“I love seafood.” Memories of her and Trudy eating fresh fish as they watched their mother prepare what their father or Manny caught brought a pang of sorrow mixed with anger that those memories had been irrevocably damaged by their actions. It was like looking at a cracked mirror; one part seemingly normal, the other distorted, showing the ugly that she had been too innocent to know was there until it was too late.
Leaving the elevator, they walked down the hallway to Penni’s office. As Mouth2Mouth’s tour manager, she was responsible for hiring the support crew. Each hire was given a badge that acted as a pass to get through venue doors, so employees had access to come and go during events. All of the band’s workers had been asked to return their badges until Mouth2Mouth went back on the road. Ginny didn’t see that happening anytime soon. Penni had already informed the staff that Kaden planned to take a year break to write songs for their next album. Penni had told her in confidence that he had been offered several contracts to perform in different states and was seriously considering the offers.
Penni’s office door was wide open. Smiling at the attractive woman behind the front desk, Ginny moved farther into the office.
“Hi, Grace, how are you doing today?”
Grace returned the smile. “Fine. Penni told me you would be coming today. You girls look ready to take on the world.”
“I don’t know about that, but we’re ready to take on Harry’s Seafood.” Still feeling the pang of disappointment at not getting a job, she disguised her worry with false cheerfulness. “Is Penni around? I need to turn in my badge.”
“I’ll get her for you and the paperwork you need to fill out.” Grace rose elegantly from her desk.
Ginny watched admiringly as the former model made her way the short distance to Penni’s office to knock, then go inside, leaving her and Gianna alone in the front office.
“Why does she make me regret that bottle of wine and pasta we ate for dinner last night?” Gianna muttered under her breath enviously.
Ginny shot her a surprised glance. “You’re just as beautiful. I’m the one who should be regretting that extra helping of linguini.”
Her roommate was next-level gorgeous. She was almost as tall Grace, and her warm, brown skin tone was flawless. While Grace’s features gave the impression of remoteness, Gianna’s high cheekbones gave her a haughty beauty; both women could pull off their air of aloofness because they were so gorgeous. They both wore dresses that showed their bodies to their best advantage while being casually elegant, making men aware there was more to them than just their physique. The only real difference she could see between the women were their boob sizes. As an AA, Ginny felt like a thirteen-year-old compared to Gianna’s voluptuous breast size, which had her wishing she could at least be a good B like Grace.
“You’re lying through your teeth.” Gianna nudged her with a shoulder to show that Penni and Grace were coming back. “Lunch is on me for making the effort. I don’t think I can do without my pasta.”
Ginny shook her head at the offer, seeing the sneaky maneuver Gianna was trying to do to lessen the load on her non-existent income.
“We’ll discuss it later,” Gianna hedged.
“No, we won’t.” Taking out her badge, she handed it to Penni as she approached the desk.
“Sorry. I was on the phone with Kaden.” Penni placed the laminated pass in a yellow envelope that Grace gave her.
Penni scrawled her name on the envelope first, then Grace slid the paper across the desk. “Can you sign this? It just says that you returned the badge, and you’re no longer employed by Mouth2Mouth.”
Signing the paper, Ginny was relieved to hear a chipper voice from the hallway break the awkward silence. “Anyone want to get lunch?”
Laying the pen down and giving the paper to Penni, Ginny turned to see a woman standing in the doorway.
“I was ready about ten minutes ago,” Penni answered, then turned to Grace. “You can file that in the cabinet and check Ginny’s name off the list. There are two more to go, and then we can give them all back to Alec. He’s been calling me for the last week to send them to him.”
“I won’t miss his calls every morning.” Grace went to the file cabinet, using a key attached to a bracelet on her wrist to open it up, then she locked it back after putting the envelope inside. “As head of Kaden’s security, I know he takes his job seriously, but you told him that you would have them to him this Friday.”
“I should have brought mine by sooner.” Ginny was familiar with how OCD Alec was at protecting Kaden, not only physically but anything that could harm him and his family.