Page 22 of Grumpy Boss of the Year

“True,” he says. “Have fun and tell me all about it.”

“I will.”

“Please send me a photo tomorrow.”

“I’ll try.”

“Love you, sis.”

“Love you, bro,” I say and hang up. I look around the empty apartment and wonder what Skye’s doing. I miss having her here. I miss having dinners with her and talking about what movie we want to watch. I stare at my text messages to see if I’ve heard anything from her, but I haven’t. I frown when I see I have a missed call from Liam.

“Oh, my gosh, what does that jackass want now?” I say. I ponder whether or not to call him back. I’m about to turn my phone off when the phone starts ringing again. It’s Liam. “What do you want?” I snap into the phone.

“Nice to hear your voice, as well.”

“It’s not nice to hear your voice. I was just about to get to bed because I have to wake up so early to be in the office tomorrow.”

“That’s what I like to hear,” he says, chuckling.

“Excuse me?”

“I like to hear that you’re going to bed because you’re thinking about me and…”

“That’s not what I said. I’m totally not thinking about you.”

“Sure you’re not. You’re not about to get into bed naked and…”

“Excuse me? That’s extremely unprofessional talk.”

“Did I say that…”

“Liam?”

“Yes, Elisabetta?”

“Why are you calling me?”

“What do you mean?”

“Why are you calling me? It’s ten p.m. at night. I’m about to go to bed. I’m going to see you tomorrow morning for the first day at work, and…”

“I was actually calling to see if you really wanted this job.”

“Excuse me?”

“I didn’t stutter, but I will repeat myself. I was calling to see if you really wanted this job.”

“What do you mean, if I really wanted this job?”

“I mean, we both know you don’t need it, and we both know that most people believe you won’t make a great assistant. I’m just really not sure why.”

“I think you are sure, Liam.”

“Excuse me?” he says.

“I think, when you called me tonight, you didn’t call me wanting to talk about the job. I think, when you called me tonight, you probably had a request.”

“A request?” he says.

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