Free Julian's Pursuit by Haleigh Lovell Page B

his heart.
    It had been replaced by his new son and his new mistress.
    Suddenly, Mom snorted loudly in her sleep, bringing me back to the present.
    Then out of nowhere, she began mumbling a string of curses, as she often did when she was wasted. “Fuck off, insurance company!” came her slurring voice. “You massive, swindling, fuckhead cunts!” Seconds later, she was murmuring gibberish. “My body is a spacesuit. My body is a spacesuit that my brain made. My body is a spacesuit that Buzz Light Beer made. Buzzzzzzz.” Her slurring voice trailed off.
    I watched her for a time, wondering if she would wake. There was a long moment of silence. Then her heavy breathing resumed.
    I sighed. Mom was never the same after Dad left us.
    Even after I became aware of her addiction, I kind of brushed it off.
    But gradually, it became too bad to ignore. By then, Mom was no longer a high-functioning alcoholic. She was just an alcoholic who couldn’t hold down a job. She couldn’t take care of anyone, let alone herself.
    “Where are you, Mom?” I whispered softly. I knew she was in there somewhere. Beneath the layers of booze, pain, and heartache, she was in there somewhere.
    I took a deep breath and exhaled until my lungs were empty. That girl that used to be me was in there somewhere, too, buried deeper than Pompeii.
    But I no longer knew how to find her.
    I don’t know how long I sat there, but when I looked at the TV, Letterman was wrapping up his monologue. With a weary sigh, I reached for a blanket and tucked it around Mom’s shoulders. Then I turned off the TV and switched off the lights. As I turned to start for the stairs, my phone beeped in my hand.
    I glanced at the display. It was another text from Julian.
     
    I felt like listening to some straight hood shit … so Taylor Swift is playing on my iPod.
     
    I tamped down my desire to laugh. Afterward, as I crawled into bed, I scrolled through the playlist on my iPhone and selected Taylor Swift’s latest album. As the hauntingly sweet melodies of Wildest Dreams began wafting through my room, I reclined against the pillows and began thumbing in a text to Julian.
     
    About to fall asleep listening to some Taylor Swift. Welcome to my thug life.
     
    Barely two seconds later, my phone beeped.
     
    Goodnight. I’ll catch you in my dreams ;)
     
    For some inexplicable reason, as I lay in bed drifting off to sleep, I felt a faint smile tugging at the corners of my lips.
     

Chapter Nine
     

     
     
     
     
    “So what do you think of the XE campaign I’ve been working on?” I asked. “You can be honest with me.”
    Sadie sat forward, leaning her elbows on the table. “You’re serious about using Gigi Malik in both the print and TV ads?”
    “I am. I feel the XE brand can’t simply sell clothing to young women anymore. It has to sell a mission, a purpose for why it exists.”
    Her eyes narrowed in thought, her soft lips parting in concentration.
    I liked that about her, the way she mulled ideas over in her head. “And you feel Gigi Malik should be the face of the brand?”
    “I do.” Gigi Malik was a former reality star who, much like Lauren Conrad, had gone on to build a successful enterprise of her own.
    Sadie lifted her cup and took a long sip before answering. “I think you’re going in the right direction with Gigi. She’s the CEO of her own company and she understands that a successful enterprise can’t just run on fame. And I like her. I like how she exists as a person outside of her relationships. I like how she empowers young women to step up as leaders.” She tilted her head, and the look she gave me was long and considering. “Empowerment. I think that’s the next big shift in marketing to consumers.”
    “Empowerment marketing?”
    “Yeah, you know, going deeper than the product and appealing to the higher needs of esteem and self-actualization. Inspiring consumers to be their best selves, and they in turn will support the brands that share