Page 52 of Deny Me
“Well,” I sat up taller, both excited and nervous about sharing my news. “I got a call from that huge designer that I told you about. She said she saw my online designs and liked my work and wanted me to come to Milan to work on a line with her. She said if it worked out, she would want to extend the internship past two months.”
Lu’s jaw dropped before spreading into a huge smile, her eyes filling with tears. “Evie.”
“Are you going to cry?” I asked, laughing.
“No. I’m just so damn proud of you. You are so amazing and that bitch would be lucky to have you. I just don’t know how I feel about her taking you away.”
“That’s impressive,” Jack chimed in.
Turning to see Jameson’s reaction, I was greeted with a proud smile. But when I looked deeper in his eyes, I saw fear. “It’s a great opportunity.”
But I heard it. The doubt and fear about what that would mean for us. I returned his smile, but I knew my eyes let on to how confused I was about my decision. “Thank you.”
“Have you made a decision yet?” Jameson asked, knowing I had been putting it off.
“Not yet.”
The silence became heavy with the words Jameson and I weren’t saying, making the tension at the table awkward.
“My PCR reaction worked this week. I’ve been struggling to get results for the past couple of days, so it’s a huge breakthrough. Now I can move on to work on the gel and then on to the Southern Blot,” Lu blurted out with forced brightness.
Jameson broke eye contact and turned to Lu. “What?” he asked, with a slight shake of his head.
“Something worked out,” Jack piped in, laughing and helping with the confusion. He was used to Lu rambling off science jargon that made no sense to anyone but herself. Either way, it worked to break the somber mood between Jameson and me.
“Where did I go wrong with you?” Jameson asked with mock seriousness. “You’re such a nerd.”
“Damn right I am.” She raised her glass in a salute before taking a drink.
Jack kept the conversation going with another funny story about one of his employees working a case. It made the rest of lunch go by faster, but it didn’t wash the doubt from my mind. It didn’t hide the way Jameson was holding my hand a little bit tighter, like he was afraid I would leave him at any moment.