“Okay, I’m ready. Where are we going?”
“I figured we’d start off on Fifth Avenue, then maybe make our way over to SoHo,” I tell her as I push the stroller to the front door.
When we get into the elevator, I watch her as she shifts her weight from one side to the other nervously.
“Are you nervous?” I ask curiously.
She looks up at me with big doe eyes. “This feels weird. I don’t want to take your money. And … I don’t shop at these places. I’ve never had the money.”
I reach for her hand and give it a squeeze, finding it impossible to let go. Without thinking, I thread my fingers through hers. The simple connection feels more natural than breathing.
“I want to spoil you today. And I’ll make sure everybody treats you like the most important person in the room.”
The air in the elevator turns thick as I rub circles on her hand with my thumb. She doesn’t answer. Her eyes hold mine, and she stares at me like she’s trying to figure me out. I’m sure none of this makes sense to her.
Then the doors open, and the moment is broken. She pulls her hand away and adjusts her shirt.
We hit up a café first to grab a coffee and pastry for breakfast. Eli fell asleep on the stroller ride there and has been knocked out ever since. We drink our coffee as we walk to Fifth Avenue.
I have a couple of appointments set up with the stores on Fifth to get us started. I want someone to be available to Jessie’s beck and call. She can try to deny it all she wants today, but I know she really wants to take me up on this. The size of her apartment just shows how little her company is paying her. She deserves this shopping spree.
She deserveseverything.
She might not know it, but I follow her career. I know just how many families she’s helped or children she’s saved from an abusive or neglectful parent. She really is living out her dream that she’s had since high school.
We step into a cathedral of fashion, two soaring floors, draped in endless rows of clothing that seem to stretch on forever. A woman in a blue pantsuit meets us at the door.
“Hello.” She smiles with her red lips. “Welcome. How may I assist you?”
I can feel the nerves radiating off Jessie, so I wrap an arm around her waist and pull her against my side. “Hi. My name is Walker Harlow. I have an appointment.”
Jessie cranes her neck, then looks at me with confusion written all over her face. I wink at her, which just seems to fluster her more. A deep chuckle escapes from my throat. I like disarming her usual tough facade. This is the Jessie I remember. I’ve missed her. We used to have so much fun together.
“Oh, hello, Mr. Harlow. We have you all set up in our private changing room. My name is Roxanne. I’ll be working with you today.”
I nod at her. “This is Jessie. You have my permission to spoil her rotten. No limit today.”
Her subtle excitement doesn’t slip past me. I know they work on commission.
“Of course. We will make sure she is well taken care of. Please, follow me.”
We are escorted into a private area in the back of the first floor with a long cream couch, a floor-length mirror framed in gold, and a black curtain off to the corner.
The coffee table in front of me has a bottle of chilled champagne and a charcuterie board. I roll the stroller in front of the couch off to the corner to keep it out of the way, then take a seat.
“You just sit and relax. Jessie and I are going to go have some fun.” Roxanne smiles brightly, then grabs Jessie’s hand.
Jessie looks at me like a deer in headlights. I pull out my phone and begin to sort through work emails. This is not like most Saturdays. I usually get in a solid eight-hour workday. Sunday is much of the same—maybe a five-hour day if I’m feeling run-down.
An email sent early this morning catches my eye. It’s from Stewart, one of our majority-owned partners. He’s requesting a meeting with me on Monday morning.
I know it’s about the high-profile case. He doesn’t do one-on-one meetings unless he’s discussing major business. We have nothing else on our docket worthy of a meeting with him.
I’d usually go into the meeting with confidence, knowing I was the best choice and showing it with how I carried myself. I’m not so sure now. I wonder how much they noticed of my absence this week. Hopefully not the full extent that I was actually gone. I could’ve been in court, and they don’t generally micromanage, but it’s still leaving me feeling rattled.
I wanted to get more face time in with Stewart and Henry. Who knows what Pierce has accomplished with my time away? Probably shit-talking me left and right.
I toss my phone to the side in frustration. Last week, I was at the height of my career with nothing but possibilities. Today, I’m grappling with the weight of choices I never saw coming, wondering if I’ve already lost everything I’ve worked for.
