“Okay,” she says. “Enough about the gym. What’s happening with you and Dane?”
I sigh. “I don’t know.”
“I’ve been seeing you with him here and there. Mia acts like you’re best friends. You should’ve heard her in here before you got here tonight, telling everyone you were taking her to Manicure Day.” Aerial stops. “Do you know how much that means to that little girl?”
“I think so.”
“Many women wouldn’t have been able to accept her like you have. It shows your grace.”
“That’s silly,” I say, waving her off. “Mia’s a great kid. She can’t help the circumstances in which she was conceived.”
“Again, not everyone would see it like that.” She picks up a few papers on her desk and puts them on top of a larger pile. “Based on what you just said, I’m guessing you still might leave town?”
“I’m so torn, Aerial,” I admit. “There’s a growing part of me that thinks I could be happy here. Mom is here. Heck, I even like Gary. It’s so beautiful here, and I love seeing Claire and Matt and Penn . . .”
“And Dane.”
“And Dane.” I grin. “But if I do that, if I stay here, I fear I’ll always feel robbed, because what am I going to do here, Aerial? I can run the gym for you. I could pick up some freelance work somewhere, probably. But how am I going to feed that part of my soul that needs to do something . . . else? And does that mean I’ve wasted my entire life up to this point if I don’t go back?”
“Maybe everything you’ve been through so far was to prepare you for this? Or something else, even if it’s not this.”
I look at her honestly. “Or maybe I need to realize this is a honeymoon phase and it won’t always be like this here. With Dane or the gym or even Mom. It’s all new and fun, but it won’t always be.”
“Sounds like you have a conundrum.”
“It feels like it too.”
“Let me know what you decide,” she says. “But my fingers are crossed you decide to stay home where you belong.”
“Thanks.” I laugh. My phone buzzes in my pocket and I pull it out. “I need to take this.”
She gives me a wave as my spirits sink like a ship. Hustling outside, I wait until I’m alone before I answer. “Hello?”
“Is this Neely?”
“It is.”
“This is Frank Selleck. How are you?”
My old boss’s boss. His voice rings through the line. It feels like forever since I heard it, but also like we just spoke yesterday. We used to get together about big projects or to brainstorm. There’s a warmth to his tone that makes me relax a bit, but I still sit on a picnic table while I gather my wits.
“I’m good, Frank,” I say, clearing my throat. “How are you?”
“Been better, been worse.”
Mia waves as she trots off with Keyarah and Madison. I wave back.
“I’m calling you for a few reasons,” Frank says. “For one, I’d like to apologize.”
“For what?”
“When the résumés came across my desk for the new magazine, I assumed incorrectly that you already had a position there. Mark and I had talked extensively about putting you in charge of the Creative Department, so I assumed your résumé was sitting there as a protocol thing, not for actual consideration. Your vision really shaped the entire concept of what we’re looking to do, and I felt you, above everyone else, myself included, were the best choice in leading our company into this new sector.”
The phone almost slips from my hands. His words are drowned out by the adrenaline coursing through my veins.
“Well, thank you for that vote of confidence,” I reply. “It’s too bad I wasn’t selected to work on the new project at all.”
“That’s the second reason I’m calling, Neely. Not promoting you was an oversight on our part. On my part. I’ll take responsibility for it. But I also have to take responsibility for correcting wrongs, and not having you leading that team is definitely a wrong.”
“What are you saying?” I ask. I pick out a little pebble on the ground and stare at it.
“I’m saying we want you back. I want you back. I don’t hold it against you for quitting for one second. I would’ve quit too. As a matter of fact, if you hadn’t, I would’ve been disappointed.”
I hop off the table, unable to sit still any longer. “You want me back. How? In what capacity?”
“I want you to lead the Creatives. I want you to direct our approach to this thing. What types of articles are we publishing? What images are we showing? I want you to be the one to present me with a final version of anything that goes out so I know it’s been through you first.”
Tears sting my eyes as I realize what he’s saying. He’s giving me the one thing I’ve always wanted, the platform I’ve begged for. Prayed for. Quit for. He’s giving me the only thing I’ve ever set my heart on.
