I’d given up. Because I thought I’d had nothing to give her.
What did I have to give her?
It hit me like a shoe to the head. I’d promised to support her and help take her business to new heights. I could still give her that.
Grabbing my phone out of my pocket, my shaky fingers tapped the digits to call the person I knew could help.
I needed to make sure I didn’t fuck this up, and that Ashlyn didn’t shut me down. I had an idea and needed to run this by the Paris Senior Vice-President.
“Hey, Damien. Got a minute?”
“Yes, about that much. I'm heading into a meeting. How can I help you?” Damien’s French accent heavily painted his words.
“I need you to do me a favor when you’re in the States next week. Give me a call when you’re free and I’ll explain it in detail.”
I needed help to make my apology count and Damien was the perfect one to help me with it.
CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
Ashlyn
“Stella, did you double-check to make sure we packed everything?” I opened the back of the truck we’d rented to haul our stuff to the downtown Providence convention center. I started counting boxes and was almost done when Stella grabbed my arm and whirled me around to face her.
I yelped at the sudden movement.
Stella smiled confidently at me and kept her hands firmly on my arms. “Relax. We have everything.”
“Stella, this is a big deal. The Lingerie Connection is letting us have a booth. I don’t want to screw this up.” My heart beat faster as I thought about the exposure this conference would give our business. They only accepted a handful of small businesses to participate and they’d chosen us.
“We won’t.” Stella gave me a gentle shake, forcing me to meet her gaze.
I needed this to go off without a hitch.
“Did we pack the mannequins? And the tablecloths? Oh my God. I know we forgot something.” Panic set in, and I didn’t know how to shake it off.
I pictured all of the professional booths at the Lingerie Connection with their exceptional products laid out around us. A giggle bordering on hysteria escaped from my mouth. I’d been so confident right up until this moment that we were going to succeed. Why was I letting today undermine the faith I had in myself? And in our business?
