Follow Me Always (Follow Me 3)

“All right. Nice job, everyone,” Eugenie says. “I’ll give these six to the art department, and they’ll put some samples together for us. Skye, I’ll be in touch when they’re ready. We want you here when we choose the final color.”

“I’m honored,” I say, my skin warming. “Thank you.”

A sense of triumph settles through me. I did this. And I did it without being Braden Black’s girlfriend.

Eugenie walks me back out and we say some quick goodbyes. I still expect Addie to crawl out of the woodwork, but so far so good.

I step into the elevator, descend, step out, walk to the revolving doors where my driver waits.

Still no Addie.

I smile, feeling the sense of triumph once more.

For a woman who managed to lose the love of her life, I feel like I just won a battle.

Not a war, but a battle.

Addison isn’t here at Susanne today, but she’s not gone.

She lurks around some corner.

I can feel it.

Chapter Seven

I’m flying coach, of course.

No more private jets for me, and you know what? It feels kind of good. So good that I do a selfie on the plane from my window seat. I don’t mention coach, but I do mention that I’m heading to my hometown. #simplyskye

And yes, I know Braden will see it, but that doesn’t matter. If he’s interested, he has the resources to find me wherever I am.

Besides, he’s not interested.

I miss him, though. I truly do love him, and I know he loves me, too. Somehow, we’ll figure this out. But before that, I’ll figure myself out.

I have a three-hour plane ride ahead of me, so as soon as the flight attendants announce that we can use our large devices, I whip out my laptop to write to Eugenie.

Dear Eugenie,

Thank you again for your hospitality yesterday. I enjoyed working with your team again, and I love the marketing you’ve come up with for The Power of Pink. I won’t let you down!

I’ll be in Liberty, Kansas with my family for the next week, as you know, but I have my computer and phone and will be doing all my posts as scheduled.

Have a great day!

Skye

I hit send with more force than I mean to.

I was honest with Eugenie, and it paid off. I did the right thing. Influencing was never my dream job, but I stumbled into it and it’s paying the bills.

And damn, it feels good to be honest.

But the influencing game is full of dishonesty. Look at Addie, for example. She hates coffee, but Bean There Done That pays her a fortune to hawk their drinks.

I’m heading home to get real with myself, so why not start now?

Influencing can be lucrative, and it allows me the chance to take photographs. So far, though, I haven’t really flexed my creative photography muscles.

Tomorrow, I’ll start getting more creative. I was creative three days ago with the nail polish and my copy. Nice start, but I’m a photographer, not a writer. That’s where I can shine.

I glance down at my computer screen.

The flight attendants come around with drinks and pretzels. I take a bottle of water but forgo the carbs. I’ll be carbing it up big-time at home. My mom’s an award-winning baker. Her pies are legendary at the county fair each year.

I put away my laptop and check my Instagram posts from the past couple days.

Oh… I have a private message from @realaddisonames.

My gut churns. I knew she was lurking somewhere.

I can delete it without looking at it. Would probably be for the best. Who needs her negativity?

But I’m a glutton for self-flagellation, it seems. I click to open the message.

Sorry about your bad day, but I tried to warn you.

That’s it.

She knows.

She knows Braden and I are over.

My only consolation is the message came three days after the post in question, which means she’s not checking my feed daily. Is that good? Not necessarily. In her eyes, it means she doesn’t consider me a huge threat to her audience.

And in truth, I’m not. At least not yet.

I sigh. Will she make Braden’s and my breakup public? Probably not. First, she doesn’t have any concrete proof. Second, it wouldn’t look good to her followers for her to be gossiping about another influencer. Besides, her relationship—for lack of a better word—with Braden has never been public. For all she knows, he might have told me everything. Which brings me to the third reason why she won’t share our breakup. To do so would bring attention to her past with Braden—something neither of them has been willing to talk about.

In reality, Braden hasn’t told me anything.

All I know I learned from Betsy.

But Betsy said he broke up with Addie when she wouldn’t go dark with him again.

Seems he broke up with me for the opposite reason.

Oh? What are your hard limits?