Page 27

-Dawn
P.S. Quit being a dick.
“Great,” I mutter to myself. Spencer already has Dawn on her side which doesn’t bode well for me. There are very few people brave enough to verbally tear me a new one. Dawn is at the top of that list, followed by my dad. She’s been in my life since I was a teenager. She’s more to us than an executive assistant or office manager; she’s family.
I pick up the boxed phone, still secure in shrink wrap. Hm, maybe Spencer’s more well off than I realized. I didn’t get that impression from her behavior at the club, then again, she recognized my watch. Maybe she has some money if she can so easily buy an iPhone outright and hand it over as a gift. If so, why the hell is she working as my assistant?
I grab the receiver from my office phone and hit speed dial three. Dawn picks up on the first ring. “Dawn Pryce.”
“What did Spencer say when she gave you this phone?”
“Good morning, Nathan. Might we start with pleasantries?”
“Sorry. Good morning. How was your flight?” Dawn accompanied Dad on an urgent trip to L.A. to address a funding issue on one of the complexes he’s building. Somehow they already blew through the entire construction budget and the townhouses are barely framed. I almost feel bad for the project manager who took that ass-chewing.
“The flight was uneventful. I played a lot of Candy Crush. How’s your morning? Have you eaten? I’m about to pop out to grab a coffee and bagel for your father. Would you like anything?”
“No.” I pause. “Wait. A bagel, please.”
“Lox, no dill?”
“Yes.”
“And a cortado?”
I sigh defeatedly. “Yeah. Thank you.” This is why I don’t need an assistant. I can do everything myself and Dawn’s here to fill in the cracks.
“Okay. Give me thirty minutes.”
“Thanks.” I hang up the phone, then growl in frustration when I realize what just happened. I press speed dial three again.
“Yes, Nathan?”
“The phone. What did Spencer say it was for?” I wonder if she blabbed to Dawn about our encounter on Friday. It makes me uncomfortable. Dawn and Elise were close. I don’t want her to think I was out acting like some sort of party boy hitting on loose women. I know she’s gone.I know, I know.But this shadow of guilt follows me everywhere I go.
“Spencer said she accidentally shattered your screen. She felt bad and was trying to make it right. I also have the gift receipt if you want to exchange it for a more whimsical color.” She cacklesto herself, surely picturing me with an electric-blue phone which would be very out of character for me. My style is minimalist, blacks and grays, clean lines, no fuss.
“That’s all she said? There has to be some ulterior motive.”
She issues a sharp, exasperated sigh into the receiver. “You know, Nathan, she’s a nice girl. And smart. While you’re over here pulling an Elsa, holing yourself up in your lonely ice castle, the rest of us are enjoying the company of your very sweet new assistant.”
“Mhm.”
“In case you’re confused, that was a reference from the movieFrozen—the first one, which is a masterpiece. The second one fell short.”
“For you. I enjoyed it.” Claire and I used to watchFrozenandFrozen 2on repeat. But that’s when she was eight. I wonder if she even likes those movies anymore.
“My point is, cut Spencer some slack. So far she still doesn’t have access to your calendar, you don’t allow her in your office, and you haven’t forwarded one email to her. She just sits there, rotting.”
“I told Dad I didn’t want another assistant.”
“Yeah, and I don’t want varicose veins at age forty-four, but life is what it is.”
There’s an awkward silence between us. “I uh…” I clear my throat. “Are those painful?”
“No. Anyway, Spencer needs this job. She’s not a trust-fund baby. She has to work for everything she has.So let her work.You’re not the only one who has faced real tragedy.”
“What does that mean?” My mind starts to run in several directions. Spencer couldn’t afford this phone? What tragedy? Why does she really need this job?