Crescendo

Chapter 10

"I'm sorry, you agreed to what?" Mia screeched over the phone. A printer roared in the background. Her next meeting was in an hour and I was sucking up her limited free time with my drama.

"How's the Greene Project?" I asked, avoiding the impending lecture.

"Don't change the subject."

I sighed, "I just wanted you to know in case I go missing or something." I fidgeted with my car keys as I drove, letting them clink against each other.

There was silence on the other line, "Did he make you sign a contract?"

"What?"

"Don't just say fuck the paperwork," Mia continued, "The details matter."

I knew we shouldn't have watched Fifty Shades last summer.

"It's not like that."

I could feel her rolling her eyes. Just wait until Tessa finds out.

Scratch that, Tessa couldn't find out. She'd blow it way out of proportion.

"Yeah, sure, agreeing to be in a fake relationship isn't exactly what it sounds like."

"It's a last-ditch effort." I left out the part where I felt like a washed-up has-been. Blair who?

Mia didn't press. Instead, her tone softened, "You don't need his help, or whatever it is he's offering. You're plenty creative without him."

"Thanks," I said tight-lipped and drowning in disbelief.

Mia decided to change the conversation. "Have you talked to Jay?"

"Not really," I hesitated to tell her about his text, "I don't want to get in over my head again."

"You weren't in over your head, Blair. You were in love."

Same thing.

"He made it clear that we were a mistake."

"Abigail got into his head." So Mia claimed, but I knew that if we were as close as I thought no one should have been able to come between us. He wanted to walk away and, most of the time, I couldn't blame him. "I know he said a lot of things but he wants to take them back."

I paused, "How do you know that?"

Silence.

"He told me."

I tapped my fingers against the steering wheel and fought the urge to swerve into oncoming traffic.

"Blair?"

"Yeah," I took a deep breath, "I'm here."

"I'm sorry, I just hate seeing you both suffer."

"I'm not suffering," I said more for my sake than hers.

"Yeah," Mia sounded unconvinced but I didn't have the strength to continue the conversation.

"Hey, I need to go," I said, already turning off the highway, "I'm almost at Daniel's."

"Daniel's? Doesn't he live outside of the city?"

"Yes." The chateau-esque house still belonged to an affluent zip code. The super saver that he is.

"And he invited you over?"

"We're going to a party. It's just a casual thing."

"Casual fake dating?"

"That's what he told me."

Mia wasn't wild about the idea, I could tell by the scoffing on the other line. Luckily, she decided not to verbally object. "Just be careful and text me when you get home."