Tiff reminded me so much of Sarah, and I barely stopped myself from the automatic retort that came to mind. “I guess so.”
“And just so you know, I love that woman. I’d kill for her.” She hardened her gaze, shooting daggers at me. “I mean it. You hurt her; you lose something.”
I appreciated her loyalty, impressed that Audrey had someone in her corner who would defend her as staunchly as Tiffany did. She was a hell of a good friend.
“Message received. Now, I think I have an idea …”
11
Audrey
The MacMillan launch was definitely making it difficult to focus on my sex life. I had half a mind to just invest in a new vibrator and call it a day, but Tiff—as always—wouldn’t let me give up. That said, even she was finding it impossible to work around my current schedule.
It was my third late night in the office, and while a normal person would be happy that it was a Friday, possibly going out for after-work drinks or planning a big weekend, here I was at nine p.m., trying to work out how we could launch the MacMillan’s new dark rum.
I wanted unique. I wanted new.
Unfortunately, both of those cost time and money, and we weren’t exactly flush in either.
But I was determined.
MacMillan’s was an amazing little distillery whose owners’ whole heart went into making something that spoke to them. I just wouldn’t forgive myself if I didn’t make this the best damn launch that I could.
Jeff and Julie had put their faith in us, signing on when David had first started this venture, and I felt obligated to repay that faith, to prove to them we were worth it, for David more than anything. I knew how much this meant to him.
And I called David the sentimental one.
I stared at the list of ideas that I’d written down, ranging from the traditional to the outright impossible—like a free celebrity endorsement. Two, in particular, struck me as both interesting and potentially possible: a themed cocktail event and a flight tasting tour.
I imagined the cocktail event as an exclusive one-night-only evening hosted either at a client’s bar or a function space we used solely for the launch; we could include food and make it part degustation and part presentation.
Whereas the flight tour would be scaled down to the essentials and hosted at a number of bars—cross-promotion was always an easy sell—and I’d target the pre-dinner, pre-theatre crowds.
I marked the two ideas in bold and opened up a new worksheet so I could start to brainstorm what I’d need to make them happen.
Even though the launch would be on the smaller side, the magnitude of what was required settled in my bones. Familiar fears crept in like cold steel along my spine. I’d helped set up launches like this in the past, but this was the first time it was all on me. I couldn’t mess this up.
Messing this up meant I wasn’t ready. That David had made a mistake.
So, I had to work harder. I meant what I had said to David. I could handle this.
Iwouldhandle this.
Hmm. Maybe if I worked through the weekend, I could present to Jeff and Julie on Monday …
Guilt sank in my stomach. I had promised myself I would start dating again, and I could hardly do that if I spent all weekend holed up in this office, could I?
I imagined what Tiff would tell me to do, and I knew I needed to embrace this crazy plan I had decided on. I still wanted it, but wanting and doing were far from the same thing.
Torn between work and my love life, I chose option three: procrastination.
Which is why I spent the next twenty minutes venturing down an internet rabbit hole looking at the vast array of images of Jackson Ward.
Who wouldn’t, though? He was tall, lean, chiseled. Like an Abercrombie model.
Dirty blond hair that was probably cut by committee, always perfectly tousled in any number of ways. Those deep blue eyes glinting above the sharp, cocky grin that seemed to be his trademark.
And yes, ok, I may have checked to see if he had a girlfriend. I maintained it was only to make sure I hadn’t cuckolded anyone. And if I happened to read a handful of articles that detailed his steady history of rumored relationships or confirmed flings, it was hardly my fault.
