From: [email protected]
Date: February 23, 2017 16:13:29 EST
Subject: Final Details
Molly,
Meg is asking for the spice racks you mentioned. Are you ableto drop them byLilouthis afternoon? I can sendsomeone to pick them up if it’s too much of a hassle. I am also wondering whattime you will be coming to set up tomorrow. I want to make sure someone isavailable to let you in.
Ezra.
P.S. It’s going to be in the fifties tomorrow. You’ll want towear your bikini to the party, I’m sure.
I glared at Ezra’slatest email with my mouse hovering over the delete button. I had heard thatsuccessful people were often eccentric weirdos beneath all of their glamor andmoney. That had to be the reason Ezra was obsessed with the weather.
And my outerwear.
Emily rolled intothe aisle separating our desks. “Is it the Little Tucker again?”
“Ha!” Tearing myeyes from Ezra’s unexpected email, I turned to my friend. “No, not this time.But give him five minutes, I’m sure he’ll chime in any second.”
Since our meetingTuesday morning, Henry Tucker had been a constant thorn in my side. There wasmicromanaging. And then there was Junior’s super-mega-micro-managing that mademe want to stab him with my stapler. He was either emailing me at all hours ofthe night and day or calling me during those same hours. And when I was atwork, he had taken to sneaking up on me whenever I was alone—in the breakroom,outside the restroom, in the parking garage. I swore he wore slippers to worksince I never heard him coming.
He was so in mybusiness that I never actually had time to devote to my projects. He wanted toknow every single, minute detail of what I was working on and then he wanted meto explain the how and why of each so he could be sure it was worth my effort.
And the entire timehe was in my business, he couldn’t seem to remember my name. I was starting towonder if dementia ran in his family. First Mother Tucker never called me by myname, and now his son seemed only capable of referring to me in a series of awfulpet names. Darling. Sweets. Babe. Pretty girl. Honey. Andthe one that mademe feel especiallystabbymy favorite—sweet cheeks.
I shuddered indisgust just thinking about it. When I realized his degrading terms ofendearment weren’t going to end, I’d thought about going straight to TuckerSenior. Surely this was harassment of some kind? But then I’d heard him callCatherine Dawes doll, and she hadn’t done anything more than ignore him. If shecould suck it up, so could I.
Besides, we’d onlyjust begun the Black Soul account. I didn’t want to make things tense withHenry when I’d have to work with him for months.
Yes, his pet nameswere obnoxious. And outdated. And beyond tacky. But, they weren’t hurting me ina physical or emotional sense.
They were justannoying.
So, I put up withhim, reminding him of my real name whenever I got the chance.
“So if it’s not HT,why are you glaring at your computer?” Emily asked.
I raised myeyebrows, smoothing out the scowl I hadn’t realized I’d been flashing. “It’sthat engagement party I’m throwing,” I told her. “I’m being forced to work withmy friend’s fiancé’s friend and he’s difficult.”
“The chef?”
“The owner,” I clarified.“Ezra. He’s a know-it-all. And he’s apparently detail-oriented because he wantsme to sign off on every little thing. There’s only so much I can agree tobefore I’m just like, dude, whatever napkins you think are best, just go withthose.” I smiled at her so she could see I was partly joking.
She laughed. “Well,he didn’t get where he is today by skipping over the details.”
I puffed out ashort breath. “You’re probably right about that.” Glancing at the clock again Icontemplated skipping out of work early so I could run home and grab the spiceracks. If I left now I wouldn’t have to deal with traffic on the way toLilou.
There were still afew things I wanted to pick up before tomorrow night, and I didn’t want tofight bumper-to-bumper traffic as I hopped around town.
Emily scootedcloser and dropped her voice so our nosey coworkers couldn’t hear. “Hey, a fewof us are heading to happy hour after work. Are you in?”
I watched my mouseclick reply and shook my head at my own weakness. “I wish,” I mumbled. “Thisaccount is going to give me a drinking problem.” She shot me a sympatheticlook. “But I can’t,” I went on. “I have to deal with last minute party details.Maybe next week?”
Emily rolled herchair back behind her desk. “I can’t believe everything you’re doing for thisparty.”
I shrugged, feelingshy. “Vera deserves this,” I told her simply. “I’m happy to organize. Besides,I’m not really doing a whole lot. Wyatt and Ezra seem to have everythingcovered. I’m just showing up.”
