“Late afternoon I think. I might give her a call to check in later. Who are you going to dinner with?”
“Uh… Megan.”
That’s odd. They didn’t ask me. I frown, rolling my chair back from the desk. “Megan?”
“Yeah, you’re invited too. Obviously.” She laughs awkwardly, and I instantly know she is acting off.
“Where are we going?”
“Not sure, I will send you the details. Bye!” She hangs up, and I narrow my eyes at the phone.
Weird.
* * *
Mase
A flustered Lucystumbles through the doors of my office. A suitcase in one hand and a duffel bag in the other.
“You should have asked Megs instead, she is so onto me.” She huffs, pushing her hair back from her face and righting herself.
“Nina knows about Paris?” I sit up in my seat, disappointed.
“No, but she thinks I’m a shit friend who didn’t invite her to dinner and only wants her for her clothes.” She screws up her face and smoothes her fingers across her forehead. “I had to invite her to dinner by the way. You’ll have to fix that by yourself.”
I smile as she drops down into the chair opposite my desk. “Thank you, Lucy. I appreciate your help.”
“What time do you leave? She finishes at three.”
“We take off at six. Do you think she will go?” I ask, annoyed that I don’t already know. I hope she does.
“Yes. Well, she will want to. You have to be stern with her, she will fight you on it, but she absolutely needs a break.”
I nod. “I booked you and Megan a table at Groulx. Seven o’clock. On me.”
“Groulx?” she proclaims, sitting forward in her seat. “Fuck off!”
“Thank you would’ve been fine.”
“Thank you! Honestly, this is so unexpected.” She palms her chest, and I can tell she means it.
“It’s nothing, and I agree; Nina needs the break.”
“Hmm, she said her mum has been calling again.” She hesitates, but I can tell she wants to say more. “How much did she get from him, exactly? The guy who sent the money, I mean. Was it enough to live off? She won’t ask you, but I know that if it was enough and she allowed them to live like they did, then Nina will lose the last bit of respect she had for her mother.”
I drop my chin, not knowing how much I should tell her. “It was enough, more than most get, that’s for damn sure. But it was always cash withdrawals, so who knows where it went every month.”
She nods her head in understanding, biting her lower lip. “She relies on us. Me, my parents, and Megan.” She stands and walks toward the door. “But this past month, her world has started spinning for an entirely different reason.”
I roll my lips, knowing she wants reassurance. “I won’t hurt her.”
“I hope not, because if anyone deserves happiness, it’s Nina.”
* * *
Some would sayI took the cowards way out, although, with the way my heart pounds against my rib cage and the sweat that keeps forming on my palms, I’m pretty sure I didn’t. Not when I’m standing here on the tarmac ready to give her my world—a world she will never want, nor ask for.
As Vinny pulls up to the runway with Nina safely seated in the back, I know without a shadow of a doubt that it was the right decision.