A car backs out of a parking space in front of me and a horn honks. A window rolls down and Mia and Keyarah wave. “Bye, Neely,” they shout.
My hand comes up, but it doesn’t quite move. I can’t move. I can only listen to Frank tell me he wants me back in two days.
Two.
Days.
Before Manicure Day.
Before the Summer Show.
Before I have time to break this to Dane and Mia in a way they deserve.
“I’ll give you ten percent more than we were offering for the position you applied for,” he says. “You’re worth it. This project depends on you.”
I watch the car disappear from sight. But so do they.
I shake my head to focus. “Can I also point out that Lynne stole my ideas and no one thought anything about that? And that it’s taken this long for you to even realize I’m gone?”
“That’s not true, Neely. Your resignation came to my desk the day after it was filed.”
“And my contributions to the company weren’t enough for you to call me before now?” I ask. “I gave everything I had to that company, Frank. I gave it my all for a very long time. And then this happens, and I’ll admit, I’m not really feeling valued.”
“I’ll shoulder the blame for that as well. Your name has been on a sticky note since the day I realized you were gone. I originally thought it was a two-week notice, which would’ve had you still here or close to it. I didn’t realize at the time it was effective immediately.” He blows out a breath. “I’m in over my head here, Neely. We’re trying to do a lot of things, trying to break down those doors you talk about all the time. But I can’t do it without someone who feels as passionately about it as you do. Come back. Help us. Let’s make a dent in this industry.”
Those words are all I’ve wanted to hear since I stood in my cap and gown and received my diploma. If I don’t go back, if I don’t try, I’ll always wonder what I could’ve accomplished—wonder if I could’ve done all the things I wrote down in my journal with a sunflower on it that’s under my pillow in New York.
“Can you be back in two days?” he asks. “I know this is impromptu, but we’ve committed to the launch dates, and I have to be sure we can pull them off.”
A single tear rolls down my face as my mouth says the words my heart can’t. “I’ll be there, Frank.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
NEELY
Hi, honey!” Mom greets me from the kitchen. The house smells like pie and roast beef. It sours my stomach. “I’m making a raisin pie for Mr. Rambis, but I made you a coconut cream pie too. So no jealousy, all right?” She pokes her head around the corner. “Honey. What’s wrong?”
“Mr. Rambis is Gary to me now,” I say flatly. “We worked it out.”
“That’s nice.” She watches me walk into the kitchen and get out a glass. “Neely?”
I don’t look at her yet. I’m afraid I’ll cry. If that happens, she’ll probably panic, and her panicking won’t help anything.
“I have some great news,” I tell her. Ice clinks into the glass before I fill it with water.
“Great news is usually accompanied by a little more enthusiasm than I’m getting from you,” she notes. “Are you sure ‘great’ is the right word?”
On any given day, this news is great. Life-changing, even. It’s what I’ve worked my whole life for. It’s not that the word is wrong by any means. It’s that I’m having a hard time making peace with it.
I take a sip of the water. The cold rush slips down my throat. Instead of shocking me back to reality, instead of waking me up from the fog I feel like I’m walking around in, it chills me to the bone.
“I got two job offers today.” I lead with facts and numbers. I learned to do that in a random college class that I took just to finish my generals. People have a hard time arguing numbers, and if you start a conversation with hard data, they’re typically more engaged in your words. You sound smarter. And God knows I need all the wisdom I can get.
“Two?” She lifts a brow. “That’s amazing.”
“Aerial asked me to take over the gym today. I think that’s amazing.”
Mom’s eyes light up. “I actually think that’s wonderful.” She turns to the stove and puts on her oven mitts. She pulls two perfectly baked pies out and sets them on a cooling rack. “You’re so good with kids, honey. And the fact that Aerial trusts you to take over her namesake really says a lot about your reputation.” She plops the gloves down and turns to me. “I’m quite proud of you. You know that?”
I nod. I try to smile. I attempt at finding a twig of excitement somewhere in my system as I make my second declaration. “I also got a call from Frank Selleck.”
“He’s from your old company, right?”