“You’re quitting Merek and Merek to do what?” Ebony’s question was more like a shriek, and Rachael had to pull the phone away from her ear to keep from going deaf. “Are you crazy?”

“No, I’m not crazy,” Rachael replied, though she wasn’t exactly positive on that count at the moment. “I told you. I’ve always wanted to work with underprivileged children, and I think this is my opportunity. Besides, they sought me out, Ebony, and it pays more. It’s really a great gig. No more rent, no more commute. I would be an idiot to pass it up.”

Ebony was quiet for a few moments before she said, “Rach, the last time I talked to you, you said you thought you had black mold poisoning. Are you sure you didn’t just dream this up? You’ve been acting really strange lately. I’m starting to worry about you.”

Rachael couldn’t blame her friend for being worried. She had sounded like a lunatic the last couple of days. “I understand why you’d say that, Eb, but trust me, I’m sure. I had the apartment checked out, and it’s fine. I also went to the doctor, and I’m not sick. He said it had to be stress. Another reason why I shouldn’t return to my job at Merek and Merek.” All of that was a lie, of course, but Ebony couldn't know the truth.

“Have you talked to Frank yet?” Ebony’s tone wasn’t any calmer than it had been when she’d first gotten the news, though she wasn’t quite as loud now. “He’s going to freak out.”

“Not exactly.” Rachael glanced down at the first draft of her resignation letter on her laptop. Her story there was different than the one she was telling Ebony now. She’d gone with the illness version from this morning. “I doubt he’ll be too happy if I tell him the truth, so I’m telling him I’m sick and have to relocate for special treatment.”

“Seriously, Rach?” The volume level was up again. “If he finds out the truth, he’s going to be so pissed. Either way, he's going to lose it.”

“Well, the only way he can know what I'm really doing is if you tell him. And--it is what it is.” She shook her head, wishing she could hurry up and get off of the phone. Before she called Ebony, Rachael had started tossing clothes into a giant suitcase her mother had gotten her for Christmas last year in hopes that financial independence would mean more travel for both of them. While that wasn’t exactly the way things had turned out now that the world had taken a crazy turn, Rachael could still make good use of it. If she played her cards right, she’d still get to do some traveling as part of the Silverwood team, too. Visions of holding Graham’s hand and gazing up at the Eiffel Tower lit up at night, stars twinkling in the background, had her mind elsewhere so that she didn’t hear what Ebony said until she was shouting her name again. “Sorry--you cut out. What?”

“I said I don’t think it’s fair for you to ask me to lie to my boss for you.”

“Oh, please, Ebony! How many times did I lie for you in college? You skipped class so often, Professor Nelson didn’t recognize you when you tried to take the final. Dr. Pierce called you ‘Party Princess.’ He’d start off his lectures with, ‘Well, I guess Party Princess couldn’t be bothered with class today. Where is she, Miss Barnes?’ and I’d be left stammering, trying to come up with a story other than the fact that you were hungover or hadn’t made it back to the apartment in time.”

“That’s not true. I hardly ever missed class.” Ebony’s tone had changed dramatically, and Rachael assumed that was because she knew her words were dishonest. “Fine. I won’t tell Frank the truth. But… you better not ask me to do anything else. As it is, I’ve been doing my best to keep you from getting fired the last few days. Now, here you are, quitting.”

Rather than go into all of the reasons why Rachael hadn’t asked Ebony to cover for her at all, except for that morning when she had mentioned the black mold, she only said, “Thanks, Ebony. I’ve gotta go. I need to finish packing.”

“You’re leaving tomorrow?” she repeated. Rachael had told her that earlier, when Ebony was still too shocked to say anything. “That seems unbelievably fast. Are you sure this place isn’t a cult? Or the guy you talked to isn’t a kidnapper?”

Rachael envisioned herself tied up in Graham’s closet and didn’t really have a problem with it. “No, I’m sure they’re not. I told you, I went and visited the facility today. It’s a nice place. I’m going to like it there.”

“I sure hope so. It stinks you can’t come back home very often. And no visitors?”

“Every other Wednesday for a few hours, but no, not really.” It would be cool if Ebony came and visited her at Silverwood, but Rachael couldn’t see her friend having time to trek all the way to Pennsylvania.

“Well, you be careful. If anything seems fishy at all, you get out of there, you hear me?”

“Yes, Mother Ebony,” Rachael joked. “I’ll be fine. I’ll call you tomorrow night.”

“You’d better.”

“Bye, Ebony.”

“Bye, Rachael.”

