My heart tightens. “Miss you, too.”
“If you’re going to fly over with cookies, you might as well fly in with your fake boyfriend so I can meet him.”
My lips pull down in a frown.
“What did I say?”
We don’t talk often enough, and I don’t want to cast a gray shadow on the conversation by whining. “It’s nothing. He’s had a trying week.”
“Which brings us back to the reason for my call,” she says. “Loved the video tour of your new office. Way to go, boss lady.”
“I know, right?”
“I hope the boss lady office comes with a boss lady salary?”
“Ci, my eyes bugged out of my skull when HR handed me the employment papers.”
“Kaz and you hadn’t discussed salary?”
Girl, I’m so broke, I wasn’t going to nickel and dime a man who was throwing me a lifeline.“He said it would be fair. He was lying. It’s extremely generous.” I tell her how much I’m getting paid.
Her head rears back. “That’s way more money than you were taking home when you had your corporate floral business.”
And a gazillion dollars more than what I was making as a waitress. “It is.”
“Running into your ex-boyfriend’s ex-stepdad was a great coincidence.”
More like it saved my ass.“It was.”
In two weeks, when I get my first paycheck, my bank account will no longer be in the red. Can’t wait.
“Now, tell me everything about week one at Lindström’s Corp,” Ciara says.
“This week was about setting the foundations. I got my tracking and planning software all organized with the different brands. The branding approach for the burger restaurants is completely different from Number 22.”
“Makes sense since Number 22 is fine dining.”
I nod. “I spent a lot of time at all three restaurants, the brewery, and the ice cream shop. I took tons of photos of the staff in action, the delicious food, and yummy ice cream. I planned out the first month of social media posts and I spent a lot of time going into each social media account and cleaning up old posts that had low or zero interactions. Today, was dedicated to the hockey charity near and dear to Kaz’s heart. I’m wrapping my head around everything they’ve done in the past.”
“You’re going to get a lot out of working for his charity.”
“I feel the same way. I’m going to have to learn the basics of hockey, but I’m looking forward to the challenge.”
“Look at you, hockey girly.”
“If it weren’t for this job, my education about hockey would remain wedged between the pages of a smutty hockey romance, but now, I get to expand my horizons.”
“So, after a busy week, you get to chill tomorrow.”
I shake my head. “I want to capture the highlights of Saturday brunch. At the burger joints, it’s business as usual, but Number 22 offers weekend brunch menus people line up for hours to devour. And parents come in with their kids for conesand pints at the ice cream shop. The store goes all out to keep tiny humans entertained.”
“Sounds like you have no intention of slowing down for the weekend.”
“I don’t want to let Kaz down”
“That’ll never happen. You’re a hard worker and you see every project through.”
“Thanks for saying that.”
