Page 35 of Handsome Devil
“I’m sorry.”
“I just need strength. Send me strength to deal with this shit.”
“You’re the strongest bitch I know, Devi Sereda,” she told me. “But are you thinking about slapping people again?”
I groaned. Katie had listened to me ramble on about wanting to slap Janelle after the party the other night. But fuck no. I wasn’t planning on slapping anyone.
Least of all a man I’d already slapped, once upon a time.
“I’ll really try to restrain myself. Katie, I just want him gone and my life back to normal.”
“I know, babe. It’ll be okay. He’ll see how amazing you are at your job, and he’ll go back where he came from. It’s not like you’re stuck with him forever.” Her voice lowered to a whisper. “Imagine if I’d married Josh.”
“It’s called divorce, my friend. And you would’ve been getting one sooner than later. You probably would’ve ended up exactly where you are anyway. In Jesse Mayes’ bed.”
I could hear her grin through the phone. “Maybe.”
“You two were destined for one another. I can’t possibly be destined for this. Working for one bosshole after another for the rest of my career?” Fuck, that was a depressing thought. “Seriously, am I destined for this?”
“No. You’re destined for good things, Devi. Only good things.”
“Then why is this very bad thing happening? I mean, imagine if someone told you that you couldn’t have Jesse.”
“What?”
“You’re happily married, right? And it fills you up. I know you have your art, too, but your relationship is the heart of your life.”
“True…”
“But I’m not the romantic you are, Katie. I’m happily married to my job. I’m fucking in love with it, actually. I’d take it on dates if I could. I’d rub its back. If this agency was a man, I’d be sucking it off daily. I’m talking blowjobs around the clock.”
Katie snickered. “Lucky guy.”
“I know. I’m totally smitten with this dude.”
“Are we still talking about the agency…?” she inquired.
“Yes. And I feel like Janelle went behind my back and hooked it up with someone else.”
“Ouch.”
“Worse, now that we’re owned by this giant corporate conglomerate, the chance of us getting shut down or relocated, or my job evaporating into the ether, has just increased exponentially.”
“Your job’s not going to evaporate,” Katie said soothingly. Because what else could she say?
“If Janelle didn’t care enough to save us, neither will some giant corporation,” I insisted, the panic rising up a bit. “I’m a west coast girl, Katie. I won’t move to Toronto. They have smog. They work late on Fridays. I won’t do it.”
And Dane Davenport lives there.
Honestly, if the offer ever came across my desk to relocate to Toronto, even for a huge promotion with Superior, I’d have to pass on that fact alone.
“You are not moving to Toronto,” Katie said firmly. “Because I don’t live in Toronto. So that’s settled.”
“I know it is.”
“Just don’t overreact. Wait and see how this all plays out. Maybe your new manager will be way better than Janelle. This could begoodfor the agency.”
“Nope. No one knows how to run this agency better than I do.”
