Page 18 of The Top of Admiration
He hung his head. “Fine, I’ll leave.” His posture was sad, but his tone sounded angry. If he wanted to be angry, that was okay with me. I wanted this to end nicely, but now I didn’t care, as long as it ended.
I checked my email again. Nothing. Fucking Neve Reynolds.
__________
“Miranda, can I please speak to you in my office?” Letty asked. She seemed angry. Well, not angry, she was too poised to be angry, but she was definitely something.
“What’s up?” I asked, flopping into the chair.
“I’m really disappointed. I know you have things going on in your personal life, but this was a huge opportunity for you. Once you reject something like that, the chances of the committee selecting you again are slim.”
What? I didn’t reject anything.
“I’m not sure what you mean. I still haven’t heard.”
Letty frowned. “Miranda, the applicants don’t know this, but their sponsors, which is me in your case, are blind copied into the responses. You sent an email back expressing regret that you had to decline.”
“I didn’t! I promise I didn’t!”
She turned her screen towards me, showing me the offer and “my” reply.
I thank you for this opportunity, but unfortunately, I must decline for personal reasons.
Miranda Bard
“That isn’t from me! I wanted this! Oh God! Can I call someone? How can I fix this?”
Who would have done this to me? Lucy played pranks occasionally but would never do this. Shit. Cam was alone with my phone when I chased Nettie. Surely he wasn’t that angry with me.
“I don’t think you can. Once you give up your spot, the offer goes to the next person on the list.”
I was frozen in my seat. How could he have done this to me? Sure, I helped Harrison lose his job, but he would have lost it anyway and he deserved it. What had I done? Letty’s cold face turned sympathetic.
“I’ll call Neve. You owe me.”
“Anything, I promise. I am so sorry this happened, Letty. I think it was Cam. I don’t understand.”
I left that day feeling like utter crap. What if Letty couldn’t fix this? The moment I left work I called Cam. That went well.
“Miranda, I’m so glad you called,” he answered eagerly.
“Did you reject my scholarship?”
Silence.
“I am so sorry, babe. We were spending time together again, and I thought that if you stayed … I thought we were … But then you asked me to leave, and I wanted to tell you but didn’t want you to hate me. I can’t … I’m sorry.”
I ended the call. We were no longer friends. We were no longer anything.
Chapter 15: Cam W — Final chances
We will have vengeance for it, fear thou not
Romeo and Juliet, William Shakespeare
“That smells amazing. I’m so fucking hungry I could eat Damon’s cooking,” I yelled into the kitchen as I entered my mate’s house.
“Lucky for you that Cordy cooked then,” Damon quipped, handing me a beer. I looked around, disappointed to see that Miranda wasn’t there. She’d been hanging around Cordy and Damon a lot since she dumped dipshit. I was still flirting with her, but she never reciprocated. She had lost her spirit a bit, and I hated that. She was quiet and reflective all the time.
