Nowhe left. Figured.
“He brought me some lunch since you said I couldn’t take a break.” I gestured to the soda and wrap I’d sat on one of the end tables. “I can eat and file at the same time.”
She snorted. “Yeah and get food and gunk all over the archives. Smart thinking.” Her sarcasm prickled at my nerves but I forced a smile.
“I can wait to eat after I’m finished. No problem.”
She huffed out an annoyed breath. “Actually I came down here to tell you you’re done filing for now. Joy had a kid get sick in the Children’s section and her interns are on a break, so I told her you would get right on it.”
Was she serious?
Yeah, they were on a break. Because they actuallygota break. I waited a beat, to see if she would say she was kidding.
She didn’t.
She tapped her Louboutin covered toe impatiently. “It’s not going to clean itself, Emily.”
I closed my eyes and pictured myself receiving a ten thousand dollar check.
“On it,” I said, moving past her.
The good news was, ten minutes later, the mess was handled and I was no longer hungry. A bright orange pile of puke had successfully curbed my appetite. And I was never eating hot dogs again, so there was that.
Joy thanked me profusely. Then she asked if I was free to lead a children’s tour.
I was, and I’d been through the children’s section so many times, I didn’t need to watch the training video.
When I was finished, Alexis and Lindsey had returned. They both thanked me for covering for them.
“It was fun,” I admitted. “Well, not the part that involved vomit.”
Lindsey laughed. “Welcome to our party.”
On my way back to Jecca, I decided to take a detour. The scenic route. I browsed the museum’s exhibits, admiring the works and dreaming of someday.
Someday, I’d have an exhibit here. Someday people would come to see my work. Someday I’d come back here and make sure the interns weren’t being treated like garbage.
I vowed to myself, for the next two hours while I filed manila folders, not matter what happened, I would never, ever give up on my someday.
Jecca had been blatantly annoyed when I’d managed to finish all the filing she’d given me half an hour before I was supposed to leave. My excitement about shopping with Aiden and Rachel Platten in my earbuds had me moving faster than even I thought I was possible.
She’d sent me up front to fold three-hundred brochures. I was down to less than twenty brochures and my hands were in danger of cramping when Aiden surprised me by coming through the main entrance ten minutes early.
Collin had stopped by on his way out and had been chattering incessantly about his investment portfolio and his future plans after high school. The whole time he stood there yammering on, he never once offered to help me.
Seeing Aiden come through the doors in dark wash jeans and a button down navy blue henley, sunlight streaming in from behind him, was like seeing a mirage in the middle of the desert.
I thought we’d meet out front like before so he wouldn’t have to find a parking space. But here he was in all of his greek god-like glory.
“Hey,” he greeted me. “I came a little early just incase traffic was bad.”
Collin gaped at him.
My face broke into a wide grin. “Hi.” I glanced over to where Jecca was approaching. “Almost finished.”
At the sight of Aiden, her mouth dropped into a surprised ‘o’ shape.
“Aiden?”
