I headed into the office to meet my two friends and when I turned back, Jimmy was gone.
‘What the fuck!’ Zola was bouncing up and down, too hyped to stand at peace.
I laughed, walking over to the window and admiring the unbelievable view of the Empire State Building and midtown Manhattan spread out around us.
‘Look at the desks!’ Zola continued. ‘And he said we’ll have our own assistants if we want. I picked that up, right? Plus, coffees on tap!’
‘We have to really read the contracts in depth, maybe get a lawyer to look over it all,’ I said, knowing there might be some hidden clause we’d have to be careful of. ‘These extras are great, but—’
‘Ella, now is the time to be excited. Look at our fucking office!’ Zola continued, skipping about like a toddler after too much birthday cake.
‘Are you OK with all of this, Katy?’ I asked my friend, who was quietly swirling in a plush leather chair.
Eventually, she nodded. ‘Yeah. I am.’ She paused and looked up. ‘Fee seems lovely.’
I couldn’t disagree – she seemed genuine and warm-hearted.
‘I wish I had the balls to tell her, but I didn’t want to upset her. I didn’t want all of this to go away either. Does that make me a horrible, selfish person?’
I walked over to Katy, placing my hand on her shoulder. ‘No, it makes you human, babe. I don’t think I could have told her,’ I assured her, honestly.
‘I mean, if you’re dead set on outing him .?.?.’ Zola trailed off. ‘You did meet him on Tinder, right?’
Katy agreed, her face lifting as she caught onto Zola’s plan.
‘We could always expose him on the app .?.?.’
I turned to my friends, knowing how toxic that had been for me.
‘Guys .?.?.’ I interjected.
‘Not straight away. Bide your time. Even do it when we’re back in Glasgow. But there are ways and means. Think about it,’ Zola continued. ‘There would be a certain poetic justice in that man being taken down by the very app his wife’s company invested in.’
My heart picked up pace again, knowing I didn’t want to relive the chaos The Dicktionary Club had caused in the past.
‘I’ll think about it.’ Katy grinned widely, finally realising she had the upper hand.
‘But, until then,’ I said, ‘please don’t go anywhere near Travis Mason!’
Chapter Eleven
Ella
We walked through the streets of Manhattan after leaving Flirtify, having declined a lift from Jimmy’s driver so we could soak in New York in all its glory. The streets were alive with tourists and New Yorkers going about their everyday lives. I couldn’t believe that was about to be us – three Glaswegian girls calling the Big Apple home for the next couple of months. I felt excited, but agitation swirled about the opportunity; it felt too good to be true and I couldn’t wait for the contracts to arrive so I could study them in depth. None of it would feel like it was really happening to us until I saw it in writing.
Zola was chewing on some strawberry laces to keep her energy levels up when we finally spotted our apartment in the distance, while Katy staggered slightly behind. I knew she was rereading old messages from Travis, making sure she hadn’t missed any clues indicating a wife or the prospect of infidelity.
‘Babe, can you put that away in case you end up calling him by mistake?’ Zola tutted, noticing Katy still analysing the texts.
‘I’m not a complete idiot, Zo,’ she snapped back. ‘I’m entitled to read my messages!’
Zola offered me an eyeroll and I simply smirked.
‘Have you spoken to Curtis about all of this?’ I asked my friend, noticing how quiet she’d been about her own love life, hardly using her phone or mentioning him since we landed.
Zola sighed. ‘Nope!’
I bit my lip. This could be awkward. ‘How do you think he’ll take it?’
