Finally, I ended the call. The conferences were over. The analysis. The debates. The cajoling. My head swam with numbers. I walked to the fridge and reached inside for a beer. I tossed the cap on the counter.
The only thing that would make this beer better is if Sydney were here. I pulled my phone out to call her.
“Hey girl, hungry yet?” I should have asked her to come over straight from work. I wanted to get lost in her arms, lips, and laughter after the day I had.
“Hey. I don’t know if I can eat.”
“What’s going on?” The beer slid down my throat.
“Can I just come over?” she asked. There was more in her voice, but I couldn’t tell. I only knew she was upset.
“Yeah. I’ll see you in a few minutes.” I hung up the phone and waited for her to knock on the door.
Twenty minutes later I heard her tap on the door. I swung it open.
“Darlin’, what’s going on?” I could see it all over her face. I forgot about the shitty calls and the disappointing sales results. It all seemed secondary.
“It didn’t go so well today.” She dropped onto the couch.
I sat on the coffee table. Her eyes were red, her mascara smudged. “What happened?”
“I think they’re going to fire me.”
I shook my head. “No. Fire you? That sounds like a bad idea.”
“Yes. Alice said there’s nowhere to move me, and I’ve already outed myself as a biased reporter where you’re concerned.”
“What about the features gig?”
“It wasn’t as concrete as I thought it was. She was speaking in abstracts.” She looked at me. “I screwed up the whole thing.”
“Hey, come here.” I moved to the couch, so I could fold her in my arms. “That’s not the only job out there.”
She sniffed. “It is the only one. I looked all afternoon. There is nothing down here in nowhere Texas.”
“Why are you only looking here? What about the rest of the state? Or Florida? Or California? God, that place is loaded with reporters.”
I didn’t expect the hurt look on her face.
“You think I should move?”
I realized when the words came out of her mouth what she was thinking. “I don’t want you to move. No. But, I’m trying to think through the practical angles here. If there’s nothing here you’ve got to cast a wider net.”
She scooted back. “But you’re the reason all of this happened. You are the reason I’m going to lose my job. And you think it’s ok if my net takes me to California?”
“Syd, stop before we end up arguing. That’s not what I’m saying.”
Her eyes flared. I might have already lost.
“This is my first job. My first job. My only job. I don’t own twenty different companies. And my bank account isn’t overwhelmed with zeros.” Her voice rose. “I worked hard to get that job. I moved by myself. I live in a cramped studio apartment. And it’s over.” Her eyes turned on me. “Because I slept with you.”
“Hold on. I seem to remember this has all been mutual.” I didn’t like the direction this was headed.
“But only one of us has really been in control the entire time.”
“You have had as much control as I have. More if you ask me.”
She shook her head. “More? How could I have more? You’re the one with the car and the trips and the money.”
“That has nothing to do with you and me. You know that.” I brushed her hair off her shoulder. “You are one of the only women I’ve been with who didn’t care about that stuff. As a matter of fact, I think my money annoys you more than anything.”
“It is a little irritating.” She scowled.
“Tell me why we’re fighting right now? Because all I could think about through those calls and meetings was seeing you at the end of the day. God, I’ve never rushed through a day before just to get to the end. What have you done to me?”
“I can’t stay in South Padre, Mason. It’s like a big, sick, twisted joke. I told my boss about you so we could have this, and because of it we can’t have it.” A tear slid against her cheek.
“You have forgotten who you are dealing with.”
Her head cocked to the side. “Do I want to know?”
“Tomorrow, getting a job for you is my top priority. At the very beginning of the list.”
“And what about tonight?” Her eyes narrowed.
“Oh, that’s easy. Making you feel better is my top priority.”
“You think you can do that?” She sounded doubtful.
I kissed her gently before standing. “You need dinner, a glass of wine, probably a backrub and then a hot bath. Sound good?” I walked to the fridge and began to uncork a bottle of cold wine.