Total pages in book: 71
Estimated words: 66518 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 333(@200wpm)___ 266(@250wpm)___ 222(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 66518 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 333(@200wpm)___ 266(@250wpm)___ 222(@300wpm)
“I know. I really needed to see you.”
“Are you okay?”
I started to reach for my standard reply and tell him everything was fine, but I couldn’t make myself say it. Instead, I shocked both of us by bursting into tears. He sounded alarmed when he asked, “What’s wrong, Hal?”
I choked out, “Nothing. I’m sorry.” Then I began sobbing.
“It’s okay, baby. Let it out.”
He was so patient, speaking to me quietly and reassuringly while I curled up in a ball and cried. It was several minutes before I finally got it under control. When I sat up and wiped my face with some tissues, he said, “Please tell me what’s wrong.”
“I had such a horrible day. It was a bunch of little things, and one big thing, and I guess I finally reached my breaking point.”
“What happened?”
I sniffed and hugged my knees to my chest. “First, I went and picked up the letter of recommendation from my internship. The designer didn’t have it ready on my last day, but whatever. So, I made a special trip across town to get it, and then it turned out to be completely worthless. It was just a couple of sentences, along the lines of ‘Hal did fine. I didn’t really get to know him, but he seemed adequate.’ That’s it, after six months of being treated like his unpaid personal assistant, running errands, and doing grunt work because he refused to trust me with anything design related.”
“That sucks.”
“It does, but it wasn’t even the worst thing that happened today. I got fired from my job at the boutique.”
“Why the hell would they fire you?”
“I saw this horrible little rich girl stuff a scarf in her bag, and when I confronted her, she created a huge scene. She called me a liar and acted totally offended, and my boss took her side over mine. All he had to do was ask to check her bag. He would have seen the stolen scarf, but because this girl comes from a wealthy family, god forbid he’d insult her. Instead, he fired me on the spot, and this girl looked so smug. Oh, and obviously she was shoplifting for the thrill of it, since she could have bought out the entire shop with her daddy’s platinum card.”
“I’m so sorry that happened to you.”
“It was humiliating, and it made me feel worthless. I’d worked there almost a year, but that didn’t matter. I didn’t matter. He treated me like I was disposable, and this little brat got a good laugh out of it.”
Ryder was outraged. “Fuck the guy at the internship and everyone at the boutique! They don’t deserve you.”
“Thanks for saying that, but I feel like such a failure. Not just because of those things, either. I went to my studio on campus after I left the boutique. I thought maybe I could channel my hurt and anger into something productive and come up with some ideas for a new collection. Instead, I just sat there staring at a blank page in my sketchbook for a few hours, before finally giving up and heading home.”
I sighed and added, “As the cherry on top of this shit sundae, some guy grabbed my ass on the bus. He mistook me for a girl. When I turned around and he saw I was a guy, he acted all offended. Like I was the one who’d done something wrong, not him.”
“What a fucking asshole.” Ryder’s voice was practically a growl.
I curled up in a ball again as the tears started back up. “It was too much for one day. I was already feeling worthless and talentless, and like I’m totally failing. Then all of that happened.” I took a shaky breath and muttered, “I hate the fact that I’m crying. Why can’t I stop?”
“It’s okay. You need to let it out.”
“No. I need to be stronger than this.” I felt so weak and broken. I absolutely hated feeling like that.
Ryder’s voice was so soft when he said, “I wish I was there with you.”
“I’d give anything for that,” I whispered. “It would feel so good to be in your arms.”
Even though that was absolutely true, I felt guilty for saying it out loud. I never wanted him to feel bad about the fact that his life was half a continent away.
I pulled my blanket up like a hood and concentrated on calming myself down. After a moment, Ryder asked, “Did you have dinner tonight, baby?” I shook my head, and he asked, “Have you eaten anything today?”
“I had some coffee this morning,” I muttered. “I can’t remember after that.”
“If I have some food delivered to your house, will you eat it?”
“Not tonight. My stomach’s in knots. I just want to go to sleep and put this day out of its misery.”
“What’s on your schedule for tomorrow?”