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What the hell was she doing?

Before she could second-guess herself, Haylee walked out of the main office to the elevator. The business card burned a hole in her pocket, and she wasn’t sure she was making the right decision. Still, if Febe was going to shut her down at every attempt, then what was she supposed to do? She didn’t want to be a glorified secretary forever, and she’d started to think that was all she was here. She wanted to be valued. That was something she couldn’t give up on, and she needed a place of employment that gave a crap about her.

Cherish cared about her.

Haylee cringed.

She had to stop thinking like that. Yes, Cherish cared, and that was only going to lead them down a road that wasn’t good for either one of them. She’d won the bet with Cherish, and yet Cherish had failed to help her get her point across with Febe. Everyone was a disappointment, Haylee first and foremost.

The lobby was abustle with people who were going to and coming from their midday meal. Haylee had nowhere to go, and she had no money to pay for any food. Plopping her butt onto one of the benches in the front lobby she pulled the business card out of her pocket.

Allegra Ilic.

Her number was printed in a clear font. Normally Haylee would have sent an email, but this was too important for that. And Allegra had told her at the gala to call if she needed something or if she wanted to talk about what they did at the foundation. Haylee bit her lip hard.

This could be her make-or-break moment.

Febe had told her no twice, and she didn’t want to ask a third time.

It wasn’t worth the anxiety or the pain to force herself through that.

Typing the number into her cellphone, Haylee crossed one leg over the other as she pressed the phone to her ear. The first ring. She put both her feet flat on the floor. The second ring. She crossed her legs again. The third ring her toes were bouncing against the floor, energy sucking from everything around her straight into her chest. She couldn’t hold it.

“This is Allegra Ilic.”

Haylee’s voice caught in her throat. Fuck. She needed to speak. “Uh…hi. This is Haylee Coleman. I work for Febe Aarts as her second personal assistant.”

“Right.” Allegra didn’t sound all that interested.

Cringing, Haylee knew she had to get her shit together immediately. “I was wondering if you had time for me to set up a meeting with you soon.”

“Is this for Ms. Aarts?” Allegra sounded distracted. Haylee could hear typing through the phone line, rustling of papers, voices in the background. Where was she?

“No. No, this would be a personal meeting for myself.”

“Oh.” That was definite curiosity.

Allegra’s voice had this strong quality to it that Haylee reveled in. She wanted to be that person already. She wanted to know what she was doing and be confident in her decisions. She needed to know that she was worth something. That she was worth her passion.

“I was hoping to talk to you about an idea I had, and if you know of anywhere that would be receptive to perhaps working with me on it.”

“Okay.” Allegra paused, the tension this time a sweet one. “I have time next week on Thursday morning. I can meet you there.”

“No.” Haylee’s voice was firm. “No, I can meet you at your office. I think that would work better.”

Was she really doing this? Haylee vibrated from the excitement she tried to contain, the excitement that mixed unpleasantly with anxiety.

“What time?” Haylee asked.

“Ten-thirty work for you?”

“I’ll make it work.” Haylee repeated the time to memorize it. She couldn’t forget this meeting. Allegra was doing a huge favor by fitting her into her schedule so quickly.

“Do you mind giving me a hint about what this project is?”

“Um…” Haylee sucked in a deep breath and glanced around. Was Febe lurking somewhere in the corners? Ready to spring out for betraying her? Because that’s what Febe would see this as. More importantly, that was exactly how Cherish would view this. Simple betrayal and disloyalty. “I’d rather wait until Thursday, but I do believe that it’s something that can combine a lot of the work you already do and perhaps some of what Ms. Aarts does.”

“Have you spoken with Febe about this?”