I grab it from my pocket, staring in amazement at the three missed calls.
And at the text.
I’m sorry to put pressure on you like this, Grace, but if you can’t meet with us today, I’m afraid it’s a no from us. Can you be in the city within the hour?
I laugh humorlessly. All this time I’ve spent having faith in horoscopes—in fate, basically—and now it just rises up and bites me well and truly in the behind.
Why would fate choose this moment to dangle the oh-so-needed sponsorship in front of my face?
“Will you give me a moment?” I say, stepping away from the car.
But it turns out Gemma really does see me as some unhinged lunatic. The second I leave the vicinity of her window, she rolls it up and backs her car out of the space, shooting me a look that would be pretty fitting in an insane asylum.
Frick it to hell.
Okay, so maybe I didn’t handle that the best, but the way she was looking at me, like she wasso much betterthan me, I guess it drove me kind of crazy.
Sighing, I call Markus Kirby.
But, as usual, the man doesn’t answer.
He always communicates via text or email.
Which makes it all the stranger that he called me in the first place.
I walk to the edge of the parking lot and lean against the wall, the warm bricks serving to highlight how frantically my heart is beating. I can feel it in my upper back, a hammeringthud-thud-thud.
I take a deep breath, trying to calm myself down as I read his text.
How does forty-five minutes work for you? Not to be blunt, Grace, but this is the opportunity of a lifetime.
I want to tell the arrogant dick-cheese to go and screw himself. But part of this business is letting condescending sponsors talk down to you. I’m not thrilled about it, but it comes with the territory.
It sounds good, I reply.I’ll be there. Just text me the address, please.
I walk back toward the dorms, trying not to let myself think about how much of a fool I just made of myself.
I guess it’s a sign of how much I was starting to care about Harry.
But just like I’ve been showing him a false front, he’s been doing the same with me, showing me the parts of himself he only wants me to see.
Crap.
