Ophelia let out her low, throaty chuckle. “Fair. No vampires. Got it.”
I opened my mouth and closed it again, then said, “Heard a rumor Helen might be taking clients again.”
“Not a chance.” She was laughing at me.
“Come on, O. Make it happen. We both need closure. You know it’s not healthy to hold on to grudges.”
“Don’t psychologize with me, young man. You made your bed. Andevidently, you don’t need her in it to be happy.”
I sighed, thumping my head on the desk.Well if it isn’t the consequences of my own actions…
The amusement in her tone deepened. “If I so much as mention your name, she’ll spit venom. And I don’t blame her.”
The answer was so simple. I just needed her to show up and hear me out.
“Then don’t mention my name.”
She tutted. “Do we need to have a chat about informed consent?”
“Oh, don’t worry. She’ll still know before anything happens. But I need you to follow my instructions exactly.”
She was quiet for a second. “I’m listening.”
I explained exactly what I needed her to say and where I needed the date to happen.
“And if she says no?” she asked.
If I still knew her at all, this was a client she wouldn’t turn down.
“She won’t.”
6
MAIA
Now
* * *
Is there anything more frustrating than knowing you have to be up at the ass crack of dawn and still not being able to sleep?
I lay there in the dark, watching the hours drag by on the clock. I had a seriously important dinner to cater tomorrow and I had to be up at five.
Scratch that. I had a dinner to cater today. It was already three.
All-nighters may have been something I could pull off in my thirties when I’d been hustling to put myself through cooking school, but sometime after crossing the threshold into my forties, it stopped being a thing.
Now, I turned into The Crypt Keeper without sleep. Which was why I desperately needed the two hours I had left, but my brain didn’t seem to be getting the message.
I tried the breathing exercises my therapist taught me.
It did nothing but make me start to grind my teeth in frustration. Which was a reminder that I was supposed to be wearing my night guard like my dentist kept telling me.
I tried relaxing one body part at a time, starting with my toes all the way to my jaw, like my yoga instructor taught me.
By the time I reached my shoulders, my bottom half was locked up again.
I tried meditating like my spiritual coach taught me, but I couldn’t silence my mind.
