Page 109 of Strings

Reaching out to her, I take her hands in mine. “No! Never. The truth is, Amy, I stole this job from you and for that I will be eternally sorry.”

She snickers. “You didn’t steal anything! You were made for this!”

“No, I’m afraid I did.” I take a deep breath and attempt to compose myself. I hope she doesn’t hate me too much, but I wouldn’t blame her if she did. “See, the thing is, I lied on my résumé. I’ve never worked for an orchestra. I’ve never been to Vienna and I have zero experience being an events manager.”

She stares at me for a moment as she seems to process what I’ve said and I wait for the blow.

“Is that what you wanted to tell me?”

I nod sheepishly.

She laughs. “For crying out loud! You had me worried you were dying or something!”

I flinch my head back slightly and squish my eyebrows together. “I don’t think you heard what I said.”

She waves me off. “Yes I heard you. You lied. You have no real experience, blah, blah, blah. Now, is there anything else?”

I shake my head and my mouth drops. “I’m telling you the truth!”

“I know you are.”

“But?” My head starts to pound. “Amy, I don’t understand. Why aren’t you angry? Or, for that matter, at least shocked?”

She stands and places her hands on top of mine. “You’re so cute. Do you really think I didn’t know that already?”

“What? You knew? How? When?”

“Do you remember the second day you were here and I told you we needed to go down to meet with vending and you asked me where the vending machines were?”

I cringe. “Yeah.”

“That was my first clue. But you’re smart and generous and you picked up on things quickly. I knew there was a reason Bordo hired you even if you didn’t have the right experience.”

My heart drops. “Bordo didn’t hire me. You’d better sit back down. There’s more.”

I proceed to tell her about Mercer and what I did to get the job. I tell her about meeting Sebastian on the plane and our fake relationship. I explain how I really fell for him and how I ruined it all last night. With every word I say, she sinks deeper and deeper into her chair. She frowns, cringes, and even wipes a tear away, but she never says a word. I ramble on and on. I spare no details. When I finally tell her everything, I sigh and stare at her. She doesn’t respond.

“Amy, please say something. I want you to know I never meant to hurt anyone, least of all you. I am so sorry.”

She embraces me. I don’t know what it means and I’m leery. Maybe she’s going to squeeze me to death.

“Thank you for telling me. It’s seriously the best story I’ve ever heard. You could write a book.”

“I didn’t make it up. It’s real, I swear!”

“I know it is. And the part where you realized you loved Sebastian but didn’t tell him? You’re killing me. We need to get him up here. You need to tell him!”

“Aren’t you mad at me? Disgusted with me at the very least?”

“Of course not. We’ve all done things we regret. At least you told me. Don’t worry, I still love you. Now, we have the Gala tomorrow night and lots to do. Plus, next Wednesday we have the conductor coming in from France. We really should—”

“Amy, I’m leaving. I’m going to resign. I won’t be here for any of it.”

Amy’s eyes grow wide and she practically leaps toward me. “No! You can’t quit! I won’t let you! No! No! No!”

I smile. “You are seriously the best person I’ve ever known. But I have to quit. I’m sure everyone is going to hear the truth soon enough, and I want to turn myself in. I told you all of this not only because I know you can handle the Gala on your own, but also because you’re my friend.”

“But the surprise tomorrow night!” She stands and quickly moves left, then right. She crosses her arms. “This was for him. You have to be the one to announce them.”