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Farrah set her fork down and said, “I totally agree. I know it might not have been the case every time, but when I was applying for all those jobs right after the divorce and I kept getting rejected, part of me was wondering if some of those employers were judging me because of my size. I was lucky that I had you, Mia, to help talk me up and help me get my foot in the door at Griffin Industries. You changed my life.” Her voice broke on the last sentence.
My eyes stung with emotion, and I understood Ford in a whole new way.
He got to experience this feeling all the time with Ford’s Friends, to see the impact he was making. That meant prioritizing his work so a relationship didn’t detract from moments like this.
But as I ate lunch with my friend and our moms, I had to wonder… couldn't we have both?
24
FORD
For the next couple weeks,Mia was too busy with meetings and work travel to talk. I missed her, a feeling I usually didn’t have for people outside of close friends and family.
I convinced myself that had to be it—we’d developed more of a friendship in the time we’d spent together. So I let myself be excited to see her when she got back from her trip. The team dinner was tonight, and that meant she was coming with me. Trent would be there, watching our every move so he’d know it was real.
I waited eagerly in front of my house for Mia’s driver to collect me. It was one of those fresh fall days that breathed life into the world and made crispening leaves rustle in the trees. My heart beat quickly, knowing I’d be able to see her soon. I wanted to know all about her trip.
I watched leaves rustling until the long black limo cut through the tree-lined driveway toward my house. Dress for team dinners was business casual, so I was in a Diamonds polo and khakis. The breeze caught the athletic material of my shirt as I went down the steps to meet the car. The driver got out on his side, but I reminded him, “Zeke, you don’t need to bother for me. Mia, though?—”
“Precious cargo,” he said with a warm smile.
“Exactly.” I reached for the back door of the limo and got inside.
I’d expected to be alone, so I nearly jumped out of my skin seeing Tallie sitting there.
She examined me casually. “I should have warned you I’d be here.”
“You think?” I muttered, settling in across from her. I swear she never got rattled. “What’s going on?”
“I’m going to prep you during our drive to Mia’s. She mentioned this night was very important to you, so a refresher of the talking points is never a bad idea.”
“That’s... thoughtful,” I said. In fact, it was exactly Mia’s brand of thoughtfulness to bring in an expert when I needed it most. I was touched.
Until Tallie countered, “It’s not thoughtful. It’ssmart. Mia didn’t get to where she is without looking ahead.” The respect she held for Mia was clear in her tone. But so was the death of any thought that Tallie’s presence had been special for me.
“Let’s get to it, lover boy,” Tallie said. She pulled out a manila folder with talking points and had me read over them by myself. The level of detail that went into this plan was like none other—she even included phrases for me to say to teammates, their plus ones, Trent, and Mia for when people could overhear us.
“Where did you learn to do this?” I asked Tallie, holding up the sheet. Even the team’s publicist wasn’t this thorough.
“No time to talk about that. Let’s practice the lines.”
“Sure.” I could respect her focus. We got to work, and I found it was easy to say the phrases meant for friends, but when I got to the part directed to Mia, I had a hard time. My hands were sweating on the page, making it flimsy.
Tallie said, “Practice the look. The one that says you think she’s beautiful and you aren’t noticing anyone else in the room.”
I attempted it on Tallie.
She frowned.
“What?” I asked defensively.
“You look like you just took too many laxatives.”
I buried my face in the folder, groaning.
“What’s going on?” Tallie said. “You were doing great before.”
“It’s weird doing this part with you instead of Mia,” I admitted.