Page 6 of The Snowball Effect
Emma pursed her lips, hating that she couldn’t think of anything to say to counter that point.
She hated even more that Regan’s dark eyes lit up with an obviousgotcha.
“Fine.” Maybe Regan had a point; she supposed even a broken clock was right twice a day. Much like the clock over the stove right now. “Regardless, I have to go.”
She unplugged her phone and started toward the door.
Regan didn’t really move out of her way, only turning her body slightly so Emma couldn’t avoid brushing by her. This was something Regan did frequently when they ran into each other in the hallway, and Emma always wondered what compelled her to not do the polite thing and scoot out of the way.
Emma did her best to give Regan her space whenever they passed one another, but the simple reality was that Manhattan apartments were not spacious, and Regan was, like, half Emma’s size. Emma was at least five inches taller than Regan at five-foot-ten, and outweighed Regan by at least forty pounds. She didn’t know if Regan was simply used to living with Sutton – a waif – or what, but it was yet another thing thatirkedher.
“Anyway, you’re welcome. I paused as I wasliterallyabout to step into the shower,” Regan called as Emma rushed back to her room.
This gave her pause, and Emma tossed Regan a look, once again taking in the whole towel situation. “Thank you. I appreciate it.”
A bright, annoyingly luminescent smile slid over Regan’s face. “Was that so hard?”
Emma stepped into her room without a verbal response and sharply shut the door.
“You’re late,” Brynn, Allegra’s other assistant, commented as soon as Emma entered the open space their desks shared.
Emma dumped her bag onto her desk, immediately searching for Allegra in the glass-walled office next to them. “Is she here yet?”
“Today’s your lucky day,” Brynn informed her. “She texted early and said she was going to be taking a last-minute meeting over coffee.”
Even though Emma had feltfarfrom lucky this morning, the relief that flooded her veins was so heady that she could have passed out. “Thank god.”
“Seems unlike you to be late,” Brynn observed, arching her a sharp look. “Or have you just been on your best behavior for the last month?”
“The former,” she was quick to answer. “Definitely the former.”
She all but collapsed in her desk chair, feeling like she could finally breathe. She reveled in that for a few seconds before looking up and catching Brynn’s amused look.
“Apparently, the outlets in my new apartment are tricky when there’s a power outage, and my alarm didn’t go off,” she explained as she started unpacking her bag.
Brynn hummed in acknowledgment. “I guess you’re lucky it was my day for Allegra’s morning coffee, too. I know she endedup taking a meeting, but imagine if she’d texted you at seven-thirty to inform you, and you didn’t answer!”
“Honestly? Yeah.” Because Emma hadn’t eventhoughtabout that and shuddered at the very idea.
She and Brynn were on a rotating schedule to fetch Allegra’s food and drinks, and fortunately, Emma had been on duty yesterday.
Brynn was two years younger than Emma’s twenty-nine and had already been Allegra’s assistant for nearly a year. She’d gotten her foot in the door atOlly, the digital magazine they worked for, before she’d even finished her bachelor’s degree because her aunt worked in the fashion department.
Emma had long accepted that there would be people like Brynn or Sutton who were able to have easier access in the world because of their connections. She could still appreciate that Brynn was good at the job – always prompt, polished, and organized, and she’d been very magnanimous in showing Emma the ropes, giving her insider information on Allegra and everyone else atOlly.
After Emma organized her desk for the morning, she blew her hair out of her eyes and looked across the small reception area to find that Brynn was watching her with an amused smile.
“Look, Allegra should be out for another twenty minutes. Why don’t you go down to the cafeteria and grab a coffee? Gather your bearings a bit. We have an all-hands meeting for two hours this afternoon, so…” She trailed off forebodingly.
Emma winced, not needing Brynn to say anymore. Allegra was the editor of the human interest department – the fastest-growing area atOlly. And while Emma admired her boss for being an amazing writer, editor, and a woman who’d carved her place out in journalism for decades, Allegra did not take kindly to the writers she handpicked turning in sub-par work. And itwas no secret Allegra had not been pleased with several pieces as of late.
This meeting was going to be a long one.
“Thanks. Want anything?” She asked, standing from her desk.
Brynn shook her head and gestured to her half-full iced coffee as she turned back to her computer.
As she made her way down to the third-floor café, Emma felt like she could breathe normally for the first time all day.