Read Online Second Best Fantasy by Angela Kelly - Free Book Online Page A
Authors: Angela Kelly
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a whirlwind romance and got married after only a year, it was the most beautiful wedding I had ever attended.
From the moment she walked into the church, her husband locked eyes with her, and I swear never looked at anything or anyone else for the remainder of the ceremony. Never before had I known two people so much in love, so utterly devoted to each other. Then, one night, he left their Upper East Side walk-up to go to the corner bodega for a pack of smokes and was run down by a drunk driver. It was the most tragic thing that had ever 45
happened to someone I knew. Cindy wouldn’t even talk about it for two solid years.
She was done looking for romance. She said Joe had given her the happiest days of her life, and she knew she would always compare other men to him and that wasn’t fair to anyone.
So, through her personal brand of spirituality and a lot of soul searching, she had found ways to make peace with it. I admired her and I was proud to call her my friend.
The Lexus rolled to a stop in front of my building. “So, I just have one question for you,” she said.
“Oh, yeah, what’s that?”
“When do I get to meet her?” I just stood there and smiled.
* * * *
“Maggie, come to Pete’s office. Maggie to Pete’s office, please.”
I looked up to see everyone staring at me. Usually when you were paged to the big boss’s office it was because you were in trouble. I wasn’t, as far as I knew. I got up, ignored the ogling co-workers, and walked to the front of the offices.
“Yeah Pete?” I popped my head into his suite I envied, more than a little. Although, I didn’t really want the responsibility that came with the suite.
“Come in. Close the door.” He didn’t seem upset but he was always difficult to read.
I sat down in front of his desk. “What’s up?”
“Maggie, we just landed a really big contract with Wolf Creek Records.”
I froze. Wolf Creek was Janine’s label.
“Apparently they want us to do the entire layout for the next Blue Is record, although they don’t quite know when that will be yet. In the meantime they contracted us for design and lyric typesetting for five other bands.”
He looked at me, waiting for me to say something. I wasn’t sure how to feel, let alone what to say.
“I’m just wondering why it is you were requested 46
specifically to manage these projects. Is there anything you want to tell me?”
He waited. Pete was a nice guy and a good boss. Since I’d never been in this position, I wasn’t sure what the next right thing to do was. I mean, it would be one thing if I were sleeping with the actual client, but Janine wasn’t the client, she was the singer represented by the client, surely that was a loophole in any sort of conflict of interest mandate.
“Maggie, relax, you aren’t in any kind of trouble.”
Only then did I realize I’d been holding my breath. I exhaled slowly. “Oh. Okay, that’s good, I mean, you know I love my job.”
“I just have one question,” he said. I knew exactly what he was going to say next.
“When do I get to meet her?”
* * * *
I asked my boss to keep the information between us, and I trusted him to do so. I knew if everyone found out, I would become a backseat in every single conversation. My life as I knew it would become completely boring to my colleagues and they would only ever ask questions about Janine. I shuddered to think of it. I was painfully aware there was a part of me that didn’t want her to succeed for that very reason. It was incredibly selfish of me and I knew it. I thought someone should start a support group for the Nobody partners of famous people.
One night about a week after the package, I came home and Janine was on my doorstep. It was one of those snapshot moments, filed in your memory cells for instant recall. I came walking around the corner, and there she was, wearing jeans and a spaghetti strap tank top, not looking like a famous or about-to-be famous person at
From the moment she walked into the church, her husband locked eyes with her, and I swear never looked at anything or anyone else for the remainder of the ceremony. Never before had I known two people so much in love, so utterly devoted to each other. Then, one night, he left their Upper East Side walk-up to go to the corner bodega for a pack of smokes and was run down by a drunk driver. It was the most tragic thing that had ever 45
happened to someone I knew. Cindy wouldn’t even talk about it for two solid years.
She was done looking for romance. She said Joe had given her the happiest days of her life, and she knew she would always compare other men to him and that wasn’t fair to anyone.
So, through her personal brand of spirituality and a lot of soul searching, she had found ways to make peace with it. I admired her and I was proud to call her my friend.
The Lexus rolled to a stop in front of my building. “So, I just have one question for you,” she said.
“Oh, yeah, what’s that?”
“When do I get to meet her?” I just stood there and smiled.
* * * *
“Maggie, come to Pete’s office. Maggie to Pete’s office, please.”
I looked up to see everyone staring at me. Usually when you were paged to the big boss’s office it was because you were in trouble. I wasn’t, as far as I knew. I got up, ignored the ogling co-workers, and walked to the front of the offices.
“Yeah Pete?” I popped my head into his suite I envied, more than a little. Although, I didn’t really want the responsibility that came with the suite.
“Come in. Close the door.” He didn’t seem upset but he was always difficult to read.
I sat down in front of his desk. “What’s up?”
“Maggie, we just landed a really big contract with Wolf Creek Records.”
I froze. Wolf Creek was Janine’s label.
“Apparently they want us to do the entire layout for the next Blue Is record, although they don’t quite know when that will be yet. In the meantime they contracted us for design and lyric typesetting for five other bands.”
He looked at me, waiting for me to say something. I wasn’t sure how to feel, let alone what to say.
“I’m just wondering why it is you were requested 46
specifically to manage these projects. Is there anything you want to tell me?”
He waited. Pete was a nice guy and a good boss. Since I’d never been in this position, I wasn’t sure what the next right thing to do was. I mean, it would be one thing if I were sleeping with the actual client, but Janine wasn’t the client, she was the singer represented by the client, surely that was a loophole in any sort of conflict of interest mandate.
“Maggie, relax, you aren’t in any kind of trouble.”
Only then did I realize I’d been holding my breath. I exhaled slowly. “Oh. Okay, that’s good, I mean, you know I love my job.”
“I just have one question,” he said. I knew exactly what he was going to say next.
“When do I get to meet her?”
* * * *
I asked my boss to keep the information between us, and I trusted him to do so. I knew if everyone found out, I would become a backseat in every single conversation. My life as I knew it would become completely boring to my colleagues and they would only ever ask questions about Janine. I shuddered to think of it. I was painfully aware there was a part of me that didn’t want her to succeed for that very reason. It was incredibly selfish of me and I knew it. I thought someone should start a support group for the Nobody partners of famous people.
One night about a week after the package, I came home and Janine was on my doorstep. It was one of those snapshot moments, filed in your memory cells for instant recall. I came walking around the corner, and there she was, wearing jeans and a spaghetti strap tank top, not looking like a famous or about-to-be famous person at
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