She swallowed a couple dry and then took a breath as she confirmed the date.
Oh, God—she wasn’t ready.
Picking up her phone, she called Jamie. “I have a problem,” she said the second he came on the line.
“Can you come to the office today?”
“Closer to five,” she said, looking over her calendar.
“See you then.”
She thought she had a little more time. She thought she was doing better, but now she realized she was in the same place she’d been two weeks ago—terrified of facing Julian Holland.
Moira’s voice came on the intercom. “Julianne, I got the email regarding mediation. I’ve added it to your calendar and rescheduled everything around it for three days.”
Three days of being in a confined space with her father. She pressed a fist to her stomach. “Thank you.”
There was a pause, and then Moira said, “Are you okay? You sound strange.”
“I’m fine. I have a headache,” she said, because it wasn’t far off the mark.
“I’ll bring you some coffee.” Moira thought coffee cured the world.
She was ready for the mediation, she reminded herself. She’d been ready for months, and it was in their interest to settle, because the evidence was stacked toward a large payout for her client. Unless something went wrong.
Like if she clutched.
She’d seen airtight cases be lost because the legal team fucked something up. That had never happened to her, but she’d never faced her kryptonite before.
Didier would tell her to look at her list of relaxing things and to do something on there. He’d probably tell her to have sex to get rid of the anxiety.
She wasn’t sure even sex would help calm her right now, but there was part of her that wanted to talk to Danny very badly.
She picked up her phone.
Jules
My mediation date was moved forward to Monday.
She didn’t have to wait for him to answer.
Osei
Fuck.
She actually managed to smile a little. She knew he’d get it. Oddly, their situations were very similar—neither one of them could muster up the courage to stand up to their fathers.
It was like they were meant for each other.
Osei
I’ll have whiskey and my hands ready for you if you want to come over after work.
Osei
Hands, to rub your shoulders.
Get your mind out of the gutter.