“What was the story about?” he asked.
“It doesn’t matter. What mattered was that I could’ve almost ruined someone’s career with that story. Popular Faces magazine is revered in the celebrity community because they pride themselves in running only stories that are legitimate. They have positive contacts with just about every up-and-coming, as well as major, celebrity in Hollywood. It was a dream job for me. It was like I was doing some sort of public relations service to them. Not dealing in some seedy underworld writing bullshit like the tabloids.”
“You were working for Popular Faces?” he asked.
“Yep. And now I’m not. I was sent home promptly after I took down the story, and both myself and that writer were fired two hours later. In the span of two months, my best friend, my career, my money, and the man I thought I’d spend the rest of my life with were ripped away from me. In the blink of an eye. My mother always told me when it rained, it poured, but this is just too much.”
I felt myself choking back tears while Colin’s eyes volleyed between the highway and the side of my face.
“Abby, I’m so sorry,” he said. “I had no idea you’d been through so much.”
“And that’s why courtesies aren’t always returned,” I said. “See, I was raised with the notion that you just gave courtesy out of the goodness of your heart because you never knew who might need it without the expectation of reciprocity. Apparently, you didn’t grow up with the same notion.”
“Apparently not,” he said. “And for what it’s worth, I really am sorry. For the way I spoke to you and for the things I said. What you’ve endured, most people can’t get through, much less still smiling the way you’ve been.”
“Thanks,” I said.
I didn’t know what else to say. I curled up into the seat and gazed out the window, watching while the snow-covered trees passed us by. I wanted to forget about all of this stuff over the holidays. I wanted to distract myself from it. I could tackle it once Christmas was over. I could plant my feet back onto the ground once Christmas was over and done with. But Colin had been determined to level the playing field, so there it was, leveled so he could feel better about himself.
Only now, I didn’t feel better at all. All I wanted to do was curl up and go to sleep.
Chapter 19
Colin
I couldn’t believe what Abby had just told me. As she sat there curled up into herself, the only thing that ran through my mind was how remarkable she was. I would have never guessed that the woman who was so bubbly and full of holiday spirit had been going through all that. I never would’ve guessed that the woman who was trying to get to know this stranger and continuously kept a smile on her face had just been evicted from her home. She was right. Courtesy was something she needed right now without the forcible reciprocity found within the business world. In my world, if you gave someone a courtesy and it wasn’t reciprocated, your businesses would always be at odds. Reciprocating kindness and making sure things were always even between two parties ensured a foundation of trust.
I was out of my element with her.
If she had the ability to keep that optimistic outlook of hers through all the things life had thrown her way, then she really was a rare type of person. Going through that kind of heartache and abandonment would’ve broken anyone.
It would’ve broken me. That was for sure.
“Abby?”
“What?”
“Do you want to talk about it anymore?” I asked.
“What do you wanna know?”
“Who was the client?” I asked.
“I don’t know if I can talk specifics, honestly,” she said.
“I can respect the professionalism, but something tells me you just need to get it out.”
“And you would know something about that?” she asked.
“Yes, actually. I would. There’s a great deal of things that go on behind closed doors when it comes to business I wish I could tell someone. I’d like to give you that if you’d let me.”
I could tell she was turning the idea around in her head. There were more times than I cared to admit to where I wished I just had someone I could call up and talk with. Someone who was completely unbiased and knew none of the people I had to interact with on a daily basis. Keeping client and professional relations sometimes meant biting my tongue when really, I wanted to spew venom in their direction. People who treated me with disrespect, then turned around and expected me to treat them like a king or a queen. There were times where I’d sit at my desk at one in the morning and look at the phone, just waiting for it to ring to remind me that I wasn’t so alone.
Those were moments I sometimes didn’t even want to admit existed. And if that was the case for her—if she felt as lonely as she looked—I wanted her to know she wasn’t.
I wanted to try and pick her spirits back up, especially since she was digging down deep within herself to try and keep them that way.
“There was a story that came across my desk the morning I got promoted,” she began. “It was one of those anonymous source type stories that we don’t deal in. But the meat of the story was too good not to pass up.”
“What was the story about?” I asked.
“Insider trading,” she said. “There were rumors coming out of the guy’s head office, apparently, that the owner of a rising technological company was seeking insider trading information in order to bolster his
