Page 42 of Falling into Place

“You did? How?” Literally no one knew about that except her mom. She hadn’t even told Benjamin what had happened, just that Mode hadn’t worked out and she was in the process of looking for something else.

Sasha took another bite, nodding as she chewed. “Mai called me. She gave me the rundown and wanted to make sure the magazine wasn’t, like, planning to blacklist Mode or anything. She promised she’d taken appropriate action, and she didn’t expect any additional negative publicity to come from it.”

“Oh.” Carly stared down at the wooden table, wide eyed. “Wow. Okay, then.”

She felt Sasha’s eyes on her and finally met her friend’s gaze. What was Sasha thinking? Did she feel vindicated by what happened? Had she come just to rub Carly’s mistake in her face?

Sasha leaned back and propped one arm across the empty chair beside her. “Honestly, what the fuck is that Princeton lady’s problem?”

“Oh, thank God,” Carly breathed out. Her elbows hit the table and her forehead dropped into her hands. “I thought maybe you came to gloat.”

Sasha snorted. “Come on. I might have been mad at you, but you’re still my best friend. I came to check on you.”

Tears built behind Carly’s eyelids. “I’m so glad to hear that.

” She looked up and reached across the table.

“I’m so sorry. I should have talked to you about Brooks before anything happened.

I never meant to go behind your back. I think I was just kind of blindsided by all of it, and I definitely never thought he’d feel the same way about me.

I got caught up in it and I messed up. I hope you know how important you are to me. ”

“I do.” Sasha grabbed her hand. “I might have overreacted, too. In that moment, I thought you two were just messing around, and was terrified of losing the traction we’d made at the magazine.

I was upset because I thought you were being careless, not because I’m against you being together.

Actually, the more I think about it, the more sense it makes. You’re pretty good for each other.”

Well, that was like a punch to the gut.

“I was so upset for you after I got off the phone with Mai,” Sasha continued. “And I’m sorry I wasn’t there for you when it happened and that you didn’t feel like you could call me. But I figure Brooks has been there for you, right? At least one of us has been.”

Carly just blinked at her. She pulled back, resting her hands back in her lap. “You ... you know he broke up with me, right?”

“He what? ”

“Well, broke up probably isn’t the right term. We never got around to labeling anything in the first place. But yeah, he, uh, ended things. Monday afternoon.”

“Monday afternoon ...” Sasha repeated, almost to herself. She closed her eyes and shook her head. “That idiot.”

“Why do you say that?”

Sasha waved a hand as if it was irrelevant. “Why? Did he give you a reason?”

“He said he needs to work on some things, like dealing with what happened with your parents and how he responds to the things he sees at work. And that he needed to step back from us while he did that.”

“Dammit, Brooks,” Sasha muttered, sounding irritated and disappointed.

“Hey, I don’t hold it against him. He’s an adult, and if he needs space to go to therapy or process his emotions differently, that’s his decision to make.

I get it, and it doesn’t make me care about him any less.

I want what’s best for him. But I’m also not necessarily waiting around until he’s ready. ”

Something like panic filled Sasha’s eyes. “But ... but he loves you.”

“I love him, too. That doesn’t mean we should be together.” It would be nice if things were that easy. “I just ... I have some things to consider, too, you know? Benjamin came back, and—”

“ What? ” Sasha shrieked, earning a glare from an older woman sitting behind them. “Benjamin’s back?”

“Yes, but I’m gonna stop you right there. Now that Brooks is in the picture, you don’t get a say in how I handle Benjamin. You’re no longer a neutral party.”

She snorted. “Like I ever was.”

“Good point.” Sasha had never been a fan of Benjamin. “Still. We’re not talking about that. It will just confuse me, okay? I need to figure it out on my own.”

Sasha practically sank in on herself, the effort to stay quiet almost comical. “Does he want you back?” she blurted.

“No comment.”

“Oh God.”

Carly shook her head and pushed the plate of food closer. “Finish your croissant.”

Sasha nodded like this was an excellent idea and stuffed the rest into her mouth in two bites. When she’d finished, she took a long, slow breath. “You know I just want what’s best for you, too, right?”

“I do. But you know what? I’ve got so many fires in my life right now, let’s put relationships on the back burner and focus on my career for a second. Because that’s an area where I’ll take any and all help you’ve got.”

Her friend pushed the plate aside and rubbed her hands together. “Right. Let’s go. What are you thinking? How can I help?”

Carly gestured at her laptop. “I was searching accounting jobs before you showed up, but nothing popped out at me.”

“Accounting?” Sasha cried. “You can’t go back to accounting. You hated it.”

“I didn’t hate it.”

Sasha slow-blinked.

“I didn’t! Did I love it? No. But it’s definitely not the worst thing I could be doing, and it paid my bills just fine.”

“You can’t give up on a career in fashion,” Sasha said, unmoved. “You can’t. It’s all you’ve been working toward, and you can’t just throw in the towel at the first setback.”

“Getting fired’s more than a setback.”

Sasha ignored that. “Have you even looked for another stylist job? Or something else like it?”

“No.”

“Why not?”

“I don’t know. A lot’s happened this week, Sash. I’d like something in my life to get back to normal.”

“Fashion is normal for you.” She tapped the top of Carly’s laptop with one long fingernail. “Come on, open her up. Let’s take a look.”

“You realize we’re in Oklahoma, right?” Carly said, though she did as she was told. “Not a lot of options in that industry to be had around here.”

Sasha cocked her head and lifted one perfectly plucked brow. “You seem to forget who you’re talking to. I’m the most connected woman in this city.” She cracked her knuckles and leveled Carly with a stare.

“Now, quit whining, pull up Google, and let me work my magic.”