Page 30 of Crash and Burn

"Wouldn't you like a steady paycheck?" my mom asked. "No more relying on tips from strangers?"

She was right that I couldn't always rely on a good haul from month to month, when some weeks were slower than others. I did make more than I had at Manny’s but it still wasn’t stable.

"And wouldn't it be nice to get off your feet?" she continued. "I'm sure standing all day isn't doing anything good for your back."

"My back is fine," I said through gritted teeth, even though I had been experiencing some aches and pains lately.

"I just want you to think about your future, Elizabeth," she said. "You're already past the age when most young adults finish college. If you're going to go back to school, it should be sooner rather than later."

"I've got to go," I told my mom quickly. "There's someone on the other line."

"All right, but think about dinner—"

"I'll talk to you later." I hung up quickly before she could continue.

I pressed a hand to my forehead and let out a deep sigh.

My mom always did this. She always gave me a billion reasons why I should go along with her and my dad's plan for me.

I rubbed at the bridge of my nose as I felt a headache coming on.

My mom wasn't totally wrong. I did sometimes worry about my tips not being as consistent. I was starting to feel the strain in my back.

Honestly, part of the reason why I'd stuck around at Manny's so long, and then continued working at Sin and Tonic, had been because of Grant. If it weren't for him, I might have moved on a long time ago.

Maybe my mom was right. Maybe it was time to start thinking about a career change.

With a heavy sigh, I shoved my phone back into my purse.

My hand brushed the business card. I stared at it again. Well, might as well see who this guy was.

I typed the name into the search engine and scrolled through the results.

I stopped. I scrolled back up to the top. Then scrolled back down. My mouth dropped.

Holy.Shit.

Navy suit guy with salt-and-pepper hair wasn't some modeling agent. He wasn't some random staff member.

Cliff Carling was the brains behind Farrow and Paige, one of the top fashion labels in the world.

I hadn't recognized his name because the clothing brand wasn't named after him, buteveryoneknew Farrow and Paige.

My mind raced a million miles a second.

Cliff Carling had complimented my outfit.

He'd compared me to Diana Six and Ana Versailles.

He'd given me his business card and told me tocall him sometime.

I stared down at the search results on my phone in one hand. I shifted my gaze to the business card in the other.

Slowly, I tapped the call button and typed in the string of numbers.

I almost didn't believe it. I almost thought it was a prank.

But then someone on the other end of the line answered the phone.