Nicole’s face hardened. “I’ve made what I want very clear. You will either accede to my wishes, or I’ll see you in court.”
With that, Nicole stormed out, tossing the key over her shoulder as she left. Amanda locked the door behind her and then sank to the ground, her back pressed against the wood.
How could this happen? Everything had been going so perfectly, and Nicole just had to ruin it all.
Amanda didn’t know how she was going to do what Nicole wanted. Her head sank into her hands as she tried to come up with a solution. Even if Amanda took out a loan, no bank would give her a million dollars. She had only taken out small loans before, at the very beginning of her business. She didn’t have the kind of record she would need to take out a huge loan.
If she wanted to take out such a large loan, she would probably need to take out a few medium-sized ones first, to prove to the banks that she would keep her word and pay them back.
What the hell was she going to do?
Amanda forced herself up off the floor and went to her computer. She logged onto her bank account. She spent the next hour trying to wrangle the numbers into shape, but no matter which way she looked at it, she was screwed.
Maybe, if she had more time, she could get the money together, but Nicole had made it abundantly clear that she wasn’t in a patient mood. Amanda suspected that if she didn’t get back to Nicole in the next week or so, Nicole would bring this case to court.
She sat back in her chair, fighting tears. She wished Snow was here.
Snow!
Oh fuck, Amanda had forgotten all about her. Amanda vaguely remembered how Snow had scrambled to find her clothes and had run out crying after a barrage of abuse from Nicole, but she had been so involved with her own argument with Nicole that she’d barely paid any attention.
Snow must be feeling so betrayed. Not only had Amanda neglected to tell her that she and Nicole weren’t technically divorced yet, but Amanda had stood by and let Nicole say vicious things about Snow without saying a word to defend her.
Amanda had always had tunnel vision whenever there was any kind of conflict. She always dealt with the immediate threat first before turning to the non-threatening issues.
In this case, it was a mistake. Snow wasn’t the threat here, but she was more important than Amanda trying to sort out her finances to appease Nicole. Amanda cursed herself for not thinking of Snow sooner. Why did it have to take logic so long to filter back to her brain when she was upset? It wasn’t fair. She’d never been good at prioritizing during fights, and now it was coming back to bite her.
Amanda dialed Snow’s number and waited with bated breath.
Snow didn’t answer.
Amanda left a message. “Snow, I’m so sorry. Please, call me. Give me a chance to explain.”
She wanted to add something else about how much she cared for Snow and wanted her to be happy, but Amanda couldn’t think of the right words, so she hung up.
She wondered how long it would be acceptable to wait before she called Snow again. Half an hour, perhaps?
Half an hour later, Snow still didn’t answer. Amanda had to restrain herself from calling again. Snow was probably angry and needed her space. Pushing herself on Snow when she wanted to be alone wasn’t going to help Amanda’s case.
She spent the rest of the day miserably alternating between walking among the fir trees and staring hopelessly at her bank statements. The numbers just wouldn’t work. Amanda was doing well, but she wasn’t a millionaire.
Even worse than her uncooperative bank account was Snow’s silence. Amanda knew that she had fucked up big time. She had as good as lied to Snow and failed to defend her. Amanda knew that Snow didn’t do well with confrontations. She had been relying on Amanda to stand up for her against Nicole, and Amanda had failed.
She called Snow three more times, all of which had the same response as the others: nothing.
Amanda curled up in bed that night, shaking with tears of misery. She wished more than anything that she could go back to this afternoon and change everything. She would have defended Snow from Nicole’s verbal insults, kicked her out, then taken Snow in her arms and told her just how sorry she was. Maybe things would have been different.
If only she could go back in time and do it all again.
18
Snow glared at her phone. Sixteen missed calls and seven voice messages? Who the hell did Amanda think she was? Just because she’d hired Snow before didn’t mean Snow was at her beck and call. Besides, Snow seriously doubted it was work that Amanda was calling about.
The thought of Amanda was enough to make her want to throw her phone across the room. Snow wasn’t usually given to such violent thoughts, but she was hurting so much right now. She just wanted it to stop. Bluebell could tell something was wrong. Snow assured her that she would be better in time, but she was starting to think it might be a long time.
It felt like a piece of her heart had been ripped out. Amanda had taken a chunk of Snow’s heart with her when she callously threw her aside. What was Snow worth to her, really, if arguing with her ex-wife was more important than defending Snow?
Amanda persisted in calling her, but Snow hadn’t so much as listened to one of the voice messages she sent. She was sure that Amanda just wanted to get her into bed again and Snow wasn’t going to stand for it. The very thought made her feel dirty.