“Okay.” I surrender the leash and the duffel bag.

As we queue in front of the elevators, Indira leans in and whispers in my ear, “Smooth.”

I scowl at her without replying.

Outside the building, I pat Chevron goodbye and say to Richard, “See you at the bar.”

As I watch the two of them go, a million scenarios start playing in my head at once. Richard kissing me goodnight in his damned sexy car, or even better, him inviting me in before he takes me home…

My happy stream of fantasies is interrupted by my phone ringing, screen flashing with the ominous caller ID, Dolores Umbridge.

I sigh and pick up. “Hello, Mom.”

The others are still waiting, so I gesture for them to keep going and that I’ll meet them at the bar.

“Blair.” My mother’s voice rattles out of the phone’s speakers. Already, from the single pronunciation tone of my name, I understand that she isn’t happy with me. “What is this I’ve heard about you being on your tube? Is it proper for a future mother? My friends at the country club say it’s a website with a questionable reputation.”

“Mom, it’s YouTube, and I did an interview. There’s nothing questionable about it.”

“An interview? So you got the editor position at Évoque? Why didn’t you tell me? I can’t wait to tell all my friends.”

“No, Mom, I didn’t.” I stare at the sky, unsure what to say next. I’ve avoided talking to her since, well, since I was fired. My fuse for my mother has become shorter than ever and I don’t care whether she approves or disapproves how I live my life anymore. So I rat myself out. “Actually, Évoque fired me.”

“Fired? You? And what do you do for money?”

“I work at a different magazine.”

“Which one? Is it better than Évoque?”

I think for a second. “Yeah, ten thousand times better.”

“Well, what’s it called?”

“Inceptor Magazine.”

“I’ve never heard of it.”

“Because it’s a new online publication.”

“Online? Have you gone mad? What’s the publishing house, is it still Northwestern?”

“No. There’s no publishing house, it’s just the magazine.”

“But… but… I mean, what does Gerard think about it?”

“I don’t know, and I don’t care. We broke up.”

“Oh. Oh, goodness. What did you do?”

“I did nothing.” Somebody help, please. I’m about to lose my temper big time. “He cheated on me.”

“Ah, well, a man like him with an important job… I’m sure you can work through this crisis…”

The fuse reaches the end and I explode. “Mom, are you even listening to me? Gerard was having an affair with his secretary. There’s nothing left to work on.”

“So what? You’d rather be single? At your age?”

“Yeah, definitely. Single is not a dirty word, and it’s better to be alone than to stay in a relationship because it looks better from the outside. I’m not you!”

Without waiting for a reply, I hang up on the momster and turn my phone off.