“Good Morning. No, there are no messages this morning,” I say, smiling.
She lets out a loud huff, going into her office and slamming the door. I glance over at Mia and she rolls her eyes.
“Her ex-husband is in town. This is always how she gets. She’s still completely in love with him, but he’s remarried to a much younger woman and occasionally he comes back to town. I’m not sure if it’s to piss Debra off or if they have a side thing going on. Either way, she’ll be like this until he leaves again,” she whispers.
Great, just what I need. I’m still learning and normally she’s great about my questions, but now I’m not so sure I should ask if I have one. With any hope today will go by without any problems and I suppose if I need help I can ask Mia.
“Thanks for the heads up. I better get these emails done. I don’t want to give her any reason to take that out on me,” I say.
“Yeah you better. We’ll meet in the lobby at noon for lunch. Good luck,” she says, laughing as she walks away. Bitch.
The morning flies by and thankfully the meeting went without a hitch. I took notes and Debra was so occupied with talking about the new line of summer clothes that she seemed like her normal self. I poke my head in her office, knocking lightly on the door. She lifts her eyes from the computer, raising an eyebrow.
“I’m going to lunch. Do you want me to get you something?” I ask.
She lets out a sigh and drops her glasses to the desk. “You’re such a great help, Ivy. Yes, please.”
“The regular?”
She nods and gives me a tight smile. I start to feel bad for her because unfortunately I know that look. I decide when I bring her lunch back, I’ll try to talk to her. The worst she can do is tell me to shut the fuck up and get out.
I grab my purse and meet Mia in the lobby. “Hey, you ready?” she asks.
“Yep.”
It’s only a five-minute walk to the small deli that makes the most delicious sandwiches. I’ve even come here on the weekends just to get one, it’s that good. After we order, we grab a table outside and enjoy the warm sunshine.
“So, listen, I talked to my boyfriend and he wants to come out with us for drinks tomorrow. He’s gonna bring his friend Chad and I’m telling you Ivy; you guys would be perfect together.”
So that’s what this is. She’s trying to set me up. Fucking unreal. “I appreciate it, but I’m not really looking for anything right now,” I say, lifting my shoulders.
She laughs and takes a sip of her water. “How long have you been in California now?”
“Almost two months,” I say, feeling a little lightheaded.
“And how many guys have you been with since you’ve been here?” she asks, lifting a perfectly sculpted eyebrow.
This time I laugh, feeling my face flush. “None, but I haven’t been looking.”
“It’s time to start looking.”
I think about it for a minute and it kinda turns my stomach. It’s not like I don’t want to eventually find someone, I just feel like something is holding me back. Maybe it’s all the shit I went through with Harper that scares me. You never really know someone. The shit I saw in that club scared me to death. The killings, the violence, the anger. It’s kinda turned me off to wanting to be with anyone right now. I need to find my peace before I open myself up to anyone else. I’ll also admit with complete embarrassment that waking up in that bed I shared with Kace alone still hurts. I’m not ready to feel that again any time soon.
“Not yet, but maybe soon,” I shyly say.
She gets up to grab our food and my stomach turns again. The fear of moving on from Kace and Vegas has my stomach in knots. Kace was never mine and never would have been, but I can’t help that I still think about that night and how I want to relive it. Not waking up in a cold bed, but everything else. We connected that night in a way that I can’t explain or understand. I just know it happened. I’ve wanted to ask Harper a million times how he is, but I won’t. The fear of hearing that he is with someone or that he was shot again hold me back. She never brings him up, which makes me think it’s that he’s with someone.
“Damn, are you alright?” Mia asks.
I snap out of my thoughts and look at her concerned face. Great, now I’m showing my feelings. “I’m fine, just missing Vegas a little I guess.”
She nods as she bites into her sandwich. “Is it Vegas you’re missing or is there a guy?”
My stomach again turns, and I take a long drink of my water to relax myself. I grin, tucking my hair behind my ears. “It’s Vegas. I grew up there, it’s the only place I know.”
“I like you Ivy, you are a good fucking liar,” she says, laughing.
I laugh with her and take a bite of my turkey sandwich. “Thanks.”