Twenty Three
“You weren’t kidding about the stack of shit on your desk.” My jaw almost hit the floor from the sight of it. Emily looked as if she was about to pull her hair out. Her head was the only thing I could see above the stack of papers and file folders.
“I never call for backup, but I need major backup!” She huffed and dropped her head against the pile.
“What the hell happened while I was gone?” I pulled one of the chairs in front of her desk to the side so I could sit closer and see what she was working on.
“I need mass amounts of caffeine to even begin this story.”
“Let me call Colin, maybe he’ll walk to that cute little coffee joint about a block away.”
“Tell him you’ll give him a nice little treat later if he’ll get us something.”
I chuckled.
“I’d give him a nice little treat even if he doesn’t.”
Emily lifted her head, staring at me wide-eyed. “What have you done with my friend? She’s never been keen on sex-capades.”
“Her inner goddess has been awoken.”
“It’s about damn time.”
“What about your inner goddess?” Colin chuckled through the phone.
I’d completely gotten sidetracked and forgotten that I’d already pushed his name to call.
“Oh, um, just something I was talking to Emily about.” I nervously laughed. “You wouldn’t do us a giant favor, would you?”
“You know I would.”
“There’s a coffee shop about a block past the building, would you mine grabbing us something? Emily is having withdrawals.”
“That bad, huh?”
“You have no idea.”
“Yeah, text me what you want.”
“You’re the best.”
“Anything for you, baby.”
Butterflies danced within my gut from his endearment. I loved everything about this man, it was unbelievable.
“The usual?” I glanced up from the screen at Emily. She sat there with her elbows perched on the stack of work, her head resting in her hands, and a goofy ass smile on her face. “What?”
“You’re undeniably head-over-heels in love with that man. I’ve never, and when I say never, I mean never, seen you blush as quickly and heavily as you just did talking to him on the phone. I’m not even sure I want to know what he said to bring that response out of you, but I’m beyond the moon happy that he does that to you.”
“Your opinion means more than you know, Em.”
“As it should.”
We both laughed, and I shook my head.
“But, yes. I’ll take the usual.”
I quickly typed the message to Colin and hit send before placing my phone on the edge of Emily’s desk. We had a lot to do, in most likely a little amount of time. But the two of us were capable of knocking it out, I was sure of that.
A name on one of the file folders sticking out of the stack caught my attention. A coughing fit hit me hard, causing me to almost choke on my tongue. I quickly pulled the folder from the stack. Malcolm Gillens' name written perfectly in Emily’s handwriting stared back at me.
“Why is this name on this folder?” I frantically shook the folder at Emily.
“Whoa, calm your tits.” She held her hands up and slowly took the file from me. “Do you know the guy or something?”
Know him, not exactly. But his daughter, yes.
“He’s Samantha Gillens' father! The girl who tried to make my life a living hell back in Jonesborough, and the same girl who Colin was with that night in the pool house. She was the girl, Emily! The girl he was kind of with the second time we slept together.”
Emily sat there in shock with her mouth wide open, but when her eyes diverted above my head I knew someone was standing in the doorway. “Shit.” That someone was most likely Colin.
He cleared his throat. “I didn’t know my past was going to be a topic to do with your work today.”
I didn’t turn around in the chair to face him. But when he handed me my coffee, I quickly sat it on the desk and stood.
“Can we talk outside?”
Disappointment filled his eyes. “Sure.” He handed Emily her coffee and she thanked him.
We stepped out into the hall and turned the corner so Emily couldn’t peek through her blinds to see us. Privacy was needed, but the only place we were going to get it was in the small corner in front of the elevators.
“I’m sorry you walked in on that.”
“What was that exactly?”
“All I know is Emily has a file folder with Malcolm’s name on it. I’m assuming he is either a new client or a potential client. I can’t believe this is happening!” I tossed my hands in the air.
“I’m not worried about Malcolm being a client. That’s the company you work for’s business, not mine. I’m also not proud of how I hurt you, or Samantha for that matter. You know that. I know she wasn’t the best person to you, and I can’t change that. I can only be the best man for you now. Only you matter to me, Arbor.”
“My own insecurities got the best of me, I’m sorry.”
The elevator dinged. We both turned our attention to the doors, not wanting anyone to hear our spat. As if things couldn’t get any more awkward, Everett stepped off the elevator. A giant smile spread across his scruffier than usual face when he noticed me. I couldn’t help but to smile back, feeling Colin’s eyes piercing the side of my face.
