“Why would I be in New York?”
I look at Logan for a clue. I must be missing something. Logan looks as lost as I feel.
“Because Ava’s there.”
I squint. “How do you know that?”
“She got fired from her job. She’s there trying to put out all the other fires that broke out as a result.”
“What do you mean ‘she got fired’?” I ask.
“When?” Logan jumps to his feet.
“Didn’t you know?” Pippa asks.
“No. How do you know?”
“A colleague of hers informed me. Apparently their boss found out Ava was dating you.”
“Shit,” I say.
“Yeah, shit. He kicked her out, no bonus, no termination clause. From what I was told, he didn’t want to give her a recommendation either. Ava went to their office two days ago to talk to him, and he threw her out.”
“The jerk. How did he find out?”
“You told him,” Pippa says, clearly annoyed.
“I didn’t. . .” I stop, remembering that late-night phone call. That’s why his voice sounded familiar. I assumed only a journalist would call in the middle of the night. It didn’t even cross my mind it could be a boss who has no respect for his employees. “This is my fault. Why didn’t she tell me this?”
“My guess is she must be busy trying to solve her situation,” Logan says.
“But I can help,” I say, louder than I intended. Pippa flinches. “We all can.”
“I assumed you were in New York already. Look, Ava’s been fighting her way through life on her own for years,” Pippa says. “She’s not used to asking for help. You just have to give it to her.”
“What if she doesn’t want my help at all? She doesn’t pick up her phone. I must have called her a hundred times.”
Logan eyes me.
“What?” I bark at him, annoyed by his smile. “I wasn’t about to admit that to you.”
“You have your pride. I get it,” he says, smiling even wider. “That’s why you won’t e-mail her.”
“Don’t get on my bad side today, Logan.”
“Right now, you are both getting on my bad side,” Pippa says. “Sebastian, get your sorry ass on a plane and fly to New York. Why are you hesitating?”
I hiss out a breath. All that talk about how it angers me she didn’t have the courage to tell me to my face she wants out. I couldn’t stand hearing it from her. Reading it was bad enough. What if the reason she isn’t taking my calls is because she’s not interested anymore?
“That woman loves you, you know that. And you love her,” Pippa says. “Don’t be stupid, Sebastian. You have to put yourself out there completely. You both deserve to be happy.”
This sobers me up. “Logan, take over all my meetings for today. I’m flying out to New York.”
“Hold it,” Pippa says, stepping in front of me as I’m about to exit.
“What? You were all set on kicking me out of my own office.”
“I would’ve done it too, but you can’t fly out like this. You need to change. You stink.”