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be here without you.”

“I don’t know. I think you’re far more capable than you even realize.

You’ve done all of this without having any sort of training or degree.”

“I might be able to, but there’s only one of me. I couldn’t have got it

all done. I would have been months behind where we are today.”

“Okay. I’ll allow that.”

“You had better,” Taylor laughed.

“I— I guess that I should be going though. If Michelle booked me a

full week, she probably jammed everything into an impossible schedule. I

know it’s only Monday and she probably was wise enough not to book

clients for the afternoon, but I can’t be sure. I better get to the office and

check in with Glenda.”

Taylor realized that everything was going to change. Now that her

business was off the ground, Christina couldn’t find excuses to be there.

She wasn’t a staff member, and she had her own career. Taylor knew it was

coming, but now that she was faced with the prospect of no longer working

side by side with Christina, everything would be different. Taylor would see

a lot less of Christina. She’d probably have go back to working long hours

with her firm. Would she be more stressed? Would she want to hang out

with Chloe anymore? Would she have time for Taylor?

“I still feel like I need your advice,” Taylor said, a little too

frantically. She didn’t want to be clingy or needy.

“You’ll always have it. You can call me anytime. And after work, I

can come over here. Patronize a great business.” Christina’s smile faltered

&n

bsp; in the face of Taylor’s obvious misery. She grabbed her hand. “Hey. It’s

going to be okay. This is exciting. We knew it was coming. You should be

seriously proud of everything you’ve done. This is just the start. Don’t let

Michelle come in here and ruin it.”

“No. I wasn’t thinking about that. I just— I’m going to miss