A Chance for Sunny Skies (27 page)

I tried to believe Rainy that the plan would work, but had my doubts. She really thought I could walk right in, without being awkward or looking lost? I kept my worries to myself as she hurried me out the door, yelled to Cliff that she'd be back later, and we hopped into Gerald.

Anna was waiting outside the building when we walked up. She ducked her head and looked at me closely. I tipped the sunglasses down, she smiled, and pulled me into a side hug.

"Glad to see you're back, kid," was all she said.

Rainy snapped at us. "Alright, Lizzy's our decoy and she should be here any minute." When I raised my eyebrows in a like-how? way, she added, "She's going to do yoga shit and blow people's minds, is what."

Anna giggled, but Rainy shot her a look, so she straightened up.

"You?" I looked to Anna.

Rainy didn't give her a chance to answer. "Obviously, Anna is here as a back up decoy in case the security guy is less interested in yoga and more interested in boobs."

Anna smiled, pulled her shirt lower and wiggled her assets higher.

I shrugged. "Obviously."

Rainbow couldn't see my eyes behind the sunglasses, I was sure, but she still tried to find them and hold my gaze. "I guess my job's done, then. You want me to come inside with you?"

I pressed my lips together and sighed, but shook my head. "I need to do this alone."

Lizzy jogged up to us a few minutes later. She must've come right from a class because she wore her yoga stuff and a sweaty sheen. "Hey." She put her hand on her leg and leaned forward a little as she caught her breath. "What's up?" She wrinkled her forehead as she spotted me. "Who's this?"

Rainy and Anna laughed. I smiled and took the sunglasses off.

"Sunny? Whoa! Sexy." She gave me a hug, too, and we got into the logistics.

"That's the guy there?" Lizzy asked as she motioned to Frankie, the building security with a tip of her head. His back was to us where we stood outside the building.

I nodded.

"Got it," she said and sauntered over to him.

"Show time," Rainy whispered.

Caught off guard that we were starting so fast, it took me a few seconds to follow them. Once I did, I walked a few paces behind Lizzy as per Rainy's directions, and Anna fell in behind me. When I opened the door, I saw Frankie glance up, but then I heard Lizzy ask, "Can you point me to the yoga instructor interviews?"

"Um, I don't know about anything like that?" I could hear Frankie as I walked toward the elevators and tried not to look back.

"Are you sure, because I really wanted to show them this," I heard Lizzy say.

I pivoted slightly so I could watch as I reached the elevators and pressed the button. I could see Anna looking at brochures at one of the desks, and I saw Lizzy bend backward from where she stood and move into wheel position. Frankie watched her, mouth open, as the elevator dinged and I slipped inside. I whispered a thank you to them as the doors closed behind me.

Luckily, the building was pretty bright, so I didn't feel too weird wearing shades inside. I was on my way up up up to the studio floor when the elevator stopped to let someone else in. I stiffened as the doors opened and Ken walked in. His slick eyebrows shot up, he looked at me sideways, and joined me inside.

The doors closed and he cleared his throat. "Haven't seen you around here before." He lowered his voice to make it sound sexier, unaware that I already knew how high and annoying his regular voice was. I simply smiled. My heart pounded and I could've sworn my face turned red. I chanted, leave me alone, in my head.

But he didn't. He turned toward me and tipped his head. "Same floor I'm going to." He pointed to the lighted button on the interface. Then he shook his head. "Don't you know? That's the wrong floor."

I held my breath. He knew. He knew it was me. Was he making a joke about me going back to my old floor? To my captioning desk? Shit. I shifted uneasily and flexed my aching feet in the terrible heels I wore. If Ken knew it was me, he might tell security. It was over.

He kept going. "You know, I think you're in the wrong place, altogether. Wrong elevator. Wrong building." He watched me with wolf-like eyes. "Wanna know why?"

I tipped my head. I didn't really. I didn't want him to tell me that the building had a policy against dogs or that I was too ugly or too fat to be there. I didn't want this to be over so quickly.

"Because there isn't an elevator in this building that will take you all the way up to Heaven, where you belong, angel." He reached out and placed his hand on my ass.

I closed my eyes and bit back a grin. He was flirting with me. A laugh bubbled in my chest and I felt like smacking his slimy hand. But I held it together because I would never get this chance again. Suddenly I didn't care that he might report me. All I cared about was throwing it all back in his face.

I pivoted my body so I faced him and leaned close. I made my voice deep, too, and whispered, "You like what you see?"

He swallowed and nodded as I breathed on his neck and put my hand on his chest, sliding it slowly down. As I reached his stomach, I pulled back a little so he could see my face. I pouted, cocked my head to the side, tipped my sunglasses down, and said, "Hmm... that's weird, because I thought you said it still needed some work" in my regular voice.

Ken jumped back. "Shit. Cheeto? It's you?

I pulled my lips up into a sneer. "Just so you know, a girl like me would never be caught dead with a guy like you." The doors opened and I turned to leave. I remembered one last comeback (apparently I wanted to get them all in at once) and looked over my shoulder. "Seriously, Ken. Don't you think this is a bit desperate? Even for you." I put my sunglasses on and walked out, fairly confident that he stared at my ass as I walked away. I also felt pretty confident that he'd be too dumbstruck to tell anyone that I was there.

I strode proudly through the halls, looking like I belonged there instead of sneaking about. Rainy said she'd seen it in a movie once, that the easiest way to hide is in plain sight, that way you don't look suspicious. So that's what I did. I walked like the building had been made for me, like it was named after me (well, maybe not named, since it was called the Henry Phillips building, but maybe I was his daughter or much younger wife).

I found Paul working in his office in the back. I took off my sunglasses and said, "Hey." I stood still, waiting for his reaction.

