“Absolutely. Let’s eat, and then you can tell me all about this project.”
We ate fast and shared anecdotes about our day—she discovered how easy it was to burn a bag of microwave popcorn, and I explained all about Peter’s new place.
“I’m thinking,” I said, wiping my mouth with a napkin, “all these small, local businesses would be great to partner with when you have your place.”
Her eyes lit up, and she looked out the window, almost as if she were lost in thought. “The older man with his jewelry, Carla’s coffee, Peter’s pastries. They all add an extra element to the plan, don’t they?”
“You want plant therapy, right? I imagine you’d also have a greenhouse for people to buy plants, but I’ve been thinking about the therapy angle. If you have classes there, you could also host support groups and provide coffee and pastries. It’s obviously your idea and vision, but these partnerships could really help the community and ensure your success.”
“You’ve given this some thought,” she said, putting her takeout wrapper into the trash and sitting back down across the table from me. “Do you think they would want a partnership if my business were up north? I worry about that. The jewelry angle is easier because he can ship stock once a month or so, and when I run low, I’d order more to sell. But perishables, I’m not sure.”
The weight in my chest doubled.Up north.It was foolish to assume or imagine that she’d stay here, but in every scenario, I saw her here. In our college town. I should’ve known better. No matter how much I enjoyed our time together, she’d be gone. Either at the end of the twelve weeks or when she learned who I really was.
“Right, good point,” I said, clearing my throat and needing to change the subject. I didn’t have a single reason to explain why I was grumpy. She hadn’t changed course at all. Not once. This misunderstanding was on me. “Now, talk to me about this presentation.”
“Okay.” She picked up some papers and pointed at charts. “Since they are letting me actually do things now, they wanted me to do a full-scale analyzation of all social medias. Honestly, I think they were hoping to give me something silly to keep me busy, but either way, I’m happy to showcase the numbers. They have a horrible social media presence and do nothing to track clicks, ROI, or engagement. Nothing. They don’t preplan posts or make an effort to have a consistent brand.”
“Wow.” I scanned the sheet with charts and graphs. “This is a ton of information.”
“Yes. And I’m comparing it to my parent’s charity, which is significantly smaller scale. Yet their numbers are three times as good. Our donations double yours, purely from our online presence and awareness campaigns. If the goal is to raise more money to donate it and be actionable, then there is a lot of work to do.”
“This suits you, Nora.” I smiled at her as pride filled my soul. “This is amazing work. I can’t wait to see what you do when you have your own business.”
“Thank you.” She blushed, but it didn’t last long. The fact she took the compliment andownedit was sexy as hell.
My nerdy little plant girl was gaining confidence, and it was hot.
She pointed to her laptop and groaned. “The problem is putting it together to make it easy to read with clear next steps. I get carried away with details, and I know I can lose my audience.”
“Big pictures, big images, big impact.” I pointed at the two charts that showed online engagement and donations comparison between her parents’ and my parents’ foundation. “Start with that.”
“Okay, okay.” She clicked on her laptop and ran her tongue over her lips. She connected her laptop to the large screen and adjusted her slides. “I think I got it.”
Nora moved a bunch of slides around and worked in silence as I watched. She hummed to herself, made facial expressions as she talked to herself, and it was so dang goofy. I forgot where I was and to keep on the lookout for anyone who could blow my cover, because Nora was so mesmerizing, that when someone knocked on the glass, I sucked in a breath and made myself choke.
I hit my chest and coughed as Nora looked at whoever entered.
“Ah, getting it all ready, huh?”
Angelica.
Shit.
Nora nodded, but the light faded from her eyes.
I gritted my teeth. Angelica hadbetterhavebeen treating her right.
“I’m confident it’ll get us on the right track here,” Nora said, forcing a tight smile.
Angelica walked farther into the room, and I knew the second she saw me. Her mouth parted, and she raised her brows in question. “Trying to go over my head here, Nora?”
“Can I talk to you about an errand outside for a moment?” I said, bolting up and seconds away from panic. My voice came out stronger than I wanted, but Angelica seemed to get the idea. She frowned and followed me outside the doors.
The glass walls were a pain, so I led us farther into the building, where Nora couldn’t see us.
“Fritz, what in the hell?”
“Look,” I said, pinching the bridge of my nose as my lie was including more and more people. “She doesn’t…she thinks I’m just Fritz. Not Anthony. I’d like to keep it that way.”
