CLAIRE

I woke up before my alarm went off, my stomach already twisted into knots of nervous excitement. The meeting was at two PM, which meant I had hours to overthink everything, to second-guess my designs, to convince myself that this was all a terrible mistake.

I rolled out of bed and walked to the bathroom, splashing cold water on my face and staring at my reflection in the mirror.

"You can do this," I whispered to myself. "It's just a meeting."

But it wasn't just a meeting and I knew it. This was my first real step toward building something that belonged to me, something that had nothing to...