Chapter 36
Fiona wasn’t sure how long she sat in front of the arched windows, staring down at the street below. It was dark now. The lanterns flickered on the hotel across the street, the windows glowing warmly.
She’d left earlier to work on her two clients for the day, and headed back to this space to think before she called her friends.
No matter how many times Fiona turned it around in her brain, it still didn’t make sense.
Porter bought the entire building. This space was for her and her friends.
This space was for Savannah Glam.
Thinking again about Porter’s confession caused warm, unwelcome emotion to rise in her chest, but it quickly gave way to panic.
She paced beneath the lone lightbulb hanging overhead. The light illuminated the spiderwebs that clung to the corners and the ceilings. But she could see the potential in it.
After Fiona had enough pacing, she called Stella.
“Hello?” Stella said eagerly, a smile in her voice.
Fiona sighed.
“I know you already know,” Fiona said. “Could you come to the rental, please? With Cassie?”
Stella just squealed and hung up the phone.
Her friends arrived minutes later, both of them elated.
“Could you have made us wait any longer?” Cassie asked, dusting off a section of the window with her sleeve.
Stella twirled dreamily. “God, I cannot wait to get some decor in this place.”
“Or a lamp,” Cassie said, squinting in a dark corner.
“And look what I brought,” Stella said. She opened the brown bag she was carrying, and pulled out a bottle of champagne and three plastic cups. “It’s both a celebratory drink, and an apologetic gesture for deceiving and kidnapping you earlier.”
“Can we order some of that mac n’ cheese from downstairs?” Cassie asked, already looking up the number. “Or those fried green tomatoes?”
Stella gasped. “You’re so right! I didn’t even think of that. We could eat there every single day if we wanted to.”
Fiona sat on a folding chair in the corner, staring at the floor.
Cassie frowned as she handed her some champagne.
“You okay, Fi? Why aren’t you exuberant right now?”
Fiona took the cup, but she didn’t have much interest in it at the moment.
“Why did he do this?” she asked, more to herself than out loud. “What does he expect?”
“Oh, sweetie,” Stella said, sitting on the floor next to her. “I think Porter just wanted to do something nice.”
Fiona looked at her skeptically. “Are you sure? Because it feels like some big romantic gesture.”
Cassie laughed. “Of course it is. What’s the problem with that?’
Fiona sighed. She could think of a hundred different problems with that.
“Think about it. Let’s say we do get together, date for a few months and break up. What then? Does he kick us out? Raise our rent in retaliation? Or maybe things get really awkward, but I have to see him all the time because he works right downstairs. It just feels…”
Fiona ran a hand through her hair.
“...like a disaster waiting to happen.”
Stella looked up at her, eyes wide. Ever the romantic, she was looking at Fiona like she’d just kicked a puppy.
Cassie, on the other hand, would be practical. Fiona could count on her to understand.
“I think he might love you,” Cassie said.
Traitor.
“Nope. No, no, and again, no.” Fiona stood, and returned to her pacing.
This was not supposed to be an emotional decision, she thought. This was their brand new business.
Cassie stood in front of her, grabbing her shoulders.
“Fiona,” she said, using her most pragmatic voice. “Think about this carefully. We will be signing a lease. He cannot, and will not, kick us out if you decide not to date him. Stella knows way too many lawyers.”
“It’s true,” Stella said, waving her fingers. “One of the perks of being born into a family of lawyers.”
“This is a golden opportunity. And I fully believe we should accept,” Cassie said. She dropped her hands and walked away, her point made.
“Whether you still have romantic feelings is irrelevant,” she added over her shoulder.
“But do you?” Stella said, winking.
Fiona shrugged. “I don’t know what to feel anymore.”
“Either way, we got the place,” Cassie said, adding in a triumphant clap. “Now, we just have to sign the paperwork and hope to god the renovations are done fast. I’m losing my mind driving dresses over to the salon suites every single day.”
Fiona nodded. This was something huge, and it was worth celebrating. She just wished her heart was in it.