Page 3 of Unpredictable
For a second, I thought maybe she was genuinely concerned. But then she backed up a few inches and covered her nose and mouth with a bold-patterned scarf, the Gucci logo interspersed throughout.
“I’m fine,” I said. “Promise.”
“Oh good,” she sighed, taking a seat in the chair across from me. Landon came in with a glass of champagne and handed it to her before disappearing once more. Her designer dog popped out of her designer purse, and I gripped my pen more tightly as he sniffed around my office.
I swear to god, if he pees on my rug…
“You know, a different color dress and some different makeup could really do wonders for your complexion. You’re not bad-looking, you just have to know how to play to your strengths.”
I stared at her, blinking. Was she serious?
“Even a few small changes would make a huge impact. Then maybeyou’dbe the one getting married.” She tossed her hair, her expression thoughtful.
My jaw dropped.Wow.I’d never been more insulted. And today, of all days.
“Okay.” She perked up. “That was fun. Now, back to me. So, I went to my fitting—” She glanced down at the floor where her dog was…pissing on my rug.Lovely.“Fifi, don’t do that. Next time you have to tinkle, tell Mommy.”
She was deluded. Crazy. Why had I ever agreed to work with her? I almost wanted to laugh at how ridiculous the situation was. But I kept getting madder and madder the longer she droned on about “the fitting from hell,” all in a nasal, whiny tone that made me want to strangle her. Still, I nodded at the correct intervals, listening politely.
“I understand,” I said, wanting her to feel that I empathized. When really, I just wanted to get us back on track. I wanted to find a solution to the issue and then get her out of my office as soon as possible.
She sighed and took a sip of her drink. “How can you possibly understand? I mean, it’s not like you’ve ever been married.”
Never…been married.
I sucked in a jagged breath, but it didn’t seem to make a difference. She was right; I’d never been married, but that was only because I’d lost the man I’d loved before we could walk down the aisle.
I stood, my fists shaking with rage. I couldn’t deal with this—withher—right now. I took a step forward but the room spun, and I reached out for the desk to steady myself.
“Where do you think you’re going?” she screeched.
“You—” I glared at her, my tone full of venom. “Do you realize how insulting your words are?” My chest tightened, vision blurring. I gripped the desk, squeezing the edge as I let her have it. “How dare you. You—”
Spots danced before my eyes, and then everything went black.
* * *
I heard shrieking.Or was that barking? Next thing I knew, something wet hit my face, and I gasped for air. I opened my eyes to see Landon kneeling beside me. His expression was fraught with worry as I blinked up at him.
“Are you okay? Do you need your EpiPen?”
Taylor Long sat on the couch behind him, fanning herself as if she were the one who’d just fainted. I squeezed my eyes shut, wishing this were just another bad dream. But the fact that Fifi was licking champagne off my face told me it was very real.
“No.” I pushed myself up to a seated position.
“I don’t know that that’s…” Landon said, but I waved away his concern.
“I’m fine. Apart from the fact that my face and hair are covered in champagne.” I glared at him.
But when I moved to stand, my legs buckled. Landon helped me to the couch before escorting Taylor to the waiting area. I was just thankful he’d gotten rid of her before I could do any more damage. Had I really just yelled at a client? I groaned, covering my face with my hands.
“I think we should call a doctor,” Landon said when he returned, handing me a towel.
I shook my head, but immediately regretted it. I pressed my temples, wondering if my headache would go away anytime soon. “Absolutely not. I’m fine, honestly.”
“Mm-hmm.” He crossed his arms over his chest. “Have you eaten anything today?”
I lifted a shoulder. I hadn’t had much of an appetite this morning, but that wasn’t surprising considering my nightmare. Up until the past month, the nightmares had mostly gone away. But then they’d come back with a vengeance. The one last night had been so vivid, so real… I couldn’t seem to shake it.
