Free The Night I Got Lucky by Laura Caldwell Page A

empty cubicle. I’d sent her file back to HR. But I couldn’t stop seeing her shocked face when I’d told her, and I couldn’t stop hearing the sound of those lyrical y vindictive Spanish words.
    “Thanks for the reminder,” I said at last.
    Evan shrugged innocently.
    “Al right, yes,” I said, “I’m afraid I’l get fired or demoted or whatever. You know how hard I worked to get here, Ev.”
    “Sure, I do, but no one’s going to fire you.” He reached across the table and patted my hand. Actual y, it was more than a pat. It was something like a rub. His hand was very warm.
    I felt a crazy desire to grasp his hand, but instead, I pul ed away and made a show of glancing at the menu. “C’mon, Roslyn wil demote me or fire me in a heartbeat if I don’t pul my weight.”
    “No, she won’t.”
    “What do you mean? Remember Chad from two years ago? She fired him after he’d made VP. And she just okayed me to fire Alexa, so she obviously doesn’t have a problem with axing people.”
    “Yeah, but that was Chad and Alexa. She’d never fire you.”
    “Why not?”
    “Because…” Evan’s mint-green eyes squinted for a second, as if searching for something in a bright room in his mind. “She just wouldn’t. You’re supposed to be a VP. So it doesn’t matter what you do.”
    I was reminded of Chris last night, when I raised the topic of why we were suddenly getting along so wel , tel ing me it didn’t matter. I got a flash of that green frog on my nightstand.
    “Look, Ev, just help me out, okay? Tel me how to do this.” I pul ed a manila envelope from my bag, the one holding Odette’s account, which was up for rebudgeting. I wanted to be able to do so much for her, but I knew she had limited funds to pay us.
    “Anything for you.” Evan dragged his stool around so we sat side by side. Our arms touched as he pul ed Odette’s file from the envelope.

    “Okay,” he said, holding out the old budget. As he did this, he put his other hand very lightly on the side of my thigh. It seemed an innocent enough gesture, but I could feel the warmth of his hand on my leg, and for a moment, my Everlasting Crush turned on with ful force.
    Evan began talking about the different figures on the page, about the results we’d gotten for Odette thus far and what that meant in terms of revising her budget. I tried to focus, but the numbers swam. His hand now felt heavy and hot. I had a brief flash of longing for that hand to move higher.
    A moment later, he took his hand away to search for something in the file, but I could stil sense it, as if he’d left a handprint, one that seared through my skirt, into my skin. Even after I’d thanked him, paid for our beers and began walking home, I could stil feel it.

    I cal ed my sister Hadley the next morning.
    “Bil y! How are you?” she said, voice booming through the phone. In London it was the end of the day, but she sounded as chipper as if she’d just arrived at her office after ten hours of sleep. The truth was, Hadley was one of those people who required only five hours a night.
    “I’m great, Hads. How are you?” I took a seat on a bar stool in our kitchen, my morning Diet Coke in front of me.
    “It’s insane around here. You know how it goes.”
    “Sure,” I said. But real y, I had no idea what it was like to be a top asset manager at an investment bank, nor did Hadley ever tel me. Although we e-mailed occasional y, this was the first time I’d spoken to her on the phone in months.
    “What about you?” Hadley asked.
    “Wel , I just made vice president.”
    “That’s amazing!” Hadley might not have come home for my wedding, but she appreciated corporate ladder-climbing.
    “Yeah, thanks. Hey, have you been in touch with Mom? I got a postcard that said she’s in Milan.”
    “I saw her last night.”
    “You did?” I tried to keep the shock from my voice. Not only was my mother at the fashion shows in Milan, but she’d traveled to London, too? “Is