I admitted.
“I’d certainly sleep easier knowing you were there, and maybe it’s selfish, but I’d prefer not to have to leave New York.”
Leave the city? I’d never even considered it. It’d been my home since my early twenties, and the thought of starting over somewhere new made my heart pound. I loved it here, but I’d never really been anywhere else. I’d gone from my childhood home in Buffalo to college upstate to the city. If I wanted a challenge, leaving the life I knew was one way to do it.
“Can I think about it?” I asked.
“Absolutely, but not too long. Things are already in motion. You said you’re about done at Modern Man, so why don’t you take Bruno and spend a few days in Boston, see how you like it.”
“We’ve been,” I said.
“I know, but you’ve probably never looked at it through the lens of living there.”
Me. Living in Boston.
Home to my rival team.
To a top veterinary cardiologist in the country.
And the one place Sebastian would never go.
I pushed that thought from my mind. This wasn’t about him—it couldn’t be.
I hung up with Dionne in a daze. “What do you think?” I asked Bruno, playing with his big old floppy ears. “Could you see yourself in Boston? Maybe a change would do us good.”
I wiped a white string of slobber off my skirt. No wonder I spent so much on dry cleaning bills. I couldn’t get more than one wear out of an outfit while Bruno was around. “And of course, I’d make more money,” I added. “Sounds good, doesn’t it?” I angled to look at him. “Bruno?”
There was more slobber on my leg than before, only now it was foamier. His breathing became labored as he stared off into the distance. Before I could even register what was happening, he started to whine, his eyes darting around as if he didn’t see me. He convulsed a few times.
His body went stiff.
The air around me vanished, my vision sharpening on Bruno’s twitching whiskers, the pink insides of his eyes, the moisture on his nostril. This couldn’t be happening. Not now. Not already. We still had time left, we . . .
My throat thickened as the room tunneled. My muscles locked up.
And I sat there with no clue what to do.
No, I knew what to do, but I couldn’t remember.
My vet had run crisis drills with me, but I’d never had to put any of them into practice.
Tears sprung to my eyes. My heartbeat took over my entire body. This was it. My worst nightmare playing out in front of me, and I was frozen in fear.
I couldn’t freeze, though. Couldn’t fuck this up. It wasn’t an option.
Bruno whined again. Or were my ears ringing? Was he having a seizure? Why was he so still?
I squeezed my eyes shut and forced myself to think back to my conversation with Doctor Rimmel. If this was a seizure, nothing could be done until it was over except to make him comfortable. His eyes were open, though, and he’d stopped jerking, only his paws spasming as if he were dreaming.
I took a deep breath and slowly picked up my phone from the couch. “It’s okay, baby,” I said, bile rising in my throat as I unlocked the screen with shaky fingers. I ordered a cab from the company that normally took us to the vet just as Bruno’s eyes rolled to the back of his head and he lost consciousness.
“Oh my god,” I said, shaking him. “Bruno?”
When he didn’t respond, I jumped up, ran to the entryway with a stack of magazines, and propped open the door. Hitching Bruno’s emergency bag over my shoulder, I shoved my feet in my heels and hurried back to Bruno while zipping up my skirt. “You’re okay, baby. We’re okay.” I kneeled beside him. “I’m going to pick you up now—just relax.”
No response.
If I’d had time, or courage, I would’ve checked for a pulse. I slipped my arms under his body and lifted, but he didn’t budge. “No,” I whispered so he wouldn’t wake up to the despair in my voice. My body couldn’t fail me now. Bruno weighed almost as much as I did, but so fucking what? Couldn’t a jolt of adrenaline give me superhuman strength? I tried again to no avail and stood, running my hands through my hair. I bolted into the hallway to bang on the door of my six-foot-something neighbor who always seemed to be coming home from the gym.