father comes out of his own. “You look nice,” he says, and I know he’s lying. I had to put some makeup on under my eyes to cover the discoloration.
“Is it okay if I come back here tonight?” I ask him, and he stops walking.
“You never, ever need my permission. This is your home; all my homes are your homes.” I nod at him. “Now if it ever gets too much, I want you to step away. Do you understand me?”
“I do,” I tell him and go to kiss his cheek. “Thank you, Dad.”
He nods at me, and I walk out the door, going to my car, sending Sylvia a text that I will be on the set in thirty minutes. She answers back that she is already there. When I called her last night and told her everything, she didn’t say a word. She only said she would take care of it, and that was it. I make my way to the set, my heart pounding in my chest and the tears burning my eyes. I let one slip by, thinking it’ll be just one, but it isn’t.
“You can’t let him see that he broke you,” I tell myself and blink away the stinging. “Tonight, you can cry rivers, but right now, you can’t. Do not let him see you emotional.” I pull in, and I force myself not to look for his car. I walk onto the set with my shoulders back, but my head hanging a touch. I step into trailer eight where Sylvia told me to meet her. I knock, and then I hear her shout at me to come in. I walk up the step, and I see her sitting at the table with her papers all in front of her. She takes off her glasses and looks at me. “You look nice.”
“Well, at least I look nice,” I tell her, going to the table and sitting on the couch. “Sylvia . . .”
“Don’t,” she says, shaking her head. “You don’t have to say anything. You don’t choose who you fall in love with. It just happens, and there was nothing you could have done differently.”
“I think there are a couple of things I could have done differently.” I take a deep breath. “What time is the meeting?”
“Ryan will be here in thirty minutes, and we have the meeting in forty.” I nod at her. “Let’s start switching things over.”
I nod at her, grabbing my notes and computer. We work side by side until there is a knock on the door, and Ryan comes in. “Morning,” he says and then looks at us. “Are we ready?”
I nod my head at him. “As ready as she will ever be.” I hear Sylvia say, and she leads the way out of the trailer. We walk over to stage three where there is a conference room set up. I look down while we walk there, not wanting to see him, not ready to see him. We stop right in front of the table, and I hear Jeff.
“Hey, guys,” he says, and I look up to see Jeff and then right beside him, my eyes find him. I give myself a second before I look away. My father was right; it’s not as painful as I thought it would be. It’s worse. “Shall we get this meeting going?”
Sylvia walks to the table and sits at the far end with Ryan next to her and finally me. Sylvia took the seat in front of Carter. I don’t know if they did it on purpose, so I can escape fastest or not, but I don’t have time to think about it because Sylvia gets right to it.
“So there has been a change in plans,” she starts, and I see Jeff look over at Carter who sits in his chair the whole time looking at Sylvia. He looks like he hasn’t slept. “From now on, I will be the one working Carter’s case,” she says, and I am looking at Sylvia when I feel Carter turn and look at me. “Erin set up everything already, and the transition should be smooth.”
“No surprise there.” His voice comes out, and it cuts me. What little piece of healing was done is now gone just from the sound of his voice. “She got what she needed from me.”
Ryan now sits up straight. “If you will excuse us.” He pushes back from the table, and I look up at him. “Carter, I need a minute.”
“It’s fine,”