“I was just making sure. I’d hate to lose you and all that beautiful potential you have.”
“As long as you’ll have me, I’m yours,” I said with a nervous grin.
“Good. I assume you’ll be traveling with the team some, won’t you?”
My breathing hitched as the question echoed in my ears. “I don’t know. I hadn’t even thought about it, to be honest. Work is my priority, so I guess I’ll go to some of the away games on the weekends if I’m not busy.”
Jack’s schedule hadn’t even entered my mind. I’d been so overjoyed at simply having him back in my life, it never occurred to me. I had no idea how long he’d be in town before he turned around and left again. I made a mental note to talk about his travel schedule that night, after the game.
“Maybe we can schedule some magazine work in with your boy’s away games. Kill two birds with one stone?” she offered with a wink.
I fought back against the burn of tears forming in my eyes. I would not cry, no matter how kind and amazing this woman was to me. “If that would work out and it makes sense for the magazine, it would be amazing. But you don’t have to do that.”
“I know I don’t. And I’m not making any promises. Just bring me a copy of Jack’s schedule, and I’ll have my assistant look into it.” Her eyes wandered, glazing over as she tapped a finger against her lips. “Maybe we can work in an online feature where we travel with you, highlighting some local human-interest stories from wherever you are. Or we can highlight the team and the charities they visit when they travel?” She hummed lightly. “So many possibilities. Although I’m not sure how they will work since the teams are usually in and out of towns rather quickly. But something to consider nonetheless.”
I listened to the thoughts and ideas that spilled from my boss’s mind, quietly waiting for her to dismiss me as my own excitement grew. The idea of being able to possibly work and travel with Jack at the same time thrilled me, but I refused to get my hopes up for something that might not be feasible.
“Go.” She waved me away. “We’ll talk about this later.”
I scurried out of the kitchen before flipping on my computer and scanning last night’s e-mails. I smiled when I saw Melissa’s name in my inbox.
Cass,
Just remember one thing… when life gives you lemons, cut ’em open and squeeze the juice in life’s face!!!!! That’ll teach life to mess with you! HA!
Hang in there. The photo will blow over. You can always call Mom and talk to her if the shit hits the fan. In the meantime, I’ll monitor all the websites you guys show up on and see if I can run interference. You know, post things anonymously to try to help. I’ve already favorited the local NY gossip sites so I’ve got you covered, GF!
Love you. Miss you.
Melissa’s mom owned a successful boutique publicity firm in Los Angeles. She maintained an exclusive group of big-name clientele, but always made sure to keep that small business feel. Inadvertently I’d learned a lot from her over the years just by overhearing her business meetings and phone calls. This sort of thing was right up her alley, and I knew she’d be more than happy to help me if it got to that point.
Please, dear God, don’t let it get to that point.
I hit the Reply button and quickly typed out a response before handling my daily duties.
Meli,
That picture was in the paper this morning. The actual PRINTED version! And they printed my name, but just my first name, thank God. I’m so freaking embarrassed, but what can I do, right?! Ugh. I will definitely call Mom if things get out of control, but I’m going to work on being more aware of my surroundings from now on. Hopefully they won’t have anything to print of me going forward, unless it’s my face wearing a big-ass, shit-eating grin. :) Call you soon.
xoxo
My cell phone vibrated as I searched online for upcoming events our readers might be interested in seeing. The magazine printed human-interest stories, with the inclusion of local politics, news, and happenings around the five boroughs. When I started, I mostly handled the research for future issues, but once a week I was assigned a general event to cover and photograph. My bosses never promised me that my photographs would be used, but since I started working here six months ago, they always have.
I glanced at my phone, noting one new text message from Jack on the screen. My body trembled at simply seeing his name. I pressed the button, displaying the message:
Matteo will pick you up at 6. You need to go to the sales office and pick up your ID card. See you after the game. Love you.
Without responding, I set my phone aside. As I completed my work assignments, my thoughts kept drifting to my conversation with Nora from earlier, hope filling my mind.