“It’s a secluded cabin in the woods up north with no Wi-Fi. I should probably check the weather, but it shows a nice big fireplace. I’m going to try to reconnect with myself and make a plan.”
Annabel scrunches her face at the thought of being completely disconnected. She’s more of a city girl with an all-the-amenities kind of vacation. That’s probably why she chose to go to school in the largest city in our state. It’s about an hour from where I live, so we don’t hang out as much as we’d like. But video chats make it easier.
I pause wondering if I should tell her, but we tell each other everything, even when it sucks. “Don’t tell Mom, but I kind of quit my job after the interview.” I let out a breath I didn’t realize I was holding.
Her eyes widen slightly before she chuckles. “Good! Thank God. It’s time you got out of that shit-hole. It justwanted to bleed you dry by making you do three people’s jobs and calling it preparation for future opportunities. I honestly can’t believe you made it this long. I would have been gone the second they kept piling, who was the lady who left? Susie? Whatever her name was, her job onto my plate. Red flag, you know?”
I groan. “You’re right. I just hate change and wanted to stay within my bubble to move up in life. But it clearly wasn’t ever going to work out,” I say as she smiles back at me from the camera.
“What are you going to do now?” She asks as she drags the camera into the bathroom and starts re-doing her makeup.
I run my fingers through my hair. I honestly have no fucking clue what I’m going to do, but I can’t tell her that. So instead I tell her. “That’s what I’m hoping this vacation will help me figure out. I want to try diving back into my art, but that’s terrifying.”
“You know what they say, life starts at the end of your comfort zone, or something like that.” Annabel winks at me then goes back to applying heavy mascara.
I rub my eyes. “Yeah, I just need to make myself comfortable with being uncomfortable…”
“I think you can do it, and if you fail and run out of money, you can always sleep on our couch. I’m sure Jess won’t mind!” She pops her big blue eyes open comically wide like she hopes I’ll say yes, but she knows better.
Yikes, moving in with my younger sister and her roommate sounds like hell after living alone. Not thatthey’re bad per se. Just that they’re well in their party years and trying out the guy scene. Not to mention she’s living an hour away from my friends and everything I love about my mini city life here. Whereas I’m happy to relax in my quiet apartment after a decent evening. Oh gosh, thinking about this evening reminds me of James. I am so not ready to tell Annabel about that whole encounter.
She doesn’t miss a beat while I’m stuck in my head. “Well, Jess wants to go out tonight. Do you want to come? We will be leaving in a couple hours?”
“I actually just got back… so no. Plus I’ve been drinking, so I’m really not getting on the road and driving an hour to drink more.” I grimace knowing the reaction that’s coming.
“Wow, thanks for the invite.” She pretends to pout but shrugs it off. Thank goodness. I can’t deal with more family members being upset with me after everything. “It’s ladies’ night at some bar Jess found. She really wants me to meet someone, so why not? Sure you don’t want to come back out? I’m sure I could talk one of Jess’s guy friends to come get you.” Annabel starts batting her eyelashes, and I can’t help but laugh.
“No, no. You have fun. I’ve got to plan and pack and wallow.” I look at my mess of food and dishes in the sink, sighing. “I should probably get on that. You should finish getting ready, unless you’re going in sweats.”Like I did.I look down at her shirt causing her to wince.
“You’re right. Well thanks for the chat, I’ll send youthe location of where we will be in case you change your mind. I love you.”
“Love you, too.” I end the call and put my phone on the charger to stay off of it for the rest of the night, choosing to bury myself in cleaning before I pass out for the night.
CHAPTER 6
James
The next morning,Ryder strolls into my office without knocking, again.
“Sure, come on in. I’m not busy.” I continue typing up my email to Stacy, Ryder’s assistant, who we brought with us for the expansion. She’s handling setting up my interviews for next week, so we can get this location up and running. I’m hoping within three weeks we can start onboarding some of the staff and getting them settled into the flow. We pay a higher rate than our competitors because we actually realize how much work assistants do within the business. They keep everything running smoothly behind the scenes, especially when we are off doing other meetings. It’s best to keep those people happy, thus the higher pay, bonuses, and holiday parties. We have noticed significantly less turn around with employees, which allows us to start new locationswithout the headache of additional new hires in our well-established areas.
Stacy has been getting raises regularly as we enlist her help with new locations. She’s Ryder’s top assistant, more like his second hand, really. They both make sure every other assistant has everything they need and keep up to date with new deals we make, as soon as we make them. He wouldn’t be able to be his crazy self without her. Everyone has a role to keep everything running smoothly. Mine is more on the orderly side as Ryder and Alester have their own quirks to help us grow.
“Sooooo who was the girl who needed to take our ride home, thus making me find a cab in this new city?” He waves his hand around in dramatic Ryder fashion then leans over and hits the power button on my desktop screen, turning it black.
I look up. Ryder stands there in his dress pants and a T-shirt that says, Don’t Follow Me Into The Darkness. I resist the urge to roll my eyes at him, barely. “Just someone in need of assistance. The cab wasn’t that bad, you survived. What was bad was the douche boy you made me go out to the club for in the first place.”
“No no no. We aren’t changing the subject that fast. He could make us a lot of money. Hell, he already sent the deposit this morning which is helping fund everything here. His liquor company likes to spend a lot on marketing, and we could help him reach the New York market, which is making him ready to fork out even more than the contract states. Then we can focus oncompanies that need more assistance, like you like to do. You’ll be fine. You’ll survive a few awkward bar conversations.” He plops into the chair on the other side of my desk, leans forward, and braces his chin in his hands and turns his brown eyes to me. “Who. Was. She. New prospect? Finally not going to be a lonely bachelor forever? Is she coming to the holiday party, the Fireside Ball, perhaps? Why was she in sweatpants?”
“No. No. No. They were yoga pants, not sweatpants. All I know is her name is Alexandra. Anything else?” I reach back and turn the monitor back on, so I can finish my email. I feel a ball hit my shoulder before Ryder stands again. I open my mouth to ask what his problem is, but he cuts me off.
“You’re going to have to put yourself out there again sometime, James. Not everyone is like She Who Should Not Be Named. There are decent people in the world.” He raps his knuckles on the doorway on the way out. “I’m here if you need me, man. Whether you like it or not.” He smirks and dodges the ball I half-heartedly throw at his head.
He’s not wrong. I probably should start dating again. Mostly so I don’t have to eat alone every night. But the thought of letting anyone in the way I did with Rebecca and having it all come crashing down again makes me want to vomit. I really didn’t realize how having money would change so many people around me. I never thought about having to worry if someone genuinely wanted to spend time with me, or if they just wanted tosee how much money they could squeeze out before taking off. I never…
A knock on the door pulls me out of my spiraling thoughts. Alester walks in, dressed in his usual all-black attire. At least it’s more fitting for work than Ryder ever looks, but we all just let each other do whatever we want as long as the work gets done.
He sets a cup in front of me and sips from his own. I take a drink. Black coffee, just what I need. I glance at him. “How’s it going? Any issues I need to concern myself with?”
