Page 86 of The Dangers of Daydreaming

Another cousin. I couldn’t wait to meet them all. “No problem, just call me back when you can.”

“I will. Talk to you later.” She blew a kiss, then ended the call.

I didn’t want blown kisses. I wanted the real thing.

Chapter 27

The Promotion

Lucy

Itfeltalittlelike deja vu. I was standing in front of the elevator wearing another borrowed outfit from Poppy—with a bracelet of her choosing—and headed up to work.

Except this time, I wasn’t so confident.

Finn: As soon as Pops is in the clear, I’m booking my flight. I hope you don’t mind having to wait a little to celebrate your promotion. Good luck today. You’re going to be amazing. ♥?

The dopamine shot of Finn coming to visit so soon—even if I didn’t know exactly when—did its duty, and my confidence in today grew with my smile. I wanted to spend more time letting his potential visit take up brain space, but I needed to focus on this meeting.

I was going last. Each of us candidates would go in, present to Shannon and the execs, and then they’d make their final decision by the end of the day. Bryn was first, then Gary, then me. I sat in my office waiting for the official summons, trying and failing to be productive for the first hour.

Then the knock came, and they were ready. I went down the hall to the conference room, feeling a little like I was marching to my own death.

I really hoped that wasn’t an omen.

As I reached the room, Gary popped his head out of his office a few doors down. He gave me a thumbs-up. Was it a pity thumbs-up? An overconfident one?

Or maybe he was just being nice. Sure, it was Gary, and he was always a little condescending… but he wasn’t mean. I took a steadying breath before pulling open the door.

Shannon was at the head of the table. She stood as I walked in, her smile wide. “Lucy, good to see you. You know Dave Jones, Emily Freewater, and Thomas Falkner, yes?” She gestured to the VP of the company and two of the board members.

“Yes,” I said, smiling and reaching out a hand to each of them in turn. “Great to see you all.”

“Perfect. Well, the floor is yours.” Shannon sat again, pointing up to the other end of the table and the large TV that was waiting for my presentation slides.

My fingers were trembling, making the papers I held rustle against one another, but I forced air into my lungs and pushed back my shoulders as I began the presentation.

I’d given the entire spiel to my cousins the night before. Everyone but Avery had been able to come. I’d ordered pizza and forced everyone to come to my condo for last-minute practice. They’d been great. Everyone had been attentive to the whole thing, and they had clapped, gasped, and cheered at the little promo video Finn and Trish had helped me pull together.

It was a good thing I had their assurances that they liked it, because the four people in front of me now had serious poker faces, and the closest thing I got to validation was a smattering of nods when the video finished.

“That was great, Lucy,” Shannon said. Was it though? Based on her reaction, it was just middling. Mediocre.

Had Gary or Bryn blown them away? Had either of them gotten a standing ovation?

I pasted a smile on my face as I closed my laptop and stacked my papers on top of it. “Do any of you have any questions I can answer?”

They wanted to know more about partnering with tour groups and my thoughts on marketing, but the poker faces never shifted from the occasional nod or “mmhmm” accompanied with a scratching of pen on paper.

“Thank you all for your time. This entire process has been more enjoyable than I could have hoped.” Then, in a show of great benevolence that I’d be proud of later that day, I added, “I hope it is not overstepping when I say that any of the candidates you’ve chosen would be a great fit for the job.”

Shannon nodded and smiled, and I shook each of their hands before I left the room, my mind immediately filling with all the things I missed or should have added. I was sure I’d be useless the rest of the day, but I trudged my way back to my coat closet and called Finn. He didn’t answer, but I left a quick message. He was probably out on a tour. I think he had a new group to pick up today. We would video call that night, and I’d get to tell him everything in excruciating detail, and he wouldn’t even act bored or try to get me to wrap it up. A satisfied smile spread across my face.

Somehow, even if I didn’t get the promotion, I knew everything would be okay. My priorities had shifted, and while I did want to move forward in my career, there was a lot more going on in my life to be excited about.

Chapter 28

Awake

---