Read Online One Night with a Star (Second Chances Book 2) by Merry Farmer - Free Book Online Page A
Authors: Merry Farmer
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do?” she asked, as weak as she’d ever been.
Carol stared at her for a long, hard moment. It was coming. Any second now.
“I’d like you to pull yourself together, Jenny,” she said.
Jenny let out a breath. She wasn’t fired. Not yet.
“I’d like you to build up your client base again,” Carol went on. At last, her mask of boss-ness melted to something almost human. “I’d like for you to get up to the level where you were last year, not for our sake, but for your own. I don’t think you like the state of things any more than I do.”
“I don’t,” Jenny admitted, and dammit if she didn’t want to cry after saying that.
Carol must have seen it. She broke into a sympathetic smile. “Get focused and get back on track. We need you back on track.” She let out a breath and sat back in her chair, and just as Jenny was beginning to feel like things might work out, she said, “Because if you aren’t able to get back to where you were last year, we’re going to have to consider measures.”
Boom. Just like that. ‘Consider measures’ was Carol’s personal code for ‘fire your ass.’
“I understand,” Jenny said and stood. “I’ll do better. I swear.”
“I’m sure you will,” Carol said.
That was the end of that. Jenny smiled and left the office. As soon as she was around the corner and out of Carol’s sight, she closed her eyes and let out a breath, pressing a hand to her stomach. This just sucked all over. She needed to work. She needed a job that would pay her enough to survive if she was ever going to get herself and Daniel out of her parent’s house and on their own again. There was nothing for it but to put on her big-girl panties and make this work.
“What did she say?” Ivy whispered as Jenny got back to her desk.
“I’m not fired,” Jenny told her, knowing full well what she wanted to know.
“That’s good, that’s good,” Ivy said. There was a twist of disappointment in Ivy’s eyes. She couldn’t actually want Jenny to be fired, could she?
“I just have to pick up my game,” she told Ivy with a smile.
And she would, too. She sat and rolled her chair closer to her desk, clicking around on her computer and looking at listings and tools. If she could just focus, just put her energy into something other than Daniel.
Except that in no way did she want to put her efforts into anything but Daniel. Her son was her world. Ambition, success, money. They had all seemed so important before Daniel. Now, she just couldn’t get excited about any of it.
Her cell phone buzzed, snapping her out of the cycle of dread that was pulling at her from inside her stomach. She was relieved for the distraction, until she noticed Simon’s name on the caller ID.
She cursed, then picked up the phone, tapped to accept the call, and barked, “What?”
“Got a case of the Mondays?” Simon answered from the other end. He was entirely too cheery for everything she’d just been through.
“I don’t have time to be cute with you this morning, Simon,” she snapped. “I was late to work, I just got chewed out by my boss, and I’ve got stuff to do.”
She winced as soon as it all came out, especially when Simon replied with a heart-wrenchingly sympathetic, “I’m sorry for that. Are you okay?”
No. She was not okay. She was not okay with the last person on earth that she wanted her heart to speed up over saying exactly what she needed someone to say right then.
“What can I do for you?” she asked the same way she would ask any client.
Simon surprised her by saying, “I want to buy a house.”
Her brow flew up. He had to be joking. “Then hire a real estate agent,” she said.
“That’s what I’m trying to do.”
He was serious.
“No,” she said. “I’m not taking the bait. I told you that you could be part of Daniel’s life, but not mine. This counts as a major conflict of interest.”
“But I thought you were the Closer of the Kennebunks,” he said.
A lump
Carol stared at her for a long, hard moment. It was coming. Any second now.
“I’d like you to pull yourself together, Jenny,” she said.
Jenny let out a breath. She wasn’t fired. Not yet.
“I’d like you to build up your client base again,” Carol went on. At last, her mask of boss-ness melted to something almost human. “I’d like for you to get up to the level where you were last year, not for our sake, but for your own. I don’t think you like the state of things any more than I do.”
“I don’t,” Jenny admitted, and dammit if she didn’t want to cry after saying that.
Carol must have seen it. She broke into a sympathetic smile. “Get focused and get back on track. We need you back on track.” She let out a breath and sat back in her chair, and just as Jenny was beginning to feel like things might work out, she said, “Because if you aren’t able to get back to where you were last year, we’re going to have to consider measures.”
Boom. Just like that. ‘Consider measures’ was Carol’s personal code for ‘fire your ass.’
“I understand,” Jenny said and stood. “I’ll do better. I swear.”
“I’m sure you will,” Carol said.
That was the end of that. Jenny smiled and left the office. As soon as she was around the corner and out of Carol’s sight, she closed her eyes and let out a breath, pressing a hand to her stomach. This just sucked all over. She needed to work. She needed a job that would pay her enough to survive if she was ever going to get herself and Daniel out of her parent’s house and on their own again. There was nothing for it but to put on her big-girl panties and make this work.
“What did she say?” Ivy whispered as Jenny got back to her desk.
“I’m not fired,” Jenny told her, knowing full well what she wanted to know.
“That’s good, that’s good,” Ivy said. There was a twist of disappointment in Ivy’s eyes. She couldn’t actually want Jenny to be fired, could she?
“I just have to pick up my game,” she told Ivy with a smile.
And she would, too. She sat and rolled her chair closer to her desk, clicking around on her computer and looking at listings and tools. If she could just focus, just put her energy into something other than Daniel.
Except that in no way did she want to put her efforts into anything but Daniel. Her son was her world. Ambition, success, money. They had all seemed so important before Daniel. Now, she just couldn’t get excited about any of it.
Her cell phone buzzed, snapping her out of the cycle of dread that was pulling at her from inside her stomach. She was relieved for the distraction, until she noticed Simon’s name on the caller ID.
She cursed, then picked up the phone, tapped to accept the call, and barked, “What?”
“Got a case of the Mondays?” Simon answered from the other end. He was entirely too cheery for everything she’d just been through.
“I don’t have time to be cute with you this morning, Simon,” she snapped. “I was late to work, I just got chewed out by my boss, and I’ve got stuff to do.”
She winced as soon as it all came out, especially when Simon replied with a heart-wrenchingly sympathetic, “I’m sorry for that. Are you okay?”
No. She was not okay. She was not okay with the last person on earth that she wanted her heart to speed up over saying exactly what she needed someone to say right then.
“What can I do for you?” she asked the same way she would ask any client.
Simon surprised her by saying, “I want to buy a house.”
Her brow flew up. He had to be joking. “Then hire a real estate agent,” she said.
“That’s what I’m trying to do.”
He was serious.
“No,” she said. “I’m not taking the bait. I told you that you could be part of Daniel’s life, but not mine. This counts as a major conflict of interest.”
“But I thought you were the Closer of the Kennebunks,” he said.
A lump
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