Carved in Stone (The Stone Series) (3 page)

              After a colossal argument with Aidan, I reluctantly conceded to the fact that I was hired based primarily on my performance in my current role that, and along with several glowing recommendations including ones from Jeremiah and Mr. Morris himself. Although, I suspected dating Aidan was a pivotal factor in the offer but in the end, I decided to suck it up, swallow my pride and prove without a shadow of doubt to anyone who cared, I could do the job and do it outstandingly.

             
And now here I was…my first day in my new job and my boss’s, boss’s boss had dumped me less than forty-eight hours ago.

Wonderful.

Just peachy.

Oh well…when the going gets tough, the tough gets going.
Or so the song goes.

             
Two of the three existing staff members of the Stone Corporation’s events department were friendly and very welcoming to both Jeremiah and myself upon our arrival, which was a huge relief. However, I still couldn’t help the sporadic anxiousness that plagued me throughout the day at the possibility of accidently running into Aidan somewhere in the building.

             
“Welcome Gabby to our humble abode. I’m positive we’re going to become BFF’s,” greeted Molly, a robust blonde with vibrant pink and purple streaks in her shoulder length hair.

             
Molly shook my hand with unrestrained enthusiasm, the dozen little gold bangles along her wrist tinkling loudly. Molly appears to be around my age – mid twenties and has the most stunningly violet eyes that almost matched the amethyst streaks in her flamboyant hair. I liked her immediately; she is vibrantly cheerful, funny and openly eccentric. 

             
Santo, another member of the events team, is a stylish, very tall, lanky, handsome Latino man in his late twenties. He has thick curly dark brown hair, big expressive coffee colored eyes and his skin is beautiful bronzed. I could tell Jeremiah was instantly smitten; the two men seemed to click with a transparent chemistry from the instant their eyes locked.

             
Biting my lip, I contemplated cautioning Jeremiah about the pitfalls of office romances but it was only a few days ago I was dating the owner of the company that I now worked for.

Hmm
… I guess that would be a case of the pot calling the kettle black.

             
The only member of the new team that didn’t meet us with amiability was Taylor; a tall, slender, raven-haired woman in her late twenties or early thirties. It’s kind of hard to guess her exact age with her forehead prematurely frozen from Botox. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not against Botox or any other cosmetic procedures, I just don’t get why someone still so relatively young would want to use it to the point where their face is a mask of frozen expressionless. Taylor was barely civil during our introduction, her hazel gaze was icy and yet despite her veiled enmity she was exceptional beautiful and poised in her designer suite.

             
Both Jeremiah and I were shown to our own separate offices, mine being way smaller than his but hey, I’ve never had a job where I had my own little office before so despite the last few days, I couldn’t help the small squeal of delight that escaped my lips when I sat down on my new leather chair for the very first time and rolled across the floor to admire the view from my very first office window. Wow, the view of downtown Los Angeles is even amazing from the tenth floor.

             
After meeting with the IT department to set up our computers and phones with various logins the remainder of the day was an endless loop of back to back meetings including a lunch meeting with the events team to be brought up to speed with the current projects they were working on. Tuesday and Wednesday brought a new series of meetings with several department heads from subsidiary companies of the Stone Corporation with briefs for upcoming events our department were to manage. By Wednesday night, I was totally exhausted, my brain buzzing with information overload but I felt more confident as I grasped a better understanding of my new role.

             
“This has been a big week for you G.”

             
“Yeah…” I mumble back in agreement, observing the landscape dash by as Mia slows for a red light.

             
Mia’s right, this has been a monumental week career wise but despite the last three hectic days, I’ve never felt so lonely, empty… miserable. I miss Aidan; his touch, the sound of his deep soothing voice, his scent but most of all, the way I felt when I was just with him. The exquisite feeling of soaring, untethered and yet grounded at the same time, it’s hard to explain but every moment I spent with Aidan I felt vivacious, cherished and more alive than I had ever felt in my life.

             
I really don’t understand how I could have got it so incredibly wrong. Did he not feel anything for me when we were together?

             
As if reading my thoughts for the second time today, Mia turns to me as she stops at another red light. “You’re going to be okay kiddo, you know that right?” she says earnestly.

             
Turning toward Mia, I smile affectionately. I really do need to stop moping, lamenting the loss of him, of us. I guess the ‘
Us’
I wanted us to be wasn’t the ‘
Us’
he wanted. So my heart is broken – it will mend.

I hope.

             
After all nobody ever died of a broken heart.

I don’t think. 

             
And it’s not like Aidan and I were dating for months or even years for that matter. It was less than six weeks really, and after all, I didn’t move to LA to be with a guy. I came here for a fresh start, a new direction in my life. And now I have it - a new job, new friends and Mia of course.

             
It is time to pull myself together, to take one day at a time and seize all that life has for me.

             
Smiling with sincere happiness for the second time today, I state, “You know what M? I think your right. I
am
going to be okay. More than okay. Thanks Mia. I really do love you.”

             
Searching my eyes for a moment as if evaluating the truth of my statement, Mia tentatively returns my smile. “I love you too Gabby.”

             
As Mia accelerates through the intersection on the green light my cell phone pings letting me know I have a new text message. Pulling the cell from my purse, I read the message.

