CHAPTER 29
Jackie silenced the alert on the group chat again. Her girls had been blowing her up since she landed in Atlanta, wanting to know what happened. Jackie, for all her forty-plus years of life, was not above being childish. She probably should work out those issues on a therapist’s couch… But for now, she’d stick with avoidance as a coping mechanism.
Instead of picking up her phone, she headed to pick up PeeWee at the medical spa. He wiggled his little puppy behind so hard it turned him in circles when he saw her. She squeezed him tight, her eyes brimming with tears, as the vet team filled her in on his progress. PeeWee was healing well from surgery, and they were hopeful his tumor was benign. Because the biopsy had been inconclusive, Jackie would have to wait for further test results before she could breathe easy. But they were about to celebrate anyway. She grabbed a sushi platter for the both of them on the way back home, then put her phone on Do Not Disturb—where it would stay for the entire weekend. Snuggling with PeeWee and stuffing her face with sashimi while watching old episodes ofDatelinewas exactly what she needed.
Avoiding her friends for a couple of days while she pampered PeeWee was one thing, but as Jackie stepped off the elevator at her office, she knew she’d have to face reality. She would see Antonio eventually. And then what? The thought made her stomach tighten.
“Welcome back, Ms. Miles,” said Calvin as he typed on his computer. “How was your trip?”
Jackie lifted her shades and stared at him. He looked at her so eagerly, she wanted to slap the smirk off his pasty face. She typed into the app on her phone, pressed SPEAK, and slammed the phone on Calvin’s desk. He jumped in his seat.
“I want you to hear me and hear me good,Charlie. I’m sure you thought booking that trip for Antonio and me as a couple would be funny. Well, it darn sure wasn’t. If you ever pull a stunt like that again, I’ll fire you and make sure no one in this town hires you ever again. Then it’s back to whatever Buckhead-adjacent, barely-gated community you’re pretending you are from. Trust me, I got the juice, and you don’t want to mess with me ever again. Got that?”
Calvin’s green-blue eyes widened, and he swallowed. “Got that. Would you like me to get you a coffee? Tea for your throat? And perhaps a pastry from the shop downstairs?”
Jackie gave him a slight nod, then motioned her hand to shoo him towards the bakery. Calvin jumped up so fast he knocked over his chair and the artificial olive tree in the corner.
The little shit. If he wasn’t such a damned wiz with her calendar—and, she could admit, generally exceptional at his job—he’d be gone. The old Jackie wouldn’t have had any qualms with firing him. She must be turning over a new leaf.
Jackie moved to her desk and stared at her computer screen. Last night, when she couldn’t sleep, she had gone ahead and finalized her pitch to Guzman. She had emailed it in the middle of the night; surely Guzman’s team hadn’t had a chance to review her proposal yet. Still, she refreshed her email inbox every couple of minutes, hoping a response would come through.Get it together, Jackie.
Needing a distraction, Jackie finally took her phone off of Do Not Disturb and checked her group chat.
JACKIE:Hey y’all.
TANIKA:Oh, hello. Done ignoring us?
BRONWYN:We were worried sick! How dare you not let us know if you’re ok.
TANIKA:Or if you got that back blown out!
BRONWYN:That too! Does Tanika owe me $100 or not?
JACKIE:Wait, did the bet double?
BRONWYN:Yep. Because I said you got your back blown out at least twice…
Damn Bron and her intuition. Jackie rolled her eyes and chuckled. Twice was nowhere near the number.
JACKIE:Can we talk about all that in-person? Though, I can’t exactly talk…
TANIKA:Your voice still isn’t back?
JACKIE:It was and then it wasn’t.
