Total pages in book: 151
Estimated words: 140874 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 704(@200wpm)___ 563(@250wpm)___ 470(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 140874 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 704(@200wpm)___ 563(@250wpm)___ 470(@300wpm)
“One shot at what?” I hoped this was about a reconciliation between me and Holli. If it wasn’t, I would be crushed.
She folded her hands on the tabletop. “First of all, Holli doesn’t know I’m here. She carries a grudge like some people carry mononucleosis. It might be better if we don’t mention this to her.”
“It doesn’t matter. She won’t communicate with me, anyway.” Did that sound petty and hurt? If it did, maybe I was entitled to a little bit of that. If Holli was still mad, then this wasn’t about us becoming friends again. At least, not today.
“Good. Second,” Deja went on, “You deserve an apology. I was dishonest with you from the moment I met you.”
“You were the mole, weren’t you?” I hadn’t wanted to believe it was actually her. I’d been perfectly happy with India’s explanation that it had been Jessica, and a few other people who’d remained loyal to Gabriella. “But you didn’t even work for Gabriella. You came in later. HR even investigated your work history, there couldn’t have been any link to her, or Neil wouldn’t have hired you. It would have been—”
“Suspicious?” She nodded. “That’s why Gabriella and I thought it would be so perfect. Nobody in the industry knew anything about me.”
“Then…what’s your relationship to Gabriella?”
She took a deep breath. “My mom and Gabriella grew up together. They went to the same private school, they even went to the same rich girl summer camp,” Deja said with a bitter laugh. “I went there, too. But I wasn’t as good at fitting in as my mom was. I was kind of an angry teenager. I got good grades and everything, and I got admitted to Bryn Mawr. I was planning to go there when my mom died.”
“I’m sorry. I didn’t know.” In fact, the amount I didn’t know about Deja was just starting to hit me. I knew she loved Holli. I knew she was a good person. So, how did a good person end up involved in a bunch of espionage crap?
You ended up in a bunch of espionage crap.
I decided I had to reserve my judgment, lest I damn myself.
“This isn’t an excuse. At all. But when my mom died, I was self-destructive. I was going to blow my entire life, because I was mad at myself for not fulfilling my mom’s expectations of me when she was alive. And my dad was no help. He got remarried within, like, a year, and I don’t know if I wasn’t ready to let my mom go or resentful that he could, but I had no guidance.
“Gabriella stepped in before I could ruin everything for myself. She practically bought my way back into school, she gave me a place to live… She basically became my second mom.”
“But how did I not know this before? I mean, Manhattan is a pretty small island, for a place with eight million people living in it. How did no one know?” Especially since Gabriella was such an iconic figure in the fashion world. Because of her glamorous image, tabloids scrambled to unearth anything possible about her, and they were scary good at their business.
“I didn’t want people to know that I was close to Gabriella because I wanted to get by on my own steam. And I did. I didn’t get my promotions at Rock Monthly because of her. I didn’t have her make any calls or put me in contact with any people. But she gave me advice, and she’s stopped me from doing stupid things to my career so many times…
“The truth is… I had to do what I did for Gabriella. Without her, I would have never gone to college, and I wouldn’t have the life I have now. I would be… I don’t know. Waiting tables in Japan somewhere.”
That struck more of a chord with me than I think she’d intended. Certainly more than she could ever know. Gabriella was to Deja as Neil was to me, minus the romantic entanglement. She’d prevented Deja from making a very big mistake.
However, if Neil had asked me to do something unethical in return…
“You didn’t have to do what you did. It wasn’t right.” I wouldn’t bend on that, no matter how much she apologized.
“I know. It was low. Very low. I started working there with the intention of gathering dirt on Mr. Elwood, and I deserved to be fired when he found out. But once I got to know you, and once I realized how much it was going to hurt you, I stopped. And I never did anything that could have harmed the magazine. It never got that far. But I did harm you.” She looked down at her hands, then back up at me. “I told Gabriella you and he were together.”
My heart dropped.