Page 5 of The Christmas Plan
“Are you with Taylor?” Tommy paused.
“Yeah, but you’re not on speaker.” Looking over at Taylor, Mac watched as she browsed the cheap ornaments hung on the side of the wood shack. It was a New York City tradition, small tree shops would pop up all along the sidewalks throughout the city. Sure, it made the walkways even more crowded and narrow.
But it turned the entire metropolis into a magical, winter wonderland.
Tommy sighed. “Great. There’s a holiday party my friend is hosting. It’s going to be a huge recruitment effort for a lot of agents and managers. You should come… and bring Taylor.”
“Right.” Mackenzie nodded, getting the message.
“My friend Ari Graves is hosting it. We work together at SDO and she’s a fantastic agent. Might be a good fit for your girl.” Tommy was hesitant to say more, knowing it was a delicate subject.
But as Taylor walked closer, Mac knew she needed to get off the phone. “Alright, I’ll take a look and see what I can do.”
Mackenzie hung up the phone just as Taylor was walking over and throwing her arms over Mac’s neck.
“Tree’s ready.” Leaning in for a kiss, Taylor pressed her warm lips against Mac’s.
“Perfect.” Mac smiled as she walked over to the woman, passed her a wad of cash, and threw the tree – now tightly wrapped in an orange net – over her shoulder.
It was far too swift of a motion for Taylor to keep up. She gawked at her girlfriend. “Damn, I was going to offer to carry it.”
Looking over her shoulder as she made her way down the sidewalk, Mackenzie wiggled her eyebrows. “Don’t worry about a thing, darlin’.”
Taylor caught up to Mac, sidling in next to her treeless side. “So, what did Tommy need?”
Swallowing hard, Mac shrugged. “She invited us to an agency holiday party. Apparently, it’s a big mixer for the clients. Would you want to go?”
“When is it?”
Mac adjusted the tree on her shoulder. “Next Saturday.”
From the corner of her eye, Mac watched Taylor bite the inside of her cheek. She’d been rather avoidant about finding new representation, not wanting to scorn her own mother too hard. But Kim had yet to be supportive in any real way.
Hell, even the charity match had been a fight.
After a moment, Taylor nodded. “Yeah, that would be nice.”
A part of Mac was surprised, but she did her best to hide it. Taylor should have been more suspicious considering how bad of a liar Mac was.
With the pine needles digging into her shoulder, Mac smiled. “We should get you something to wear.”
Winking, Taylor licked her lips. “Want to help me pick?”
4
CASS
A partof her was annoyed by the clicking of the pen, but Cass couldn’t stop herself from pressing it over and over again as she stared at her computer monitor.
The soundwaves and track numbers had started to blur together on her screen.
With a heavy sigh, Cass rose from her desk chair in Ari’s apartment and paced toward the kitchen. A mess from making lunch still sat on the counter.
Grabbing a paper towel and some cleaner, Cass sprayed down the marble as she bopped her head along to an imaginary beat. She’d quit her sound mixing job a few weeks ago, hoping to get back into music production.
But while she waited for responses to her resume drops, Cass needed to refresh herself on all things music-making.
With each swipe of the dirty surface, Cass let her brain unfold a new beat. She swayed her hips as she tried to find the rhythm – the missing puzzle piece of her most recent experiment.