Free Someday Maybe by Ophelia London Page A

your mystical powers to foresee my future. Please tell me you don’t see me in a rundown shack with twenty cats.”
    “ You’re the one having the mystical dreams lately.”
    I tried to laugh while rubbing the back of my neck. I didn’t want to relive those memories, either. I still couldn’t get the image of that rusty can out of my mind. Just the thought of my recent dreams made my stomach roll, wondering what kind of dream I would have tonight.
    “Don’t worry, Rach.” Megs gave me a wink. “I won’t rest until I figure out the perfect man for you.”

Chapter Eleven
    I turned to a fresh page in my notebook and tapped my pen. Evidently, I was being too loud because Claire gave me the stink-eye. I hadn’t had a run-in with her for ten whole days. My longest stretch to date. Time to reset the clock, Rach.
    “Does anyone else have a thought?” Claire asked, making it a point to hold scary eye contact with each of us gathered around the conference table. I tried to inconspicuously slink down in my chair. “Rachel? Input?”
    Damn. I consulted my clean, blank page. “Not yet, um.” I hadn’t written it down, but I did have an idea—a pretty good one, in fact. But Claire and Moron Bruce were about to leave for another meeting, and I’d much rather wait and bounce the idea off the smaller group of copywriters. While Claire talked for a few minutes about the direction the project should go, I scribbled down a few lines, crossed out three, circled one. I even sketched what I thought the photo art might look like. Yeah, this could be really cool.
    Moron Bruce and Claire finally stood to leave. “Prepare to stay late tonight,” Claire said. “I’ll take any and all ideas for this one, so get creative.”
    I inwardly groaned at the prospect of working late, but if I could be part of the creative leadership this time, it would be worth it. “Want me to order in dinner later?” I asked as they were leaving. Claire had an assistant to do this kind of thing, but I was trying to be a team player, drink the Kool-Aid and all that. “You guys like the takeout from Pakwan, right?”
    “Actually, Rachel.” Claire dabbed a fingertip at the lip gloss on the corner of her mouth. “You won’t be staying tonight.”
    Oh, shit. Please don’t say I’m fired.
    “You’re a USF alum, correct?”
    I cleared my throat. “Yes.”
    Claire leaned toward Bruce and whispered. Bruce glanced at me and smirked. “Somewhere on my desk,” Claire said to him. “Rachel, you’ll meet her for dinner—it’s purely routine since she’s already hired, but there’s no way I can make it.”
    “Meet who?”
    “The intern.” Claire actually rolled her eyes. “The address is on my calendar, you’ll have to look it up yourself.”
    “Tonight?”
    “Yes, tonight.” She sighed impatiently. “In two hours.” She glanced at the red client folder beside my notebook. “Turn that into Bruce, you won’t be needing it.”
    “I’m off the project?”
    She sighed again. Girlfriend was a master at the impatient sighs. “Naturally. Since you won’t be here tonight—we won’t need you. There are plenty of other assignments to keep you occupied, aren’t there? Are we not keeping you busy enough?”
    “No—I mean, yes, of course.”
    “Get her the employee file,” Claire said to Bruce as she exited the conference room. Bruce shot me a look that said for me to come with. So I stumbled to my feet, grabbed my things, and followed them down the hall.
    Maybe it was an honor to take Claire’s place at this meeting. Maybe she’d chosen me specifically because she knew I had what it took and I was a trustworthy face for NRG Interactive.
    Claire veered to the right toward her office, and Bruce stopped in his tracks and turned around to me. “Looks like little Ray-Ray’s on babysitting duty.” He chuckled under his breath.
    That sounded anything but important. “What?”
    “Wait here.” He returned a few minutes later and handed me