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Oh, and then there was the whole secret business. That didn’t help either. But over the last couple of days, she’d let her anxiety on that count subside slightly. Ellie hadn’t said a word and Jem was starting to be convinced that in actuality, she either didn’t remember the evening, or she didn’t remember Jem. Which wasn’t exactly flattering.

This little meeting though, Jem was unsure which way it was about to go. She’d behaved abominably, of course, although she also truly believed that the hotel wasn’t the right place for the party. She’d sort of expected Ellie to quit or perhaps for her father to fire her.

Yet here she was, a couple of hours later, summoned to a meeting and feeling, well, rather nervous if truth be told. She wasn’t used to behaving that badly, though if it got her the results she wanted, she’d be fine with that.

“You’re early,” Ellie said, pulling out a seat.

Her hair was all messy waves, the way that Jem was sure it would look on a pillow the morning after a good night. “I was in the area,” she said breezily. “How can I help you?”

“I think you’ve done more than enough, don’t you?” snapped Ellie.

“What on earth do you mean?” Jem imbued the words with just the right amount of innocence.

“Are you really that naive? That stupid?”

The word stupid took Jem by surprise and spiked her anger, but the waitress appeared and she tamped it down to make her order politely.

“I’m not stupid,” she said, once the waitress was gone.

“Really?” Ellie asked. “You could have fooled me. You deliberately sabotaged the Walthambridge venue and you thought that I wouldn’t notice?”

Jem slammed her mouth shut. Best not to admit to anything.

“You’re a spoiled little girl, do you know that?”

But she couldn’t keep her mouth shut for that long. “I absolutely am not.”

“You’re not?” Ellie snapped. “Because anyone normal would see that this is my life.”

Jem frowned. “It was a stupid hotel.”

“No, this company is my life,” Ellie said. “I’ve built it up alone, without help from my family, without outside investment. I’ve poured my heart and soul into this and there’s no safety net. What do you think will happen if I get fired from this event? Or if the event ends up being a disaster?”

Jem blew out a breath. “You’ll get another job, I suppose.”

“Because jobs are things you just walk into,” said Ellie. Her cheeks were pink and she was angry, the heat coming off her almost palpable.

“I… suppose?”

“See, that’s the problem. You live in this little bubble of richness and have no idea about the real world. I lose this contract, I do badly, my company will get a bad reputation, I won’t be able to pay my employees, I’ll have to declarebankruptcy, I won’t be able to afford my rent…” She ran out of steam just as the waitress brought their coffees.

“You have employees?” Jem asked curiously.

“One,” admitted Ellie grudgingly.

Jem scratched her nose. “You have a point.”

“I do?” Ellie said, looking surprised.

Jem nodded. “Yes, you do. I behaved badly and was fully intending for you to get fired or quit or anger my father, but I didn’t consider the long term consequences and I’m sorry. I genuinely apologize.”

Ellie stared at her, mouth half open. “Huh?” she said finally.

“Huh what?” asked Jem, stirring some sugar into her coffee. “You’re right, I was wrong, I apologized. Isn’t that how things work?”

“Um… I suppose?” said Ellie, seeming confused. “I, uh, I expected more of an argument, I suppose. I…”

Jem shrugged. “I’m not evil. I understand the difference between right and wrong. You are right, I was wrong. I’m sorry. But that doesn’t change the facts of the matter, does it?”