A Promised Fate by Cat Mann

pulsed.
    “Ari, darling, hello!” She kissed the air.
    “Have a seat.” I wasn’t in the mood for any
pleasantries and immediately got down to business discussing the
contract of baio’s long time lead model, Nadiah Comis. The
conversation turned ugly in a matter of minutes and super-agent
Corina Harris left my office in a mood that closely resembled my
own.
    Another knock was followed by the opening of my
office door. “Hey, you.”
    I looked up in surprise.
    “Fauna wasn’t at her desk so I just showed myself
back. Sorry I'm running a bit late.”
    “Late for what, Julia? What are you doing here?”
    “You said we could talk over lunch … I called your
office this morning but someone hung up on me. I haven’t been able
to get through to you all day.”
    “I don’t want to speak with you after all. Whatever
it is that you think you are doing, leave me out of it. You made me
look like an idiot yesterday. Rory is furious with me. You made me
look like a liar, Julia. I don’t want to play these games. You can
head back home now – I don’t have time for this.”
    “What? I drove here on fumes. I skipped therapy to
meet you.” Her voice was delicate and strained with emotion.
    Looking up from the pile of contracts sitting on my
desk, I stared at Julia. Her hair was in a sloppy ponytail, short
unkempt strands slipped from the elastic hair tie and fell around
her ears and the back of her neck. She had on no makeup and the
soft skin just under her eyes was pink and slightly swollen from
tears shed earlier in the day. She fidgeted with her car keys.
    “Sit down,” I sighed.
    Her shoulders sloped and she turned and sank into a
chair across the desk from me.
    “First of all, never skip therapy. Dr. Najib does you
more good than I do.”
    Julia nodded.
    “Can you reschedule for later today?”
    “I’ll call and see.”
    “Good.” I leaned my elbows on my desktop. “Have you
been taking your prescription?”
    My question made her uncomfortable and she fidgeted
some more. “Yeah, for the most part. He changed it on me and I'm
still adjusting to the new pills.”
    Ah .
    “Lay it on me. What’s bothering you? What the hell is
going on?”
    “It’s nothing.” Her voice cracked. Again, I had no
tissues to offer and after a quick rummage through my desk drawer,
I uncovered a few unused napkins from a takeout restaurant down the
road from the baio building. I extended the napkin to her
and she promptly swiped it from my fingers and blotted the corners
of her eyes. Julia looked around the room, noted the frosted glass
that ensured our privacy and then stared across the desk from me.
She sucked in a breath then exhaled. Her lips trembled as she
started to talk, “I have to tell you something.”
    “Alright, what?”
    She shook her head from side to side in thought,
causing more wisps of hair to dislodge from the band. “No one can
know that you found out.”
    “You can trust me.”
    “I know.” She blotted her eyes once more. “You, um …
God Ari, I don’t know how to say this.” She looked down and once
again fiddled with the bracelet. A new, clean Band-Aid stuck
tightly to her pale, delicate skin on the underside of her
wrist.
    “Start from the beginning.”
    “I’ve been … talking with some people and I’m not
really supposed to be here but I think you should know that you
were wrong…”
    “What are we talking about here, Julia?”
    “I …” she swallowed hard, “Ari, you are …”
    Another knock was followed by the opening of my
door.
    “I’m in a meeting,” I hollered before the person
turned the corner.
    “Oops, sorry Ari, this won’t take but a second.”
    “Now is not a good time, Yvette.”
    “I just want to introduce you to one of the
applicants for the assistant position, she flew all the way here to
meet with us today. She is one of Margaux’s picks…”
    I stood from my chair, “I am very busy right
now.”
    Yvette continued barging into my office. Behind her
was a