Bring Me Fire Read Online Free

the other. She felt that she’d been given a special invitation and that she should call the number immediately. Yet another part of her hesitated, unsure. What were the alternatives, though? Put a call in with the temp agency, which she should probably do anyway, because who knew how many other people might be applying for this job, even if it wasn’t going to be posted publicly.
    After she finished her coffee, she took a shower and got dressed as though she actually had somewhere to be that morning. It would be too easy to lounge around in her pajamas all day and feel depressed about the way things had turned out, so she decided she’d take her laptop and walk over to Lilac Terrace , the coffee shop that Julia worked at.
    Her phone rang as she stood in the bathroom, brushing her teeth. It was her mother. She picked it up, spitting a mouthful of minty toothpaste into the sink.
    "Hi, Mom."
    " Darling!" her mother said. "Is today one of your days off? Your sister and I are headed into the city right now, would you be available to meet us for a late breakfast? We’ll let you choose the place."
    " Well, actually..."
    " It’d be so great to see you. I know we’re only half an hour away, but for as little as we actually get together, you might as well be living in on the moon! Robin’s getting her haircut at that new salon that just opened, in the Marina. There’s plenty of good places to eat around there; why don’t you meet us?"
    " Okay," Sky said. She could meet up with Julia after, she figured. "Where should I meet you and when?"
    " Let’s go to Lena’s . Like I said, we’re about half an hour away, but I’m sure we’ll spend at least half that long looking for parking! So take your time. If you get there before us, feel free to get a table, you know how busy they usually are. I’m so glad you’re going to meet us. I can’t wait to hear about what’s new with you and how your job is going!"
    Sky grimaced and hung up the phone. Her mother had been the less supportive parent regarding her decision to major in art.
    "But don’t you want to study something that will actually get you a decent-paying job?" her mother had asked, a note of alarm in her voice, when Sky had informed her parents she’d be studying in art. She followed that up with: "Do you even paint?"
So of course her mom had been thrilled when Sky had actually been able to land the job at Prelude . She’d even seemed genuinely interested in hearing about the different artwork and the artists that Sky worked with. Breaking the news that she was no longer employed was not going to be enjoyable, and Sky wondered just how long she’d be able to put it off for.
    She arrived at Lena’s before they did and got a corner table. She spotted her sister Robin first. She hadn't seen her since her sixteenth birthday. She bounced into the restaurant ahead of their mother, wearing a pair of skinny jeans and ankle boots, and a tight wraparound-style top.
    " Sis!" she squealed when she saw Sky. "What’s up?"
    " Not much," Sky said. "You look great." She hugged her mother and they sat down.
    " Have you been getting enough sleep?" her mom asked immediately.
    " Nice to see you too, Mom," Sky said. "Does that really have to be the first thing you say to me?" It still amazed Sky sometimes how she only needed to be in mother’s presence for a few minutes before reverting straight back to feeling like a petulant teenager.
    " Sweetie, it was just a question. Which you haven’t answered, so I will take that as a no."
    " Mom, that sort of question is just the nice way to say that someone looks like shit." She stared at her mother for a minute, a woman who had probably never looked less than perfect a day in her life. Not even in the pictures Sky had seen of herself, right after she was born, swaddled nearly to the nose in a hospital blanket and being held like a giant burrito in her mom’s arms. Sky was the wrinkly, red-faced baby, while her mother had a gleaming smile