Beyond Reason (8 page)

He immediately replied back.

How much whiskey and wine did you have tonight?

The nerve! I have had absolutely none! I quickly typed my response.

Zilch. Thank you very much. Shouldn’t you be out finding some hot chick? It’s a Friday night!

His reply took only seconds.

Again with the dating life… What am I to think?

Oh, he was annoying! I wrote my response as I walked halfway down the hall to Brandy and Gabby.

Think what you will. But I have my sights set on a completely unattainable guy because that’s how I roll. Have a great night.

His response flashed on the screen.

Oh, not to worry. I plan to.

What the heck was that supposed to mean? I marched into the family room just as the doorbell rang.

“See? There’s that glow again,” Brandy laughed, pointing at my face.

“Whatever. Who wants some beer with their pizza?” I asked, opening the door. I almost didn’t recognize my regular pizza guy who was standing with the three boxes of pizza I’d ordered. He had buzzed his hair off. He was always cute, but this new hairdo threw me off. I wasn’t sure I liked it.

“Having a party?” he asked, smiling.

“Nope. Just me and my two best friends.” I handed him the cash and smiled. “These smell delicious. Thanks for bringing them over.”

“That’s what we do,” he laughed. “Have a good night.”

“You too.” I shut the door and heard Brandy and Gabby in the kitchen already grabbing the plates and beers for us all.

“Get enough pizza?” Brandy laughed.

“I figured we’d be able to snack on it all night,” I protested.

“A pizza for each,” Gabby muttered. “There must be something more going on that you just haven’t told us.”

“Like what?” I asked, placing a slice of each kind on my plate.

“Whenever you’re confused over guy stuff, you tend to eat a lot of pizza and drink a lot of beer,” Brandy said, grabbing a couple slices of pepperoni.

“Actually, she just eats a lot of anything. Does this Austin thing have you that wound up?” Gabby asked, following us back into the family room.

“Possibly. I don’t know. A lot of stuff’s going on. I’m giving my notice on the 24
^th
, after I finish a project for Better,” I began.

“Wait. Ayden took his campaign to your firm? Didn’t you just normally moonlight for him?” Brandy asked.

“Yeah. But I have to say this came at the perfect time. Remember the co-worker who I thought was beyond amazing?”

They both nodded.

“Well, he wasn’t just a co-worker. He was the son of the boss.”

“Not again,” Brandy slapped her forehead.

I ignored her and continued, “I finally said yes to him and last weekend we went out. Little did I know that he was holding a grudge this whole time because I kept turning him down. First of all,” I paused to take a sip of beer and a bite of pizza. “I never turn someone down who I’m interested in…so why did I do it this time? And then the one time I do play a little hard to get, it comes back to bite me in the ass. The only reason we went to dinner was for him to tell me that he wanted to fire me, but a potential client had specifically asked for me.”

“That client was my brother?” Brandy asked.

“Yep. Thank God. Needless to say, without your brother, I wouldn’t be getting any of the bonus money that’s owed to me because of their vesting schedule and all. Anyway, I owe him a lot. I had mentioned to him what happened,” I said, realizing I was saying too much.

Gabby’s eyes narrowed as she began studying me.

“The long and the short of it is that once I get my bonus money, I’m out of there. I’ve even been thinking about moving up to Seattle, maybe…”

“Seriously?” Gabby had snapped out of her contemplative mood as excitement radiated from her.

“So you don’t hate us?” Brandy laughed.

“Not at all or maybe I’ll be moving to Utah soon. Who knows?” I teased.

The room fell silent.

“Kidding!”

Brandy and Gabby started laughing as a new text rolled over my phone. It was from Ayden.

Not sure this is the guy you really want to meet up with again.

I scrolled past the message and saw a picture of a blonde guy somehow making out with two really cute females. At the same time. I couldn’t see the guy’s face, but I knew who it was.

I texted Ayden back quickly, hoping Brandy or Gabby wouldn’t ask who I was messaging.

So what? He’s single!

I didn’t hear anything else from Ayden the rest of the night, or the rest of the weekend. And I was fine with that. Really fine with that.

Today was the day—the 23
^rd
of December, and the day before I was going to give my notice. I was completely exhausted, but I was also totally excited about the prospect of leaving. I was enthralled with the idea of the unknown. It seemed really appealing. Plus, the last week was pure torture. Rob appeared whenever and wherever he could, trying to complicate things, but Tori and I managed to pull through. Unfortunately, it was at the cost of completely missing the holiday season but whatever. I wasn’t really in the mood anyway.

I glanced at the clock in my bedroom and sighed. The launch party was less than two hours away, and I still needed to get ready. My hair was wet from the shower, and my energy level was completely zapped, but I’d have to put on my bubbly persona and celebrate our accomplishments. My last accomplishment at the firm—weird!

