Right now, I’m in the elevator of my apartment building, looking for the keys inside my purse. It’s 10 am and I’m already late for work, but screw it - I’m the boss after all, and there’s no way I’d show up at the office without changing clothes first. And so, after leaving Liam’s apartment, I grabbed an Uber and came straight here.
Stepping out of the elevator, I open the door to my apartment and then slam it shut with my heel. I head straight to my bedroom and, taking my phone out of the purse, I grab the charger sitting on my bedstand and plug it in. I spent the whole night with a drained battery, and I expect a barrage of missed calls, texts, and e-mails, the moment I turn the damn thing on.
Taking a deep breath, I almost decide to not turn my phone on, but my sanest side prevails. After all, I can’t run away from the real world. Even if that sounds like the best idea I ever had. And so, I press the Power button and hold it for a few seconds.
See? I was right.
The moment the screen lights up and I type my PIN code, the phone starts vibrating furiously against my fingers, an army of red icons popping on the screen.
17 voicemails.
29 text messages.
33 missed calls.
Oh, and these are all Misty’s. Sweet, huh? There goes my perfect morning. Fighting against the urge to simply ignore all this, I sigh heavily and click the voicemail icon. Pressing the phone against my ear, I wince as Misty’s shrill voice claws at my eardrums.
“Why are ya not picking up? Why?” I hear Misty say, the alcohol in her system making her slur her speech. Jesus, this girl really needs to sober up. “CARA! WE NEED TO TALK!” She continues, and all her other voice mails are simple variations of the same theme, except that it seems she’s getting angrier and angrier (and probably drunker as well). The same goes for her text messages, each one of them a barrage of misspelled insecurity and rage. I mean, I only had my battery drained for twelve hours or so! It’s not like I signed up to be her 24/7 nanny.
Ah, God, I really need to quit this job.
And, really, even though Misty is my craziest client yet, it has nothing to do with that. After getting to know Liam, there’s no way I’ll be able to break his heart. Well, I can do it - I just can’t bring myself to do it. There’s a difference there, and that difference arises from my feelings for him.
Yup, I have feelings for him. Even though I thought my heart was made of ice, Liam melted all that away. And now I feel exposed, vulnerable, and confused… And still, above all that, I feel happy. It’s weird, I know, but all these moments I spent with Liam have been some of the happiest ones in my life.
But quitting isn’t going to be easy. Being that Misty is a complete lunatic, it’s a given that she’ll go berserk the moment I tell her I’m quitting the job. And if there’s something I’m not looking forward to, that’s dealing with a drunk hysterical B-list celebrity. Sure, it might be fun to see a celebrity freakout on live TV, but I can guarantee you that it stops being fun when you’re the target.
Now scrolling through my missing calls list, I spot Renee’s name in there. Without even thinking twice about it, I press down on her name and make the call - right now, all I want is to hear a familiar voice. This time, though, she doesn’t pick on the first one. I’m almost ready to give up when I hear her voice coming from the other side of the line.
“What’s up, girl? Everything okay?” She asks me, and I have to focus to understand what she’s saying. Wherever she is, there’s loud music and chatter.
“Yeah, yeah, I’m good… Where are you? I can barely hear you.”
“POOL PARTY!” She shouts happily. “It’s sunny and warm! Wanna join me?”
“I can’t right now. I gotta head to work,” I tell her, even though an alcohol-fueled party might be exactly what I need to clear my head - or, at least, to forget about this trainwreck of a situation for a few hours. “But what do you say about lunch?”
“Lunch it is then,” she chirps in that excited tone of hers. “I’ll swing by your office at noon.”
“Done. See ya then,” I say, and then throw the phone onto the bed. I fall back, sprawling myself over the mattress, and stare at the ceiling for a long, long time. My mind drifts back to the way my naked body and Liam’s seemed so perfect for each other and, before I know it, there’s a smile on my face.
Oh course, that smile dies quickly as I remember how close I am to ruining everything. I have a few options to consider, sure, but all of them seem to end in heartbreak.
Ah, how the hell am I going to solve this situation?
Cara
“I told you, Misty is batshit crazy,” Renee tells me with an all-knowing air, swirling her martini glass. Even though it’s still 1 pm, she couldn’t resist when the handsome (and definitely very cocky) bartender offered her a drink. He tried the same with me, but I’m not in the habit of getting drunk during a workday. Although, I gotta admit, it’s pretty tempting to do so. Especially when my work gets in the way of a normal love life.
“Definitely…” I nod, thinking back to how Misty managed to make my phone overheat with all her damned messages. “I’ll probably have to drop her,” I continue, looking straight into Renee’s eyes to try and gauge her reaction.
“Drop Misty?” She whistles, arching one eyebrow as she processes my words. “You do that and her craziness levels will definitely go through the roof. She isn’t the kind of girl that knows how to deal with rejection.”
“Yeah, well… That’s exactly why I’m in this situation right now, isn’t it? She couldn’t handle being rejected by Liam.”
“True. But it’s not like you can escape now, huh? But if you’re seriously thinking of dropping her, prepare for major drama.”
“Like what?”