Page 84 of The Rebel
Anthony: I’m glad you like it.
Daisy: What’s the plan? Have them bring me one with a different flavor every day?
Anthony: That is exactly the plan.
I stared at his message, feeling overwhelmed. He’d really planned that?
I realized at that very moment that this man was climbing into my heart. And it wasn’t quite as scary as I thought.
Only now I wanted to go into his office and thank him for real.
I’d just stood from my desk when my phone beeped with an incoming call from Annelise. That was not typical. Why would she be calling during the day? We both worked.
My heart started to beat a bit faster. What if something bad happened? But I’d just spoken to my mom this morning. Still, she wouldn’t call without a reason. I answered right away.
“Hey,” I said.
“I’ve got some bad news,” Annelise said, and my heart sank.
CHAPTER 19
ANTHONY
“Look,under no circumstances will I allow you to charge for that,” I said into the phone. I was starting to get pissed off. One of the music execs who was co-organizing the jazz competition had the outlandish idea to ask participants to pay a fee for the privilege of being in the final.
I typically didn’t get involved in such minor decisions, but when word reached me of this, I decided to step in.
“Listen, Mr. LeBlanc, you have to?—”
A loud cry pierced the air, and I froze. I was 100 percent sure it came from Daisy’s office.
“I’ll get back to you later,” I said into the phone.
“But we need to?—”
“Later.”
I hung up and immediately left my office, going into hers.
She was on the phone, one hand on her forehead. “But what did the doctor say?”
Fuck, what’s going on?I closed the door behind me because this was clearly something private.
“Right. Okay. Thanks, Annelise.”
I took in her body language. She was obviously in distress. Her shoulders shook, and her eyes were glossy.
I went up to her, putting a hand on her cheek. She closed her eyes, taking a deep breath. I could practically feel her relax beneath my touch. I placed my other hand on her waist.
“Thanks a lot for letting me know. I have to think about my next steps.”
After ending the call, she put the phone on her desk.
“What’s going on?” I asked.
She just shook her head and closed her eyes. Tears streamed down her cheeks.
“Fucking hell, Daisy, you’re worrying me.”
