Wooing Cadie McCaffrey

by Bethany Turner

  Kevin rubbed his face with his hands and grumbled as he stood from the couch. “Go clean out your desk and get out of here. I’m heading into the staff meeting, and I’m going to talk very slowly to give you some time to leave the building. I’ll call HR to meet you on The Bench.” He looked at his watch. “I figure you’ve got about an hour, so don’t dawdle. Once those people in there find out you’ve quit—and especially once a certain someone finds out—I can’t be held responsible for the aftermath, so—”

  “Thank you.” I stood up and threw my arms around his waist. He towered over me as he wrapped his arms around my shoulders and held me tight for a moment.

  “Keep in touch, okay? I mean it. Maybe if we’re not working together every day we can actually find time to talk once in a while.”

  I pulled back and wiped away my running mascara before it got on his suit jacket. “I will.” I grabbed my resignation letter from the floor and handed it to him.

  “Tennyson?” he asked.

  “Absolutely. Anna is great, and her day will come, but Darby’s ready. Anna will be louder and more determined to get ahead, while Darby will happily keep doing whatever you ask of her. But she really is ready. And you know what? She’ll make an amazing producer someday. And she actually wants it.”

  Kevin chuckled. “Got it. Anything else?”

  I shook my head. “No. I think that’s it.” I spun on my heel and reached for the doorknob, but I stopped before grabbing it. “Actually, yes. Despite everything . . .” I sighed and faced him one more time. “You’re right to throw everything into supporting Will. Right now he’s going on adrenaline and a fear of missing his opportunity, but at some point he’s going to get lost in his head. He’s going to doubt . . . everything. Don’t let him take himself too seriously, okay? You need to build him up while still keeping his head from getting too big. That’s the key. Stay with him through it. Don’t give up on him.”

  “Forgive me, but I kind of feel like telling you the same thing.”

  I nodded, completely understanding everything he was saying and everything he wasn’t saying. But I also understood that nothing about my decision to leave ASN—or my decision to leave Will—had anything to do with giving up.

  “The important thing, Kevin, is that I’ve finally made the decision to not give up on myself.”

  I extended as high as I could on my tiptoes and kissed him on the cheek, and then I hurried out of his office before he could tell me how pretentious I sounded.

  Sometimes the truth is pretentious.

  “Hey,” Anna greeted me as I walked back into the accounting suite. “I got the liability waiver back from Ellis for him to parachute into Wembley for that stadium special, but he’s wondering if Will should do it instead.”

  I had gotten pretty good at appearing unaffected by the constant stream of Will news through the office, but that one took me by surprise. I stopped in my tracks and did a double take.

  “Will? Why would Will do it?”

  I knew it wasn’t my responsibility any longer, and I knew I had to let Anna know that, but first I needed to know what the heck she was talking about.

  “Ellis said he thinks it would be good to take advantage of Will’s popularity right now. A spectacle like that could go a long way toward letting audiences know that he’s not just the smart guy making headlines for asking the tough questions. He’s also fun and entertaining.” A smile spread across her face as she handed me Ellis’s signed waiver. “Although, if I know Will, he probably begged Ellis to let him go.”

  I felt as if I had no choice but to discredit that theory. It was my moral obligation. “Not likely. He’s not a fan of heights, so I really don’t think—”

  She interrupted me with her laughter. “Are you kidding me? Not a fan of heights? Ever since we went indoor rock climbing a couple weeks ago, he’s been trying to get a group together to go climb Mount Marcy in the Adirondacks. I don’t think heights are a problem for him, Cadie.” She smiled and began heading back to her desk. As she walked she glanced at her watch and asked, “The network meeting’s at 3:15, right?”

  “Um, yeah, but I think Darby’s got it,” I replied, unintentionally forgetting to tell her I no longer worked there and would not be in said network meeting. The world had abruptly stopped making sense.

  “Are you sure?” she asked. “I’ve been developing a pretty strong rapport with the guys, so if you want me to—”

  “I said Darby’s got it!” I cut her off sharply and then caught myself. I didn’t even know if that was true, and it certainly wasn’t my call to make. I took a deep breath. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to snap. I appreciate it. Really. But the truth is—”

  “I can tag along.”

  I saw Darby stand from her desk, behind Anna’s. Her eyes were wide, and she was looking at me as if I were a lion, and she were my tamer—and she just wasn’t sure if she could get between me and my prey in time.

