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But she hadn’t.

Sam slowly tapped on the message thread, watching as it expanded across the screen.

She stared at it for a moment, ready to click back out and resume the endless list of things she had to do.But the very thought of doing that brought on a sense of dread so strong it bordered on nausea.

She stared down at Jess’ name, swallowing as she clicked on her contact.

And then, as if moving on its own, her finger tapped the call button.

She blinked once, snapping back to reality for a split second as she held the phone up to her ear.

It barely finished the first ring before Jess’ voice came through.

“Hey,” she said, somehow sounding both exuberant and soft all in one.

And just the sound of it was enough to quell the dread within her.

It took a second before she remembered she had to say something back.

“Uh—hey,” she said, clearing her throat and straightening up in the cushioned leather chair.

Jess was quiet for a moment, as if waiting for her to say more—to explain why she’d called. But she didn’t know what else to say. Actually, she had no idea why she’d called in the first place.

She cleared her throat again, rubbing a rough hand against the back of her neck. “Sorry—uh—hope I’m not interrupting you at work or anything.”

She cringed, hating herself for not having thought this through more.

Voices murmured in the background, and she could hear the phone shuffling around before Jess said, “No. Perfect timing, actually. I just got out of my last meeting.”

Sam nodded, wracking her brain for words that refused to come.

“Oh,” she muttered. “Good. That’s—good.”

She squeezed her eyes shut, wishing she could hang up and Jess would forget she ever called.

“So you looked over the packet I dropped off?” Jess asked.

Sam blinked. “What?”

More shifting crackled through the phone, along with more murmuring voices. “The PR stuff,” Jess answered. “You’re ready to go over it?”

“Oh—yeah,” Sam said, the words tumbling out. “Yeah, of course.” She shifted, changing the phone to her other hand. “That’s why I called.”

“Great,” Jess said, not missing a beat. “Do you want to text me some days and times that work? Your schedule is probably busier than mine, so just let me know what’s best for you.”

Sam swallowed, staring down at the laptop in front of her as a new string of emails appeared. They kept coming, like a swarm of bees attacking from every angle. Different words jumped out at her, each with their own version of some new urgent problem she couldn’t ignore.

“Sam?” Jess’ soft voice came through the phone.

She shook her head, promptly shutting the laptop.

“Yeah. Sorry.”

Jess was quiet for a moment before she finally spoke again. “Actually, are you free now?”

“Yes,” Sam breathed, the word shooting from her mouth like water expelling from half drowned lungs.

***