Sales are down, apparently, which is usually when he throws one of his fits.”
“So he thinks you going on this interview or whatever will increase sales?”
“That’s his hope.”
“And what about you?” I asked, sitting on the sofa so I was looking right at her.
She stared into her coffee, shaking her head as she spoke.
“My needs—”
“Are just as important as anyone else. You aren’t a machine, Cassidy. We all need time for ourselves, even if it means talking to someone you barely know just to get things off your chest.”
She laughed at that. It was a tight, uncomfortable laugh, but was still enough to make her smile. “Has anyone ever told you you would’ve made a great therapist?”
“I’m only talking from experience. I wouldn’t be much help otherwise. But you’re avoiding the question. You don’t need to answer me but think about it for yourself. What is it you want?
Why do you want to avoid the public eye so much?” I had a feeling I knew the answer, but I left it at that. If she wanted to answer me, she could. If not, that was fine too.
In the end, she placed her mug in her lap and leaned her head back on the sofa, closing her eyes as she spoke. “I know as soon as I get on that stage, I’ll have to explain my absence.”
“You don’t have to explain yourself to anyone.”
“But even if they don’t ask, I know it’ll be at the backs of their minds, and I’m just not ready to talk about it, you know?”
I smiled gently. “I do.”
“But then I’m talking to you and…”
“Don’t worry about it,” I said, placing my hand on hers without a bit of hesitation. “Like I said, we all need someone to talk to, even if it’s someone we barely know.”
There was a slight shine to her eyes, and when she spoke again, there were tears in her voice as well. “And if I want to
get to know her even better?”
“Then I guess we’ll just have to take things one day at a time,” I said, swallowing around the lump that had formed in the back of my throat.
“I’d like that.”
“Me too.”
Even if she was only in town for a little while.
Chapter Eight
We spent most of the morning sharing all the funny things our folks did around the holidays and anything else we could think of to keep the mood light and completely off whatever it was her manager wanted her to do. By lunch, we ordered some burgers and fries from Maggie’s, closed up the shop, then went back upstairs.
It was strange having lunch in the tower with someone else.
No one ever came up here, and the few times Bridget actually joined me, I’d begged her to do so. Not Cassidy. As soon as I turned the shop sign from open to closed, she flew up those steps, breathing a sigh a relief once she reached the top.
Her manager had been calling all morning, grating on her nerves as the day went on. When he texted her before lunch, I took the phone from her and turned it off. Granted, I could see she wanted to check her messages as she kept touching the phone which she’d hidden in her pocket.
“He’ll find you if it’s an emergency,” I told her as we sat down to enjoy our lunch.
“He doesn’t know I’m here,” she said between bites. “No one does.”
“Hiding out,” I said with a nod of approval. “I like it.”