Page 17 of Level With Me
But Lila knew as well as I did that things always went better with these reviews when we developed a personal rapport with our clients first. They tended to be more friendly and less formal, and therefore more candid with our questions during the review.
She smiled. “Great idea, Blake. If the Kellys are amenable.”
“We should definitely celebrate,” Chelsea said.
“For sure!” Jude agreed.
Cassandra’s face made it clear she’d rather do anything else, but she gave a polite smile. “Sounds good. Saturday at L’Aubergine?”
“How about somewhere in town?” Eli said, looking vaguely uncomfortable.
“Why’s that, Eli?” Jude asked, looking at his brother point blank.
Now it was Eli who looked like he wanted to do some stabbing, but Griffin was the one who stood up next. “Eli needs to suck it up. I don’t love eating there either, but we could use the business.”
I was confused by the whole exchange but too distracted by the fact that Cassandra was heading to the door to try to sort it out. I shook hands with the four remaining Kelly siblings, hoping it wasn’t obvious I was trying to bolt out after their sister.
“Blake,” Lila said.
My partner, on the other hand, could read me like a book.
I froze, then turned and smiled. She was standing over by Brynn on the far wall.
It was fine; I’d just have to catch up with Cassandra at her office. If that’s where she was headed. I could find it easily enough.
I was sure Lila was going to give me shit for going off-script—she was a planner and didn’t like surprises. We were far enough away from the remaining Kellys—themselves deep in conversation—that no one but Brynn could hear.
Instead she said, “Good job back there,”
“Yeah, that was awesome, even for you,” Brynn said.
My shoulders relaxed, just slightly.
“Thanks,” I said.
“Why was she wavering?” Lila asked.
Just like that, my shoulders tightened again. Of course. Lila knew I’d only stray from our carefully thought-out meeting agenda if there was something wrong.
“It’s… complicated,” I said.
I’d only told Lila about pulling Cassandra out of the river briefly. She’d been incredulous, but had immediately looked at it as a good thing—how could this morning not go well after I’d rescued the CEO? But she knew something else was going on, I could tell. I couldn’t say it was nothing. But couldn’t tell her the truth about what had happened either. She’d lose it, and rightly so. It could very easily have lost us this account.
It could have lost us our whole business, if word got out.
The longer I hesitated, the tighter their faces grew with concern. They could be so happy if it weren’t for our situation. They were so happy, I thought. They made it work. I thought about Lila’s parents; how their faces had dropped when we told them last year we wouldn’t be trying for a baby. If only they knew that wasn’t even the biggest issue. I hated them for how they’d put Lila in this position.
I hated myself for nearly blowing it.
“I didn’t know it was her at first,” I said finally.
That, at least, was the truth.
“Oh shit,” Brynn said.
“And I didn’t get a chance to check in with her when we figured it out,” I continued.
Lila’s eyebrows were bunched together. “Surely not recognizing her wouldn’t be enough for her to pull out of the project?”
