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But even the most promising paths in life can lead to nowhere. Dreams are meant to be woken from.
“Okay,” I say, more to myself than to Mickey. I rise and walk with determination toward the great glass doors. I can feel every eye in the office on me.
I stop in front of Alyssa, Nick’s secretary. When I speak I’m surprised by how blasé I sound.
“Is Mr. Madison in?”
Alyssa stares at me like, No shit, bitch. What do you think everyone’s been talking about all day? But she’s professional enough not to say it aloud.
“He’s busy,” she says.
“I’d like to speak to him.”
“I don’t?—”
“Let him know I’m here.” I nod at the intercom.
Alyssa looks at the button like she’d rather go to her own mother’s funeral. Then she looks at me, again asking with her eyes, Are you really going to make me do this?
I raise my eyebrows.
Alyssa inhales, holds it, presses the button, and says, “Evie Davis to see you, Mr. Madison.”
The office is so quiet you could hear a gnat cough.
I hadn’t considered that he might just ignore her. But then, finally, he says, “I’m busy.” He sounds muffled, like he’s speaking from underwater.
“It’s important,” I tell Alyssa.
She hesitates but then presses the button and says, “She says it’s urgent.”
“And I said I’m busy,” Nick snaps.
Alyssa looks up at me and shrugs.
A spark of irritation fires through me. He’s not busy, obviously, and I already worked up the courage to go talk to him. I’m honestly not sure I can again.
A crazy impulse takes ahold of me. Alyssa sees the determination on my face, and her eyes widen. She starts to stand, a warning rising in her throat. But it’s too late.
I stride with purpose toward those huge glass doors, fling one open, and step inside Nick’s office.
It shuts with a bang behind me, instantly cutting me off from help. I’ve stepped into the lion’s den. And he has no reason to show me mercy.
Somehow I manage to walk with purpose. I stride down the center aisle, and just like the first time I walked down this long, long carpet, I get more and more irritated with every step. All I want to do is quit and get it over with! I just want to move on, goddammit!
Nick is sitting the same way he was when I’d met him in this office the first time. Facing away, looking out the window across the Hudson. Now I know him well enough to know exactly what he’s looking at.
I stand in front of the desk and tap my heeled foot.
“I said I was busy,” Nick says again. The sound of his voice stabs a needle into my heart, but I power through.
“And I said it was urgent.”
“I doubt that,” Nick replies. His tone is icy, cold as steel and just as unbending.
I swallow.
When I don’t answer right away, Nick asks, “So what is it? A new perception poll? Kara’s ass on a Facebook ad?”
