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“Are you okay?”
“I was going to get some fresh air for a minute, but—”
My words sound as frantic as I feel and he puts the back of his hand against my forehead like I’m a child with a fever. I must look like the sweaty, frantic mess I am.
“You’re burning up, Autumn.” If he didn’t look so concerned I’d feel like he was accusing me of doing something horrible. He holds out his hand for me to take. “We can get out of here if you need to.”
“Oh, there you are!” Amelia’s voice interrupts right before she’s nudging Miles to the side and standing before him. “You sure move quickly.”
The blonde smiles up at him, with unhidden interest. Who could blame her?
“Doesn’t she look lovely, Miles?” She gives him a pointed look that’s only hidden from the blonde woman. She’s telling him without words what she expects him to say. “If you don’t ask her to dinner, I’ll do it!”
The blonde laughs, clearly enjoying Amelia’s pressure. She goes to lean in towards his ear, and she must bemuchtaller than me, because the space isn’t a challenging one for her to reach. I can’t help the satisfaction I feel when she doesn’t get the chance to say what she wants, because Miles takes a step away. He doesn’t even try to play it off for anything other than what it was.
Amelia doesn’t look happy. I start inching towards the door again, scared for her attention to turn to me. I don’t have the ability to keep anything off of my face, and I’d rather not dig myself a deeper hole.
“Autumn is one of my assistants. Autumn, this is Chloe. Her parents are clients of ours, you’d probably recognize the inside of her house.” She laughs as if she had made a joke, and Chloe does too.
“Only for a month more,” she says, pointedly. “I can’t wait to give you free rein in my new place.” She doesn’t acknowledge the introduction to me at all, but I’m not surprised.
I’m polite as can be when I speak up, although my voice betrays my current state. “Nice to meet you, Chloe.”
She slowly drags her eyes over me for the first time, and gives me a slight smile. “Did Amelia say you’re an assistant? I haven’t seen you before.”
“I only work—”
“Oh, that reminds me!” she exclaims, turning back to Amelia with more ass-kissing.
Neither of them show any hint of discomfort at the obvious interruption. Normally I would probably just shut up, let it slide, but I’m not feeling that way right now. I’m feeling a million things, and I have to channel it all somewhere.
“What’s the point in asking a question if you don’t listen to the answer?”
Chloe’s mouth drops open as she turns to look at me again. You’d think I’d just insulted her. I’m sure Amelia’s expression is comparable, but I decide not to look at her. I’m still feeling too vulnerable to handle that much.
“Excuse me?”
“You asked me a question and didn’t let me answer it.” I shrug. “I was just wondering why.” She could have simply smiled and nodded, but shewantedme to feel belittled. The same way too many people have, to remind me that I’m not good enough for their time or energy.
She closes and opens her mouth a couple times, clearly not used to being confronted and unsure of how to respond. Most days that’s my part to play, but there’s something about the last few weeks that has flipped a switch in my brain. TheleastI deserve is to be acknowledged.
“Autumn,” Amelia gasps. “Have you had too much of the wine?”
I blurt out a laugh in response, which probably makes it look like I did exactly that. Like I found time to get drunk within the first fifteen minutes of this little get together.
“I haven’t had a drop to drink tonight, actually.” My tone is polite, but there’s no way it’s fooling anyone other than the guests that might glance over from across the room.
Amelia gives Chloe an apologetic look, one I’ve seen on her too many times.
“You can’t speak to our clients that way. Please apologize for being rude.”
Before I can tell her that I have no interest in doing that, Miles speaks up.
“Come on, mom. Do you want to be the boss that doesn’t let your employees stand up for themselves?” He briefly grabs my hand that’s shaking even more than it was before. “Do you still want that fresh air?”
I nod my head eagerly, stepping past the two women.
“Good idea. You should probably leave for the night. You could call a—”
