Page 91 of Go Back to December

“Head of pro bono,” she confirms.

“He doesn’t handle all of them.”

“He does,” Lacy and Amal say in unison.

The sound of my head hitting the counter can’t drown out my groans.

“I’m guessing this means Baz is no longer onside,” Lacy says. “And that’s why you came in here wailing like a sex-deprived banshee.”

“I’m sorry. I overreacted.”

“Reminds us of no one else you’ve been spending copious amounts of time with.”

“Which has, thankfully, has ended. He delivered on his end of our agreement.”

I tell them both about the B-Corp application and the city funding proposal.

Lacy nods like she’s firing a machine gun. “Okay, okay, we can work with this. We can file the paperwork as soon as things open after the holiday. And I can follow-up with our sponsor list from the party.”

“Discreetly,” I caution.

She glances at the camera and grins. “We’ll see if we can release a preview of the documentary next week, ahead of the partner vote. It’s the best leverage we’ve got.”

Amal glances at me. “You okay with this, boss?”

“Do I have a choice?”

“No,” they say together.

As I help Lacy break down the camera, I duck my head. “I am sorry for biting your head off earlier.”

“Forgiven. Hey, nothing bad happened between you and Baz, right?”

“Why?”

“I thought the other night at Q…”

“What, that it was real?”

She gives me a long look. “Yeah.”

I laugh without humor.

In a soft voice, she asks, “Did you want it to be?”

My phone buzzes with a notification.

Sybil Jackson

Mel, happy holidays. Hope you are recovered.

Any chance you might stop by the café today?

Happy Holidays. I’m feeling fine and here doing some paperwork.

Excellent.

Consider this an urgent order for any snacks you have on hand.