Page 127 of Just Another Silly Love Song

I jumped up from my chair and ran to the lobby.

Debbie was on the phone when I got there, so I had to wait for her to hang up.

I crossed my arms, getting more impatient by the second.

“You bet. Thanks for calling.” Debbie finally hung up the phone. “Hi, Ben. What’s up?”

I leaned on the counter. “Did you talk with Lori after the meeting?”

She nodded. “Yeah, but just for a moment, but then she said she was going to chat with you about your job in San Francisco. I thought you saw her.”

“I did, but then she got a phone call and—” I blinked. “Wait, what?”

“What?” Debbie said.

“How did Lori know about the job offer in San Francisco?”

Debbie grimaced. “I may have told her, but you were going to tell her anyway, right?”

Still, that didn’t explain why she would just quit like that.

“Not a surprise she quit,” Debbie said. “I mean, with you leaving for San Francisco, she really had nothing here, right? Your show was going to end.”

I stumbled back a step and swallowed hard. “I was flying to San Francisco just for two days, not forever. That job was a contract consulting gig that I was going to do virtually from my home, part-time. Lori thinks I’m moving to San Francisco for a full-time job?”

Debbie nodded and hesitated. “I thought so, too.” She covered her mouth with her hand. “Oh, no.” She stood, her eyes widening. “I’ve really messed things up. This is all my fault.”

Her eyes began to fill, and it took all my strength to not let mine do the same.

That’s why Lori quit, and didn’t even say goodbye.

She must think I’m the worst person in the world.

I closed my eyes and massaged my temples. “This can’t be happening.”

My perfect world was falling apart.

We had the number one show on the radio.

I was falling in love with the girl of my dreams.

And just like that, out of nowhere, it appeared that I was about to lose both.

There was a painful tightness in my throat.

I didn’t even know if there was still time to do anything about it. She had already quit and accepted her old job back. The only thing I could hope for was that she hadn’t signed a new contract there yet.

I pulled my phone from my jeans pocket and called her but it went straight to voicemail, and then I got a message saying the voice mailbox was full.

I banged my hand on the counter. “No!”

“I’m so sorry, Ben.” Debbie frowned. “I don’t know what else to say. I did this, but I hope it’s not too late to make things right.”

I was hoping the same thing.

Giving up was not an option.

“I love her,” I muttered. “I really love her.”