“Oh, hello, my sexy husband,” Hadley whistles as she steps into the storefront. “You got me coffee? Oh, this is why I love you. I was consuming wretched decaf as quickly as I could in the back of the store.”
I can’t bring myself to laugh at Hadley’s flamboyance as I usually do as I walk to the bathroom. I bet I’ve looked like a raccoon this whole time. When I make it to the bathroom, the mirror reflects frizzy, long hair, blackened eyes, and a puffy, red face. The image of a girl having to confront the demons of her past.
Excuse me. Demon. Singular.
Getting to work cleaning up my face, I shudder at the thought of what I have to do. Valentine’s Day? Really? Working at a boutique, it’s no surprise that I would have to market the holiday, but now I have to market it using the man who tooka dull butter knife and stabbed me over and over until it successfully broke the skin and muscle and sliced straight to the heart. How am I supposed to put my best foot forward? I never much liked the holiday prior to Mason wrecking my world, but now? The day might as well be another dull butter knife to the heart.
And on top of that? The woman in the campaign will be the drop-dead-gorgeous Genevieve Rhodes?
It’s all excruciating. Because regardless of everything that man has done and said to me, I still love him. And that is my toxic trait, friends.
I need to set aside my emotions, which I’m letting get the best of me lately. I have a job to do and a boss who’s putting a lot on the line for me. This campaign is a big deal and, if what Hadley says is correct, could put us on the national map, not only as a jewelry company but also as a chic, southern boutique. I wanted to stay on here after I graduated, but now, staying on looks even more promising as I envision years and years of marketing campaigns for a national brand.
Mason Kane, and the dreaded Valentine’s Day campaign, will not steal my hopes, dreams, and ambitions from me. I finish dabbing concealer under my eyes and then set my shoulders square.
I can do this.
Chapter Six
Karoline - Present
“Ican’t do this.”I spin around and start darting back towards the boutique. Hadley grabs my forearm and yanks me back. I trip over my beige block-heeled booties and smash into her chest.
After a momentary groan, she says, “Youcando this, Karoline. Repeat after me: I’m a bold, powerful tiger.” Hadley puffs her chest out and tilts her chin in the air, placing her fists on herhips. Passersby on the sidewalk outside of Books and Beans throw curious looks at my carefree boss.
I let out an exasperated laugh. “You may be, especially since you are wearing a crop top with tiger prints, but I’m definitely not. Nope. I’m a timid turtle, much happier to slip into my shell at the first sign of danger.” I raise my shoulders to my ears while scrunching my neck downward into my beige turtleneck to prove my turtleness to Hadley.
“Ahaha.” Hadley throws her head back and clutches her stomach in mock laughter before straightening her spine, crossing her arms, and narrowing her blue eyes at me. She does this one eyebrow raise thing that always sends a small chill down my spine. “Ma’am. I’m going to need you to express some confidence before I send you into Books and Beans for the meeting. I need to know my employee is going to be okay.”
The way her voice softens at the end of her words and how she relaxes her face into a sympathetic expression tells me that she’s worried for me. Not going to lie, I’m worried for me, too. I have no idea how I’ll react to Mason. The way I reacted to seeing him at Hadley’s wedding was to ditch the reception and vomit outside of the car on the side of the road on my drive home. I hadn’t even spoken to him then. He looked at me once, but I don’t think he recognized me.
I had a similar response on New Year’s Eve, but I did get some satisfaction that my tires threw rocks at him, which was not an emotionally secure reaction.
And at the cafe a few days ago, I allowed pent-up anger to consume me and was, admittedly, spiteful towards him. God convicted me about that one while I tried to fitfully fall asleep that night. While I have every right to be angry and displeased with him, I don’t have the right to take my frustrations out on him… even if they all stem from his egregious words and actions three years ago.
I can be firm with him, vocalizing my frustrations in a respectful way when necessary, but I can’t be intentionally vicious or mean. I have to—are you listening all the way in Dallas, Mom?—be the bigger and better person. This meeting is for my project, which I absolutely have to nail in order to get a good grade in my internship class. My advisor is known for his hardline, meticulous grading, and I don’t want to risk my status as valedictorian of the graduating class because of a three-year-old hurt.
That settles it. I won’t give him a reason to back out of this marketing campaign, mess up Hadley’s business plans, and ruin my perfect GPA. I will play nice and be professional with Mason Kane while we work together on this project, but once it’s over, I’ll (respectfully but thoroughly) tell him to get the h-e-double-hockey-sticks out of my life.
I blow my bangs from my eyes. “I’m really okay, Boss Lady. I can set my personal issues aside for work and get done what needs to get done. I can’t promise I won’t go home and scream at the walls after talking to Mason, but I’ll be professional when I am in his presence as long as we are working on this campaign.” There. That should satisfy her.
“Okay, Karoline. But instead of screaming at the walls, please feel free to come scream with me. Or, as a matter of fact,” she pulls her phone from the back pocket of her white-washed jeans, “I’m sure Lucy and Lorelei would love to have you over. Let’s plan for that tonight?”
I laugh, already imagining what the twins would say. “Yeah, I could use a girls’ night after this meeting.”
Hadley beams. “Great! I’ll get all the plans made. You just go be your brilliant, beautiful, fierce self and get this campaign off the ground for our store.”
Tears prickle at the corner of my eyes. “Our store?”
Hadley draws me in for a hug. “Yes. Our store. Which I need to get back to now. Are you sure you’re good?”
I nod, emboldened by the sentiment Hadley shares.Our store.I will represent it well. And with that, I push through the glass door of the coffeeshop with the cutest bookstore attached to it and make my way to a small table that seats four. I need to make sure there is plenty of space between me and Mason for this work. Genevieve won’t be joining us today as she has a concert, but she will be here in two weeks to start the filming process. Until then, I’ll correspond with her agent via email.
Speaking of agents, why am I not meeting with Mason’s agent? Shouldn’t he be the one handling all of this stuff? I guess Mason knows he’s meeting with me and is out to make this coffee shop my personal form of hell for the foreseeable future.
After setting my tablet down, along with other paper materials I need for the meeting, I walk up to the wide, chestnut, wooden counter and look over the specials for the day scribbled in chalk next to the muffins and bagels. The drinks are still New Year's themed as it is only about a week into January, so I order one of my seasonal favorites: Cacao Kisses, a black tea blend with hints of cacao, vanilla, and truffle.
I might as well drink all the tea from here that I want to while I can. I won’t be able to step foot in this place once they start decorating for Valentine’s Day… I get enough of that lovey-dovey nonsense at work. Blah.
