Page 74 of Indescribable Love
Nodding, he agreed. “Yes, I do.”
And an apology.
But could it be both?
Chapter Fourteen
It was impossible to ignore the fact that her life was out of control.
A week ago, she had been a pariah in every sense of the word, and now people were reaching out and offering her jobs, while others wanted to interview her and get her side of the story. If she wanted to, Juliette could have a new career right now, but nothing appealed to her. Most of the job offers were for remote work, so she wouldn’t have to move, and they all were offering more money than she ever made at Premiere.
Vanessa had actually called just this morning to offer her her old job back, but Juliette had immediately declined. There was no way she could go back there. Too much water under the bridge and there were things her former boss had said that simply couldn’t be taken back. Their friendship was never going to be the same and that made her sad. Still, it was nice to be wanted.
She just wished she knew what the next step was.
With everything.
After the visit from Mick, Jax, and Noah, she really expected to hear from Simon. After explicitly telling them that was what she was looking for, she was certain they’d relay the message to him and he’d call her.
But he didn’t.
There had been times when she had reached for her phone to call him because one of them had to make the first move, but she always chickened out. Plus, she honestly believed he needed to be the one to reach out to her. He was wrong and he’d hurt her, but the more time passed, the more she feared that maybe he realized he hadn’t been in love with her at all—that maybe it was just lust.
“I miss the lust,” she murmured, as she scrolled through her Instagram feed just to have something to do. “Hell, I’d be willing to settle for just the lust if it meant having him back.”
When the phone in her hand rang, it startled her so much that she nearly dropped it on the floor. Fortunately, she quickly recovered. Mick’s name came up on the screen and she knew it was only a matter of time before he’d reach out. From what she knew about him, most people didn’t say no to Mick Tyler. If he was telling you to call, you called. He was revered in the entertainment industry, and knowing him—or having him know who you are—was considered a serious coup.
So answer the phone, dummy!
“Hey, Mick,” she said with a calmness she didn’t quite feel. There could be a dozen reasons why he was calling, but it felt like a big deal that he’d made the first move.
Unlike some people…
“Juliette Bellucci, you are one stubborn woman!” he said with a laugh, and she didn’t take any offense. “How are you doing?”
“I’m good,” she lied. “And you?”
“You know, can’t complain. Listen, the film project with Max is now officially DOA.”
“I thought you said that when you were here last week,” she reminded him.
“Yeah, well, now it’s officially official. It’s over. I got the rights to all the footage and we’re burning it.”
“What? Why? Couldn’t you use it for other promotional stuff for Simon? Or for another documentary down the road?” She hated when people acted impulsively like this. It was one thing to act impulsively in your personal life—that was almost acceptable—but not in business. “I get that you don’t want any of the bad juju that comes with it, but some of that footage is spectacular! Have you watched any of it?”
“Like I have the time,” he told her with another laugh. “Okay, so I won’t burn it yet, but we have a new project starting up with Simon’s shows in New York. It’s going to be a concert film like Simon originally wanted with a new production company, an independent film company, and they need a top-notch PR person to help them. You interested?”
Now it was her turn to laugh. “Um…Mick, you’re sweet, but maybe a little delusional. For starters, I’m still unemployed. I haven’t taken up with a new firm yet, and I highly doubt they want a freelancer to help them. And besides that, I’m not sure I’m the right person to step back in with Simon’s tour.”
“Nonsense! If anything, you’re the perfect person because you’re familiar with everyone behind the scenes. And I’m not talking about Simon, so…don’t think I was saying anything offensive.”
“I didn’t.”
“Listen, Jules, you can ask anyone who’s ever worked with me and they’ll tell you that I’m fair and an excellent judge of character. I see potential in you. I think you’re an incredibly talented woman who’s had some rotten luck but keeps getting back up. Premiere was a good start for you, but they’re never going to grow because they take on pretty much anyone who calls them without doing their research. Vanessa does an okay job, but she doesn’t have the skills and discernment her father and grandfather had.”
That…wasn’t what she expected him to say.
“I’m in management,” he went on. “I started my company when it was just me and I worked my ass off to take on the right clients and then hired only the best people to work with me. I want you to work with me. For years, I wanted to branch out into PR, mainly because I feel like I’m already doing that myself. But I’m married and have a family and my wife keeps reminding me that it’s okay to give up the reins to other people. I trust you, Jules. I think together we can offer some top-notch PR services to the clients I have in-house so we can keep them all under one roof.”