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“How’s my girl?” he asked, and for some reason, the endearment made it even harder to tell the truth.
“I’m alright,” I lie.
He looks up from his laptop and gives me a smile. “What’s on your mind?”
I take a seat in the chair directly in front of him.
“A few weeks ago I got a letter from Olivia. She invited me to the Dallas show.”
His jaw ticks. “I hope I am correct in assuming that you politely declined the invitation.”
Shit.
“I did not.”
He lets out an exasperated breath and folds his hands over his belly. “You understand why I can’t allow you to do that, right? Things are quiet now, but you can’t risk it.”
I look at the man who gave me a shot when not many others would have. The man who looked at me, fresh out of college, and gave me my dream job.
“Yes, Max. I understand.” He’s relieved, but he shouldn’t be. “But you have to understand why I have to go.”
“Juliet—” I stop him before he can say anything else.
“I think I might be in love with Ryan Knox,” I blurt out and his mouth falls open. “Well, I’m pretty sure I’m in love with him. Since the moment I left California, I’ve felt like I made a huge mistake. I got on that plane because it was the right thing to do, but if I have the chance to see him again? To figure out what happened between us? I have to do it.”
Max leans back in his chair and looks at the ceiling. “If something happens, if we lose this account—Juliet, I won’t be able to save your job this time.”
I bite my lip and try to swallow the fear rising in my throat.
“I know.”
He nods. “There’s nothing I can say to change your mind, then?”
I shake my head. “No. There isn’t.”
He nods again but says nothing.
“I wanted to tell you in person, just in case. I didn’t want you to find out from anyone else. Max, you have changed my life. You took me under your wing and mentored me. You are a huge part of who I am today, and I will never, ever forget that. If I could somehow find a way to do this without hurting you I would. You have to believe that. But if I don’t see him, and get this closure, I’m so scared I will spend the rest of my life wishing I had been brave enough to take this chance.”
Max stands and makes his way over to me. He pulls me up and wraps his arms around me in the most perfect hug.
“You have always been special to me, Juliet. I have sons, but you became the daughter I always wished I’d been blessed with. Watching you grow and come into your own here has brought me so much joy. I’d love to say that your career here should be enough to keep you content, that this is a fool’s errand, but I know better than that. If you truly believe you may love him, I won’t be the reason you live with regret. Just promise me you’ll be smart about this. The last thing I want is to see you get hurt.”
I squeeze him tighter. “Thank you for believing in me, Max. Thank you for seeing something in me and tending to it until I was able to see it myself.”
Walking out of the office feels ominous. I guess because, depending on how the rest of the weekend goes, it could be the last time I do it as an employee of Acton PR.
Chapter Forty-Nine
Ryan
“Bro, get your fucking head in the game,” Gareth yells over the backing tracks. “That’s the third time you’ve missed your mark.”
“I know,” I shove the mic stand away from my hands and it clashes against the stage floor. “Fuck!”
My mind is all over the place, and no matter how hard I try, I can’t get it together.
“It’s straight, G, we can go again,” Ant calls out, slamming his sticks together to count us off.
