Chapter 6
Amelia
I walked into the cancer center where my best friend worked, our lunches held in my hands. I hadn’t seen her in a few days and I had yet to fill her in about the new job. She’d been working new hours, four twelve hour days, then three days off. I thought she was absolutely nuts, but she was loving the fact that she had a three-day weekend every week.
I nodded to the front desk attendant before I dropped off her salad, and she smiled at me with sweet relief as I made my way to the stairs. I walked myself up to the third floor of Cancer Center Hospital where I knew Sadie would be working, and busted through the door to find her running up and down the hallways.
“Amelia!” she exclaimed. “Give me five minutes.”
“Lunch call,” I said, holding up the food.
“I don’t want to eat it here, I’ll get interrupted. Meet me at the elevator, okay?”
Nodding my head, I went to go wait for her. She came back huffing and puffing with sweat brimming on her brow, and we rode the elevator back down to the main floor.
“So, where do you wanna eat?” I asked.
“Let’s go to that park up the road,” she said. “I need some fresh air.”
Fifteen minutes later, we were sitting on a bench at the park. A river was running nearby, providing a musical backdrop to our silence, and it felt as if the world was standing still. Sadie had been my best friend for years, and every time I got a chance to sit down and talk with her it was special.
“So, how’d the interview go?” she asked, as she chewed her sandwich.
“I got the job,” I said, smirking.
“Oh my gosh! Amelia, that’s awesome! When do you start?” she asked.
“I started yesterday, and right off the bat there was a fun boardroom meeting with a table full of men who were either catcalling me or trying to kill me with their eyes, and then the owner of the hotel chain walked in.”
“Oh, Lincoln Collins. I’ve heard a great deal about him. Billionaire-playboy extravaganza and all,” she said.
“Yeah, and he happens to be a man I shared a passionate night with six years ago.”
Sadie’s sandwich stopped halfway to her mouth before she slowly turned her gaze to mine. I honestly wasn’t sure to make of the situation either, and I was hoping she would have some words of encouragement and wisdom.
“When you say ‘passionate night,’ you don’t mean wine and great conversation, do you?” she asked.
“If by ‘wine and great conversation,’ you really mean sweat and a great amount of moaning, then yes,” I said.
“Holy shit, Amelia. You’ve slept with Lincoln Collins?”
“At this point, who hasn’t?” I asked.
“Me, for one. And two, how the hell did he take that?”
“That’s the kicker. He didn’t even fucking recognize me,” I said.
“Honestly? It shouldn't shock you. But, that’s still a dick move,” she said.
“I worked hard to get where I am now. I gunned for this position because I knew I would be good for it. I knew Lincoln Collins was financing the venture, but I didn’t realize he owned the damn thing.”
“Would you have applied for the job if you’d known?” she asked.
“I’m honestly not sure. It would’ve weighed into my opinion, but I don’t know if it would have influenced it that much.”
“Well, if they were willing to hire you to be the CEO of something like this, then obviously you could snag a job anywhere,” she said. “You’ve got the time to find another job if it makes you uncomfortable.”
“You and I both know I need this job,” I said.
“But at the expense of you feeling uncomfortable and working underneath someone you’ve—well—worked underneath?”
“Oh, that was poetic,” I said. “Serenade me more, Sadie.”
“I’m serious. I don’t want you to think you’re stuck with this asshole or something,” she said.
“I’ll be fine. Plus, I could really use the money right now. And, I won’t be working with him directly. His heart and soul is in that investment banking shit he does. Drew Lyons, his business partner, is the one who’ll be talking and meeting with him. They hired me so Lincoln wouldn’t have to be there all the time, I guess.”
“Lincoln, huh? Not Mr. Collins?” she asked.
“I’ll call him ‘fuckboy’ for all you know,” I said, smirking.
“It’d be an apt nickname,” she murmured.
I giggled at her reaction just before Sadie’s watch began to beep. She sighed and took the final bites of her sandwich before she chugged her water, then she stood up from the bench and stretched.
“Back to the grind,” she said.
“Thanks for having lunch with me,” I said.
“Thanks for bringing it. I’m sorry my break wasn’t any longer. We had an emergency the moment you showed up.”
“Please, you don’t have to apologize to me. I get it,” I said.
We piled into my car and I took Sadie back to the hospital. I dropped her off at the main entrance just so I wouldn’t have to go in, and I felt my skin crawl as she opened the hospital door and waved me away. Hospitals always gave me the creeps, but every time I stepped foot between those doors to visit Sadie, it reminded me to call my mother.
No time like the present, so I took out my phone while I was parked there and dialed her number.
“Hey there, sweetheart,” my mom said.
“Hey, Mom,” I said. “How’re you doing?”
“Went to the hospital again?” she asked.
“Yeah. Just dropped Sadie off. I just wanted to let you know how my first day at work went.”
“Honey. Did you get the job!?” she asked.
“I did get the job, yes. I’m sorry I didn’t call sooner. I’ve been going through financials and documents all week.”
“Sweetheart, don’t apologize. Tell me all about it,” she said.
“Well, there wasn’t much to tell about yesterday. There was a boardroom full of guys, and you know how those always go down with me.”
“You can’t help that men are intimidated by your good looks and intelligence. It’s a deadly combination. You get it from your mother,” she said.
I could practically hear her grin as I chuckled into the phone.
“My office is huge. It’s on the 29th floor of this sprawling building and has the most amazing view. You’ll have to come see it sometime,” I said.
“I’d love to, honey.”
“I did it, Mom. I made it,” I said.
I could hear my mother sniffling on the other end and I had to choke back tears of my own. In all my years and in all the ways my mother and I struggled, there were many nights when I couldn’t have imagined I’d be sitting in the position I was.
“I am so proud of you, my sweet, sweet girl,” she said. “That company is lucky to have you. Just be wary of that Lincoln fellow. I did a bit of research and he seems to be a very prominent man in the ‘flavor of the month’ community.”
“I promise I won’t screw my boss, Mom,” I said.
Trust me, I already made that mistake.
“Such a potty mouth. You get it from working around all these men,” she said.
“I love you, too. I’ll call you next week and let you know how week one went,” I said.
“Looking forward to it. I love you, Lia.”
“I love you, too, Mom.”
I hung up the phone just as someone blew their horn at me, and I honked back and waved before I pulled out of the parking lot. The hospital receded in my rearview mirror as my grip on my steering wheel loosened, and something deep inside me told me I needed a drink.
Maybe it was the phone call, or maybe it was being in the hospital with Sadie. Maybe it was the memories that were being conjured up, or the stark reminder of why I was so lucky to have snagged this job in the first place. Maybe it was the fact that I was working for a man who had screwed me then dumped me without a word six years ago, or maybe it was the fact that he didn’t even fucking recognize me.
Either way, I needed a strong glass of red wine.