“Thanks. For what you did.”
The two of them stared at each other silently for a few moments. Then shared a smile.
“Well, I’m going to…” William didn’t finish the sentence and hovered on the spot. Holly couldn’t read him. Was he stalling? Should she ask for his number?
“Yeah. I should get back to work,” she said finally, casting her eyes down.
“Right.”
After a brief moment of awkward silence, a phone rang, and William sprang back to life.
“I need to get this,” he pointed at the phone in his hand. Holly nodded and turned on her heel to walk back to the kitchen.
“I’m not feeling too good. I’m going home.”
William’s voice grew quieter as Holly walked away and it took all of her resolve not to look back. She clenched her jaw angrily.
Thatcher is right. If I don’t put myself out there, I’m going to end up alone.
She returned to the kitchen, her heart sinking with every step.
Chapter Four
“I can’t feel my toes. You’re lucky you didn’t wear heels,” Josie moaned as she rubbed her feet. Holly yawned, it took over her whole body as she stretched and closed her eyes. They hadn’t got back to their apartment until 2am.
“Lucky? Did you forget I still managed to trip and make a fool of myself?” Holly asked, pouring a drink.
Josie eyed the steaming mug in Holly’s hand. “Is that a good idea?”
“You’re right,” Holly said, lowering it to the counter. “I should just go to bed.”
Her phone pinged as she trudged across the living room.
“Huh. Interesting,” she said to herself. Josie got up and arched her back, it cracked, and she moaned.
“That’s better,” she said, walking up to Holly. “What is it? Mr. Charles sending you messages so soon?”
Heat rose to Holly’s face as she whipped her head up to look at Josie.
“What?! No! He didn’t even ask for my number,” she blurted. “Why would you think that?”
Josie pulled off her hairband and her dark wiry hair fell past her narrow shoulders.
“We were all there, Holly. Everyone could see how he looked at you. Then you both went off alone… Tell me. Is he as good a kisser as he looks?”
Holly dropped her phone and stared at Josie with disbelief.
“We didn’t kiss! Nothing happened,” she said. Josie stooped down and retrieved the phone.
“What’s this?” she asked, a smile taking over her face. “You’re looking at a matchmaking company? Oh Holly. This is desperate. Even for you.”
Holly snatched the phone back and frowned. Sometimes she wondered if Josie was a real friend. Josie’s British sense of humor had got her into trouble more than a few times.
Time with Josie had taught Holly that putting people down was a way of showing affection and love amongst friends in England. At least, that was what Josie said.
“They’ve put out an open-call for models to attend an event tomorrow night.”
“Right, sure. I’m sure you were just looking at the job opportunity,” she said, nodding along.
“Why not? Find My Companion is doing a TV series and they want models to... stand in the background? I don’t really know.”
Josie yawned and rubbed her arm.
“Sounds perfect. And hey, you might bag yourself a rich boyfriend while you’re there.”
Holly nudged her friend and the two of them chuckled as they walked down the hall.
“Well, you’re going to need your beauty sleep,” Josie called out as Holly walked into her room.
“Goodnight Josie,” she said. Then another mighty yawn took over and Holly collapsed onto her bed. She promptly fell asleep.
The next day, Holly didn’t rouse from her slumber until almost noon. Her dreams were invaded by William, dressed as a pirate and taking her away on his boat to wonderful adventures. She couldn’t take her mind off him. If only he had asked her out. If only she had struck up the courage to ask him out.
And maybe she would have, if she was dressed to the nines and hadn’t just shattered several hundred dollars’ worth of glass all over the floor.
Holly liked to believe in signs. She liked to believe that the universe or some unseen force had a great plan in store, and that she would only need to look for the signs to know what to do next.
So, when she received an email from Thatcher, saying he was going to be at an event at Find My Companion that night, she knew what she needed to do.
“Thank you for your call Ms. Barratt. I have received your headshots and I’m pleased to tell you Ms. Stewart would like to hire you for tonight’s event.”
Holly tried to keep her composure and act cool while the woman went over the particulars on the phone, but her feet had started to do an Irish jig.
“You got it?” Josie whispered through her hands and then screeched with excitement. “You’re going to be on TV! You have to tell me everything. This is amazing.” She threw her arms around Holly and squeezed so tight Holly couldn’t breathe.
Josie let go and her face turned serious.
“Quick. Go take a shower and get ready. I’m taking you shopping.”
Chapter Five
Josie redeemed herself and Holly was reminded why she was her best friend. She took Holly to a spa and the two of them had the most relaxing massage Holly had ever experienced. They finished off with a blow dry at Josie’s favorite salon, and then enjoyed English tea in the city. Now ready for the day, Josie took them shopping on Fifth Avenue.
They returned to the apartment as the sun set, arms full of designer bags. Holly felt lighter than a feather.
Josie’s parents owned the apartment, which sat right in the center of New York. Her rich dad in England paid off her credit card bill each month, which Josie then used to shower her friends with gifts. Not that Holly was complaining.
“Look at the time! You need to
