A Heart to Trust, A.L. Brooks [speed reading book TXT] 📗

of Catwalk. She’d seen bold Olivia in action and found it easy to dig within herself and find some of that same boldness to set free. It felt really good.

Chrissy shifted in her seat. “No, I guess I’m not.” Her face reddened again.

Uh-oh, here we go.

“But seriously, what do you expect?” Chrissy folded her arms and glared at Jenny across the tiny table. “You and Olivia are all best friends now, and you’re Derek’s new favorite, and—”

“Whoa! What are you talking about?” Jenny’s mind spun; Chrissy sounded like she was thirteen years old. “Olivia and I are just working together on this new version of Catwalk. We’re not best friends. That’s ridiculous.” She held up a hand when Chrissy made to interrupt. “And no way am I Derek’s favorite. In fact, he told me this morning that I was a pain in the ass for coming up with this idea and forcing us into so many changes. I mean, yeah, he was smiling as he said it, but still.”

Chrissy’s shoulders relaxed a little.

“Look.” Jenny leaned forward. “You’ve been pretty grumpy these last few days. I know we’re becoming friends, but I don’t know you that well, so is there something else? Something more than the work situation making you mad?”

“No, it’s just…” Chrissy sat back. “It’s gonna sound stupid.”

“Try me.”

“I don’t want to be left behind. I want this job, and I know we all do, but I…” She blew out a breath that made her bangs flutter upward. “I see how close you and Olivia have become recently and it worries me. She’s so manipulative, Jenny. I’ve told you all the things she’s done and you don’t seem to care.” Her bottom lip wobbled. “So, I’m worried that now she’s switched targets. She’s not after you anymore. She’s after me. And you’re going to help her in trying to get rid of me.”

“I… What?” Jenny jerked her head in shock; bile rose in her throat. “You’re right, that is stupid. You don’t get me at all if you think I’d do something like that.”

She made to stand but Chrissy grabbed her arm. “I’m sorry! Jenny, I…”

To Jenny’s horror, Chrissy burst into tears.

Oh, crap.

Jenny sat back down again and shuffled her chair around the table to tentatively lay an arm over Chrissy’s shoulders. “What the hell is going on? Why are you so paranoid about her? Olivia’s been great to work with.” I’m obviously not going to share that she doesn’t trust you either. Jesus, how did I end up in the middle of this mess? “And seriously, she’s done nothing that makes me think she’s ‘after’ either of us. I believe her when she says she had nothing to do with that Excelsior presentation. I think Derek fed you some bad intel there.”

Chrissy pursed her lips.

“Honestly, I think you should give Olivia a chance. She’s just trying to do her job like the rest of us.” Jenny willed Chrissy to believe her.

Chrissy pulled a tissue from her jacket pocket and wiped at her eyes then her nose. “You’re such a good person.” She sniffed. “You see the best in everyone.”

“Well, I don’t know about that, but I think it’s just this situation getting to you, this idea that we’re all competing for these jobs. If you should blame anyone, it should be Derek for pitching us against each other.”

“He’s a good manager. He knows what he’s doing.”

“If you say so,” Jenny muttered.

Chrissy straightened her shoulders. “I’m sorry about all this.” She waved a vague hand in front of her. “I guess it must be my time of the month or something. I’m overreacting, I know.” She gave Jenny a smile. “Let’s just forget it, okay? I mean, I’ll be honest, I don’t think I can trust Olivia like you do, but I promise I’ll stop being so cranky in the office. Okay?”

“That would definitely help.” Jenny squeezed her shoulders, then backed away. “I know it’s going to be awful when Derek does decide which one of us goes, but hey, if we all impress him, maybe he’ll keep us all anyway? Do you ever think of that?”

“That’s… No, I hadn’t thought of that at all. Hm.” Chrissy’s eyes took on a distant look.

“Come on, finish up that half-cold latte and let’s get back. I bought a fresh bag of M&Ms on the way in this morning so we can top up the dispenser.” Jenny grinned at her, relieved beyond measure this awful moment was over. Chrissy was way more highly strung than she’d realized, and Jenny was drained after talking her down.

“That’s definitely enough temptation to get me back there.” Chrissy smiled, but her eyes were still distant.

By the end of October, Jenny had to acknowledge that Chrissy had made a real effort to play nice, even if she still held her suspicions about Olivia.

For her part, Olivia had often cast a suspicious look Chrissy’s way when she wasn’t looking but had not said a word to either Chrissy or Jenny about what she thought.

Instead, the three women had found a steady point where they focused on their work together on Catwalk or left each other alone when they worked on their other projects. It was enough.

Maxwell seemed to roll with whatever was sent his way, but Jenny could tell he didn’t level the same amount of enthusiasm at Catwalk as he had done for any of the projects he’d worked on at TC. Even the thought of spending an evening looking after some of his favorite sportsmen come December didn’t seem to cheer him.

The change in the project had ruffled a few feathers through October, but everything seemed to have settled down. They’d found a replacement for Jason Bentley: an up-and-coming soccer player who was so good-looking, he’d earn them thousands of dollars single-handedly when he marched down that runway. The designers had all, apparently, merely shrugged and got on board with the change of models they would design for and promised that everything would be