Page 65 of That Fake Feeling
Ipick up his phone. “It’sSterling.”
“Oh,Jesus.Whatdoes he want now?”
“Thefamily photos from last night and something else that cuts off.”Ihold it up to him. “Wantto open it soIcan read it?”
Hepresses his finger on the phone and it unlocks.
“Thewhole thing says ‘Sendme the pics with the fam soIcan distribute soonest.LearningVillagereno launch set for tomorrow.Presswill be there at ten.Don’tbe late.’”
“That’snot even twenty-four hours’ notice.”Connorpunches the steering wheel, which seems like a bit of an overreaction, but maybe it’s not the only thing he’s frustrated about.
“Jesus.”Theword comes out between his teeth. “Canyou call him and put him on speaker?”
“Sure.Alwayswanted to be a personal assistant.”
Hefalls silent and takes a breath. “Imean, please,” he says quietly. “Sorry.”
Sterlingpicks up after half a ring. “Hi,Connor.Hopeyou have some great cozy photos withRoseat the heart of the family.”
“Wedo.Itwasn’t hard.”
Soit wasn’t onlyMaggiewho felt likeIfit right in?
“We’reon our way back,”Connorsays in the general direction of the phone. “I’llsend them when we’re home.Butwhat the fuck is this about the thing atTheLearningVillagesuddenly being tomorrow?”
“I’vebeen working on it since we gotRose’sclauses,”Sterlingsays. “Iwanted to do it in a couple of weeks but, turns out, tomorrow is the last day it’s possible to get all the kids together anywhere in our timeline.Andthe more smiling, adorable kids, the better the pictures.Somake sure you get the giant pile of toys you’re donating up there with you too.”
“Shit.”Hepunches the wheel harder this time. “Totallyforgot about the toys.”
“It’sin the clause.”Thewords slip out of my mouth beforeIcan stop them.
Connor’seyes flick sideways in my direction but don’t quite reach me. “Iknow.Iforgot.Butalso,Iwasn’t expecting it to be tomorrow.”Heemphasizes the last word extra loudly forSterling’sbenefit.
Sterling’svoice rattles out of the phone. “You’llbe painting and nailing things together and climbing ladders and stuff, so dress accordingly.”
Irelax a little for the first time since walking into my room last night.Thissounds great.Itwill make a huge difference to the place to have the rec center and other extra rooms finally finished off.
“Bye,Sterling,”Connorsays.
“Andthanks for organizing it,”Iadd. “Bye.”
Ihang up.
“Forfuck’s sake.”Connorputs his elbow on the door and rests his temple on his hand. “Iknow we already put aside the business cash for this, but a bit of notice for the actual event would have helped.”
“Thekids will love it, though,”Itell him in an appeal to the compassionate sideI’vegrown to believe is in there somewhere.
“Yeah.Iknow.”Hesighs. “IfI’dhad learning challenges whenIwas a kid,Ilikely wouldn’t have gotten a whole lot more help than your mom did.Itwas all our teachers could do to manage crowd control in the classroom.”
Hekeeps his gaze ahead but reaches over and strokes my arm. “Iknow it’s important.Andmore important,Iknow it’s important toyou.Sorry.”
AtleastI’mright about his compassionate side, butIhave to bury my nails in my palms to stop from giving in to the shiver of temptation to put a hand on his.Imust be strong.Ican’t surrender to the feelings he churns up inside me.
Heslides his hand off me, the sensitive hairs along my wrist standing up in its wake.
“AndI’msorry to use you as a stand-in assistant, but couldIask another favor?Couldyou please call my actual assistant?Sandy.Andput her on speaker.”
Unableto find my voice,Inod, locate her in his favorites, and dial.
