I didn’t know how to answer her, so I said, “Thank you both. For everything.” Miles looked confused and worried.
“You’re not going anywhere, are you?” he asked.
“No, I just meant it was great working with you. I’m honored you trusted me with this project.” I bent down to grab the empty boxes. “Ah, you guys have fun.”
I practically ran down the hallway, glad Katy was nowhere to be found. Miles was hot on my heels, taking the boxes from me and holding the door open.
“Talk soon, Vicky.”
“Talk soon.”
Once in the car, I turned up the air a little to cool off from everything that had happened. Just as I reached the Coronado Bridge, I received a call from Elena. I fumbled to press the accept button on the hands-free screen.
“Hi, Elena! How are you doing?” I answered, trying hard not to sound like a raging fangirl.
“Hello, yourself, Victoria. I hear you’ve been quite busy,” she said. Her Italian accent had softened somewhat, no doubt from her being in the US for a few years.
“Yes, I have. It’s been wonderful to receive so many referrals. I’m really enjoying it. I just left Mr. Austin’s house, and the project was a great success. He and his daughter, MJ, loved the picture I was telling you about.”
“Ah, that’s great news. Great news. I love the ideas you’ve had on all of these projects. The feedback has been overwhelmingly positive. I’m really proud of all you’ve done.”
I shifted in my seat to sit taller, letting her praise wash over me. After that humiliating conversation with Katy, it was just what I needed.
“Thank you so much. You have no idea what that means to me. This is all a dream come true. Being able to work for you, have you as a mentor. I appreciate so much that you’ve let me share my ideas and been so open to incorporating them,” I said, slowing down so I could take my exit.
“Well, I’m glad to hear that. It’s exactly what I wanted to hear, actually,” she said. I could hear people talking behind her, so I turned up the volume so I wouldn’t miss anything.
“Really?”
“Yes, Victoria, because there’s something I’d like to talk to you about.”
eighteen
. . .
Miles
I was still stunned as I looked at the picture hanging on MJ’s wall while she hurried around searching for her glittery high-top tennis shoes.
“Daddy, you sure you didn’t wash them again?” she asked, tossing shoes behind her as she kneeled inside her closet.
“Not this time, kiddo. Um, when was this taken?”
She leaned back to look up at me. “The first day Vicky came to the house. When Mimi asked her to help with the party and stuff.”
My brows furrowed in confusion. “She did? The first night?”
“Mhm. Oh, here they are. Vicky added this cool bookcase to my closet so I can keep my shoes organized.”
I helped her put the shoes she’d strewn around the room back in their place.
“How did that conversation come up exactly?” I asked, still trying to figure out what prompted a stranger, basically, to do such a thing.
MJ looked up, her mouth twisting to the side as she thought. “Well, we were talking for a long time about, well,everything. What I liked, what I was interested in, my favorite color. Then I showed her my dress, the one in the picture, and told her I’d love my room to be that exact color.”
Nodding my head, I said, “I do remember something about that when I walked in that night.”
She giggled. “I’m surprised you remember much after the way yougawkedat her.”
