I pinch the bridge of my nose. He knows what the job meant to me. He took this away from me on purpose, and it pisses me off.

Aubrey leads us into the conference room for our scheduled meeting with Diana and the rest of the executive staff at Center Stage. My stomach rolls as I take a seat and scoot closer to the table. I fold my hands on top of the notepad I brought with me and take a deep breath.

Ms. Swagger takes her seat, and looks at me before slipping on her glasses. “Ms. Vance, would you care to fill us in on how your meeting with Mr. Falcon went?”

The finger nails of my left hand dig into the skin on the back of the opposite hand. Telling this woman I screwed up will be like nailing my own coffin shut, but what other choice do I have?

I readjust myself in the chair. “Actually, Ms. Swagger, I—”

She holds up a finger toward me, asking for me to pause, before she pushes a button on the intercom in front of her. “Jillian, dear, there isn’t any water in the conference room. Could you see that some is brought in immediately?”

“Right away, Ms. Swagger,” the secretary replies. I can tell by the response Diana always gets what she wants.

Without skipping a beat, Diana turns her attention back to me. “Ms. Vance, can I just say I’ve never received a phone call quite like the one I got from Mr. Falcon yesterday.”

My heart leaps into my throat. Oh God. Here comes the boot. I need to do every thing I can to keep my internship. “I can explain about that.”

Diana leans back in her chair. “Please do. It seems some of my account executives could learn a thing or two about reeling in a client.”

My brow furrows, and I glance over at Aubrey who just shrugs in response. “I’m sorry, but I’m a little confused. What exactly did Noel—er, Mr. Falcon say?”

“We had a lengthy conversation about the long term goals of the marketing campaign for his children’s literacy program, and Mr. Falcon is adamant that you take the lead on this project. He seems to think you are the only person on my team that understands him and his goals. Of course, I explained that you were only an intern and that I felt it best for someone with more experience head this up, but Mr. Falcon blatantly refused. He said he wants you, and you only, or he pulls the account from us.”

My eyes widen. “Are you offering me a job?”

Diana smiles and removes her glasses. “Yes, with the stipulation that you are successful with the Black Falcon project. If it fails, then I’ll have no choice but to let you go.”

All the eyes of the other marketing team members focus on my reaction. Children’s literacy hits home for Noel. He grew up with dyslexia and reading was always a struggle for him and he knows that I know that about him. It explains why he thinks I’m the best person for his job.

I rub the back of my neck as I feel the weight of the pressure push down. Even though I’ve known him forever, I don’t understand why on earth Noel would make that kind of request? He hates me now. He made that perfectly clear back in Houston. Why would he want me around more—to torture me, probably.

Is a job really worth all of this?

I have to grab this opportunity with both hands and do my best to keep my relationship with Noel strictly professional.

I swallow hard. Those are some hefty stakes, but I’m willing to take it on. “Understood.”

She nods. “Good. Welcome to the Center Stage family. Aubrey, see that Human Resources changes Ms. Vance’s employment status to full-time.”

I watch my best friend make a note in her elegant script. “Yes, Ms. Swagger.”

“Oh, and Aubrey, find this young lady a desk so she can get to work.” Diana winks at me before moving on to the next order of business.

After the meeting ends and everyone clears out of the room, Aubrey yanks me into a tight hug. “Oh my God, Lanie. What the hell just happened? Instead of getting the boot, you get handed a job on a platter. I thought you said Noel didn’t tell you anything.”

My head spins. All this doesn’t seem real. “He didn’t. When we were in Texas, it was like he couldn’t get away from me fast enough.”

She twists her ruby, red lips into a slight grin. “Sounds like he’s doing whatever he can to keep you close.”

I roll my eyes. “He only wants to punish me for breaking up with him. You saw how he loved shoving the two naked skanks in my face.”

Aubrey sighs. “That was pretty gross, I’ll give you that, but it wasn’t like he meant to do that, Lanie. He didn’t know that we’d come busting through the door unannounced.”

“Yes, he did. He even invited us to join. Ugh,” I growl in frustration. “Whose side are you on, anyway?”

“Yours, always yours, you know that. All I’m saying is he did go out of his way to make sure you got this job. Would he really do that just to get back at you? Give him a chance. Maybe it was an off night. He might actually want to be friends again.”

I shrug. Damn her. Why does she have to be so rational?

Aubrey smiles, “When you meet up with him again, plaster on the biggest smile you can muster and win him over. He’s the key to keeping your job. Remember the old saying, ‘fake it ‘til you make it’?”

I nod. That’s exactly what I have to do “You’re right. I’ll do whatever it takes to keep this job.”

“Of course I am. Now, let’s go pick out your future shitty cubical.” Aubrey giggles and pulls me into the hallway.