“You can’t leave,” he says quietly. I sigh and bend down next to him.
“Go rest. I promise to come over in a couple of hours. Come on.” I tug on his arm, coaxing him to stand up. He pushes himself upward and leans against the wall to balance himself. “Go shower. I’ll be over as soon as I’m done with my appointment.” He nods and walks alongside me to his condo as I walk to the elevator. I press the call button and wait while Jonah leans against his door, staring at me.
“You’re beautiful,” he says with his hand on the door handle.
“Thank you,” I reply quietly. “You’re a mess,” I joke with him, but I smile in return as I step into the elevator.
“No doubt,” I hear him say as the elevator doors close behind me.
Thirty minutes later, I’m standing in the lobby of the TV station, holding two cups of coffee and wearing a nervous smile on my face. The large, wooden door opens and Mike finally greets me, pulling his cup of coffee from my hand.
“Morning,” he says, pressing an air kiss next to my cheek.
“Morning,” I respond and follow him through the door and down the hallway back to the offices. My heart races as Rob’s office comes into view.
“He knows you’re coming. I told him after the morning production meeting,” Mike says. “I’ve got a box in your cube. When you’re through in Rob’s office, meet me there,” he says with a smile. “Don’t be nervous. He’s excited to see you.”
“I look like I’m going to barf, don’t I?”
“Yes,” he says with a laugh. “Just go get it over with.” With his encouragement, I stride over to the glass door and knock twice. Rob looks up from his desk and a smile stretches across his bearded face. He waves me in and I turn the handle on his office door.
“Lindsay,” he says excitedly.
“Hi, Rob.”
“So good to see you. You look great.” I shut the door behind me and stand nervously juggling my coffee from one hand to the other and back again. “Please sit down.”
I set the cup of coffee on Rob’s desk as I sit down and straighten out my dress and cross my legs. Once I’m situated I take a quick sip of the coffee in hopes to calm the uneasiness in my voice.
“Thanks for seeing me.”
“I’m really glad you came by. How are you doing?” He sits in his leather chair, his hands folded neatly in his lap.
“I’m doing really, really well. Thank you for asking.”
“You look happy.”
“I am. I didn’t realize how miserable I was until it was too late. Rob, I owe you an apology. You took a chance on me and I let you down. A part of me was excited for this opportunity, but another part of me was absolutely miserable leaving North Carolina. I was trying to prove myself to you and Jack and I was self-destructing at the same time.” He holds up his hand to stop me.
“Lindsay. You have the talent to make it in a market this size. Your ability to tell a story is like very few others I’ve seen. You’re young and you’re ambitious, but I knew your heart wasn’t here.”
“It wasn’t,” I confirm. “I shouldn’t have acted, or should I say, reacted to Amanda the way I did.”
He rolls his eyes. “Between you and me, she deserved much worse than what you handed to her. I just couldn’t have that happen in the office on my watch,” he smirks. “I really do wish nothing but the best for you, and I’m actually really disappointed to see you go.”
“I was pretty sure that breaking contract with you was going to tank my career.” He shakes his head.
“I told Jack I wouldn’t let that happen. Don’t get me wrong. It was a pretty big inconvenience explaining your sudden departure, and subsequently finding your replacement, but in the end, everything always works out how it should.”
I breathe a huge sigh of relief. “Thank you for everything. I mean it.” He nods his head.
“So what are your plans?” he asks.#p#分页标题#e#
“Surprisingly, WXZI offered me my position back. I still have to work out all the details, but my priorities have changed and they’re willing to work with that.” I smile when I think about spending more time focusing on me. Spending days doing things I love other than working every single day for over twelve hours.
“Good.” He smiles. “I knew Jack would take care of you.”
I stand up from my chair and adjust the purse that hangs from my shoulder and the cup of coffee in my hand.
“Thank you again, Rob.”
“Keep in touch, Lindsay. I’m sure our paths will cross again someday.”