Which made me consider the idea that if Lorena still needed me, would she still need Josephine too?
“What about Jo?”
She hummed, mulling over my question. “I love Jo and I think she’s really been an asset over the last few months.”
“So you’ll keep her on?” I prodded.
“Yeah, if she wants to keep working for me. She’s really blown up since that runway show last week. Even if I just pay her to wear my designs, it’d be really good for the brand.”
“What other positions are you having people apply for?” I asked.
“Ideally, I’d like to find two good interns and an assistant designer. Obviously I need to really vet every applicant, but if I expect to create a new line by next season I need way more manpower.”
“Yeah, I agree.”
“We can start to tackle that on Monday though. I just wanted to call you and get your opinion on staying on while I was brave enough to do it.”
I laughed.
“Do you think you’ll miss living in Boston?” she asked.
I narrowed my eyes as I thought over her question. “It was pretty nice to have some distance from Mom.”
She laughed. “Yeah, I bet. Did you get her invitation for dinner tomorrow night?”
My mother had sent us both formal invitations for a family dinner. The card was like an inch thick and embossed with our family crest. It was all too pretentious for me, but it made my mother happy to cut down trees for dinner parties, so whatever.
“Yeah, and I have to go or I’ll look like an asshole.”
“You’re the prodigal son finally back in New York City! She’s probably going to parade a line of fertile females for you to select from.”
I cringed. “You make it sound like she’s running a brothel.”
She laughed. “Yeah, I guess you’re right. That’s pretty gross.”
“You know what though, I was surprised she came down to visit you in rehab.”
It’d taken guts for my mother to face the music. She’d always lived in eternal la la land where the only thing that could go wrong was that she’d arrive five minutes after a sale ended at Bergdorf’s.
“Yeah. I know. She’s called and checked in on me every day since then too. I really do think she’s coming around. We need to go to dinner tomorrow.”
I groaned. “Fine. I’ll start ironing my three-piece suit now.”
“That’s the spirit!”
…
By the following morning, Josephine still hadn’t called me back. Ten calls, two voicemails, and still no call back. She was either avoiding me or kidnapped in the middle of Texas. I clutched my phone and resisted the urge to call her for the eleventh time. Instead, I changed into workout gear and hit the long trail around Central Park. Exercise always cleared my head and I figured that by the time I was finished, Jo would have finally called. I left my phone on the couch in the hotel and hit the trail.
As I ran, I thought of what I’d do if I moved to New York full time. Helping Dean with his new restaurant wouldn’t take up all of my time, hardly any in fact considering he had a team set up around him to do most of the legwork. He just needed me as an investor, which meant I’d have plenty of time on my hands.
I definitely wanted to stay on with Lorena. I liked working with family and I had good ideas on how to make her business profitable. I could find a new place to live near her new shop and start to really lay down roots in the city.
When I finally made it back to my hotel room, my lungs were burning and my legs were threatening to quit. I ripped my shirt off and walked straight for my phone. There was no call from Jo, but I had a voicemail waiting for me from an unknown number.
I hit play on the voicemail, kicked off my shoes, and headed toward the shower.
“Hi Mr. Lefray. This is Elizabeth Hope from the social media team here at Vogue. I just have a few questions pertaining to your work experience with Josephine Keller as we’re considering her for a position in our Vogue offices. Would you mind giving me a call back at your earliest convenience? Thank you.”
What the fuck?
I replayed the message twice, trying to determine if I’d heard it right.
Jo had applied for a position at Vogue?
She wanted to leave Lorena Lefray Designs?
I stared down at my phone and scrolled to Josephine’s name on my