I hadn’t heard much from Ayden since my comment about Austin being single. We communicated some about the launch party and campaign, but that was about it. Our communication level was probably just back to where it was before he divulged his sister’s secret plan. But I did miss the deeper friendship that seemed to be taking off between us. I liked being able to tell him just about anything without judgment. And if I were to be completely honest, a knot had formed in my stomach, and it had been tightening each day that went by when he hadn’t sent a text.

Lame, I know!

I had no idea if it was because of the picture of Austin or the actual text from Ayden. Or maybe it was the combo. But something was definitely bothering me enough to make falling asleep at night impossible. I was usually one of those people who fell asleep as soon as my head hit the pillow but not lately.

I looked in the bathroom mirror as I began blow-drying my hair straight. I’d definitely need to put extra concealer on underneath my eyes to ensure I didn’t look like the living dead or the undead living or whatever the hell it was.

Once my hair was as good as I could get it and lying flat, I quickly applied my makeup and secured my hair back on the sides with barrettes. My phone buzzed, and I picked it up quickly to see a message from Brandy come across the screen.

Can’t wait to see you tomorrow night. I’ve already started cooking for Christmas Eve! Have fun tonight and drink as much as you can on your almost ex-firm’s nickel. Good luck tomorrow!

I chuckled and quickly sent a reply back. I was really looking forward to spending time with Brandy and everyone for the holidays. My parents were in Paris for Christmas, and I didn’t feel like going to my sister’s in Chicago. Our family wasn’t that close. Well, actually my family was really close with each other, just not with me. I always felt like an outsider.

I began looking through my stack of shrugs and shawls when my phone buzzed again. This one from Ayden.

Look forward to seeing you tonight. Thanks for all of your hard work on this campaign.

My heart did a flip and then a flop before I texted back.

Thanks! I had fun working on it. Look forward to seeing you too. And thanks again for everything.

I grabbed an ivory satin shrug and slipped into it before checking myself in the mirror one more time. All set! A car had been waiting for me downstairs, courtesy of my firm. I was going to miss my corporate credit card! Once I finished locking everything up for the evening, I hurried downstairs and into the cold night air.

The driver opened the back door of the sedan for me and I slid onto the seat, adjusting my dress along the way. I had picked a cocktail dress that was a bit slinkier than usual, but it was the color I was going for. I wanted to match the blue theme of the party, and this one did that.

“How are you this lovely evening?” the driver asked. “Off to an office holiday party?”

Hey! That’s right. This firm didn’t even throw a holiday party! Definitely time to ditch the place.

“Nope. Off to a work-related party. It’s for the launch of a new energy product. Should be fun,” I said, glancing out the window as we took off through the city.

The trees lining the streets were wrapped in twinkling white lights, making the sidewalks look as if glitter had been sprayed everywhere. The holiday scenes in the window displays were so festive. Some windows had stacks of sparkling packages and snowflakes dangling, and other windows were more subdued, with only a hint of something dazzling edging the glass. After all, Portland was the hipster capital of the West, and nothing was meant to look like too much fun.

“So do I really need to drop you off at the park? Won’t it be kind of cold for a party?” the driver asked.

“Yup. It really is the park. We were able to rent out the acreage and place a huge tent overlooking the waterfront. It’s completely heated so we should be fine,” I assured him, as we wound our way through the downtown corridor.

“That must’ve cost a fortune,” he said.

“It wasn’t cheap, but I bet the drink bill will be worse,” I laughed.

He pulled up to the curb, and I took a deep breath as I thought about this being my last event working with the firm.

“Miss, you enjoy yourself, and you have the number to text when I need to pick you up?”

I nodded as he got out of the driver’s seat and came around to let me out of the sedan.

“Thank you.”

I turned around to take in the scene. It was perfect. A bright, blue carpet was leading from the sidewalk all the way through the silver trees. We were able to create a canopy from the branches, which led to the white tent. As I walked along the path, I stopped every so often to adjust some of the signage or move the samples closer to the walkway. But it looked sensational.

When I stepped inside of the tent, I was in awe. This was a production I was proud to be a part of. It was a good way to exit. The blue color scheme was continued inside of the tent with tiny mirrors attached to the ceiling, reflecting the blue and white lights that bounced in several directions. The dance floor was silver with the logo etched in the middle. And on top of every table, there were miniature replicas of all of Better Brand’s products, along with silver and blue vine sculptures shooting toward the ceiling of the tent.

“Stunning,” Ayden’s voice surprised me.

I turned around to face him and couldn’t help but admire how good he looked tonight. He was dressed in a tux, but I noticed the edge of the pocket square matched the blue that was displayed everywhere, kind of like my dress.

“It is stunning. I think the blue reflects the purity of the product nicely. The feel of rejuvenation and…”

“I wasn’t talking about the décor,” he murmured, interrupting my rambling nature.

I arched a brow and watched him make his way over to me through the scattered tables and chairs.

“You’ve got to be the king of hot and cold,” I muttered.

“How so?” he asked, only a few feet away from me now.