April was about to hand out folders that must have held the project details when Veronica's phone started ringing. She quickly excused herself while they continued with their discussion. Once outside, she swiped the answer button and cheerily greeted the person on the other line. "Hey, dad,"
"Hey, Roni bug," she laughed at his voice while he called her the pet name he always used when she was a kid.
"Is mom driving?" She heard him move the phone somewhere as a soft rustling sound followed.
"Yep." He answered cutely emphasizing the 'p' and Veronica knew that he deliberately does that whenever her mom is mad at something.
"Stop doing that, Benjamin." She heard her mom scolding him before calling out to her, "Hi, baby."
"Hi, mom. What did he do now?"
The two were on speakerphone so she knew that her dad heard what she said as he chuckled playfully in response. As usual, Lucia tried to be calm even while talking on the phone with her daughter.
"Your dad wanted to have stopovers everywhere to take pictures." She explained in her usual gentle tone and Veronica can't help but chuckle. Her parents sometimes have the silliest arguments, she thought.
"But I wanted to make the memories on our trip last forever." She heard him defend himself and her mom can only sigh in response.
"Honey, don't you think taking a picture with the same-looking tree is too much already?" she argued back.
Veronica broke into a fit of laughter before joining in their conversation. "You do know that he's just teasing you, right?"
"I know." she can't help but hear the smile on her mother's face as she says that.
She moved the phone to her other ear while she slowly walks around back and forth to where she is. "But he seems to be having fun though."
"I know that too." Lucia exhaled.
Veronica was aware that her mother was just joking. She never once ran out of patience for her dad. Well-maybe sometimes when he teases her too much.
"So, I guess you called to let me know that you're almost there?" she asked changing the subject.
"Yeah, we're driving up now," Benjamin replied.
According to the travel plans that her mom showed her, their first stop is at a mountain resort. The two reserved a small but intimate-looking mountain cabin over the weekend before moving along to their next stop which is by the beach. Of course, the place they'll be renting looked amazing; the only downside is how steep the roads are just to get there. Hopefully, though, the weather remains serene while they're on the road.
"I'm relieved. Thank you for letting me know." To be honest, Veronica can't help but worry about her parents traveling but she just tries to not get too worked up about it after all they're adults who can take care of themselves. The anxiousness she's feeling must be because of her going back to work again after all these years. That must be the reason, she said to herself.
"I'm hanging up now, sweetie. We just arrived at the parking lot of the resort."
"Oh, okay. Take care, you two. Love you."
"Love you too. Bye." Her parents said at the same time before the call went off. She sent another message to her dad reminding him to drink his medicine before walking back inside April's office.
Meanwhile, April tapped the tip of her pen against her desk, "This is your last chance, Theresa. If you take this project you can finally do whatever you want since the pay you'll receive could last you for years even without working." She stopped tapping the pen and has now crossed her arms over her chest showing the swirl of a tattoo on her arm as the sleeve of her dress hike up with the movement.
Tess was looking down at the closed folder on her lap.
"-you can buy a house, get into a nice acting school, and maybe even start a small business at the same time," April added.
Tess bit her lip and tried to swallow but the dryness of her throat was preventing her to do so. Just how much money will she receive for doing the job that she can even buy herself a house? She thought while unconsciously touching her stomach while wondering how much she'll be receiving if she did sign up for this project.
The client must be extremely wealthy. If her memory serves her right, they've had too a few wealthy clients in the past but this is the first time that Tess will be handling one herself. She moved her gaze to meet her boss' who was still looking at her questioningly.
She shut her eyes for a second before stiffly nodding her head in response. She can only hope that she doesn't regret doing this later on.
The tension in the air eventually died down when Veronica entered the room. "Sorry for taking so long. What did I miss?" she said before sitting back down on the empty sofa she left a few moments ago.
"Veronica will be your exclusive stylist for this project." April began while turning to look at Tess and then to Veronica. "I'll email to the both of you the other details once everything's settled. In the meantime, the two of you can go while I still have to make another call with the client to coordinate a few things." April grab her phone and laptop from the table.
Meet me at lunch, April mouthed at her friend before finally walking out the door.
As soon as April was gone, Tess suddenly felt queasy to her stomach as she ran her hardest to the comfort room inside her boss's office as soon as bile filled her mouth.
Veronica was soon behind her drawing circles with her hand on her back as she tries to throw up but only dry heaves came out of her mouth.
_to be continued_