He looked up, but didn't freak. He just raised his eyebrows and settled back in his chair. He did eye my very-different-from-anything-he'd-seen-me-in attire, but didn't comment. Instead, he said, "Didn't expect to see you again."

I cringed and nodded.

"I can't help you if you want your job back. If they can't trust you to be the same robot performer everyday, you're out."

I swallowed. "I know. I don't want to be a weather girl anymore."

He sat up. "Okay. Then what can I do for you?"

"I want to go back to school and work for the National Weather Service like you did."

He frowned. "Well, you don't need me to do that. Apply."

I tipped my head. "I know I don't need you for that. But I want to apply for the internship under Thomas Richards." I saw Paul's face light up with recognition. "He's the one you used to work with, right?"

He nodded. "Tom and I go way back."

"What I really need from you is a letter of recommendation. I checked the site and it says I need at least one from a professional in the business."

Paul smiled. "I can work with that. You've got good instincts. I'll add a note to let him know not to put you in front of any cameras."

I bobbed my head.

He held his hand out to a seat in the corner. "Can you wait while I write something up for you now?"

I smiled. "I hoped that's what you'd say."

I left a little while later, a list of schools and people to contact, and an envelope with seven copies of Paul's recommendation letter (just in case). He would also email Tom and give him a heads up to look for my application in a few months when the interviews for the spot would start. I smiled and kissed the papers I held onto tight. The business end of my visit was taken care of, but one-more-something remained to be done before I left.

I needed to find Burt and apologize. I missed him so much it ached. All I could remember was the sadness that dripped from his face after my mess-up. I knew he had been disappointed in me and it felt like a knife stabbed into my gut, repeatedly. I had to make it right.

I stopped in the hall and took out a piece of paper from my purse. I was about to write a note, but I paused. I couldn't do that to him. A note was something Old Sunny would've needed. New Sunny had guts (even if they did hurt from metaphorical knife wounds). I needed to find him and tell him I was sorry in person.

It wasn't easy to locate him, especially because he worked on the set, someplace they didn't just let random people wander, even when they looked fancy and important like Audrey Hepburn. I looked in his office, in the break room, even by the cameras, but Burt was in none of his normal places. Throughout the disappointing search, I had to keep my chin up and my face stone-cold so no one would talk to me, even though I felt dejected and droopy.

Finally, when I had almost given up and stood defeated in a back hallway, Burt walked out of the bathroom. (Of course, the one place I hadn't looked!) I jumped up and watched him. He watched me back, smarter than my disguise. I'm not sure if he knew it was me right away, but it seemed like he at least knew that I shouldn't be there. He was right.

I stepped toward him and took off my sunglasses. His face showed no signs of surprise or smugness, just disappointment.

"What can I do for you, darling?" he asked, looking down at his hands.

"Burt, I--"

He shook his head. "You shouldn't be here, doll."

My heart stung and my stomach twisted so much it hurt to move, so I stayed put instead of walking over to him like I wanted. In my heels I know I towered above the small old man, but the judgment behind his eyes made me feel tiny, nothing.

"I'm sorry," I said anyway, because that was it. I was.

Burt pressed his hair-hidden lips together and sighed. I couldn't tell if he was going to say anything and I really wasn't sure I could handle it if he did, so I kept talking.

"I know you're completely mad at me, that I let you down, and that there's nothing I can do to take it back, but I just needed to tell you because I don't care about losing any of this." I took a breath after pushing all of those words out at once and looked in his eyes. "But I would hate it if I lost you."

His mouth twitched slightly and his eyes softened as he really looked back at mine. "Darling, I--"

I shook my head. "You were my mentor, you were kind, and," I smiled, "you kept Ken away, but most of all you were like a father to me." I licked my lips and looked down. "I've never had that before. I didn't realize how much it meant to me until you were gone."

Burt walked toward me and placed a hand on my elbow. "Sunny, you are a wonderful young lady and I'm proud to know you. I wish I could have helped you the other day, but if I stopped loving my own kids and grandkids every time they did something I didn't understand, I wouldn't have anyone left. Forgiveness is what family does." He gave my elbow a squeeze. "Whether it's the family you were given or the one you make for yourself." His beard pushed up into a smile and his eyes squinted happily.

My heart beat against my chest and made my lungs feel tight, but in a good way. I smiled back and lunged forward when Burt opened his arms for a hug. I would have stayed there for much longer, breathing in his mint and coffee smell if my phone hadn't rung. I pulled away, and saw it was Benny's vet. Burt nodded at me to take it.

"Hello?" My throat felt tight. Wasn't this earlier than they said? Had something gone wrong?

"Ms. Skies, this is Jessica from the Willamette Falls Animal Care Center. I wanted to let you know that Benedict is out of surgery and recovering well. You can come pick him up within the hour."

Heat and moisture crowded my eyes and I nodded. "Thank you so much." I hung up and looked at Burt. "My cat. I have to go."

He nodded and said, "Well then, darling, I will see you around. I've been wanting to try some of that tea you've been drinking. Do you still visit that shop you're always going on about?"

My chin crumpled up a bit, but I breathed through the tightness in my throat and nodded. "All the time."

"I will see you there." He gave my hand one last squeeze as he walked away and I closed my eyes, forgiveness flooding through my whole body. I gave myself a few moments to breathe before putting my sunglasses back on and getting the heck off that floor before anyone noticed and tried to add a run-in with the law to my recent mistakes.

When I stepped out of the elevator, Lizzy was doing a handstand by the security desk, Rainy's long blond hair was out of its bun and she flung it in front of Frankie's face, and Anna pretended something had fallen down the front of her shirt. Frankie's face was red and he tried to push past my friends. I'm not sure if he looked more overwhelmed or scared as his eyes flitted around the foyer for an escape.