Page 194 of The Sweetest Return

“I have work.”

“You have a laptop.”

“I have meetings.”

“You have Zoom.”

“I have a condo full of boxes.”

“Those boxes been minding their business for weeks. They'll survive two more days.”

I laughed despite myself. “You are very comfortable rearranging my life.”

“I’m comfortable making sure you get where you need to be.”

I paused.

“And are you coming?”

“Hell yeah.”

My heart moved in a direction I did not have time to supervise.

“You have your own work.”

“I got a phone, laptop, managers, and several people who've been telling me to loosen my grip.”

“They said that?”

“Multiple times. Felt coordinated.”

“That usually means they're right.”

“Don't join their union.”

“I might.”

“Pack, Mani.”

“Bossy.”

“With you? Yeah.”

I ended the call smiling, which was ridiculous considering I still had diamonds to move, a stylist to soothe, an insurer to chase, and a man who had just made private aviation sound like ordering a larger Uber.

Within twenty minutes, his itinerary appeared.

Pittsburgh to Teterboro. Ground transfer to the atelier. Back into the air. Van Nuys. Car to Malibu.

Nina walked into my office while I was still staring at it and stopped mid-sentence.

“Oh.”

I looked up. “What?”

“You have the face.”

“What face?”