Yes.
“I need to grab something to sleep in.” Harvey said. “Get comfy, I’ll be back in a second.”
5
Harvey
My phone went off justas I popped the trunk of the rental, and unfortunately, the caller ID wasn’t one I could afford to ignore.
“Reggie!” I answered, trying to sound as upbeat as possible despite my stomach still being tied up in knots over Iggy.
I heaved my suitcase out of the back of the car, holding the phone up to my ear with my shoulder.
“Harvey! Sorry to call after hours,” Reggie said in a tone that told me loud and clear that he was not, actually, sorry. “Just wanted to make sure you’re still good for the LA job.”
Shit.
Seth’s wedding was only a handful of days away, would Iggy be okay by then? The doctor had said a couple of days at most, but...
“Harvey?” Reggie asked after I was silent a heartbeat too long. He was impatient for an answer.
“Yeah, uh, sorry. Just trying to remember what day it is now,” I forced myself to laugh.
It was Thursday.
No.
No, wait.
Tuesday?
Maybe Tuesday. I’d check later.
“You know me, always on the road, never pay much attention to things like that,” I continued, trying to cover up the silence. “I think I already told you my cousin’s wedding is on Saturday?”
“Sure, sure. We haven’t got a start date yet, but I’m almost positive it’ll be after that. You know how important this job is though, right?”
No, Reggie, I don’t know how important the job you’ve been talking about non-stop for the past three months is, I didn’t say.
This was a big client, one Reggie had been over the goddamn moon to land, and I wasn’t about to screw it up for him. He’d taken a chance on me when I needed it most, I owed him.
“I know how important it is,” I said. “I’m only in Oregon, I can drive down if I have to. I’m a handful of hours away.”
If Ihadto, I could drive down and then back up here for Seth’s wedding, then back to the job site again.
My neck creaked at the thought of that much driving in one day, in a tiny hatchback.
I hadn’t checked earlier, and it was too dark now to see if hitting Iggy had done any damage to the car, but I’d have to remember to check in the morning and call it in with the rental company if there was anything noticeable. Better to be honest now than try to cover it up, and I doubted Iggy was planning on suing me.
Even if he would’ve been well within his rights.
“See, this is what I love about you!” Reggie enthused. “You’re reliable. That’s why you’re always first on my list when there’s a job going someplace I know you like.”
I’d been to LA before, but I was excited about going back. The bright lights and bustling crowds were comforting. Big cities made me feel tiny and insignificant, like no mistake I made could possibly matter all that much in the grand scheme of things.
I always liked feeling like that. Lost in the crowd.
“I appreciate it,” I said, because I did. Even if what I wanted right now was to be inside, by the warmth of the fire or snuggled up in bed with Iggy.
