Chapter 27

Jacob

NOW, I GOTTA tell you, of all the reactions I might’ve ever predicted getting from Charles, a round of applause was not one of them.

But sure enough, right there before my eyes, the man was clapping loudly, and before long, crying, “Bravo!”

I tensed, clutching Sierra’s palm tighter. Was this some sort of sick mind game? Was Charles clapping to throw me off my guard before lunging for my throat? I tried to angle my body and ensure that Sierra was protected by my broad shoulders, but she refused to be shielded — she stuck herself firmly to my side and returned my squeeze.

“What is this?” I asked Charles, in no mood to play games.

“Oh, calm down, kid,” he chortled. “Take a seat.”

“I’d rather stand. And I’m not a kid.”

“Fine,” he replied, flinging his hands in the air. “Be dramatic. It is, apparently, a talent of yours.”

Charles moseyed back to his seat, in no apparent rush, and I heard Sierra inhale, felt the breath reach her shoulders and arms. You’re okay, I thought, trying to telepathically calm her. You’re okay, I’m here, I’ll keep you safe.

But Charles wasn’t calling the hounds. Instead, he was crossing his hands behind his head and looking rather pleased with himself. I wanted to push further, to ask what was going on, but I knew that didn’t work with people like him — they take their sweet damn time.

Once he was settled, he continued. “What you just did there, your little declaration of love? That was honest. The complete and total truth. For the first time since you and your gang—” he gestured to the Pillers workers “—arrived, I am certain I’m dealing with serious, earnest people. I needed that confirmation before I moved forward with the project. And now I have it.”

Sierra spoke up before I could, and I could see from the way she pursed her lips she was furious. “So, what, that’s it? You pushed us to a mental breaking point so you could see if we were being honest about our personal lives, which by the way have nothing to do with our work ethic?”

She looked like she might go on, but I held her back, placing an arm in front of her hip before she could dip forward in anger.

Charles rolled his eyes and worked his jaw, almost like a crazed horse. “Oh, Sierra. Personal lives are always relevant to work lives. Besides, you all set up this little scheme, this fake dating, as it were — as it was, rather — to bamboozle me. I saw through the bamboozle. Don’t get mad because I played the game and you lost.”

My heart sank. We’d lost. But hey, at least I’d gotten the woman. The game didn’t mean shit.

But then Charles went on.

“And I thought we were done after that, truly, I did. Until you came in here, and you folks delivered me a dynamite pitch, with a remarkably bright person at the helm. And then, then! You told Sierra you loved her, and the entire company was on pins and needles to see what you’d say. You care about one another like family. That’s family values, not some inane partnership games.”

Much to my surprise, I… I can’t believe I’m saying this… I saw Charles’ point. We’d been fractured, messy, trying to fit ourselves into a mold, when all we had to do was be true to who the company was, and to who we were. Maybe he wasn’t such a terrible businessman after all.

Charles looked at his fingernails, then up to the rest of the room. “So. How’d ya’ll like to build me a retirement village?”

Gasps abounded, and Joe stood shakily up from his chair. He began, “Are you saying—”

“Yes,” Charles interjected. “The deal’s yours, if you still want it.”

“Of course we want it!” Sierra crowed.

Charles sat back in his chair, pleased, and the room went berserk — shouts exploded from every corner, exclamations of sheer glee, hands touching hands in mutual support and excitement. But I only had eyes for Sierra, who was turning towards me, and whispering, “You saved the day.”

“No,” I negated. “You did. I just gave it a little extra push.”

My head was tilting towards hers, and I knew that if I moved one inch closer, I could catch her bottom lip between mine and then I’d be kissing Sierra and the world would be perfect.

“Ahem.”

I glanced away from her rosy lips to see where the noise had come from.

Uh, oops.

It was Joe and Tom. Who were still, for those of us keeping score, my bosses.

“Sorry to interrupt,” Joe grumbled as I took two full steps away from Sierra, making sure to performatively indicate how professional we would be.

Sierra coughed sheepishly. “Oh that’s… no worries.”

“We came to say,” Tom inserted, picking up the reins from his brother, “that we’re so impressed with you. Obviously, we knew you were talented, that’s never been a secret, but the pitch was phenomenal. We couldn’t have done it without you. And we know, because we tried.”

All four of us laughed at that, and I moved a little closer to Sierra, close enough that I could wrap my arm around her shoulders. I rubbed her smooth, downy skin, and drank in her heady smell.

Sierra asked, “And, if we decide to date…” She looked at me, and paused, before continuing, “Whatever we do… you won’t stop us? Even with the workplace fraternization rules? Because if that’s a deal breaker, I’m not sure I could stay.”

“What are you talking about?” I whispered in her ear, but Joe and Tom were already on it.

“Of course you can date,” Joe allowed. “You, uh, ‘getting together’ damn well saved the company’s ass. So I think we can all agree to break the rules just this once. Though—”

“No more relations on company time,” Tom finished sternly.

“Deal,” Sierra said.

“Well,” Joe said, looking away, “guess we’ll give you two time to celebrate. Appropriately, that is.”

