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“Oh, that’s great. I’ll thank her again,” I said, pushing back my tangled hair.
She touched my messy bun. “What’s with the squirrels nest?”
I laughed and swiped her hand away. “It didn’t start that way.”
“Something happened?”
I waved my hands dismissively, pulling the hair tie out and fluffing my hair. “Nothing I can’t handle. I just misplaced some papers from Mr. Marini. I swear I had the purse earlier…”But you never opened it. You assumed. The only thing in that purse, for sure, was the one paperback. No, it was full, I’m sure of it.
My phone vibrated.
Cassidy gestured for me to answer.
My mouth fell open, and my pulse spiked. “It’s Lily Crane. Oh, my God.”
“Deep breaths,” Cassidy said, lifting her arms on a deep inhale and lowering them on an exhale. “It’s going to be fine.”
I took a deep breath, then answered the call. “Hello.”
“Hello, Adelina. It’s Lily Crane.” Her tone was cheery, and I took it cautiously as a good sign.
“I apologize for the early hour.”
“Oh, I’ve been up for a while. It’s fine.”
Cassidy gave me a thumbs up.
“Great. I wanted to speak with you yesterday, but I understand you had an event to attend. How was it?”
“It was great, thank you,” I said, biting my lip.
“I’ve reviewed your samples—”
“I can show more variations if you need them. I made a new scene of the Shadow Prince and the little girl—”
“You did? Wow. I’d love to see it, too. But I’m already sold. I love what you turned in. We were all giddy in our meeting, including the writer. These illustrations are phenomenal.”
I touched my stomach, which was still in tight knots. “Really? You liked them?”
“Ilovethem. They were all so vivid. The writer said it was as if you took the images from her brain. Of course, our team will have changes they want or additions, but we are all highly impressed. We’re moving your designs to our shortlist. How does that sound?”
“Amazing,” I said, my voice catching.
Cassidy did a silent cheer in front of me.
“My team will be in touch with Holly Logan. Ian said you’re using her?”
“Yes, I am, I believe.” We hadn’t discussed it fully yet.
“Great. We’ll have a meeting within the next two weeks.”
“Great. Uhm, thank you. The story resonated with me, and I’m sincerely grateful for the opportunity.”
“We’re the ones who should be thanking you. I saw what you did inTheBumble Bee Balland knew you have the vision to bring life to our writer’s work.”
“Thank you…thanks so much.”
We ended the call, and I screamed while fist-pumping the air.