Zelda carried on, “And of course, when it comes to pay, how does a flat monthly fee for the summer sound to you? I was thinking ten thousand dollars a month. I can pay the first installment before you start, and then we can go from there? But of course, this is a negotiation. If you don’t feel—”
“That’s perfect. When can I start?”
Zelda’s mouth turned upward in a grateful grin. “Would Monday work? If it’s too soon, of course, I understand. Oh! And I have some family and friends coming over for Elliot’s forty-second birthday party the weekend after next, and we could use the help.” She glanced down at her watch again. “Ugh,shoot.” She looked at Cierra with apologetic eyes. “Sorry to cut this short, but I’ve gotta start making my way to a meeting.” Zelda dug through her beat-up Birkin, pulled out a checkbook, andwrote out the sum that was going to keep Cierra afloat as if she were writing a grocery list. “So, Monday?”
“No problem, just let me know what time it starts, and I can get the ball rolling from there.”
“Perfect. Here, I’ll have some more formal paperwork drawn up, but in the meantime, take this. I’m really excited to have you working with us.”
With that, Zelda rose from the table, and Cierra did the same.
“Oh, no, please take your time. Enjoy the tea, I’d hate to see it go to waste. And feel free to explore around the kitchen a little before you leave.”
Zelda grabbed her things and left, calling out a last goodbye before closing the door.
Cierra looked out the window toward the backyard and sipped again at her floral tea before looking down at her check in a daze.
Ten thousand dollars.
She had never made that much money at one time in her life. While the schedule was due to be hellish, and she could tell Zelda was going to be high maintenance, the pay more than made up for it. Creative freedom, travel…
Cierra got up and walked around the kitchen. Images of Harry’s disappointed face came to her, memories of every sweaty, thankless night at Terra and how scared she had been of things not working out. She thought about how three days ago, she’d had no idea how she was going to afford to live in New York City, pay Lisa back, or what her life would look like next. Quietly, she cried tears of relief. She was safe, at least for now.
Zelda’s generous salary advance had enabled Cierra to get Lisa off her back, finally move out of Mia’s apartment, and find her own place. Leaving Mia had been bittersweet, though.
“Are you sure you wanna go?” her friend asked, frowning as her gorgeous sea-blue eyes watched the movers haul away boxes.
Cierra smiled at her, conveying silently what they both knew. It was time for her to go. If someone had told Cierra when she was ten years old that in twenty years she’d live with her heiress best friend, she would have squealed with joy. But now, after dealing with the consequences of leaning on Harry, Cierra knew that she needed to take charge of her own life and be accountable for her own security. Mia was lively, enigmatic, spontaneous, and generous; they hadn’t fought once. But she couldn’t repeat this pattern again.
All the time she’d spent on apartment searching and moving helped her distract from the fact that, although he’d seemed determined to see her again, Julian had only sent one text since their bagel shop outing.
Julian: Work has been slamming me, got a new project that’s probably gonna last until next week. Rain check?
But now itwasnext week, and she still hadn’t heard from him. While the movers were still packing Cierra’s things, Cierra wanted Mia’s take, as someone with more experience in the casual dating realm.
“So let me get this straight, you told him you didn’t want anything serious?” Mia asked.
“Right.”
“Great, I wanted to hear you say that out loud.” Cierra frowned. “And then after grabbing bagels, and telling you he wanted to go out again, he told you he was busy with a work project until the end of this week?”
“Well, I mean, he said ‘next week’, so technically the work project could end any day of the week, not necessarily Friday. But today is Wednesday, so—”
“Cee? Babe?”
“Huh?”
“You’re obsessing. I’m sure he’ll get back, you know, when hetold youhe would. And even if he doesn’t, it’s not going to be the end of the world. Try to chill out, okay?”
“You’re right,” Cierra relented. “Hey, I was meaning to ask you about something.”
“You wanna cancel the movers? Tell them you made a mistake and move all your stuff back into my place?”
“Nice try.”
Mia shrugged. “A girl can try.”
“What I was gonna ask, is, could you help me with a project? Social media, like, making my profile better?”
