pinky promise - jamie tartt

‟ FUCKING CRUSH HIM „

˗ˏˋ 'ˎ˗

Tate stared at the thick yellow envelope sitting on her desk, a frown etched so deeply onto her face she wasn't sure she'd ever be able to get rid of it.

It had been sitting there when she had arrived that morning, and it had taken her some time to get to it, having had a meeting shortly after walking in the door. Only after she had made it back to her office and signed off on Shandy's Bantr promo idea—a favor for Keeley—she finally had time to examine the envelope.

The first thing she noticed was that it was addressed from her mother.

That alone nearly had her tossing it all in the bin without opening it, but with a bitter taste on her tongue, Tate had opened the envelope and pulled out it's heavy contents.

She had read the short note her mother had placed on top of the stack of papers filled with legalese, her temper rising—but there also was a sinking feeling in her chest.

Your father and I want you to come home. We've even gotten you a job back here at your father's company doing whatever it is your expensive degree is in. All you need to do is sign the contract and you can come back to us. Big pay raise, too.

True to her word, her mother had attached a thick contract to her note.

At first, Tate was angry. Then she read the note again, and considered the idea. Never had her parents said they wanted her anywhere. But to go so far as to secure a job for her on the hope that she could come back to them? Tears started to prick at her eyes, hot and grateful, feeling for once that maybe her parents did love her.

Maybe they had been right about a whole lot more.

But just as that thought crossed her mind, Jamie appeared in her doorway, and every shred of her that considered leaving Richmond disappeared completely. Tate already was home.

"Hi, baby," She sniffed, waving Jamie into her office before he could even ask. Those two words and her reaction were enough to have him racing into the room, frown on his lips and door shutting behind him.

"Love, what's wrong?" He was at her side instantly, twisting her swivel chair so she faced him as she knelt before her. "You heard about the sign?"

"What sign?" She asked, brows knitting in confusion and she swiped her fingers underneath her eyes to confirm that no tears had actually fallen. There was still a lump in her throat, but she knew it would remain as long as her mother's note stayed sitting atop her desk.

"Ted's BELIEVE sign in the locker room. It's been ripped in half."

"You're fucking joking." Wide-eyed, she tried to think of who would have been angry enough to rip it in half. No one had been in the locker room recently that fit the description, unless it had been ripped for longer.

"I'm not, but what's got you so upset?"

"It's stupid, I promise." She tried shaking her head and glancing around, but Jamie was studying her face as if she held all the answers he'd ever searched for, and it was entirely too much to turn away from.

"Love, if you're upset by it, then it's not nothing."

"It's just..." Tate trailed off, her bottom lip caught between her teeth. The words tasted too bitter on her tongue, so she reached onto her desk and picked up the note from her mother and shoved it into Jamie's hands.

It was her turn to memorize his expressions as he read the note, his frown appearing the very moment he realized who had written the note. And it hadn't gotten any better when he realized the contents of the letter.