Total pages in book: 79
Estimated words: 76232 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 381(@200wpm)___ 305(@250wpm)___ 254(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 76232 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 381(@200wpm)___ 305(@250wpm)___ 254(@300wpm)
“What the hell is barre?” Matt asked.
“A ballet-based workout,” Ian explained. “They have classes, lots of stretching and balance. You get toned as shit.”
All three of them stared at him.
Ian shrugged. “Lara does it. It’s made her ass absolutely—” He cleared his throat. “Anyway.”
“Gross,” Kate said. “But yeah, I’d forgotten Lara did barre. Maybe I’ll tag along to her next class.”
“Okay, I’m loving this plan,” Matt said, sitting forward and folding his hands on his desk. “Just tell us what you need from us. You want to cut back? Part-time? Hire Christian as your assistant and have you delegate?”
“I thought about both of those, and they could work, but everything around here happens so fast. By the time I figured out what to delegate to Christian and got an extra few minutes to fill him in on the details, it’d probably already be too late. What makes me so good at my job—and yes, I know I am, thank you very much—is that I know everything that’s going on in every area of your lives. I’m good at managing your calendars, because I know when your individual clients are going through a divorce or when one of you is hungover. I’m good with reservations, because I know that if I booked you at Keens on Tuesday, I shouldn’t send you to Wolfgang’s on Wednesday. Too much steak.”
“No such thing,” Kennedy said.
“Well, whatever. The point is, I can’t be a partial assistant for all three of you.” She took a breath and held it just for a second. “I need to be a full assistant to two of you.”
Nobody spoke for a full thirty seconds.
Ian finally broke the silence. “Wait. Are you firing one of us?”
She nodded. “I am.”
“Who?” Matt demanded.
“It shouldn’t matter,” she pointed out. “You guys all said Christian is great.”
“He is. But he’s no you.”
“That’s nice,” she said, reaching out and patting Matt’s hand. “But buttering me up won’t make a difference.”
“Why not?”
“Because I’m not going to decide. You guys are.”
Ian nodded approvingly. “Classic Monica move.”
“What?” Kennedy asked.
“From Friends. Monica didn’t want to choose between Phoebe or Rachel as her maid of honor, so she had them decide.”
“Kennedy’s never watched it,” Kate said.
“I have, too. Just not as much as Ian, apparently. And by the way, Ian, I distinctly remember a time when you didn’t know what barre was and didn’t know Penelope and Rachel by name.”
“Phoebe,” Matt corrected.
“You too? Is this what marriage does to a man?” Kennedy asked.
“Well, I’m sure you’ll never know,” Kate said sweetly. “I’m sure you and your placid wife will only watch documentaries.”
“Hey, you like documentaries.”
“I do. I also like Friends.”
“Forget Friends,” Matt said. “This situation is more like Sophie’s Choice. You can’t seriously expect one of us to give you up?”
“It’s not easy for me, either,” Kate said softly, looking at all three of them, careful not to let her gaze linger on Kennedy. “And know that however it works out, I’ll still be in all three of your lives. We’ll still all be friends. One of you will just go to Christian when you need a dinner reservation or new ink for your overpriced pen, and so on.”
“All right. We can handle this,” Ian said. “We’ll do it randomly. Coin toss.”
“That works,” Matt said. “You got a coin?”
“No. Get one out of your desk.”
“You think I keep coins in my desk?” Matt asked incredulously. “Do I also go to the saloon and get weirdly possessive of my horse?”
“Whatever. Kennedy?”
“I literally can’t remember the last time I touched a coin.”
“Don’t look at me,” Kate said, holding up her hands. “I may not be in the millionaire club with you guys, but I don’t use cash that often, and when I do, it’s a keep-the-change situation.”
“Fine. Rock, paper, scissors,” Ian said, already bringing his hands into position. “Loser gets Christian.”
“That’s a two-person game. What about the guy who doesn’t play?” Matt asked.
“Guess he wins by default, just by staying out of the ring.” Ian paused. “Something I did not think through before I did this,” he said, glancing down at his hands.
“I’ll do it,” Kennedy said.
Ian turned toward Kennedy with his rock, paper, scissors stance still armed and ready. “Brave man. I’m sort of a pro at this. Best out of three?”
“No. I mean, I’ll take Christian.”
Ian’s fist ceased its amped-up let’s do this pounding against his palm, but other than that, he didn’t move. Or speak. Neither did Matt.
Kate stared straight ahead, trying not to feel stung and failing miserably, because it hurt. Truth be told, she had been pretty sure it’d come down to a coin toss or some sort of game of chance. Not necessarily because she thought she was that great of an assistant but because she’d been pretty sure none of them would have wanted to hurt her feelings by willingly choosing Christian over her.