“It’s always nice to see your beautiful face when I first get here.” Everett crossed the room and scooped me into a tight hug, paying no attention to Colin beside me.
I hugged him back, silently praying he’d let me go and leave us be.
“I’m Colin.” He extended his hand, forcing Everett to let me go. “Arbor’s boyfriend.”
“You’re a lucky man. I’m Everett, a colleague of Arbor’s, I guess you could say.” Everett shook his hand, diverting his eyes to me for a split second before focusing back on Colin. “I’ve heard a little bit about you.”
“Have you?” Colin grinned. “I haven’t heard a thing about you.”
The tension in the air was so thick I thought I’d choke. I had to diffuse the situation quickly. Colin wasn’t territorial, or at least I didn’t think he’d be, we’d never been in that predicament before. But the look on his face was half-ass friendly and more who the fuck are you. Everett, on the other hand, seemed cool as a cucumber.
“Everett is the founder of Evergreen Music Management. He helps musicians get their names out there. Similar to what Malcolm has minus the indie label.”
“You know Malcolm Gillens?”
“Yeah, he’s…” I paused, not knowing how to answer that question without fueling the fire or pulling a round of stories out of me. “We’re from the same hometown.”
“Interesting.” Everett was thinking about something that took his mind off of the way Colin was acting.
“So, you manage musicians?” Colin changed the tone of the conversation.
“Yeah, right now the majority of my clientele are older musicians that are looking to revamp their image. But we have branched out to grab some newer up and coming artists. We just signed Mike Braham last week.”
“That’s impressive. Maybe we can sit down and go over some stuff sometime.”
“That’s right; you’ve been a travelling musician yourself for a few years, right?”
“Well, I’ve been on a bit of a break. But I’m looking to dive back into performing.”
“Yeah, man.” Everett pulled a card from his wallet. “Give me a shout sometime, and we can go over what you’re looking for.”
Colin took the card and slid it into his pocket. “I’d appreciate that.”
They shook hands and Everett turned to me.
“Is Emily handling Malcolm?”
I nodded, not sure that I was supposed to answer that question.
“I need to have a chat with her then.” He leaned down and kissed my cheek. “Good to see you, Arbor.”
“You, too, Everett.”
Once he passed into Emily’s office, I knew I had some explaining to do. “Everett and I…”
“I’m going to stop you right there. I trust you, Arbor, but I don’t want to know about your history with other men. It’s none of my business honestly. The last thing we need is confusion and jealousy getting in the way of our life together.”
Colin pulled me into his arms and placed a loving kiss to my lips. “I couldn’t agree more. I really am sorry for earlier. I shouldn’t have gone off the deep end like that regarding you and Samantha. It was uncalled for.”
“It’s water under the bridge as long as we can find a common ground. The past needs to stay in the past so we can build the future we deserve together.”
“Moving forward is all I want, especially to move forward with you.” I kissed him deeply.
Leaving everything in the past was needed, but those same people making appearances in the now would make it hard. I needed to talk to Emily about what the hell was going on so I could wrap my head around it all. Samantha and her father weren’t going to be a reason for troubles in my relationship with Colin. I wasn’t going to allow it.
Everett came barreling out of Emily’s office. “You need to talk some sense into her.” He pointed at me and then back at her door. “She’s lost her fucking mind.”
He was pissed.
“What’s going on?”
He shook his head as he made his way to the elevator. “You need to ask her that same question.” His hands ran through his hair as he waited for the elevator to arrive.
“Sounds like you have a lot to do today.” Colin kissed me on the cheek. “I’ll leave you be. If you need a ride later, just give me a call.”
“I will. Again, I’m sorry.”
“Don’t apologize, Arbor. Just move forward.”
He gave my hand a little squeeze and a closed-lip smile tipped the corners of my mouth up.
“Hold the elevator,” he called out.
Everett stuck his hand in the door to hold it and Colin swiftly took off to board the elevator. I waved at them both as the doors closed.
Not knowing what I was walking into, I took a deep breath and tried to clear my head. This day had already turned into a whirlwind ride on the crazy train, and I needed off of it.
I gently pushed the door to Emily’s office open and heard her crying. As long as we’d been friends, I could only recall a handful of times she’d broken down on me. Whatever was going on had to be major.
“Oh, Emily.” I quickly crossed the room and pulled her into my arms. She was still sitting in her chair as I hugged her tightly to me. “What’s going on, sweetheart?”
