Chapter 17

Leah hurried her steps as she pressed the phone to her ear, "S-Sasha, I'm fine. I- just, I'm here!"

"Where?" Leah could hear her cousin's voice growing frantic, "Here- where, Leah?"

"Here, at the hotel," Leah breathed a little safely as she took a right turn behind Frank who walked a little distance in front of her, "Here at the hotel, and I'm headed upstairs to see you guys."

Sasha hesitated, "R-really? Oh, Leah, I'm so sorry! Rayne and I didn't want to wake you up. The last thing we wanted to do was drag you along and you might have a headache or feel fatigued, and this is the first meeting so we didn't want to be late but-"

"Sasha, Sasha," Leah laughed, relief flooding through her body for the first time since the previous night. Leah laughed and Sasha's voice stopped over the phone and the other girl began to giggle.

"It's alright," Leah heaved a large sigh and a smile lit up her face.

It was.

It was alright, Leah realized with surprise.

She had talked herself up that morning and put an enormous strain on herself to show up but now, after listening to Sasha on the phone and the concern in her cousin's voice, Leah realized that walking, breathing, and feeling happy didn't feel so forced anymore.

Leah swallowed when the feelings of sorrow bubbled up in her again, her mind wandering to how she'd seen Tim and the redhead a little while ago.

Leah took a deep breath and let it go slowly, "So how did it go?"

"The meeting?" Leah could feel Sasha's excitement over the phone.

"Yes," Leah smiled as Frank ushered her into a large elevator at the very end of the long corridor they'd just walked through.

"It went so well, Lee!" Sasha was bouncing up and down on the other side and Leah bit her lip to keep from grinning.

"Ms. Kane was soooo elegant throughout and I think she really likes us! The Mr. Slicer was also there, and he gave me a peach cobbler that tasted amazing!"

Leah quirked an eyebrow, "Do you mean Mr. Slader? And why did he give you Peach Cobbler?"

There was an annoyed yell on the other line and lots of sounds of shuffling and yelling and Leah waited with a smile. Her cousins always fought over the phone to talk to her and it always seemed so funny to Leah.

Regardless of who they were talking to or how often they had talked to the person before or even if one of them knew the other at all, Rayne and Sasha always cut into each other's phone calls and Leah wasn't at all surprised to hear Rayne's voice on the phone next.

"Lee, where are you at the hotel? We'll come find you."

There was a disgruntled yell from Sasha at the back.

"Sasha's being annoying, and I need to sit down with you both to discuss the first meeting."

"Rayne," Leah smiled, "I'm on my way up to Ms. Kane's office."

"What?"

"A Mr. Frank is taking me," Leah's stomach dropped but she bit her lip to distract herself. "Let's talk. I want to get this project started as soon as possible."

"I do too but-"

"I want to start right away and make this the best project anyone has ever seen," Leah's face was stern and determined, her voice dripping with the tone of a resolute mind, "I want to show everyone and anyone who we really are and what we're really capable of."

--

Rayne stretched his legs.

The three cousins were seated at an outdoor table at a beautiful café somewhere close to the hotel.

"Ah," Rayne groaned with relief, "I can rest my body after a weary day."

Leah laughed as Sasha rolled her eyes.

"That tiring, huh?"

"You don't even know," Rayne threw back his green-haired head dramatically, "I was dealing with the undercurrents so carefully. I speak the language of the elegant you know."

Leah and Sasha cast each other dry glances at his remark.

"I had Ms. Kane reeled in. The attention of the whole room was just perfect, Leah, you should have been there! Before, this one of course," he threw an accusing finger at Sasha who gasped, "almost ruined everything with whatever feud she has in her head with Mr. Slader."

Sasha shook her head adamantly, "I do not have a feud. We made up!"

Rayne rolled his eyes, "You're not a married couple. You didn't 'make up'. The man is just struggling to accommodate your unprofessional behavior."

Sasha scoffed, "Me? Unprofessional? Rayne, I had Ms. Kane so into the conversation and I was marketing us left and right."

"You were not doing it intentionally. You happened to because she tapped into your passion for the work."

"That's what marketing is!"

Leah giggled and held up a hand to stop the two from beginning an argument they always had, "Come on, you two. We've been over this. You're both right if it's working."

Rayne and Sasha leaned back into their respective chairs with an annoyed expression, still not fully content without yelling about their mindsets to the other.

"Marketting yourself while being true to yourself is beautiful and honest," Leah said nodding at Sasha who smiled at her.

"And being careful of the client and speaking with intention and tact is how business is and should be done," Leah looked over at Rayne who acknowledged her with an elaborate bow.

"And both of you do each best. It benefits our team perfectly. We have the two things we need most."

The cousins sat quietly, smiling in content.

"I like that place," Sasha said, "It's so grand and beautiful. And this event could really launch us."

Rayne nodded, "Let's get to work then, no more idle talk. I'm getting my notepad out."

The two ladies nodded eagerly and leaned forward.

Rayne cleared his throat, "I'm so glad you joined us though, Lee. You're really ignoring that idiot who doesn't deserve you and putting your attention where it matters."

Leah smiled as she watched Rayne pull out his notepad and open it.

"Yeah."

She struggled with her thoughts for a moment.

They were just getting started.

They were just going to jump into the actual work and finally get started.

This is what she wanted, but she wanted to discuss something with her cousins first before she started work full-force.

"I saw him today."

Rayne's response was absent-minded as he pulled out a pen, "Who?"

"Tim."