Page 38 of Frankie and the Fed

“If you interfere, you’ll pay for it.”

“Do you want me to go public with the reason I fired you? Shall I embarrass you and your family that way?”

He narrows his eyes but doesn’t respond. I take a deep breath. “I suggest you keep your distance from me from now on. If you threaten me again, you’ll bear the consequences.” I take the wine and water and return to my friends.

CHAPTER16

Ayala

Good luck tomorrow!

Isend Olive the message and receive a heart emoji back. Unbelievable how quickly the date has come. I enter the offices and go find Liz and Claire to give them a final briefing.

I find Claire in her office, examining camera lenses, and slump into the chair next to her desk. “Everything ready?”

Claire looks up. “I’m debating which lens to take.” She waves two large lenses that seem the same to me.

“Both of them?” I raise my hands, and she exhales. “When is the flight?”

“I don’t remember exactly, but not until this evening, so you have a full day yet. Several network influencers are expected to be in attendance. You’ll want to get photos of them, preferably with a quote. I made you a list of who’s important to photograph.” I hand her a sheet of paper, and she takes it and skims over the names.

“You also attached pictures.” She smiles.

“I didn’t know if you would be able to identify them just by the names.”

“This is excellent. I might have easily missed someone otherwise.” She puts the page in her handbag.

“Where’s Liz? I wanted to talk to her too.”

“She hasn’t arrived yet.” Claire balances the lenses in her hands as if weighing them on scales. “Why don’t you come with us? I understand this is your friend’s opening?”

“Yes, and I’d love to be there for her. But there’s a history for me in New York, and I prefer not to open old wounds,” I mutter.

“Is it related to…?”

I nod, and she shuts up. A year has passed, and still, no one can talk to me about it. They’re afraid to bring up the subject. This is the closest anyone has come so far. Dr. Sullivan thinks it will help me talk about what happened with other people. That I will see that the world will not collapse in on me and that life will go on. But what if he’s wrong?

I go back to my office and start working on organizing the social media budget for next month. I add a section for Olive. She should join our influencer campaign and I plan to ask her about it. It’s perfect for her. I’ll update her with the details after she gets through the stressful opening. I’m sure she’ll agree.

As I lift my head from my laptop and look around, I realize it’s lunchtime, and I still haven’t seen Liz today or had a chance to give her my last-minute tips about the trip. I’m on my way to the cafeteria to search for her when Toby stops me.

“Can you come into my office for a moment?”

I nod and follow him.

“Liz didn’t come in today,” he informs me as soon as we enter. “She contacted her manager this morning, letting him know that she’s sick and wouldn’t be able to make the trip.”

“What? But she’ll probably be fine by tomorrow, right?” There are only a few hours left until the flight. This is so last-minute.

“I don’t know. She says she won’t, and I can’t take the risk. We have to send someone else. Are you sure you don’t want to fly in her place? It was your idea.”

I shake my head. I can’t ask Olive to uninvite him, and I’m just not ready. “Can Carol replace her?”

“Carol needs to finish another article for next week’s magazine. I need her here.”

“How about Samantha?”

“You can try.”