“So much…so, so much, Arbor.”
Her sobs were breaking my heart. I kneeled to her level and linked our hands together. “You can talk to me about anything, you know.”
She nodded. “But I didn’t want to ruin all the happiness in your life with my black cloud.”
“You know I’ll take your black cloud over anything else. Now spill the beans, what’s been going on?”
Emily looked up through wet, mascara-clad lashes, her vulnerability showing its ugly head. I hated that she was feeling the way she was, but I couldn’t help her if she didn’t fill me in.
“Everett’s pissed because Malcolm Gillens requested our services. Dan wants to take him on as a client but I’m trying to argue the conflict between him and Everett. Dan isn’t listening though. He’s only seeing dollar signs in the matter, but I’m afraid if we sign Malcolm, we’ll lose Everett. He all but said that while he was in here. But I couldn’t let him know that I’m batting for him and not Malcolm. Dan would fire me if I had.”
“Dan needs to realize that we’re the ones who keep this company afloat, mainly you. Without good client and associate relationships, Level PR would sink.”
“I’ve tried to tell him that, but there’s more.”
“Okay.”
“I got a promotion.”
“What?” I squealed. “I’m so happy for you, Emily!” Her body was tense as I pulled her tightly into a hug.
“It’s not good news, Arbor.”
“Just why the hell not?”
“Because I think he promoted me to travelling associate so I wouldn’t be able to handle Everett’s company anymore. Then they can ditch them for Malcolm without me having any room to argue.”
I sat back on my heels.
“I do not understand why Dan would do any of this. I mean, you definitely deserve the promotion, don’t get me wrong. But why does he want to get rid of Everett’s company so badly? He was hell bent on us signing them not that long ago!”
“Because Everett is relocating to Colorado.”
“What?”
“He has a lot going on. Colorado is where he needs to be.”
“I have to sit down for this.” I got up from the floor and took a seat back in the chair I’d pulled beside her desk.
“I told you a lot’s been going on. I got promoted, Malcolm wants to join Level, and Everett is relocating his company because of personal reasons.”
“I still can’t believe he’s relocating.”
“I know…I’m not sure what to do.”
“Emily, this job has been your life. It’s been everything you’ve wanted for so long, but if Dan is testing your limits, then you have a decision to make. One I cannot make for you.”
“I know.”
“So, what are you going to do then?”
“I’m going to finish all this shit piled here on my desk and go to Colorado tomorrow night with Everett. That’s the first job I have in the new position. Dan’s sending me out to Evergreen’s new office.”
“This makes absolutely no sense to me…”
“Me, either.”
“Maybe it’s just a bump in the road and once you get out there and report back to Dan, he’ll see that Evergreen is a company he needs to keep.”
“I hope so.”
I grabbed a handful of files and shuffled them into a manageable stack. “So, where do we start?”
“What time is it?” Emily mumbled through a mouth full of Chinese food.
“Way too late for us to be smashing Chinese.”
“No, but seriously.”
“A little after midnight.”
“You’re shitting me?”
“I wouldn’t shit you, you’re my favorite turd.”
“Oh, no…you’ve gotten slap happy.”
Hysterical laughter took over. Tears pooled in my eyes and my sides ached from laughing so hard. Our brains were sleep deprived and running on mass amounts of caffeine. The two never mixed well.
“One more email to send and we can blow this popsicle stand!” Emily furiously typed away on the keyboard. “You’re going to have to proofread this shit. I’m almost positive the majority of these words are misspelled.”
“Are there squiggly lines beneath them?”
Emily cackled. “You know our email isn’t that fancy.”
“Yes, it is.”
She dropped her chin, giving me a knowing look. “If you’re about to show me something I could’ve used a long ass time ago, I will cut you.”
“Put your scissors down, you psycho path.”
Emily evil laughed as she dropped the scissors back into their bin. If I was a stranger I’d think she was bat shit crazy, but that was her sense of humor, and I loved it dearly.
“You see…” A few clicks and I managed to turn on the review portion of her email. “Yours was off. This will allow your email to highlight any words that are incorrect. Like all of those.” I drug my finger across the screen.
“Ha!” Emily leaned back in her chair. “I told you I needed a second set of eyes on this email. Good Lord! A toddler could’ve typed better.”
“In today’s society, I’d have to agree.”
Another fit of laughter erupted between us.
Emily clicked away at the keyboard as I leaned back in the chair, trying to get as comfortable as possible in an office chair that I’d been sitting in for far too many hours.
