Lord of Rain (The Dragon Demigods Book 5)
Page 29
“I was so sure it would work.” Vicky pushed out a heavy breath. “Business has picked up.”
“You needed that phone to ring off the hook. You got … what? Three, maybe four new clients?”
“More like two.” She sat down on the edge of her desk, looking down at her shoes. “I really thought it would work.” Stupid, stupid billboard idea. “What now? What next?”
Patrick shrugged. “If you want to try to make a go of the business, you need to drastically downscale.” He looked around her office. “You can start by letting your PA go.”
She sucked in a breath. “I can’t do that. Maggie and Will just put a down payment on a new home. I—”
"You have no choice, Vicks." He looked at her pointedly for a few seconds, something flared in his eyes. It was a pity. Her stomach rolled.
“I would suggest filing for bankruptcy though. I don’t think you can salvage your business at this stage, unless something major happens.”
The blood drained from her face. Her limbs felt weak. Her mind raced. “Major like how?”
“Like a serious influx of cash ‒ but we both know that isn’t going to happen. You need to be realistic at this stage.”
“I would lose everything if I filed for bankruptcy. I’m thirty-five years old, I can’t lose everything I’ve worked so hard to build.”
“You can still start over. You’re resilient, someone who always lands on her feet. You are a qualified relationship therapist. You have a degree and that’s got to count for something.”
Vicky covered her face with her hands and huffed out a breath. “I don’t think I—”
“You don’t have a choice.” He spoke softly, but with conviction. “File for bankruptcy, close the business, and get a job.”
“How the hell do I go back to counseling couples with marriage problems? How do I possibly campaign on keeping them together when I no longer believe in love? In happily ever after?” It shocked her to hear herself say it. Yet, it made sense. It made perfect sense.
“No wonder you’re struggling as a Love Doctor.” Patrick put on a weird voice when he said Love Doctor. “As a relationship specialist. You don’t believe in love. I don’t blame you though, Vicky.”
"No, I guess I don't believe in love anymore. Jeff ruined that for me, big time. It's all just a farce. You're right, I need to shut this whole thing down. File for bankruptcy and …" she shrugged, "I'm not sure what my next step will be. Couples counseling though …" She shook her head. "I hated that type of counseling right off the bat. I preferred bringing people together rather than trying to keep them together."
“Why did you choose this line of work in the first place?”
“To make money. Charge by the hour and all that. I liked the idea of becoming a doctor, but blood makes me queasy. I guess,” she pulled in a deep breath, trying to get her emotions under control, “I love the whole falling in love thing and I like bringing people together. At least, I used to enjoy it very much. Now I’m just jaded and cynical. I hate that.” She said the last more to herself.
“It’s normal to have those types of feelings. My point is that you used reason and logic to choose a career, well, mostly. That’s what I’ve always admired about you. It’s only been a year since … well … since the rug was pulled out from under you.”
“If by having the rug being pulled out from under me, you mean catching my husband bonking a much younger woman, then yeah, you would be right.”
Jeff, her high school sweetheart. Her first love. First everything. What stung the most was that they had just started trying for a family. Thankfully she’d found out about his lying, cheating ways before it was too late to run the hell away.
“It’s only been a year. Your wounds are still fresh. It’s logical that you would still be so emotional about all of this. I’m urging you to try to be rational though. To take emotion out of business decisions. What you’re doing right now isn’t working. You need to change tactics.”
What she needed was a fresh start. Only problem was that fresh starts cost money. “You’re probably right.” She blew a breath out through her nose. “I wish that billboard had worked.”
“Forget the damned billboard.” Patrick sounded annoyed.
“Fine,” she all but whispered. “I’ll figure something out.”
Hunger Awakened is out now