Page 61 of Eleanor & Grey

Eleanor

“You got the job?!” Shay exclaimed that afternoon as I stood in our apartment doorway fiddling with my fingers. “Oh, my gosh, we have to celebrate!”

“Um, yeah. I got the job.” I hadn’t really come to terms with it, actually. For the most part, I had walked around dazed and confused since I’d left Greyson’s house, wondering if what had happened had actually happened or if I was having some kind of psychotic break.

“I’m sorry, are you not happy about this?” she asked, raising an eyebrow. “Before the interview you were ecstatic at just the idea of it! What changed?”

“Oh, a lot,” I muttered as I walked into our place and shut the front door behind me. We’d been living together for the past two years now, and I couldn’t imagine living with anyone else. Shay was the yin to my yang.

I headed straight for the fridge and pulled out a cake. I could always count on my cousin stocking us up with the best sweets.

She did work at a bakery, after all. Even though it wasn’t her dream job, she loved it there. During the day, she was at the bakery, and at night, she was on her laptop writing screenplays. Shay was beyond gifted with the written word. She could spin words in a way that made one want to laugh out loud and sob all at once. She was just looking for her big break, and she truly deserved it more than anyone. Shay was talented beyond compare. I knew for certain someday she’d make it big in the film industry. One day, her name would be at the end credits of a blockbuster film.

I plopped down on the couch with a slice of cake and two forks. Shay sat down beside me, and eagerly accepted her utensil.

“A lot as in…?” she questioned.

“Well, I found out who my employer is,” I said.

“Oh, my gosh, is it Beyoncé?!” she squeaked. “I was just telling my mom how it has to be someone famous with the amount of money they offered up.”

“It’s not Beyoncé.” I laughed, thinking it was funny how my cousin and I had the same thought process. In many ways, it was almost as if we were twins. Our minds were always on the same page. “But it is someone we know…or, well, knew.”

“Shut up. What?! I’m freaking out now. Who do we know that has that kind of money?”

“Greyson.”

“Greyson who?”

“Greyson, Greyson. Greyson East.”

Her mouth dropped open, and she gasped. “No. Way!”

“Thank you! That was my reaction, too. I guess he’s the CEO of his father’s whiskey company.”

“That’s insane. That is beyond insane,” Shay remarked. “Holy crap. So, how was it? What did he say when he saw you?”

“Um, nothing, really. He hardly spoke. It was weird, Shay. He was so…different, the complete opposite of the boy we used to know.” The Greyson I knew was so open and willing to express himself in every way possible. He spoke with such hope in his voice, and dreamed of a bright future.

The Greyson I’d seen in the library of a mansion was different.

He was someone completely new, and I didn’t have a clue how to feel about it.

“That’s so crazy. You guys were so close for a while, up until you moved to Florida with your dad.”

“Yeah. Honestly, he had such a big impact on me, but today he acted as if he didn’t even know who I was.”

“But he hired you. That has to count for something, right?”

“Maybe… I just wish you could’ve seen him. He was so…cold.”

“Cold like mean? Or rude?”

“No, not exactly...”

Greyson hadn’t exactly been rude or mean toward me. He’d just…been. It was hard to explain his whole demeanor. Calling Greyson mean felt disrespectful, yet calling him kind felt absurd. He’d just felt quietly intriguing, as if there were a million thoughts shooting through his mind, but he never let anyone else in on them.

“He’s just not the person I knew, that’s all. I’ll just have to get used to it, I guess. Either way, it’s going to be weird working for him.”

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