The tension in her friend’s voice was even more evident with her last words. Rachael couldn’t think about that. She had too much to do. Firing off a text to Graham to let him know she would like to move herself and a few of her things in tomorrow if that would be all right, and asking what could be done with the rest of her furniture, she set her phone aside and tried to concentrate on the email she needed to send to her boss. Scrappy seemed much more content now that they were in the process of moving closer to Graham. She purred happily from her spot behind Rachael on the couch.

After a few more edits and a change to a sentence or two, Rachael sent the email, glad to have that taken care of. She’d called her mother earlier, and while she’d been slightly skeptical of the entire situation, she hadn’t given Rachael any grief. She lived in Pittsburgh, so she was happy Rachael would still be close and hadn’t decided to move across the country.

The property manager said he had no problem with her moving out by June 1 so long as she paid the next three month’s rent. Rachael knew it was in her contract with Silverwood that they would take care of any expenses for her current housing situation. She’d read it earlier, in Graham’s office, so she’d need to ask him about that, too. Her rent was currently paid through June 1, the day she’d start her classes, so she’d have to be out by then anyway.

Deciding it was time to get back to packing, Rachael picked up her phone and headed into the bedroom only to have it start ringing in her hand. A glance at the number told her it was Graham, and a warm sensation crept from her abdomen all the way to the tips of her fingers and toes. “Hello?”

“Hey. Are you packing?”

“I am. Did you make it home okay?”

“Traffic sucked, but once I got out of the city, it wasn’t bad. Just wanted to let you know I’ve arranged for you to move in tomorrow. We set your combination on all of the doors, including your dorm to your birthday. So just press in 1029, and that will get you in. I’m sorry I won’t be here tomorrow when you arrive. I’ve got to head to Ohio, but I might be back late tomorrow night, maybe Thursday.”

“Oh, that's okay.” Rachael tried to keep the disappointment out of her voice. She’d hoped she’d have a chance to see him the next day.

“Ms. Post will help you schedule the movers to get whatever you’re not bringing with you into storage. She’ll need to know who your lease holder is on the apartment so she can take care of the payout for ending your lease early, assuming that’s the case.”

“Yep. That’s great.” She knew Ms. Post could easily handle all of that. “Cool.” She wasn’t sure what else to say. Keeping him on the phone and chatting sounded inviting, but she had work to do and had used up an awful lot of his time for one day.

“I’ve let one of my associates know you’re coming. Trip Cardel is another recruiter here. He’s also on our local hunting team. He’ll be able to help you out if you need anything. I’ll text you his number in case you need something and can’t find him. Feel free to ask him to carry some of your stuff in, too.”

Rachael snickered. “I think I can manage that, but thanks.” Of course, she knew Trip, another of her characters whose name sounded ridiculous when applied to a real person. He was also good looking, but not as hot as Graham, and he had an on-again-off-again thing with Sammi, so there was a chance he wouldn’t like Rachael if what she’d seen on Sammi’s face earlier that day had been as real as it had felt.

“Seriously. Pretend he’s a pack mule.” She giggled again but didn’t comment. “All right, Rach. I’ll let you get back to packing. If you need anything, though, give me a call. I’m really excited that you’re going to be with us.”

“Thanks. I’m excited, too.” She knew he said that to everyone, but it was still nice to hear it.

“And Rach… thanks a lot for listening to me today. I hope I didn’t make you uncomfortable. It was nice to… have someone to talk to.”

That he did not say to everyone, and Rachael felt her heart liquifying. “You’re welcome, Graham. Any time.” She meant it, too. Maybe she could help him let go of Chell and discover there was room in his heart for someone else--maybe a spunky brunette with a loud mouth and a keen imagination.

“Talk to you soon, Rach.”

He hung up while she was still formulating a goodbye, and she decided it was just as well because she’d probably say something dumb anyway, like “Catch you on the flippity-flip.” She shook her head at her own silly thoughts and set her phone on the nightstand, next to a bed covered in clothes that had missed the suitcase.

A few seconds later, her phone chirped that she had a text. It was from Graham--Trip’s number. But that wasn’t all. It also said, “Don’t let him charm you now. I call dibs,” with a winky face emoji. Rachael’s face lit on fire as she tried to figure out exactly what that meant. Whatever it was--a tease, a joke, something more--it wasn’t a bad thing. Perhaps she had a chance with Graham after all. She picked up her phone and simply texted back, “Thanks. I won’t, lol,” and then put it down, glad she hadn’t tried to be clever. As long as she kept her head in the game, she might be able to pull this off. Unless Sammi Knight figured out what Rachael had done to her sister--then all bets were off.

Rachael turned back to her suitcase, a smile on her face. All of this was crazy, but it was also wonderful, and she wasn’t about to miss out on her one chance at being with the guy from her dreams, even if it meant leaving her entire life behind. She’d just write herself a new one.