“Well, uh, we will try not to,” I chuckled and swallowed against the desert.
Silence. I didn’t know why I thought someone else would say or do something, and I stood up there like an idiot for five seconds of bone-shattering quiet.
“Ok, so, thank you so much for taking the time to meet with us,” I began, and it only got worse. “We just want to stress that not only are our products superior to our competitors, it’s our selective service model that shines in the mist… or the, uh,crowd, not mist.” Everyone’s face, including Rebekah’s, soured. “Or I should say cloud, not crowd or mist, because of our robust cloud computing platform. Clouds are mist, just really high up.” I chuckled. “So, uh… Deven, can you uh… no, no, that one… yeah, thanks.”
It was as awkward as a man setting himself on fire. And just as lethal. I’d lost them twenty seconds in. The biggest pitch of my career ruined by self-immolation.
As Deven set up his laptop, Alec caught my eye. He wore a smirk and gave me a tight nod. The same one he’d shoot me before a pitch before and after we were together. A quiet,Calm the fuck down, Blackwood. You got this.
When the screen blinked to life behind me, I did have it. I’d learned much from Alec, and from every teacher, mentor, and boss before him. But I was in charge now, and I was damn fucking good at my job.
???
“Is everyone there?” Deven asked.
“Yup, we’re here,” an older woman said through his speakerphone.
“We did it! We closed the deal!”
The response was raucous applause, hooting and hollering. Why Deven insisted on calling his family from a bar, I had no idea, nor why they were so excited. I guess I’d hyped him up so much he must’ve hyped them in turn. The thought of calling my family to tell them I had closed a single deal was foreign to me, but I didn’t rust his shine, and praised him to his family. But my mind was elsewhere.
I blew Rebekah out of the water. Socksoff. Deven, too, for that matter, and I was so proud of that kid it hurt. Rebekah poked and prodded the both of us for two hours after ourpresentation, and he held his own. No one in the room had anything to say after her onslaught of questions. No stone was left, no alley unexplored. The deal was done before any verbal decision was made.
My excitement and pride overflowed once she said, “Yeah, okay. Let’s do it.” It only increased as she left me with a knuckle-crushing handshake and a, “Good job, guys. Really well done.”
I wished I could have carried that enthusiasm into my call with the VP of Sales, but I was breathless after talking to Alec. He looked at me with pride and the satisfaction of seeing an outcome come to fruition. But I stopped breathing when he said, “Was there ever a question, Blackwood?”
Blackwood. Just like that. Out in the open. For three months, the only time he used my last name like that was in a bedroom. Ours, or more often, a hotel’s. His tone, too. Not his dominant sex voice, but an octave lower than his speaking voice.
We weren’t even out of the building when my phone started dinging with payments from everyone on the sales team. I didn’t understand. The messages were just baseball and checkmark emojis. When Deven began to get them, too, I remembered. The wager from so long ago felt like a different lifetime. We were the first team to deliver a pitch to CompComm, and we closed it. I laughed hard until Deven got me to explain. He was thrilled.
Flush with cash, we took those on the team who could get away to an early celebratory dinner. I was hoping Rebekah would join us, but she didn’t. Nor Alec. When he said “no,” I asked, “Drinks after? We’re staying at the Hyatt.”
“We’ll see,” he said.
As Deven basked in his family’s fawning—what an odd dynamic they had, his girlfriend was there too—all I could think about was Alec showing up. I kept going back and forth,wondering if we should move down the lobby bar. If he showed up and we weren’t there, would he venture to the twenty-seventh floor to find us? Then again, how could I deny Deven the well-deserved fanciness of the sophisticated, modern lounge—with views of the city and mountains beyond through the floor-to-ceiling windows—after such a tremendous performance?
Deven hung up without me saying goodbye. He was still happy, but asked, “Are you good? You barely said anything to my parents.”
“Yup. Fine. More than fine. Just in my head.”
“About what? You could retire right now and be good. Today washuge, man!”
I chuckled. Deven only knew it was huge because I told him it was. He’d never heard of CompComm before he was hired, or their finance department’s storied, ancient software.
“You’re right,” I chuckled again. “Alec might stop by to grab a drink, and I’m just wondering if he’ll know we're up here, or if we should wait in the lobby.”
“He’ll text or call, right?” Deven said, confused.
“Yeah, true,” I lied.
I sipped my drink and watched the door. Deven chattered, reliving each moment of the pitch. To his credit, his focus wasn’t only on the parts he played, but mine too, and us as a team. He was a good Jr. Rep., and I was lucky to have him. It made me a shitty boss for not reveling in his joy as much as I should.
I was sure Alec wouldn’t show. Why had I even let myself think he would? We’d been there long enough to order a second round. As I did, he walked in.
My abdomen filled with flutters, and my head floated. He scanned the luxurious space, looking for us. We made eye contact, and a chorus ofoh my god, holy fucking shit, what the fucking fuckrang in my ears. Alec could always make me dothings I never imagined. Reacting to him like a fawning fanboy was one of them, apparently.
To be fair to myself, there was a lot to fawn over. He had changed since the meeting, making me think it was for me, but knowing better. A tight, casual suit, no tie, and white button-down open to the third button, exposing some of his muscled, hairy chest. Along with his short beard and modern glasses, he appeared relaxed but able to command the room.
