Me:Did you not read the part about my friends wanting to meet you?
Tore:I did. We can talk about it when you come over.
Me:I’m beat and already in my pjs. Benji-bear and I are going to turn in early. I’ll see you in about twelve hours, Salvatore.
Tore:Come over in your pajamas. You can bring Benjamin with you.
Me:Babe, I’m staying home tonight. I wish you’d drop it and ask about my dinner instead.
Tore:If you were in front of me, I would.
Me:Okay. Well…we’re not getting anywhere. I’ll see you at Nox tomorrow. Good night.
Tore:We’ll talk tomorrow then. Good night, Beatrice.
I couldn’t say I wasn’t a little salty he hadn’t been able to get it up to ask me about my night, but told myself sometimes things got lost in translation through text. And it wasn’t like I didn’t want to spend the night with him. I definitely did. But I was tired, and I had to wake up early to do some client prep work. This once, it was easier to sleep in my own bed.
Plus…well, I didn’t love him commanding my presence, but since I was pretty certain we were just miscommunicating, I wasn’t worried.
We’d squash this tomorrow.
I was taking out a batch of muffins when my phone chimed, alerting me to an incoming email through my website. Dropping the pan on top of the stove, I shook off my oven mitt to check if it was urgent.
The sender was Paul at Nox Cyber.
Huh.
Frowning, I clicked on his message.
From:[email protected]
Bea,
Sorry to send this so last minute, but we no longer need your services at Nox. Since we’re beyond the cancellation window, we will be paying you today’s fee. Please remove Nox from your calendar going forward.
Thank you for your time, and again, I apologize for the late notice.
Best,
Paul Delaney
What the shit?
What the actual shit?
Blood rushed in my ears as I reread Paul’s message. I didn’t know what to think. Never in a million years had I imagined Nox would cancel my services. That job accounted for a nice bit of my weekly income, and now…nothing.
It was so last minute, what could have happened between last night and this morning?
I sucked in a breath. Surely not…
Had I misread Tore that badly last night? Had he been so angry with me for not coming over, he’d had Paul fire me?
My stomach flipped, the scent of my freshly baked cranberry muffins suddenly nauseating.
Dropping my phone, I braced my hands on the counter, heart pounding hard enough to shake the breath from my lungs.
