“I’m sorry,” I sighed, plopping on the foot of my bed.
“What are you so moody about? You’re not pregnant, are you?” She bounced on the end of the bed, flopping backward to lie down.
“God no!” I protested, turning to see her still scowling at me.
“Then what the hell is wrong? You’ve done nothing but snap at me for the past hour. I came over here to help you pack foryour trip to LA. I thought we were having a girls’ day and it’s like you’re rushing me to leave.” Rachel sat up and grabbed my hand. “Is something wrong? Did Parker break up with you?”
She knew better than that, or at least she should have. I always told her everything, but after she had accused Parker of just throwing his money at me to manipulate me, I stopped sharing everything. I didn’t want to be lectured, and she didn’t ask. I felt like it was the beginning of our relationship dissolving, but what could I do?
“No, I’m not pregnant. I just had my period this week, okay?” I sighed. “We’re really careful.”
“So, what is it, then? PMS happens before your period, not after. And you’re getting ready to go on a five-day trip alone with him.” Her head cocked to the side. “It is with Parker, right? You’re not lying to me about that.”
“God, I swear, Rachel.” I pulled my hand away and turned to the side. “I’m not lying to you. You went off on me about Parker using me, so I didn’t tell you everything, but I would never lie.”
“Okay, I’m sorry.” Her tone softened. “Tell me what it is. You’re my best friend. I’m here for you.”
I glanced at her and shook my head. “So you know that theGlobal Gazetteis pretty much the leader in this industry.” She nodded. “Well, I have an interview with them in” —I glanced at the wall clock— “fifteen minutes.” I bit my lip.
“You what!” Excitement flashed on her face. “Oh, my God, Haley, that’s amazing. Oh, God, we have to do your hair.” Her tone changed instantly and she shot out of the bed. “Where is your brush?”
“Stop!” I chuckled. “I’m fine. It’s a conference call, yes, but I can just put my hair in a ponytail.”
Rachel sat back down next to me, looking a bit perplexed. I knew she would be. I hadn’t said a thing about how Dr. Jameshad put my name in for that job opening, so this had to be taking her by surprise.
“I don’t want you to move away.” She pushed her bottom lip out, pouting. “Los Angeles is really far away. Neither one of us will have money to fly back and forth, and driving is out since I don’t drive.”
“I know. I’m not sure I want to go that far away either, but this is a huge opportunity for my career. I’m really torn.” I picked at my fingernails, uncertain what else to say to her. I didn’t have time for a drawn out discussion, though. That much was sure.
My phone rang, saving me from having to make any other explanation, and I pulled it out and answered it.
“Haley? It’s Parker. How are you doing?”
Exactly what I didn’t need. “I’m okay.” Forcing bubbliness into my voice, I continued. “Just packing up everything I’ll need for our trip.”
“Ah, good, I just called to see if there was anything last-minute that you needed me to pick up. I will be at your house at six a.m. with the car so we can make it to O’Hare before the crowd amasses at security.”
I choked back a non-verbal protest. My body wanted to seize up and shut down. The pressure of Rachel staring at me, combined with knowing the interview was only minutes away now, made me want to vomit.
“Uh, I’m okay. Think I have everything I need.” Putting on a happy act wasn’t easy, but at least he was just on the phone, not at my front door.
“You sure you’re okay? You sound down.”
I mustered a chuckle. “Yes, just busy packing.” Up until this moment, I hadn’t considered hiding the job from Parker as lying, but I was definitely not completely okay at this moment. That was an outright lie, but I didn’t have time to discuss it with him either.
“Alright, I’ll call you when I leave my house. I love you.”
Parker hung up so quickly, my head spun. Had he just told me he loved me? I locked the phone and turned it to silent mode. I must have looked like I’d seen a ghost because Rachel leaned down and caught my attention by waving her hand in front of my face.
“You-hoo… Haley…”
“Uh, yeah… sorry. That was Parker.” I stood and strolled to my desk, opening my laptop. “Can you give me a few? This interview shouldn’t take long.”
Rachel grimaced and nodded, then let herself out of my bedroom. I made sure my hair was tied up and my camera was set to blur the background, then logged into Zoom. When the clock struck half-past, I logged in, nervous to speak to whoever it was at Global who would be interviewing me. It turned out it was a polite redheaded woman with a wheezy voice. I hadn’t prepared anything to ask in return, nor did I feel like I answered any of her questions well either. By the time the interview was over, I was certain I had bombed it, but I was also convinced that Global would be an amazing opportunity. If they offered me the job, I’d have a horrible time turning it down. The only thing left was to see the city and know if I even felt comfortable there.
I didn’t tell Rachel when the interview was over. I just sat there staring at the computer until the screen saver kicked in and it went to sleep. I was lying to Parker about this job opportunity and I felt awful about it. But if I told him, he’d be upset with me. And my logic up until this point had been to not ruffle his feathers in case it didn't happen. Unfortunately, the more time that passed, the more certain I was that it was going to happen.
Dr. James had a very strong influence in the world of journalism. TheGlobal Gazettehad called Mr. Wright for a reference. They had interviewed me, and the woman told meshe’d follow up next week with further steps, and I was sitting there shaking like a leaf, sweaty and clammy. I didn’t know what was worse, telling Parker that I was looking at taking a job two thousand miles away from him and that it would strain our relationship, or telling him I might leaveThe Vineto work for his archenemy.
