Chapter 24
Vanessa
Monday
When I got to the office Monday morning, I had a happy flutter of butterflies in my stomach. The snow was beginning to melt on the sidewalk outside, and the sun was beating down on everything. It was about time; I was growing tired of the cold and looking forward to spring. It had always been my favorite season ever since I was little.
I put the car in park and grabbed my satchel from the backseat, loaded with my camera and some of my edited photos to show Frank.
My hair was pulled off to the side in a low and elegant braid underneath a winter hat. My hands were covered in a pair of knitted driving gloves. I was still a little early for my meeting, so I went inside and found Meghan at the desk out front. “Hey, Vanessa!” she greeted warmly. “I didn’t know you were coming in today.”
The clean white lobby was decorated exactly the same as it had the last time I was here. I smiled. “Yeah, I have a meeting with Frank. He wants to sign off on the pictures before we send them to the client.”
“Cool! Well, he’s in a meeting right now, so he won’t be out for a few more minutes.”
“No problem, I go here a little early anyway.”
She nodded thoughtfully, with a twinkle in her eyes. “So how are things at home? Did you figure out what to do about Adam?”
I sighed, collapsing down in one of the seats, and shook my head. “No, it’s still a mystery.”
“I’m sorry,” she commiserated lightly. “I had a lot of fun this weekend, though! We should do it again sometime.”
“Definitely.”
“Try not to over-think things,” she encouraged lightly. “Adam’s a great guy; maybe you should just enjoy it.
I nodded with a sigh. “I will. Sometimes I have a bad habit of sabotaging my own happiness.”
There was some commotion down the hall and the office door opened to let out a few men out that were discussing something in hushed voices. I smiled at Frank politely when he saw me in the foyer and felt my palms get sweaty.
“Don’t worry; you’ll do great!” Meghan told me with a wink.
As the group of men dispersed, Frank waved me over with a smile, and I walked up to shake his hand. I repositioned the strap across my shoulder and smiled.
“Vanessa, welcome back! I assume these are the finished edit of the pictures from the restaurant?”
“Yep! They turned out really nicely. I think Carlo will be pleased.”
“Well, come on inside my office. Let take a look at them, shall we?”
I followed him back into the pristine executive office. As soon as I stepped inside, the door slammed shut behind me, and I jumped at the sound. Frank was completely unfazed and strode around to his seat at the desk. Quickly, I drew the flash drive from my satchel and handed it to him with a smile. He didn’t bother thanking me, which was unusual, and he plugged it into his computer.
“It should be right there under Project One,” I told him quietly, hoping that I sounded braver than I felt.
He pulled it up and started looking through the pictures. At first, his face was impassive, but the further into them he got, I could see his eyes begin to sparkle.
“Vanessa, these are wonderful!” Frank complimented. “These ones you took of chef are perfect. I’ll get them to the graphic designer right away and have them uploaded to the website.”
“Good, I’m glad you like them.”
“Very much,” he nodded eagerly. “I’ve got another assignment for you later on this week. Meghan will contact you with the details.”
“Great.”
He sat back in his chair with the hint of a smile and clicked his pen while looking at me. “So, how are things going with Adam?” he asked me casually.
“Oh… Things are good, I guess.”
“You’ll have to pardon my obtuseness; I’m not really sure what the nature of your relationship is,” he apologized. “Is he your boyfriend or…”
“Um, we live together,” I told him nervously. “But I’m not really sure what we are, to be honest.”
He nodded thoughtfully, pursing his lips into a line and said, “Well, I hope you figure it out. The boys and I at Men’s Club are curious about what he’s been up to nowadays.”
I smiled thinly. “I’m not sure. you’d have to ask him that yourself.”
Frank chuckled dryly. “Oh, I will. We’re a tight group of men, and it doesn’t sit well when one of us is keeping secrets.”
“Okay…”
“It might be nice if you reminded him that Men’s Club is a family, and we take care of one another.”
I frowned. “Mr. Howell, is something going on? I’m not really sure what you want me to say here.”
