Page 43 of My Infatuation with Isabella

7. Isabella

February 05, 2025

“Tom, you need to calmdown,” I say for the fifteenth time as we walk into the large, air-conditioned office.

He’s been a ball of nerves since he gotthe callthis morning, so much so that he didn’t even participate in mocha-madness at the coffee shop today. That is our favorite time of day. It’s sacred, but I understand his anxiety. I’m also feeling very anxious because I don’t know why I’m involved in all this. I hide my emotions a lot better than him, though. He’s freaking the hell out. When our shift ended at five, he suggested we flee to Mexico.

The personal assistant to Mr. Louw (whoever that is) leaves us in his office and shuts the door on her way out.

“This is a very fancy office,” I say, sitting down in the plush cream armchair next to Tommy. “I think this Mr. Louw guy is one of the big bosses.”

“Shit, we’re in so much trouble.”

“We’re not in trouble.”

“They fired me, like, three weeks ago,” he says, nervously rubbing his palms down his cargo shorts. “Why are they calling me back now? And not just me, you too. They specifically told me to bring you along. You know what I think happened? I think people complained to the FCC or something, and now they’re gonna slap us with a fine or a lawsuit or...jail time.”

“Jail time?” I’m panicked now, too. “Do you think we committed a crime?”

“We said some pretty bad stuff on the radio. Even if it’s not a crime, it must be an offense. Bare minimum, I think we’re getting a lawsuit against us.”

I play with my bangles to stop my anxiety from escalating. “Do you think I should call my dad? He’s a lawyer. Surely, he’ll know what to do.”

“We can’t call Dad because?”

“Woah, why are you calling him dad? He’s my dad, not yours.” I know I sound like a jealous sixth-grader, but my relationship with Keith has evolved into something so incredibly special to me that I don’t want to share it.

“I’ve been living there for a while. I thought he adopted me too. Besides, we share everything.”

“We don’t share boyfriends, and we’re definitely not sharing my dad.”

“Fine.” He grunts and rolls his eyes. “Either way, we can’t tellKeith,because then we’ll have to explain this whole sordid mess to him. Let’s not tell him unless we absolutely have to.”

I nod. “Okay, so what? What do you think we should do? Do you think if we just apologize, it’ll be fine?”

“Girl, I don’t know about you...but I came here ready to suck some dick today.”

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