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“Hey, what’s up?”
“Hey, Pres, how are you holding up?” I know she cares and only means well but the dreaded tone has already settled into her voice.
“I’m good. Just watching Friends.”
“Are you sure? You want me to come over? Jarrod is playing Call of Duty online so he’s distracted anyway.”
“No, it’s late and I mean it, I’m okay. Things—” I hesitate but decide to tell her anyway. “Well, things might be turning around for me already.”
“Really? Did they offer you your job back?”
“No, but, uh, I’ve been presented an opportunity to interview with Lisa Wade.”
“Thee Lisa Wade?” Serenity squeals.
“One and the same.”
“Holy fucking shit, Presley! How did you manage that? I mean, not that you don’t deserve it—sorry—I just mean, it’s Lisa Wade!”
“I know,” I say, fully aware at the insanity of the situation. “Actually, Professor Gates told me about the position and gave me her card.” The phone is silent for a few seconds.
“Cyrus? How’d he know that you needed a job?”
I shrug as if she can see me. “I guess he overheard us talking and said that she is in dire need of a publicist because one of hers just quit unexpectedly and she’s in a bind. He said she’d be willing to work around my schedule.”
“He didn’t?—”
“Didn’t what?” I ask when she doesn’t finish her statement.
“I don’t mean to sound jealous or like an asshole, but he didn’t try to like demand a tit-for-tat situation for the opportunity, did he?”
“He did make me blow him. If that’s what you mean.”
“Oh my God, Presley,” she says as we both burst into laughter.
“No, Serenity, and I would hope you would know me well enough to know that I wouldn’t take the damn offer if those kind of strings were attached.”
“I know you wouldn’t but we both know that man has a reputation as a womanizer. Then again, he is fine so I wouldn’t blame you if you did take an offer like that.” She laughs again.
“It’s not a guaranteed anything. It’s just an interview, but I’d be crazy not to hope for it, right? I mean, this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.”
“You’re doing that thing again.”
“What thing?” I scrunch my brow.
“That thing where you doubt yourself. You’re always so modest, Presley. I don’t say it just to say it; you are by far the smartest person I know and you have the most insane potential. I guaran-damn-tee you that someday, you’ll be Lisa Wade. You’re going to be that PR powerhouse that twenty-four-year-old you was interviewing with. I mean it.”
I feel my throat grow thick with emotion. She’s right in that I do tend to doubt myself. I give everything I do absolutely one hundred percent of my effort but growing up in a house where all my parents wanted me to do was get married and have kids, those seeds of doubt still threaten to break through and take root.
I love my parents but they never understood when I said I wanted to leave my small town behind and move to the “big city.” They told me it was dangerous and frivolous. They felt like I thought I was too good for the life they’d chosen for themselves, but that’s not it at all. I just want my own experiences, my own path.
“Thanks, I mean it. I want this so bad, Serenity, but I’m so scared to get my hopes up because I know I’m not technically qualified… but I want it.”
“And you’ll get it. Just watch.”
We hang up and I roll on my side, attempting to focus back on the TV but it’s no use. I switch it off, plug my phone in, and make sure my alarm is set before I close my eyes and drift off to sleep.
* * *
