Chapter Four
Elly
I was lying in bed, studying—or trying at least. I had a test coming up in my English class. Actually, I was more just trying to keep my mind on my studies to keep it off of other things. It wasn’t working. All I could think about was what they were doing at work. It was nine a.m. and if I was there, we’d be setting things up. I missed Molly. Even knowing that she wouldn’t judge me, I still hadn’t called her. I needed to do that, and move past it. I needed to find another job before the next semester started. I really didn’t want to have to ask my parents for money. They would give it to me without question, but I was twenty-two years old. It was past time for me to take care of myself. Sighing, I tried to return my focus to my book. Just about the time I did, my phone started ringing. Grateful for the distraction, I grabbed it off the nightstand and looked at it. I didn’t recognize the number.
“Hello?”
“Hello, is this Elly?”
“Yes.”
“Hi Elly, it’s Jake.”
I sat straight up. What is Jake calling me for? Was it not enough humiliation to be fired? Was he calling to rub it in? Did he want to tell me how badly I’d disappointed him?
“Hi Jake…”
“I know it’s last minute, but I was wondering if you had time to meet with me this morning?”
“Um…” What the hell does he want? Of course I have the time. I don’t have a job to get in the way any longer. “Sure, okay. What time?”
“Within the hour?”
Damn! I just couldn’t imagine what he wanted. Why didn’t he just say all he had to say the other day?
“Okay, sure. I’ll be there.” I hung up with a knot in my stomach. I’d done good not wallowing. I hadn’t cried and I wasn’t freaking out about money…okay, I was obsessing a little, but still not too bad. Why did he want to do this to me? Why couldn’t he just talk to me on the phone? Maybe he was going to offer my job back. No way…maybe? Maybe they were going to let Tristan go after all and he wanted to tell me it was all my fault.
Shit! I needed to just go find out before I drove myself nuts wondering about it. I bounced out of bed and quickly dressed in one of my best business suits. Just in case he wanted to ask me back, I wanted to look professional. I pulled my hair back and did my make-up. By the time I was ready, I had convinced myself that since they didn’t kick Tristan off, maybe they decided it wasn’t fair to let me go. I knew I might be disappointed when I got there, but for the time being, it was a nice fantasy.
I passed Tony in the hall when I got to the studio. He gave me a weird look like he was wondering what I was doing there. It was, in the immortal words of Tristan, none of his fucking business. He looked like he was going to say something to me but I stepped into Jake’s outer office before he could. I thought Tristan was right; Tony was kind of a little prick.
“Hi, Jenny,” I said to the assistant who was sitting behind her desk, “Jake wanted to see me.”
“Yes, he’s expecting you, Elly. Go on in.” Jenny smiled at me, genuinely. I guess they’re not all pricks.
I knocked first and he called for me to come in. When I opened the door he stood up from behind his desk and smiled. It wasn’t the same look he’d given me the last time we met, he seemed sincerely happy to see me. That was a good sign. Surely he wouldn’t be so happy about the prospect of lecturing me.
“Hello, Elly. Thank you for coming in.”
“You’re welcome,” I said. Please just tell me what you want so I can stop worrying about it.
“Go ahead and have a seat.” We both sat down and he said, “First of all, I have to say congratulations on your performance the other night. I couldn’t really say that in front of Clint and Tony, but I thought you were incredible.”
I was flabbergasted, “Thank you,” was all I could say. He was the executive producer. I had to wonder why he cared what Clint or Tony thought. I laughed inwardly at myself. I was starting to think a lot like Tristan.
“I was wondering if you’re still interested in working the tour?”
Now I was beyond flabbergasted. I almost fell off my chair.
“You still want me to?” I said. He’d just fired me—hadn’t he?
“Yes, I still want you to. I think you’re extremely talented and if there had been more than a couple of shows left, I would have fought for you. I was disappointed, I’ll admit, but you’re young and things happen. I just didn’t see the point in all that drama for a couple of weeks more.”
“Oh, wow! Thank you so much, Jake.” It meant a lot to me to know he respected my work ethic. I thought that had gotten lost in the shuffle. “I’d love to do the tour! I’m so excited.” I had already set up my online classes for next semester after the last time we talked about this. After they fired me though, I thought that the tour was part of the show and I was kicked off that, too. I hadn’t even questioned it. Jake was smiling as I gushed. He slid a pile of papers over to me and said,
“This is the contract. Read it over and sign on the yellow lines for me and it’s official.”
I couldn’t stop smiling. I probably looked like an idiot, but I had the job, so I didn’t care. I signed it all, skimming through it. The salary was at the top of the first page and it was more than generous. Yay me!
Jake looked them over after I handed them back and then said, “Welcome aboard…again.”
“Thank you, Jake, sincerely. I won’t mess this up.”
“I know you won’t,” he said. He walked me out and Tony was still lurking in the hall. I knew that he was dying to know what was going on. I smiled broadly at him, just to make him wonder more.
I was walking on air when I got outside. My phone started ringing and I hoped it was Susie or Tristan so I could tell them what just happened. I pulled it out of my purse and saw that it was my mother. The last time I talked to her was the night I sang with Tristan. Her and my dad both were gushing over my performance.
“Hi, Mom,”
“Hi, baby. How are you? Am I interrupting you at work?”
I didn’t tell her about getting kicked off the show. She and my dad were so excited for me, especially after they saw me sing with Tristan, I didn’t want them to be disappointed in me.
“No, you’re not interrupting me. I’m good, Mom, what’s up?”
“Dad and I will be there tomorrow.”
“Tomorrow? I thought you weren’t coming until Thursday.”
“We got an earlier flight. Is that okay?”
“Of course,” I said. “I can’t wait to see you guys!”
“We can’t wait to see you either. I’ll let you get back to work. I love you.”
“Love you, too.”
I hung up and thought about Tristan. When I thought they weren’t coming until Thursday I thought it would be easy to hide him for a couple of days. There was no way I could hide him for three and a half. They were staying at a hotel but they were going to want to come over. I was going to have to let them meet him. Shit! My mother would talk to him like he was my boyfriend and god only knows what Tristan would say. He was such a wild card. Damn it! They’d know he was staying with Susie and me and they’d want to know why he was there if he’s not my boyfriend—not that they’d be okay with it if he was. If I told them he’s in recovery, they’d think about my late boyfriend and my mother would have a coronary. Shit! I couldn’t very well introduce him as what he really was—my fuck buddy.