No substance.Is that how he saw himself? His eyes had always betrayed a depth beyond cruelty for the sake of cruelty. It’s why it’d hurt so much. I turned Carmen’s phone to face the table. He’d always been a mystery to me. What had I even done for Lincoln to hate me so relentlessly? My anger bubbled. I’d give him a few truths if he wanted. I pulled a paper napkin out of its container, and right over the cupcake logo, I wrote:In Lincoln’s world, stalking is foreplay.
“Hey, Carmen,” I said. “Can you please hang this up in the work room?” I gave Carmen the piece of paper.
She read it and smirked before putting it in her handbag. Then she snapped her fingers. “Enough of Lincoln. Now, business. Check your email.”
Just then, as if demanding I listened to Carmen, my laptop pinged. Subject line:Congratulations—You’re Invited to Pitch at the BrightMark Summit.
I blinked at it and reread the name. BrightMark. A sustainability startup that wanted fresh branding for their clean energy initiative. I’d seen the event a while ago. It was a good ole open bid. Bring your marketing pitch. May the best strategist win. Except this was a big freaking client. Life-changing kind of client. After the Infinity Weddings fiasco, I didn’t think I was actually good enough. I should have seen how my own team was out to get me.
“I cashed in a favor to get you in on this,” Carmen said.
Lynnie stood on her toes, balancing on Carmen’s back to try to look at my screen.
“Carmen, I?—”
I didn’t want a pity opportunity. Redirecting clients that were asking for me was one thing. Carmen oweing favors so I could get an ego boost wasn’t right.
“Stop it. You’ve got ‘I don’t want favors’ written all over your face.” She exhaled. “I can’t believe I have to tell you this. You are good at what you do. It’s not pity.”
“Do you really think this is a good idea?”
Carmen nodded and smiled.
“Open it, open it!” Lynnie said, pointing at the email.
My pulse kicked. This was big. Even with as many clients as I’d gotten, I could barely break even on expenses, and I wasn’t even paying rent right now. BrightMark couldreallyturn this sidegig intosomething.A business more than scraping by. I clicked open the message, forcing myself to read every word. Big pitch. Big opportunity. Something solid, professional—somethingmine. No trace of Lincoln anywhere.
I shut my laptop halfway and looked at them both. “Well… looks like I’m about to have the busiest two weeks of my life.”
Lynnie grinned. Carmen arched her brow and added, “When has that ever stopped you?”
I stared into Carmen’s big brown eyes, her big curls framing her face, and a memory flickered. A fifteen-ish-year-old girl with braces and blunt bangs, sitting on the floor behind the teachers’ desk, hugging her knees. Tear-stricken face.“How do you do it? How do you keep going when he keeps tearing down at you?”
It was jarring. Thinking of this fierceless, defiant woman as a tiny hurt girl.“Why do they have to be somean?”
I offered her a stick of gum. One of Stenvenson’s bullies had opened his mouth, and she’d come running into the empty classroom. Everything they said was laced with the same intention: destroy. “Ignore them. In time, you’ll get the chance to show them all you’re smarter than them anyway,”I’d whispered.
Her eyes hardened then.“It’s not fucking fair. They shouldpay.”What could I tell her? It really wasn’t, so I just stood therein silence until she calmed down. Didn’t really see much of her after that.
My eyes widened, and I knew Carmen had finally seen the recognition. I opened my mouth, but she shook her head.
“Knock ’em dead, yeah?” She challenged me, smirking.
She was right, I’d always worked my ass off to make sure I was the most prepared person in the room. It’d backfired on me, but I’d never let that happen again.
My phone lit up with Diego’s name. Lynnie leaned in, giggling, pressing her ear on the other side of the phone when I answered it.
“Ni-ni-naaa.” Diego’s voice rumbled through the line, lazy and warm, but with that scratch of casual I’d already spotted was so his. “I’m spinning at Lalo’s this Saturday. I want you there. I’ll drag you if I have to.”
Diego’s voice was a warm blanket of friendship you didn’t realize you needed until it was on you. Then I laughed, pressing my hand over my face because Carmen was already mouthingYes. “Isn’t that very crowded on Saturdays?”
“You’re going to leave me hanging? No ‘of course, Diego, I’m so excited to hang out with you again’?” He shot back, mock-offended. “You wound me. I know you survived our date without dying of boredom. That’s a win in my book.”
Lynnie cackled from across the counter, nearly dropping her spatula. Carmen shook her head and rolled her eyes.
“Actually,” I said, letting the smile creep into my voice, “I have news. Big work opportunity. Two weeks. Large company. It’d make all the difference if I nail this.”
There was a pause, then Diego whooped so loud I had to pull the phone away, pushing Lynnie. “That’s right! Drinks on me after?—”
