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Sherolled her eyes and half-smiled.Showinggratitude had never been her strong point.
Onthe walls, there were multiple white boards, covered in to-do lists and dates.Theone markedWeddingsat the top had ten last names in a column.Ina second column with the headingDue, was a list of dates—all in the past.Onlytwo had lines through them, marking them complete. ‘Sothis is where you work?’
‘It’sin budget.’
‘Isit safe?’
Sheshrugged and took a sip of her coffee.
Withsurprise, he noticed a kitten-themed calendar stuck to the wall.Notthe animal he’d immediately associate with her, but okay.Hesaw she had three weddings scheduled this month.Inthe bottom corners of most of the squares, she had scribbled letters inSharpie: some had aC, some aP, and others a redB.Hewondered what they meant. ‘Whydon’t you work from home?’
‘Flat’stoo small.’
Krishnodded his head. ‘Youseem pretty busy.That’sgood.’
‘IknowI’msupposed to say something twee like “Can’tcomplain”, butIactually can.Ihave too many weddings and no time to work on other projects.’
‘Areyou charging enough?’
Sheshook her head and held up her hand. ‘Stopright there.Idon’t need you to fix this for me.It’smy problem.’
‘Comeon,Francesca.I’vebeen working forConnorKnightfor the past five years.I’velearnt a fair share about business and pricing in that time.’
‘Whatabout you?What’syour big plan?Iknow you’ll have one.’
‘Me?’Hecould tell she was changing the subject on purpose.He’dcircle back later. ‘It’stime for me to go off on my own.Myplanis to focus onIndianweddings.Goodmoney.Andthey’re exciting.Colourful.’Asusual when he thought about his plan, it was accompanied by a sinking feeling in his stomach.Hewasn’t looking forward to the conversation he needed to have withConnortomorrow after theValentinaVavilvekshoot.
Silencewrapped itself around them.Hehad definitely been right: something was wrong.Shehad always been a hard worker—often cancelling dates last minute due to her old job—but this was taking things to a whole new level.Heknew that she wouldn’t appreciate it if he pried.She’dalways been the sort of person who didn’t like to talk about herself or accept help from others.Whenthey’d been dating, it had taken a while to get her to open up to him about her upbringing: herOlympianparents and their high expectations of her—their disappointment when she hadn’t turned out to be an amazing athlete like her older sister and two brothers.
Maybehe could get her to talk, if he asked the right questions.
Heopened his mouth.
Andshe grabbed her waste bin and vomited.
‘Ohmy god.’Krishdropped his bag and stepped towards her, holding her dark hair with one hand and rubbing her back with the other.Hecould feel the hard vertebrae of her spine.Hishand continued to move back and forth, rising and falling with the rapid movement of her lungs.
Fora moment, she seemed to relax under his touch.Hershoulders went limp and her head fell forward.Butit only lasted a few seconds.
Herbody stiffened.Shespit into the basket and let it fall back to the floor, wiping her mouth with a crumpled napkin. ‘Sorryabout that.Coffeeon an empty stomach.’
‘Thisis ridiculous,Francesca.’
Shestood up, breaking the contact.Grabbingthe bin, she walked to the door and placed it in the hallway outside.
Krishregarded her with concern. ‘You’rekilling yourself.Don’tyou have an assistant?Anybodyto help?’
‘Nobodywould do as good a job as me.’
‘You’dbe surprised.’Heremembered when he’d first started working forConnor.Ittook a few months to get down all the processes and learn how to do things exactly howConnorwanted them done, but after that,Krishhad been his right-hand man. ‘Youjust need to find the right person.’
‘Ican’t afford to pay an assistant.’
Fallingback into her chair,Francescapropped her head up on her hand.Hecould tell she was trembling, but trying to hide it.Krishfought the urge to hug her, the way he might have back when they were dating.Hewondered if it had anything to do with her period pains.Heremembered that she used to get them badly, much worse than his mother or sister ever had.
Sheexuded exhaustion.Itmade him tired just watching her.Shewas pushing herself too hard and, from the whiteboard covered in financial information, not charging nearly enough for her talent and time.
Ittook him a moment to realise she had actually fallen asleep.Herhead tipped off her hand and she jerked awake.
