Page 40 of It Happened Duo
My dark blue dress and coat matched my mood perfectly, especially given the overcast day. I sauntered outside, trying to decide what to do with myself because I couldn’t face Rex yet. I wasn’t ready to march into his office and give him a piece of my mind.
Marriage of convenience? Was he serious? That had to be worse than friends with benefits. Although if he’d asked for that, I might have said yes as long as it was an exclusive arrangement. As friends, Rex might have woken up one day and realized he had fallen for me, too.
Lost in my heavy thoughts, several steps away from the deli, I stared at a sight that stopped me in my tracks—the familiar car parked on the curb of the concourse. Rex’s car. His driver, Stephen, waved and smiled at me, leaning against the car, waiting. But I couldn’t wave back, not uponwatching Marlena and Rex walking out of the building together.
With their hands joined, she talked and gestured, but he was quiet. I could tell, even only knowing him a short time as I had, how sullen he appeared, eyes down, not cracking a smile, not twitching his lips at anything she said.
Stephen opened the back door for them and she got in. Then Rex spotted me and froze. He couldn’t move either. His eyes were like sunken black dots with dark circles around them, his complexion paled, and he barely flatlined a smile.
With only a moment to linger, I couldn’t breathe, shocked by the connection still so strong between us. Even now, it reached across the distance, closing the gap. How I longed to know his thoughts, to feel his touch, to kiss his lips, to figure out why he did this to me, but he shook his head and quickly entered the car.
“Bastard!” I muttered under my breath as they drove away, my ragged puffy clouds floating in the cold air.
He was with Marlena now? What, I turned him down, so he took theproposalto the next available woman?
“Oh God. I can’t do this.”
Seeing Rex again stabbed me in my heart like a sharp knife, but seeing him with her twisted it in the wound. He meant more to me than I led him to believe.
I had wanted the deli, the man, everything. Now, I wanted nothing. I had told Uncle Doug to renew the lease, but if it meant running into Rex all the time, then forget about it. I’d never be able to get over him that way.
If not for my phone ringing, I might have stood there inthat spot all day, contemplating my life since coming to New York. Was I any better or further ahead than the day I arrived?
Perhaps I should give up and go home, back to Holly Creek? Home, yes, my heart yearned to be home again.
The call went to voice mail, and finally I forced one foot in front of the other, walking and walking, until I reached Central Park. I hadn’t spent much time here, and it definitely was on my bucket list to explore. Pleased I wore my flats, today was my lucky day to meander through the famous park and think.
Before I could get too far into my thoughts, my phone rang again. I hissed and pulled it out. From a number I didn’t recognize, I debated about not answering, but I noticed the last call was the same digits.
“Hello?” My voice wavered.
“Chelsea Calhoun? This is Stanley Proctor from the studios of the Morning City Show. We came across your social media channel and checked out your deli. I wondered if you’d be interested in coming down to NYBC television studios to interview for a temporary position?”
“Um, what?”
The man sighed on the other end. “I said, this is?—”
“Sorry, I heard all of it. What temporary position?” I hardly knew why I asked, especially when the pull of home called to me so strongly.
“We’d like to feature a segment about home-style cooking and comfort food starting next week and running throughChristmas. The segment would appear three times per week.”
I blinked several times, as if that helped me process what the man said. This had to be some sort of crank call. “Right. Ha ha. Very funny. Whoever this is, hope you got a good laugh out of it.”
I hung up and huffed on my way, only to be assaulted by the ring once again. Same number. I clicked on it. “Yes?”
“Hey look. I get it, it’s not every day a TV studio calls and thinks you’re the perfect person for the job,” Stanley’s voice rushed in before I could speak. Did he say perfect person? “But I think you owe it to yourself to come down to the studio to do a screen test. I have openings at two or three this afternoon. What do you say?”
TV? Something like this never factored into my plans and dreams. It’d be a new adventure for sure. Something different. Something far away from Rex and the deli. And only temporary, while I figured out what to do with my life next.
“Sure. I don’t know a thing about TV, though. I’ve never been in front of a camera.”
“Are you kidding? I saw your daily lunch special videos on your social media channel. You were terrific. Trust me, whatever you don’t know, I can teach you. So, two or three today?”
“Fine. Okay. Three. Oh, what should I wear?”
“That shouldn’t even be a question, considering your branding has been very consistent with bright dresses and flowers in your hair. See you this afternoon.”
He clicked off, leaving me dumbfounded. He really had watched my social media. What was the old saying? A door closed, and a window opened, or something like that. With renewed vigor, I backtracked and headed to the apartment to pick out the brightest dress I owned.
