Total pages in book: 88
Estimated words: 82214 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 411(@200wpm)___ 329(@250wpm)___ 274(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 82214 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 411(@200wpm)___ 329(@250wpm)___ 274(@300wpm)
I froze. “You’re coming?”
“When you move!”
“I don’t know if I’m moving here yet. I just met someone who asked me to call. For an interview.”
“And?”
“And it hasn’t happened yet. I think they’re closed today. They’ll call back.”
“Well, if they don’t call back today, shouldn’t you cancel your flight? I have the sky miles. Cancel your flight, and I’ll pay for your next one.”
“Mom, you don’t have to do that. If they want to interview me, they’ll call. I can always fly back.”
“But then you have to pay for another round-trip ticket. Don’t be ridiculous. Cancel your flight.”
Mom and I spoke for another hour, maybe even two. I told her about Mayhew Industries and my speech. It was a good, calming conversation that I hadn’t realized I needed. I’d even told her about how good-looking Andrew was and how I met Ryan’s ex. As I thought, she loved that part. She always did like a good scandal.
“So what do you think of Ryan? He seems like a good guy.”
I rolled my eyes. “I’ve known him for a minute. Good guy or not, he is not my type.”
She snickered. “Your type? What’s your type?”
“Well . . . responsible, caring men who know what they want. Adult men. Men I won’t have to baby all the time.”
“Sounds like Ryan.”
It was my turn to laugh. “Do you not realize I’m talking to you on his phone right now because he can’t get it together enough to exchange it for mine? I can’t even tell you how frustrating he is. And a perv. Mom, this guy wanted me to go back to his place to get my phone back. The phone he took.”
“So? Did you?”
“No!”
“It’s not like you haven’t done it once already. When I met your father, we were a one-night stand, too.”
I pinched the bridge of my nose. “I know, Mom. I don’t need to hear the story again.”
“He was hot. Lemme tell you. Oo!”
I could imagine her grabbing her face, her elbows pressed in as they squeezed her boobs, which were abnormally huge and always had been. I hadn’t suffered the same fate, but I also wasn’t a mom yet. Yet, I thought with a scoff. Like I had plans.
“I really don’t want to hear about it. Sorry, but Ryan isn’t a good guy. He’s just not. And he’s totally irresponsible. He can’t manage time for anything.”
She paused for a moment, and silence pervaded the distance between us. “Time management is something you’re good at, though, isn’t it?”
My face burned red again, and I pulled my hair back as I curled onto the bed, as if I could contain my mom’s efforts to push me off onto some man so I’d get married. “I’m not going to manage his life.”
“You don’t have to! He owns a business. You’d be able to help him fix it up so he could manage all his time around you.”
I shook my head, my eyes closed. “That’s not how it works, and that’s not exactly my job. But yes, I would be able to help it run efficiently. I’d help him navigate it. But that’s not what I’m doing.”
“Sounds like you’re not doing anything.”
“Mom!” I shot up on the bed. “What’s your deal?”
“Nothing. But Christie, look. You won’t get anywhere with this man if you act high and mighty like you have it all together. You and I both know you don’t. So be nice to him. Be patient. And help him out a little!”
“But that’s not. My. Job. He’s not paying me for that!”
“Did you offer?”
“Why would I do that?”
She sighed heavily as if she were the one being pushed and interrogated and forced into a corner. “You want a job as a business consultant. Why not be his?”
Chapter 12
Ryan
I didn’t mind the morning crowd at my usual coffee shop during breakfast time. It was kinda nice, actually. Most people were quiet, drinking their coffee or eating their scones, muffins, or whatever while I sipped my Americano. Darlene had turned me on to these. She’d said I needed it before I could admit to being alive, and until I’d started the regimen, I thought she was being dumb. But she wasn’t, as was the case most of the time, and this really got my brain working in the morning.
It still bothered me, not knowing where exactly I’d gone wrong. Darlene always said I just wasn’t around and that she and James were being neglected, but she’d pushed me to do this. She knew starting and maintaining a business would take a lot of my time. She knew that she and James were who I did this for. So why did she want me to do something that would drive her to leave me? Usually, she was right about things, but I’d never truly forgive her for being so wrong about this. I had no idea how to fix whatever mess we were in without giving up the whole company, and I knew that wouldn’t make her happy, either. She knew I wanted to be there for James, yet for some reason, it was always my fault when I couldn’t. Hiring staff and opening offices in other cities took time and travel. I couldn’t be in two places at once.