Page 91 of Tempt Me
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Hannah calledthree times in a row before I finally picked up.
“You know I don’t work there anymore, right?” I leaned against the outside wall of the boutique on Sacramento Street.
“I’m calling to check on you. As your friend, not your employee.” I could almost see Hannah’s eyes roll.
Guilt seized my stomach. “Sorry.”
“I’m in front of your house, but you’re not here.”
“You didn’t have to go all the way there.” It was rush hour, and traffic crawled on the street in front of me. Someone laid on the horn.
“That’s what friends do. Where are you?”
“Shopping on Sacramento Street.” I looked down at my empty hand and flicked the bandage that still covered my raw thumbnail a week after I’d torn it on the key fob. I’d spent all afternoon browsing the shops, but nothing held my interest.
“Ah. Retail therapy.”
“I guess.” Maybe I should try some real therapy.
“How…how are things at the office?” I asked. “You’re still there, right?” A pang zipped through my heart. I’d hired Hannah. Had they tossed her out along with my files?
“Yeah. They need me. Jamila’s been at it again.”
“At what?”
A silver Lexus pulled up at the curb. It wasn’t a convertible, but the window lowered, and Hannah ducked her head. “Get in, loser. We’re going for ice cream.”
I crossed the sidewalk and leaned in to look inside. “Did you justMean Girlsme?”
She snickered. “I’ve always wanted to do that.”
I buckled my seatbelt as she pulled away from the curb. “What did you mean, ‘Jamila’s been at it again’?”
“You weren’t watching?”
I picked at my bandage. “No. I turned off my notifications.”
“Oh, boy. There was another development disaster. Someone lost a bunch of code. They had to push out the launch.”
“No! It was supposed to launch on Friday!”
“Yeah, not happening. First Arbiter got so frustrated they killed the deal, so Jamilow only has half a product.”
“That’s not fair!” Jamila must have been devastated at all that hard work down the drain.
Hannah turned onto a street with less traffic. “That’s not even the worst of it. Turns out, they’d been playing both sides. FA had a deal with Moo-Lah on the side.”
“They can’t do that! Wasn’t there a noncompete clause?”
She shrugged. “It’ll take a while for the lawyers to work it out. Meanwhile, Jamilow is starting over from scratch. Everyone wanted an interview to see what Jamila thought. And she let them know,” Hannah finished darkly.
“Uh-oh.” I flicked my phone screen to life and searched. The recording of her comment was the first result.
“No, I’m not mad,” she said, her glittering eyes belying her words even on my phone. “Pavel Thakor is so low he’s got to look up to see hell. Now get out of my way.”
“Yikes.” The final frame caught the curl of her lip in a spectacularly unflattering way.
