BRANDON
It’s only nine o’clock,and I’ve been at the gym for three hours. I pick up my cell and call Charlotte’s favorite florist.
“Good morning. Thrive Floristry. I’m Kristin. How can I help you today?”
Kristin is sweet, but she sounds like a recorded message rather than a human. “Hi, it’s Brandon Johns.”
“Good morning, Mr. Johns. Would you like us to send the same flowers to Charlotte today?”
Charlotte hates Mondays in the office. It’s as if the world has collapsed in two days, and everything needs immediate attention. I can only make her day brighter by doing the little things like sending flowers, especially her favorite pink peonies.
“No. I want the largest bunch of brightly-colored flowers. The ones that cause the least allergies, please.”
“I have the perfect flowers for you. Same address?” Ismile at how they know what I need to cheer Charlotte since I have been sending flowers for the past three weeks.
“Yes, please. And can you add a note?”
“Certainly.”
“I love you.”
“Would you like any names added to the note, Mr. Johns?”
“No. She’ll know who they are from.”
“Charlotte will receive the flowers around eleven.”
“Thank you.”
I end the call and send Charlotte a message.
Do you want me to meet you for lunch? Your office. Dessert sorted.
It’s the first time I have written anything on a card that says those three words, and I want to see her face after the flowers arrive.
While lifting weights over the hour, I think of ways to make her happy. Instead of heading up to her office to see her after training, I shower and head into the city for a meeting with Franklin.
Ewan is visiting his parents on the East Coast. He’s gone all week, and I promised not to do anything risky. Charlotte has security, and most of my spare time, I’m with her. Today, I’m alone in my McLaren, and I have the music louder, revving her more than Ewan would when behind the wheel.
When I arrive at Hendricks Capital Management, the letters HCM take up most of the wall not occupied by glass. I punch in the code Franklin sent and enter the parking garage. Heading up the elevator, I mull over my words, knowing his time is valuable, as he squeezed me in between meetings.
When I reach his level, I walk into a large marble foyer with a single desk.
The woman stands and comes to greet me. “Brandon.” She holds out a hand. “I’m Hayley. We have met before.”
Her face looks familiar. “Hi, Hayley. Thanks for fitting me into his schedule.”
“When Franklin tells me you’re like family, then I make it happen.” She smiles at me. “Take a seat.”
I plop my ass on the leather sofa and glance at the magazines on the side table. I grin because these magazines are for show. Each one has a Hendricks featured on the cover, interviewed for different features.
The first magazine cover isLA Finance,featuring Franklin, along with his father, Carson Hendricks. The next is Jobe onLA Real Estate, the next features Penny for her environmental remodeling ideas, and then anARTmagazine featuring Giana. Her studio is on the first level of the building.Hoopsmagazine has Charlotte on the cover when she first became governor and looking like a boss in a white suit, arms folded. She is standing in front of the LA Sharks sign. There is even a magazine with Sophia on the cover,Black Tie Charity. Shit. I must call Sophia as I agreed to a donation.
Lifting the next magazine, it’s a sports magazine featuring Byron on the cover with a basketball tucked under his arm, a determined look on his face. The next is a hotel magazine,Stay and Play, and it features the opening of the Hendricks Hotel in Beverley Hills. Zara and Jobe are on the cover. There is one more magazine. I lift it and freeze.
Me.
I remember doing this shoot years ago when I first moved to Chicago. It was newsworthy, yet I hated every second and struggled to smile at the camera. The photographer liked my poker face and kept saying,keep your game face. It wasn’t my game face. I was fucking destroyed. Yet the fact Franklin kept it means he never gave up on me.My stomach is in knots about coming here, and now I feel like a bigger idiot that I didn’t try harder because this family always had my back.