He shook his head and sighed, removing the flash drive from his computer and handing it back to me. “Hopefully, it’s nothing. I won’t keep you any longer; I’m sure you’ve got some other stuff to do.”
I nodded slowly and walked out of his office as fast as my feet would carry me. Something was obviously going on, but I didn’t know what. The warnings I’d received in the past about working for this company started screaming in my subconscious. Meghan smiled and tried to wave as I made it to the door, but I couldn’t stop because my heart was racing like a jackhammer.
It wasn’t until I made it to the car that I finally started to relax, turning the ignition and backing out of the parking space. I turned on the radio and pushed the meeting to the back of my mind so I wouldn’t think about it.
When I got home, I was feeling a little better and breathed out a tired sigh. I grabbed my bag off of the passenger seat and got out of the cab, walking over to unlock the door. The house was completely silent when I got inside.
Good, Adam must still be at work, I thought.
I sighed, setting my bag down on the kitchen table and getting a cup of water from the fridge. Bringing the cup with me, I wandered back into my room and started up my laptop. As the hard drive booted up, I sat back in my seat and took and swig of the ice-cold water.
Alright, let’s see what’s happening on Instagram.
I spent the next few minutes indulging in my social media accounts and updated my profile on Linked In with the new employment information. After that, I pulled up some old pictures from my portfolio and got a head start on some editing a few stragglers that needed to be cleaned up a bit.
While I was working, I got a message from my father telling me to check my email. Confused, I opened another tab and logged into Gmail and found an unread message waiting for me.
Dear, Vanessa,
I thought this could help with your business ventures. Feel free to edit or change anything you don’t like. :) Your mother and I are so proud of you.
Love,
Dad
Attached to it was a link to Vistaprint that pulled up a business card design for freelance photos. He’d clearly put a lot of time and love into designing it for me and put my name across the top in calligraphy. It was simple, but elegant: exactly what I needed to have for handing out to clients when I was on site.
I felt overwhelmed with emotion at the gesture and felt tears welling up behind my eyes. I immediately sent back a reply, thanking him for the lovely design, and let him know I’d be ordering a few hundred of them presently.
I went back into my bedroom and changed into some pajamas for maximum comfort and a fuzzy pair of bunny slippers. With a tired sigh, I came back out into the kitchen in search of something to eat. Thankfully, there were some microwavable meals tucked away in the freezer, so I pulled one out and got it cooking right away.
I didn’t know what was wrong with me lately; maybe I was getting sick. It just felt like everything on my insides was all twisted up in knots. I didn’t know what to do about Adam. I didn’t even know how I felt about Adam to begin with. In my head, I kept scolding myself that I was over-thinking things, but that just brought me back around full circle.
The microwave let out a loud electronic beep when the meal was ready, and I carefully pulled it out.
“Oh, ouch!” I complained at the heat and discomfort of picking up the package with my bare hands. That was stupid.
By the time I made it over to the table, I was almost crying. The emotional toll from the day, the conversation with my boss, and and my upset about the situation with having Adam as a roommate had me completely drained. Now, my fingers were burning, too.
I ate the meal in quiet and picked away at the caramelized apples for dessert before deciding to turn in early.
I heard the sound of the front door unlocking, and my heart skipped a beat, knowing Adam was finally home. Quickly, I shut off my phone and lay my head against the pillow with my back toward the door, pretending to be asleep. The covers were pulled up around my shoulders and waited silently for him to retire for the evening and know the coast was clear.
A moment later there was a gentle knocking on my door. “Vanessa?”
I didn’t answer.
The door creaked open, and a stream of light came streaming in from the hallway. He only paused there for a second, but it felt like an eternity. I heard him half chuckle at the sight of finding me asleep before he closed the door behind him.
Whew!
Part of me felt guilty for deceiving him and not talking to him about how I felt; it seemed childish. My heart just couldn’t handle seeing him right now. I wanted him so badly, and there was no good end to how that conversation would go. As the door clicked shut, I finally allowed myself to exhale.
Wuss.
Oh well; tomorrow is another day.