“Thank God you called,” I said when I answered the phone. “I’m going nuts over here, Brit. I need help. Like industrial-strength, professional help.”
She chuckled. “What’s going on? Are you still driving yourself crazy over Tanner and that job?”
“Yep. I’ve been trying not to think about it, but I can’t stop. At this rate, I’m going to have to build a shrine dedicated to those designs so that I can worship them day and night until I figure out the problem.”
“You have issues,” she said, laughing. “Just forget about it, girl. I know you take pride in your work and that this was a setback, but setbacks happen. You did your best with what you had. He just didn’t give you much to go on.”
“I shouldn’t have let him be so vague about everything, though. That’s on me, and I don’t know how I’m ever going to forgive myself for it. I’ve tried moving past this, but I can’t seem to get anywhere. Setbacks happen, yes, but how do people ever trust their instincts again once they do?”
“Time,” she said immediately. “It’s only been a week. Give yourself some time. Soon enough, this will all be in the past and you’ll look back at it and be grateful for the lessons you learned.”
I closed my eyes and let my head fall back as I ran my free hand through my hair. “Okay, but what about the fact that I was in the process of falling for a client? I can’t just forget about that, either. I really screwed the pooch on this one, and I’m not sure if I’m ever going to bounce back.”
“Be realistic,” she said. “You started falling for him long before he was a client. Hell, you started falling for him as soon as you saw him at that auction. Give yourself a little bit of credit.”
“Credit?” I squeaked. “What is there to give myself credit for? And how is any of that supposed to make me feel better?”
“Well, you mentioned falling for a client. All I did was point out that you don’t need to give yourself a hard time about it because he wasn’t a client when you started developing feelings for him. Jeez. Lighten up. It’s not the end of the world. It sucks on both a personal and a professional level, but it’s not the worst thing that’s ever happened. You need to forgive yourself.”
“Sure, I’ll just call up the forgive myself store and ask them when they’re expecting stock.” I sighed. “I know I need to forgive myself, but it’s not happening. I don’t know how. I’ve never been in a situation like this before.”
“Start by coming out with us tonight,” she said. “Trevor got invited to a party at Club Tee tonight. It’s been years since we’ve gone dancing. It’ll help. I promise it will.”
“I’m not sure, but I’m willing to try anything, so yes, I’m in. If there’s even the faintest possibility that it will help get Tanner off my mind, I’ll do it.”
“Good. You won’t regret it,” she said. “The first tequila is on me, but after that, you’re taking responsibility for your own hangover tomorrow.”
“Got it. I’ll meet you there.” I had a feeling that this was a bad idea, but I really was willing to try anything.
This week had been a long and terribly sucky one. If there was any way to salvage even one night and to stop thinking about Tanner and my screw-up for even just an hour, I was going to go for it. Even if it meant going clubbing like the young twenty-something I wasn’t anymore.