His lips lift. “Okay. What’s the message?”
“Tell her I shouldn’t have given up on our friendship so easily.” I try to keep my voice firm, but it’s threaded with pent-up emotion. “Tell her I’m still sorry about the rest of it. But I’m especially sorry aboutthat,too.”
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
Derrick Lovell:I submitted you for the Forbes 30 Under 30 list.
Josephine Davis:I think Camila would be a better submission.
Derrick Lovell:That’s what you said last year. Which is why Camila was on the list LAST year.
Josephine Davis:Well then, they probably won’t want me on this year’s list. Too derivative.
Derrick Lovell:Regardless, if a reporter reaches out, you should engage. It’s good press and Revenant desperately needs some of that right now.
Will goes back to New York armed with new assignments and I miss him every single day we’re apart. I think of him constantly, replay our conversations in my head. They bring me a sense of ease, of peace. I lie in bed at night and recall the low rumble of his voice, theupward hitch of his mouth when I amused him. I count the minutes it took us to break the rules I’d outlined. I wonder constantly what Will meant when he saidIt’s not that I don’t want to.
Thenwhat? If he wanted to kiss me, what stopped him? I need something specific I can add to my own list of reasons not to want him. Is he dating someone in Manhattan? Given what Will told me about his father, I think the answer is no—he wouldn’t have come that close to me if he was committed to another woman. Maybe our reasons are the same. Distance, time, avoiding the mess of our past.
I lose sleep, wondering. Thinking of him. Wishing for more conversations with him, breaking the rules with him.
Toward the end of June, our interns finish the classroom portion of their program and switch to office work. Today is the transitional breakfast, where all the interns mingle with their department heads for the first time.
Camila and I are watching from the sidelines, having way too much fun dissecting every expression, every lip movement.
“The intern in the khakis, white button-down,” she whispers, “is already crushingso hardon the intern in the blue dress.”
I follow her words with my eyes to confirm, chewing on a cinnamon sugar donut. Sure enough, the khakis intern is gazing with curiosity at a brunette in a blue midi dress. She’s talking enthusiastically at Ilya, the lawyer. Ilya looks like he’s doing mental gymnastics to keep up with the conversation, which makes me bite on a smile.
“She’s the one from Dartmouth,” I whisper back. “And I’m pretty sure the boy came from UPenn.”
“They are going to have,” Camila says, “the most ridiculous summer of their lives.”
“Narrate it for me,” I say.
“I’m betting on at least three couples by the end of next week. By the end of July, two pairs will have broken up, while the third grows increasingly serious.”
“Then what?”
“Then,amongst the recently single, there will be hookups with other interns who are ‘just looking to have fun.’ As their time in Austin runs out, one of the old couples will come back to each other, begging mutual forgiveness for their late-July wild hair. Meanwhile, the couple that stayed faithful all summer? Guess what?”
“What?” I ask.
“One of them has a serious partner back in their college town.”
I gasp theatrically.
“It’s all going to come out, that final night during the intern farewell party,” Cami warns me. “There will be tears, and proclamations of love, and if we’rereallylucky, two interns fighting over the girl of their dreams, now that this is their last shot!”
I snort into my paper coffee cup, drawing a few eyes. Howie, our VP of tech, shoots me aHelp melook. He’s talking with my personal intern, Eugenia, who has a way of making you feel like she might be better at your job than you are. Her box braids are up in a half ponytail, and her sparkly pink eyeshadow is stunning against her dark skin.
I stand and walk over to them, listening while Howie finishes explaining SEO. He excuses himself to refill his coffee.
“Everyone here is brilliant!” Eugenia exclaims, straightening her skirt. “I’ve already spoken to every officer and vice president.”
“Who’s your favorite?” I joke.
“Probably Jason Lorcan, the CFO.”