The men walked away to talk with Charles, presumably to begin discussing the final terms of the deal. I shook my head at Sierra, who tilted hers up to find my eyes.

“Why’d you object?” she asked.

“I wasn’t going to let you lose your job for me. Not again.”

She raised her eyebrows. “You don’t ‘let’ me do anything, Jacob. I make my own choices. And you’re my choice.”

Her blonde hair spilled over her shoulders as she moved away from my arm, ducking out of its reach. I was worried I’d offended her, or been presumptuous, when she said, “But Jacob… I am still worried about the distance.”

She wrung her hands out, her delicate fingers twisting and turning her various pieces of gold jewelry.

“I — I don’t want to live far from you,” she said. “If we’re going to date. And I think I want to date. For real this time, with no secrets, no sudden departures. Just openness, honesty. All that good stuff.”

I couldn’t help myself. I broke into a huge grin. “You wanna date me.”

“Yeah. Stupid, I know.”

“More like brilliant,” I cried, delighted, before growing serious again. “Distance is hard, I get it. But it’s only, what, a three-hour drive? I can come up on the weekends, maybe you could come for the occasional vacation. We’d make it work.”

Her lips quivered as she admitted, “I don’t think I’m at an age where I want to just occasionally see my partner. I want somebody in my life, day in and day out. Building my life into our life. Does that make sense?”

My heart sank. Had we just been through all of this for nothing? Would the universe, ultimately, shoot us down before we’d had a chance to even fly?

That’s when Charles stepped in.

“Couldn’t help but overhear you two,” he said as he sauntered between the two of us, with total disregard for normal human spatial boundaries.

“That was private,” Sierra informed him, her tone flinty, her lips now firmly pressed together, quiver-free.

Charles shrugged. “Be that as it may, I’ve got the solution for it. Unless you don’t want to know the solution, because your precious conversation was private.”

I exhaled, exhausted with his unpredictable temperament. “Fine, Charles.”

“That’s no way to talk to your future boss,” he remarked, “but I’ll let it slide. Anyhow — Jacob, you’re going to be in town for the next eight months, working on the project.”

Shit. Somehow, in the process, I’d forgotten that if the project went through, I’d actually have to build the damn thing. Fort Myers and Jacksonville were further apart, and that meant less time together, if any, and—

Charles interrupted my spiraling thoughts, saying, “Sierra, I’m going to ask Joe and Tom to leave you here in town for the next eight months as well, to help me handle the marketing of this facility to the community. You’ll have to field questions about construction integrity, ecological impact, the usual shit. I know normally, the marketing manager wouldn’t necessarily stay in town to handle all of that, but it is a big job.” He chuckled, and went on, “And you two sound like you gotta make up for lost time.”

“Are you — are you serious?” I stammered.

Sierra’s voice shook as she repeated my sentiment. “Charles, if this is another game—”

“No games,” he said, raising his hands in surrender. “Just trying to help out young lovers. Unless you’d rather—”

“We’ll do it,” I agreed immediately. Then, turning red, I asked Sierra, “That’s what you want, right?”

Her face shone, as if illuminated from within by a sheer ball of joy. “You’re kidding, right?” she laughed, the sound skipping over the pebbles of her throat. “Jacob, of course it’s what I want.”

“Good,” Charles chimed in. “Then I’ll go settle it with the boys right now.”

He ambled off towards Joe and Tom, who looked nervously at his looming presence.

“I’m sorry for everything,” I said again, facing Sierra full on, taking in her entire being, trying to sear this moment into my memory. “I’m sorry for—”

She put one lacquered fingertip to my lips. “No more apologies. Just don’t break up with me, then work at my company, then pretend to be my boyfriend for a project, then make me fall in love with you, then break my heart and then mend it again. Okay?”

I laughed exuberantly, feeling the weight lift off my chest, for good this time. “I promise. After all, it’d be pretty hard to replicate all that.”

Sierra giggled and placed a hand on my chest, gently stroking my pecs beneath my collared shirt.

“Now,” she whispered. “Where were we?”

Like I could forget. I pulled her in tight to me, and she squealed softly at the sudden movement before letting her body go slack against mine, dropping her final defenses.

“I’m going to kiss you now,” I murmured in a low voice. “And it’s going to be the first kiss of the rest of our lives.”

“Well? What’s holding you back?”

I grinned then grabbed her head in my hands, lowered my face to meet hers, and brought Sierra in close. Our lips met, and then we were kissing, our lips saying words that our voices never could, apologizing and forgiving and planning and dreaming. We were in perfect sync, like… well, like nature. Harmonic.

“Did I mention I love you?” I asked, pulling away momentarily, my lips still barely brushing hers.

“Only once or twice.”

“Should I say it again?”

She smiled. “Yeah.”

“I love you.”

“Good.”

I chuckled, “Now it’s your turn.”

She feigned hesitation, saying slowly, “Well, I guess I kinda—”

I squeezed her playfully on the shoulder, and she relented.

“I love you too, Jacob.”

That was all I needed. I closed the tiny breach between our lips, and we were kissing once more.