“Oh wow, you know, I hadn’t quite thought of that.” She jotted a note to herself on her Post-it cube. “Thanks for the tip.”
But when the article came out a week later, she couldn’t have been happier. She’d raced to the phone and called Emory first thing that morning after finding the write-up in the Life section. When she arrived at the apartment twenty minutes later, Sarah tugged her inside all the while grinning like a maniac. She was too excited to try to act anything but foolish and had absolutely no problem with that. “Read it. Read it. Hurry. Read it.”
Emory laughed when Sarah practically pushed her onto the couch. “Okay, but you have to stop grinning at me like an adorable person so I can concentrate.”
“Got it. No grinning. Not at all adorable. See?” Using the extra energy, she paced very seriously instead, killing time so Emory could read the article. The article all about her family’s business, with quotes from her directly. Super stoked was an understatement.
It was only a couple of excruciating minutes later when Emory dropped the paper and shot her one of her more radiant Emory smiles. The one that caused her whole face to light up and made Sarah all tingly. “So?”
“So, you, in addition to being incredibly cute right now, which was against the rules I might add, are also incredibly famous. This is an awesome article, Sarah. I’m so excited for you.”
Sarah practically tackled Emory in appreciation, threw her arms around her, and eventually settled quite happily into her lap. Emory knew more about these kinds of things, and getting her vote of confidence made everything that much more real.
“It’s so strange to see my name in the paper.” She picked up the page to look again. “I’m nobody. But look,” she held her photo up to her face and grinned alongside it, “there I am in black and white.”
“There you are. And I love this photo, by the way. Who do I have to sleep with to get a copy?”
Sarah slid her arms around Emory’s neck and looked skyward. “It’s possible I can set something up for you.”
“Oh good, then I came to the right place.” She kissed Sarah’s neck at the open collar of her shirt. “Grace home?”
“Nope. Headed out with Mindy’s family on a picnic.”
Emory lifted her head. “So just us? Maybe we can hang out.” She unbuttoned Sarah’s top button and kissed her collarbone.
Sarah’s mind slid to all the things they could do to each other alone in the apartment, but damn it, it would have to wait. “I wish we could, and we will soon. It just can’t be right now. I have to shower.”
Emory stilled. “No? ‘Cause I’m really good in the shower.”
Heat infused her at the memory. “You can’t say things like that to me right now. I’m running late.”
“You have big plans today?”
“I have to work.”
She looked up at Sarah. “It’s Saturday. Even I take an occasional break on Saturday. Let’s take a break together. I kinda like you.”
Sarah feathered her hands through Emory’s hair and leaned in for a light kiss. “I like you too, but Mama picked up a last-minute job and no one else is available. I should have told you when I called. Maybe you can join us for dinner tonight? I promise I won’t make you cook it.”
Emory frowned, trying to piece it all together. “Wait, so you’re not going in to the office?”
“Nope. A house. Real work.” Her eyes flashed as she grinned. “Don’t worry. I didn’t forget how.”
“No, I wouldn’t imagine.” She attempted a smile, but could feel it didn’t quite reach her eyes. She didn’t know why exactly, but she didn’t like the idea. Emory slid Sarah off her gently and crossed to the window, trying to work it out.
“Okay. What just happened in that head of yours? What’s wrong?”
“I don’t know. I just—”
“Hey, look at me.”
Emory did. “I feel like you shouldn’t work directly for the clients anymore. In their homes. You’re heading up the new division. That’s your job.”
Sarah raised her eyebrows. “Yeah, but I don’t mind helping out. Especially if there’s no one to—”
“That’s just it. You need to hire more people. Delegate this kind of thing out to someone else now. You’re the boss. It’s your picture that is in the paper. It’s better business to keep that persona intact. So find someone else for today. Threaten their job. Do what you have to do to make things happen.” She decided to assert herself a little. “I just don’t want you cleaning houses.”
Sarah’s eyes narrowed but her voice remained calm. “You don’t want me to clean houses?”
“You’re beyond that now.”
Sarah had no clue what to say. She didn’t understand where this was coming from, but she certainly didn’t like what it was implying. “I do what I have to do to keep the business running smoothly. If my mother needs my help, I’m going to be there for her. I have bills to pay, Emory. I have a child to support.”
“Then I can pay your bills.”
Sarah steadied herself against the blow, closing her eyes until the urge to snap passed. “You’re serious right now?”
“Dead serious.”
“I can take care of myself. I don’t need or want your money, Em. I never did.”
“Fine, but that doesn’t mean you have to go back three steps, career-wise.”
“What are you talking about right now?” She was staggered by how out of touch Emory was with the realities of her life. “I work for a family-run business. There’s no such thing as a vertical pathway. It takes a village.” But there was an angle to this whole thing that bothered Sarah more, and she had to get to the root of it. “You didn’t mind my working for you at your mother’s house.”
“That’s entirely different.”
“Why? Tell me why that was different.” Her voice was noticeably louder now, but she couldn’t help it.
“Because—”
“Why? Say it, Emory.”
“Because we weren’t together then. It didn’t matter.”
Sarah stared, her voice now calm, even. “And now that we are, I have to be worthy of you, the great Emory Owen?”
Emory looked exasperated, offended even. “What? No. That’s not what I said and you know it. This is about what’s right for you, not me.”
Sarah stared hard at Emory and Emory stared back, crystal blue eyes cool as ice. Emory wasn’t going to give in, Sarah realized, but damn it, neither was she. She wasn’t committing a crime. She wasn’t hurting anyone. This was her job, her life, and she’d live it as she saw fit. “I think we’re going to just have to disagree on this one. You should probably go now. I have to get ready for work.” Sarah didn’t wait for an answer and left Emory standing in her living room as she went in to change.
Once she was alone in her bedroom, Sarah replayed the conversation again in her head. She was angry, yes, but also wildly off-balance by the fact that they’d fought.
It didn’t feel good.
In fact, it felt downright horrible.
She sat on the edge of the bed and allowed her emotions to settle. Once they had, she attempted to see things from Emory’s perspective. In her defense, this was new territory for Emory. Rather than lashing out in anger, maybe she could have taken time to rationally explain to her how things had to work when you weren’t made of money. True, it wasn’t Emory’s place to make decisions for her, but Emory was used to calling the shots in most every aspect of her adult life. Maybe she was in automatic pilot mode. It’s possible that her heart had been in the right place.