Sara twists around in her chair to look at him. “She won the Forum’s up-and-comer award.”
“Not a surprise to me at all,” Chris says, pulling his phone from the pocket of his jeans and punching in a number. “Gabe,” he says. “Yeah, man. I have a new artist for you. I’m behind her. We’re trying to convince her to work here at Allure with us. She’s helping us launch and she’s on display here. Yes. Call her here.”
Sara holds up a hand and when Chris offers her his attention, she points to the stack of cards. “All offers she needs managed.”
Chris gives an incline of his chin. “She comes with offers from an event she just did. A stack of them she needs managed.” He listens a moment. “I’ll tell her.” Chris ends the call. “He’s headed into a meeting. He’s going to call you this afternoon, but he’s on board.”
“That’s incredible of you,” I say. “Thank you. I…hate to seem unappreciative but I’ve been through Macom being Josh’s star. I don’t want Gabe to sign me because of you.”
“A valid concern,” Chris says, “but that’s not Gabe’s style.He’s got a mind of his own and balls the size of Texas. You’ll like his balls, I promise.”
We all laugh and Chris glances at his watch. “I need to head to a meeting.” Sara pushes to her feet and hurries to Chris, kissing him, before he departs. I smile because, I have a lot to smile about, and I sign the offer letter. And when Sara turns to face me again, I hold it up. “I’ll get to work on your things-to-do list, boss.”
Now Sara is smiling. “You’re staying.”
“Yes. And I’m thrilled to be here.”
We chat a few minutes, and she leaves me to my work. About an hour later, I receive a call from Gabe. Fifteen minutes later, I send him samples of my work. Another fifteen minutes later, and I have a new agent. I’m dying to call Nick, but he’s in those intense negotiations. I could text, but that is a distraction he doesn’t need as well. Sara and I celebrate by walking to the coffee shop, and we return with white mochas and chocolate chip bagels. Nick sends me a text at noon:Hell here. I’m going to be silent and late tonight. You okay?
My reply is simple:I’m great. You focus on your negotiations.
He doesn’t respond which tells me hell is real for him right now. I consider all the ways I can ease the stress when he gets home tonight.
Home.
Our home.
I revel in those words.
It’s nearly six and Sara has just left the gallery. I’m finishing some paperwork before I leave as well. I file away the documents I’ve just finished before I reach for my purse, when my phone buzzes with a text. I glance at the message to find Bill is the sender.
I need to speak to you urgently. I’m at the coffee shop next door.
My heart starts to thunder in my chest. He’s here? I text him back:What coffee shop?
Rebecca’s, he replies.
How does he know I work here? Did I tell him? Did Kasey?
My fingers hover over the call button for Nick, but I think better. I dial Rita. “How busy is he?”
“At the moment, he has ten people sitting at a conference table and they all want to kill each other.”
“All right then,” I say, and because I don’t want to freak her out and have her freak him out, I add, “now is not the time to talk dinner.”
She laughs. “No. Not right now. He could be a while. Or not. Sometime these things end abruptly.”
“Okay. Thanks, Rita.”
“Congrats on your show, Faith. Nick came in this morning bragging up a storm.”
“He did?”
“Yes. He did. He’s incredibly proud of you.”
“Thanks, Rita. He says it to me but it’s pretty special to hear it from other people.”
My phone buzzes again. “Talk to you soon,” I say, and end the call to read the new message:It’s an emergency, Faith.