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“Oh, Liz…” she says.
“I didn’t know it was happening!”
Anna just giggles uncontrollably in response.
“It was for warmth! It was — I don’t know — primal!”
“I’ll say.”
“Not like that!” I sit up because the physical memories fueled by Rhett’s scent are not mixing well with my current cerebral condition of being beyond pissed off.
“I’m serious, Anna. This isn’t the time for—” I grasp for an appropriate word and come up short. “Look, my job is on the line. And Rhett is absolutely refusing to help me.”
“Okay, okay,” Anna says, her laughter not completely gone but thankfully abating. “I know. It’s serious. But man — and please don’t take this as an insult — when did your life get so farcical?”
“When Rhett walked into it,” I say.
“So what’s the real issue here?” Anna asks. “He won’t help you? Don’t you always say you prefer to work alone anyway?”
“It’s more complicated than that,” I say. “This is a sensitive case. Most of the potential clients I approach are aware of my intentions. But Sloane has me in an impossible situation, on multiple fronts. Not only do I have to pitch Marie without acknowledging that I know about their upcoming divorce, but I don’t even know if Sloane even wants me to succeed!”
There’s a beat of confused silence on the other end of the line. “You think she’s setting you up to fail? I thought she liked you.”
“She does, I think. It’s Rhett she has a problem with — no surprise there. Apparently if we’re not successful this weekend she’s gonna cut him off.”
“Oh shit, really? That’s pretty harsh.”
“I’m honestly surprised it’s taken this long.”
Anna mulls this new complication over for a moment before asking, “Does he know?”
“He’s the one who told me.”
“And he’s still refusing to help you?”
“Right? That’s what’s so weird about it. I don’t know if he thinks it’s just going to blow over or if it’s because he’s actually incapable of caring about anything, but he’s acting fully apathetic to the fact that his entire life is going to be in shatters in less than a week.”
“He probably has a pretty good idea of Sloane’s intentions. Maybe he’s resigned to the fact that it’s an impossible task,” Anna muses.
“He’s said as much,” I confirm. “So that shows you my problem.”
“Actually, I’m not seeing it.”
“If I don’t get the account, I come back with failure. If I do, Sloane can’t act out her plan. I’m in hot water no matter what I do.”
“Well first of all, it sounds like you don’t think the situation is as impossible as you said before. If there’s no chance of victory there’s no need to decide.”
“Well—” I pause. She has me there. Maybe, at this point, I’ve become so used to tackling tough cases that I’m getting delusional. Or maybe I know that if anyone could get this account, it would be me.
Anna echos my thoughts. “And if Sloane wanted this weekend to be a mess, why would she send you? She knows what you’re capable of.”
I try to think of a reason and come up blank. “I don’t know,” I admit.
“And if the weekend really is just about Rhett, and you’re nothing but a glorified babysitter, then why stress? Try your best and if it doesn’t work out Sloane is just going to blame Rhett. I mean, she knows her son, right? She has to know he’s a handicap.”
“That’s true,” I say. Miracle upon miracles, I’m actually starting to feel better. But Anna’s words of encouragement don’t help the other tiny, niggling emotion inside me.
“I feel a little bad for him,” I blurt out without thinking.
