Talia stared at Faye. Was she supposed to know what call Faye had made?
“To Paul.”
Talia shifted uncomfortably under Faye, waiting for more details. What could Faye possibly have to say to Paul? As far as Talia was concerned, Paul was of no importance to her anymore. He’d let her go for falling in love, and there wasn’t a single thing she could do about that. She’d never chosen before in her life, but for Faye…she had.
“Please, say something.” The worry in Faye’s eyes was startling. “I didn’t want to get involved, but I had to, Talia. I couldn’t sit back and watch you lose your career. I see how hard you work, and I couldn’t be the reason for it all ending.”
Talia’s chest swelled with a love she hadn’t felt before. Not with Megan, not with anyone. Faye had gone out of her way to make a call…and try to get her job back? No woman had ever been so committed to Talia.Nobodyhad ever cared like this. “W-what did you say to him?”
“That he should give you your job back.”
That woman’s name sent a shiver down Talia’s spine. If she didn’t think about Jensen on Faye, her stomach didn’t churn. But just hearing her name come from Faye’s mouth…
“He said you have a week to contact him.”
Talia scoffed. “Why would I contact him? Does he think I’m going to go crawling back to him?”
“I think you should at least arrange a meeting with him. I’m not asking you to beg for anything, you’re so much better than that, but I’m asking you to sit down and speak to him. Explain how this is between us. I have no plans to ever step foot inside Vision again, and that includes for the show. If I’m not there, he has nothing to complain about.”
Talia rested her head back against the cushion, blowing out a deep breath. Could she sit down with Paul and figure this all out? Perhaps she could. But she meant it when she told Faye she wouldn’t go crawling to him. Talia hadn’t done anything wrong. “I’ll give it until the middle of next week.”
“Why?”
“Because, unless you had any plans, I’d love to spend every waking moment with you.”
Faye’s smile almost blinded Talia. How could someone have such a beautiful mouth? “You want to spend the week with me?”
“If you’ll have me here. Or we could go to mine at some point. Whatever works for you.”
Faye cleared her throat. “How do you feel about travelling out of the city?”
“Sure. We can do whatever we want.”
Faye sat up and folded her legs under her, palming Talia’s thighs as she leaned forward a little. “I want to introduce you to my mum.”
Wow. That wasn’t what Talia expected. Not any time in the near future. “Y-you want me to meet your mum? But…why?”
“Unless you’re not sure about this,us, then why not?”
Faye made a good point. They could keep themselves a secret, but for what? Talia wanted to be open and present in Faye’s life. It didn’t matter that she wasn’t close to her own mum; Faye was…and Talia would never refuse such a meeting when she knew how much it meant to Faye. “You’re right. I’d love to.”
“Don’t worry, I’m not going to blindside you with anything. Mum is down to earth and more like my sister than anything else. And I know she’s going to love you.”
Talia dragged Faye closer, their bodies pressed together as she leaned up and captured Faye’s lips. When she eventually and reluctantly pulled back, Talia drew her thumb across Faye’s bottom lip. “Then you should arrange a visit for us.”
CHAPTERTWENTY-FOUR
Talia fixedher shirt into the waistband of her jeans, straightening the lapels on her black blazer. She’d tried her best to look presentable—she wanted to make a good impression today—but the dread of Faye’s mum hating her had Talia rooted to the spot outside the restaurant. She was meeting Faye here, her girlfriend had an appointment this morning outside the city, so Talia had been given plenty of time to panic. Faye had promised her everything would be fine before she left the apartment three hours ago, but Talia wasn’t convinced.
Megan’s mum had hated her. It wasn’t that Talia had ever done anything in particular to make her feel that way, but the worst of it was that Megan never seemed to back Talia up. If her mum made a comment about Talia—to Talia’s face—Megan just laughed and waved it off. That had always hurt. How was a relationship supposed to thrive if the mother of the woman you loved could barely stomach being in the same room as you? Right now, as Talia stared up at the old building, she felt that same cold sweat covering her skin. She hated this.
She didn’t want to let Faye down, and she certainly didn’t want to be a disappointment when she came face to face with Irene. If she was anything like Faye, Talia knew she had no reason to worry, but that didn’t mean Irene would think Talia was good enough for her daughter.
“Come on, babe. Where the hell are you?” Talia turned her watch towards herself, exhaling a shaky breath.
She needed a pep talk.
Slipping her phone from her pocket, Talia called Jay’s number and tapped her foot against the floor. When it connected, she breathed a sigh of relief. “Thank God! I need your help!”