             
“M, I’ll have to cancel on coffee with the girls before work. Jeremiah just messaged, apparently our eleven am meeting has just been moved up to nine am. He wants to meet early and go through some details before the meeting. Can you drop me off at the front of the building? He’s waiting for me there.”

Chapter Two

             
“Oh thank all that is holy! You’re finally here Gabby! I am freaking O.U.T,” shrieks Jeremiah, waving his hands impatiently in the air as he approaches me.

In one hand he
grasps a coffee cup and in his other a cell phone, gesturing wildly.

             
“Jesus Jeremiah, watch where you throw your hands. You spill that coffee over me and you’ll know it,” I warn, eyeing his coffee cup warily, taking a step back from him.

             
“Oh this,” he looks at the coffee cup in his hand. “This is empty Sunshine,” he says discarding the paper cup in a nearby rubbish bin. “I had four of these already – double shot espresso – and let me tell you it is
not
working!”

             
Jeremiah begins pacing back and forth on the pavement outside the glassed sleek entrance to Stone Tower. His normally polished suave persona all but gone and in its place is a harassed maniac. It would be comical if not for the grim somber frown lines marring his features. His bright lavender tie is askew and his normally immaculate blonde hair is disheveled as if he has repeatedly raked his fingers through his glossy locks.

             
“Hey Jeremiah. Sweetie, what’s wrong?” I ask, reaching out and grabbing his hand, halting his anxious pacing.

             
On a deep inhale of breath, Jeremiah stills, looks into my face than exhales composing himself.

             
“Okkkkkay,” he draws out, inhaling and exhaling again slowly. “I’m all good now. A little Thursday morning melt down – nothing to worry about – all under control now. Sorry about that Sunshine,” he says apologetically.

             
“Yeah I’m getting that but why?”

             
“Why?” Jeremiah’s voice squeaks unusually high. “Because this new event is huge Gabby, like gigantic. I didn’t sleep a wink last night after yesterdays meeting. The Norwood Hotel Group are freaking enormous and the CEO himself is meeting with us this morning to discuss the opening of his newest five star luxury hotel ‘Decadent’ in Beverly Hills. It’s a joint venture with the Stone Corporation.”

             
“Okay well, I know you have been heading this up, working on the preliminary brief so I haven’t taken that much notice up until now, but how is this different to any other event you have organized?”

“
D..d..different,” splutters Jeremiah. “Because Gabby darling, did you not hear me
say
the Norwood Hotel Group are huge. Huge as in titanic! Forget about Jack and Rose Titanic. When it comes to luxury boutique hotels in North America, nobody comes even close in comparing to this group. And this is the first hotel collaboration the Stone Corporation has done with them! This grand opening gala is the kind of event that careers are either made or broken on. My career
and
your career Gabby. And did you not also hear me say the
freaking
C.E.O. of the Norwood Group is personally attending this meeting this morning. This is just not done.”

             
Hmm maybe I should have paid a wee bit more attention to the meeting we had with Paul Tanner, VP of the Stone Corporation yesterday afternoon.

             
The meeting was short, Paul outlined the initial brief to Jeremiah for the opening gala and I attended at the last minute because Jeremiah asked if I could come in and take notes as he wanted me to assist him on the catering specifies for the event.

             
But it was Paul’s quiet sympatric gaze directed towards me when he first walked into the boardroom that had me thrown for a loop. For rest of the meeting I plowed through on autopilot nodding, smiling in the appropriate times and taking corpuses amounts of notes but my mind was assailed with thoughts of Aidan. Although Paul was completely professional throughout the meeting, I just knew he knew Aidan had ended our relationship. And the last thing I wanted was his pity.

             
I already felt like an enormous fraud being promoted to this position let alone having him further pity me for being the dumped ex-girlfriend of his boss.

             
By the end of the meeting I was more determined than ever to prove my worth in this company. I loved my new job, I was good at it and I was going to prove it.

             
However, I was under the assumption this was the normal run of mill gala opening for a new hotel – my first mistake.

Damn.

             
Jeremiah was spear heading the gala event, liaising with media, guest lists, decorating excreta and it was my job to see to the more logistical details such as catering and the hiring of severing staff.

             
Apparently this event was going to be bigger than Ben Hur. Which meant that my plan to avoid Aidan at all costs wasn’t probably going to work. No doubt something as significant as the grand opening gala for Hotel Decadent, the first joint collaboration of both companies would ensure Aidan Stone’s attention.

Great!

Just my luck!

And
Really? Who names a hotel Decadent by the way?

Oh well time to put my game face on and prove to everyone else I
can nail this project.

             
“Well, Jeremiah lets go prove to ourselves and everyone else that we got this. You and me – homerun babe, we are so going to bat this ball outa the park and slide triumphantly into home base. You with me?”

             
“Really Gabby? A baseball metaphor? You do know that I’m Gay right? You could’ve said
‘we are so going to belt out this high note just like Babs’
. Now that’s a metaphor a fabulous gay man like yours truly appreciates.”

****

             
An hour and half later (not to mention three more cups of double shot espressos for Mr. Anxious), Jeremiah and I have combed through every minute detail of the preliminary brief. We headed towards the elevators for the executive boardroom on the twentieth floor - only one level down from Aidan’s office and a tad too close for comfort as far as I was concerned.