Free I'm Doin' Me by Anna Black Page A

just don’t want to never see you again.”
    â€œOkay,” she said and looked down. “Listen, I’m gonna turn in.” She stood up. “Let me show you to the guest room.” She led him to his room and turned on the light. “The fridge is full and you are welcome to make yourself at home.”
    â€œOkay. Thanks, Tiffany,” he said.
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    Tiffany went to her room. She lay there and stared at the ceiling, telling herself not to get up and go back into the guest room. She wanted to lie next to Kory. She wanted him to hold her, but she knew it wouldn’t be right. Finally she fell asleep, and the next day she woke up after ten.
    She was late for work, but she didn’t care. She headed straight to her guest room to wake him, but the bed was empty. She went into the front to look for him and found a note on her chalkboard saying, H AVE A G OOD D AY ! He had drawn a smiley face.
    She smiled and went back to her room to get ready for work.

Chapter Ten
    Tiffany sat at her desk tapping her pen. It had been three days since her meeting with Wallace and since she’d last seen or heard from Kory. She was on edge and thought she would lose it. She stared at Wallace’s card for hours, fighting the urge to call him. She wanted so badly to hear the verdict. She didn’t want to go into the idea room without news, but what could she do, she didn’t have any news. She grabbed her notes and went in. Everyone seemed to feel like she did and she understood.
    â€œOkay, people,” she said, “we have six more episodes to write. I need to know what episode you are on and where we are. We have less than a month before we start taping, so give it to me.”
    They all opened their notebooks. Darryl started reading and they read through the script for episode eighteen. It was good, Tiffany had to admit, but her mind was on TiMax.
    â€œOkay, that was great, you guys. We are going to have a slamming season,” she said.
    â€œThen what?” Darryl asked.
    â€œI don’t know, Dee. It is on my mind every second too, you guys, but we gotta have faith. This is gonna work, so please, enough with the sad faces. As a matter of fact, go to your offices, grab your purses and wallets, and let’s take a long lunch.”
    They went out as a group and ate and drank. When they came back, they were all smiles until they hit their floor. Myah was standing by the reception desk and she looked as if her mother died. All the laughter ceased.
    â€œMee-Mee, what?” Tiffany asked. “What is it?”
    Myah’s eyes welled. “Wallace Mitchell called while you guys were out and TiMax declined the show.”
    Tiffany grabbed her chest. She thought she’d have a heart attack right then and there. “Excuse me,” she said and ran to the stairwell.
    They were twenty-five stories up, but she ran all the way down the stairs. By the time she got to the bottom, she was crying uncontrollably. She dug around her purse for her phone and when she retrieved it, she called Kory first, but he didn’t answer. She left a message. “Kory, this is Tiff. It didn’t work, they said no,” she cried.
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    Kory was in the shower. When Reesy saw his phone spin on the dresser, she went over and saw Tiffany’s name across the screen. She waited until it stopped ringing and went to his call log and deleted the call. When the voicemail notification popped up, she went to his messages and deleted it. She wanted to hear what it said, but couldn’t take a chance on him coming out and catching her listening to it. When he came out the shower, she didn’t say a word.
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    Tiffany was glad she had her purse and keys. She went to the parking lot got into her Beemer and left. She drove home in a daze wondering, what now? One more season and then unemployment. She walked into her house and went straight for the liquor cabinet. She grabbed the Cîroc