“Done!” She hit one last key on her keyboard before flopping back in her chair.
“I can’t believe we finished all of that.” I rubbed my eyes.
“I definitely wouldn’t have without your help.”
“So what time do you leave for Colorado?”
Emily groaned. “I’m going to be a horrible travel partner. Haven’t even packed yet, or gone to bed as you know. He’s going to hate me.”
“I highly doubt that.”
My phone sprung to life with Colin’s name popping up on the screen. “It’s Colin.” I smiled widely and Emily waved me off to take it.
I stood from the chair and walked over to the large windows that overlooked the city. The night life was booming below, lights of all sizes and colors illuminating Indianapolis like a Christmas tree. The city view was just as beautiful at night as it was during the day.
“Hey you.”
“I was wondering if you’d fallen asleep helping Emily.”
“No, but we finally finished.”
“All of it?”
“Yeah. I don’t know how we managed it, but it’s done.”
“You’re a good friend.”
“I owe her more than a little help for everything she’s done for me.”
“I understand completely. Do you need me to pick you up?”
“No, Emily’s giving me a ride.”
“Okay, are you heading home or coming by the hotel?”
Colin was still staying in a hotel until he figured out what his next move was. We hadn’t talked about moving in together, even though I’d definitely give it a shot. With him mentioning travelling again and playing shows to Everett, it made me wonder if he’d be willing to put roots down somewhere. It was a topic we needed to touch base on…soon.
“I’m really tired and I haven’t been home in days. If I came by I’d probably fall asleep as soon as I got in bed with you.”
“No, it’s fine. I can see you tomorrow.”
“Thank you for being you, Colin.”
“I love you, Arbor. Text me when you get home so I know you made it safely.”
“I will. Love you, too.”
The same goofy grin spread across my face every time Colin said those three little words to me. I hoped it would be that way for the rest of my life. I knew Emily was about to drop a snarky comment, but I turned toward her desk and found she’d turned her back to me.
“What are you—” I paused when I realized she was on the phone, oblivious to the fact I’d sat back down and could hear her conversation. A conversation that seemed rather private.
“You’re going to get me in trouble, Everett.” She giggled. “Not that kind of trouble.”
My eyes grew large at the sound of her voice. The tone I’d heard her use numerous times on men at bars was in full force…with Everett.
“I’ll be ready by six, I promise. No, I haven’t even gotten home yet. Don’t expect me to be anything other than grumpy on the flight. Ha! You’ve lost it.” Another long pause. “Yeah, I’ll see you then. Thanks for having a driver pick me up, I really appreciate it. You, too.”
Emily turned her chair toward her desk and jumped when she realized I was sitting there again.
“Shit!” She placed a hand over her heart as her phone tumbled to the floor. “You scared the crap out of me. I thought you were still on the phone with Colin.”
“What was that?” I crossed my arms over my chest.
“What?”
“Emily Lane Colt, you better cough up the truth right the hell now.”
She covered her face with her hands and groaned, “Ugh! You used the full name. That’s never a good sign.”
I cleared my throat.
“Okay, okay.” She removed her hands, nervously peering at me. “Everett’s flirty; I totally see why you were attracted to him.”
“Everett’s flirty? That’s all you’re going to give me? It sounded like you were being flirty right back.”
“You know me,” she shrugged. “I can’t help myself when a man acts like he does. But he’s different, too. Super nice, sweet, funny, attractive as hell, and I feel like an asshole about even thinking of him like that, since the two of you had something.”
“Emily,” I leaned onto the desk and covered her hand with mine. “Whatever Everett and I had is in the past. It was over before it even got started, honestly. I’m with Colin, the man I was meant to be with, so if you think it’s possible the two of you can have something worthwhile, then go for it. I’m not going to stand in your way because of a few incidents that unfolded months ago.”
“Ugh…but isn’t there a girl code that specifically says you can’t fraternize with someone your best friend has seen naked, or touched his man parts, or kissed in more than a friendly drunken manner?”
“Only if you want there to be.” I gave her a knowing look. “That sounds like an excuse for you to run away from something that might just scare you.”
“I don’t know…”
“I’m giving you my blessing, what you do from here is totally, one hundred percent up to you.”
“Still feel like an asshole.”
“Oh, shut up!” I gathered my things. “How about we get the hell out of here, Monday will come far too soon as it is.”
“I couldn’t agree more.”