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That didn’t stop Dex though

He suddenly got to his feet; his chair flew out from under him and wheeled backwards toward the wall He slammed his hands down on the table with such force that I was afraid the glass was going to shatter He leaned across until he was very close to Ji a co the botto with rawness "She may not be a self-obsessed stick-thin biht in that she’s got soht to share that with the world This show is o further into thosethat real back to reality progra She’s smart, she’s funny and she’s not afraid to take risks Not toYou know it, I know it, and soon everyone else will know it The only person who doesn’t know it is her because of archaic fuckheads like yourself telling her otherwise"

My mouth dropped open another inch I couldn’t believe what Dex had just said It had to be theanyone had ever said about me, and his words and passion

"Are we really going to argue about her?" Ji atat the corners of his jaw

This was too h they were tears of frustration and anger, I didn’t knohat to do

So, I decided to leave

I got up quickly, squeaked out an "excuse me," and bolted out of the room and the office before Ji

I pushed the button for the elevator a few times before ht be the quickest way out

I got into the stairway and ran down At first I wasn’t sure what I was running frohts andto hurt, I slowedin deeply

I probably shouldn’t have run like that I knoas totally unprofessional andaround to be huet a shoay at this rate, no ht of what he said brought a sense of war chest I slowed down even more and sat down on one of the cold steps The stairas eo down

I took in a few deep breaths and tried to run through what had happened I had two feelings battling inside of et when you know you’ve made an idiot of yourself; the other was a sense of unworthiness Never in my whole life have I ever had someone put so much stock into me as a person and actually believe it Or at least act like he believed it I was a huge risk for hi to jump with no rope or cord attached It amazed me that Dex said all of that and to his boss, no less I’d be onlike that to Frida

And at that thought, I was shot with a third feeling: Guilt The guilt of lying toI could see the shoesproudly in their shoebox I could have ruined everything for myself

"What afrom the cement walls

I sat there for a few ure out my next course of action I didn’t knohere Dex was and I didn’t have a phone, so I couldn’t call hi a cab and heading back to the airport seeo back hoood of et all of this ever happened

Not that it was going to be that easy To just let go of all those hopes that this had given ht this was reat and all, but it was an ordinary job and still felt stifling, and when I thought about this opportunity, it just paled in comparison This had been a chance to actually prove to everyone what exactly I was capable of Even when I didn’t believe anything was going to co at the back of my head and in the bottohed I wiped away any es under my eyes, brushed backon this all day, regardless, but there was no point doing it in a cold stairwell in a giant Seattle office building

I made my way down the rest of the stairs and out of the lobby, walking quickly in case I saw soht Ji to pounce on me and insult me further, but I was paranoid

Once outside, I scanned the street for cabs It looked like there ht be one across the street in front of a boutique hotel

I was heading for it, hoping no one else would take it, when I heardcalled It was Dex’s voice

I didn’t want to turn around I wanted to be free of all of this I kept walking and ignored it

I didn’t get very far

I heard footsteps behind rabbed He stopped in front of htly, a crazed look in his eyes I looked down at his free hand He had a pen and a stack of papers in it

"Perry," he said breathlessly "Why did you run?"

I gave hi hu for you?" I sneered

He rolled his eyes "Jimmy is Jimmy Don’t listen to him I don’t And it doesn’t o of my arm and placed the papers in one of my hands and the pen in the other

"Would you dothis contract?"

What? I looked down at ot the show, kiddo If you still want it," he said, peering deep into my eyes

"How? He said--"