The Design(76)

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I took the long way home that afternoon. The sun was beating down overhead as I strolled down various LA streets, but I wasn’t in a hurry to escape it. To go home meant that I had to decide what my next move would be. I’d wanted to travel, to leave for Paris and never look back, but I’d wanted to do it on my own terms. I hadn’t saved up enough money yet and I wasn’t ready to leave Grayson. It felt like we were right at the beginning of something good, and if we could only get through the storm, we’d have potential to end up together. Him and me.

However, if I wasn’t making money, I didn’t really have many options. I could get a part time job somewhere, just to prolong the inevitable, but I think deep down I knew that getting fired was the final kick in the ass that I’d needed to pursue my dream. I just had to figure out how I’d leave Grayson without tearing my heart out in the process.





Chapter Twenty-Eight





Amount saved for Paris: $3417 (plus $537 from my last Cole Designs paycheck and another $3250 from selling my car).

Items I have: a pumpkin spice k-cup I stole from my desk on the way out of the office.

Items I need: a list of hostels in Paris.

French phrases that I know: Non, je ne ai pas de travail. Puis-je laver la vaisselle?…which translates to: “No, I don’t have a job. Can I wash dishes?”





“So, they canned you?” Brooklyn asked as we spoke on the phone later that afternoon.

I rolled my eyes and sat up in bed, suddenly feeling antsy. Why had I called her instead of just moping solo style? She had a way of making it seem like getting fired was a bad thing. I preferred to look at it like I was a badass, blazing my way through the business world and taking life by the horns.

“Cammie?” she asked again, this time a bit more impatient.

I sighed. “Yes, I am a jobless loser.”

She laughed and then quickly corrected herself. “I’m sorry, Cammie. Why don’t you come out to Montana and stay with Jason and I for a few days? LuAnne would love to see you and Cowboy Derek is still as cute as ever.”

While the idea of Montana sounded very enticing, I knew I couldn’t go. I had unfinished business in LA and as soon as it was cleared up, I’d be on my way to Paris. My gut twisted at the idea of boarding a plane—of leaving Grayson behind. Having him fire me was one of the most humiliating moments of my life, but leaving him behind would be ten times harder to bear.

“Thank you for the offer, sis, but I’m going to stick around here.”

“For Grayson?”

I paused, wondering how much I ought to tell her.

“For a lot of reasons.”

My entire life I’d had Brooklyn as a safety net to catch me whenever life got a little too hard. In the 7th grade, when Sarah Buchanan said that my eyes were so big that I looked like a fish in front of my entire English class, Brooklyn took me out for ice cream after school and then we egged Sarah's house on the way home. My senior year of high school, when Todd Jenkins was so drunk at prom that he tried to force himself on me in our high school’s bathroom, Brooklyn picked me up outside the front of the school and then we egged his front door. Hmm, my childhood had a lot of eggs in it.

Most importantly, when our parents died, Brooklyn held me together as best as she could. It was a natural pattern for us to fall into, one that wouldn’t easily be broken unless I put an end to it. I couldn’t depend on Brooklyn for every little thing in life. Running to Montana and escaping my problems wasn’t the answer.

A knock on the front door of my apartment jerked my attention from where I’d been twisting my bedspread between my fingers.

“B, I gotta go. Someone’s at the door,” I said.

“Ok. Be safe and don’t worry about that silly job. You’ll find something better and it probably wouldn’t have been a good idea for you and Grayson to work together anyway.”

“Yeah, maybe you’re right,” I said, just as I heard another knock from the front door.

“Oh, and hey! I sent you a hilarious picture of Jason sleeping on the plane the other day. I put pretzels under his lip like a walrus. Check your email, it’ll make you feel better.”

I smiled. “Will do.”

Once I’d hung up, I threw my phone down onto my bed and went to check the door, praying it wasn’t Hannah. I hadn’t figured out what I was going to do about her yet. There’s no way we could sleep in the same apartment anymore, not now that I knew how truly vile she was.

“Cammie, are you in there?” a deep voice boomed from the other side of the door.

I turned the lock to find Grayson waiting on the other side of the door. I swung it open and he pushed past me before I could even catch a glimpse of him.