  “I really need you here,” Darby said, and Anna turned to face her. “I’m pretty sure the ratings composites are going to hit my desk in the next fifteen minutes or so, and we’re going to have to dive in. That will be the priority for the rest of the day.”

  Anna turned back to me. “Is that okay?”

  Hopefully “the guys” can live without you. “Sure. Thanks.” That was all I could manage.

  I began walking toward my soon-to-be-cleaned-out office, eyes straight ahead. As I passed Darby I simply said, “Now,” to which she replied, “Yep,” and followed me into my office and shut the door behind her.

  “What was that?” I asked breathlessly as soon as we were alone. “What in the world was that?”

  “I was going to ask you the same thing. What happened? I didn’t hear much, I just saw the expression on your face.”

  “She went indoor climbing. With Will!”

  Leaning against the wall, I forced myself to take a deep breath and let it out slowly. That didn’t make me feel any better so I repeated the pattern. Still nothing.

  Darby’s eyes filled with compassion—no-nonsense compassion. “Okay.”

  “Now she ‘knows’ him?” I asked rhetorically, snide air quotes running amok. “She has a ‘rapport’ with ‘the guys’? When did that happen?”

  “It’s been more than a month, Cadie.”

  “Yes, but for weeks he’s been ridiculously attempting to win me back. Friday night he was dancing with me. Almost kissing me! ”

  My best friend shrugged. “You know I love you, but I think you really need to push pause for a second and remember all that’s involved in that almost. He’s been attempting, but you haven’t been letting him get very far.”

  “Whose side are you on, anyway?”

  “Yours. Always yours.”

  Tears pooled in my eyes. She was right. Of course she was right.

  I groaned and shook my head. “I’m just emotional. After everything.”

  She nodded. “Totally understandable.”

  “It’s really not that I even care,” I explained. “It’s just . . . you know . . . I didn’t see it coming. More accurately, I hadn’t given it any thought at all.”

  “You hadn’t given what any thought? The idea of Will with someone else?”

  Will. With someone else. Someone who wasn’t me.

  How could I explain it without sounding crazy? How could I explain that while being absolutely resolute in my decision that Will and I should not be together, there had also not been one moment in which I imagined either of us ending up with anyone else?

  Come to that, how could I explain it to myself?

  “Yeah. I just hadn’t really thought of it,” I said as casually as I could. I offered her a dogged smile and then grabbed a tissue and dug a mirror out of my purse to begin pulling myself together. “It’s a relief, really, now that I think about it. I’m free. If he’s dating Anna, I’m completely off the hook.”

  “Off the hook from what?”

  “I don’t know,” I said with a sigh, throwin
g the mirror back into my bag and grabbing my iPad and setting it in the box of my belongings. “The feeling that we would always be connected, I guess. The feeling that if I bumped into him at some restaurant in SoHo it would be awkward.”

  She laughed. “Oh, suddenly that feeling is gone, is it?”

  Who was I kidding? Certainly not Darby, and probably not myself. It would always be awkward, regardless of whether or not he was dating Anna Alvarez, or anyone else.

  Note to self: learn how to cook so you never have to eat out again.

  17

  About an Hour Later (the Aftermath)

  Okay, everybody,” Will concluded as he closed his binder and looked around the table. “Good work. If you have any questions, you know where to find me.”

  Everyone stood to go, but the deep, commanding voice of their boss at the head of the table caused them to freeze.

  “Before you go, there’s one more thing,” Kevin said, pretty softly by his standard. But with Kevin it wasn’t about the volume—it was about the authority and respect he carried amongst his staff. Everyone was immediately seated once again.

  Will, for one, hadn’t even bothered to get out of his chair at what he thought was the end of the meeting. His work was only beginning, and he was scheduled to be in attendance at two more meetings in that very conference room before the end of the day. He knew better than to hold out hope that Kevin’s “one more thing” announcement included news that either of those meetings were cancelled. In fact, he was fairly certain that whatever Kevin was about to say would somehow result in more work. It seemed like lately no one could open their mouth without it resulting in more work for him.

  It’s what you’ve always wanted, he reminded himself—grateful to be kept busy on this day in a way he rarely had been before.

  Once the room had quieted back down, Kevin calmly stated, “Effective immediately, Cadie McCaffrey is no longer an employee of ASN. Succession determinations will be made in the coming days. For now, if you run into something that can’t wait, talk to me. My plan is to have a memo out to everyone by tomorrow with some info on who will be running point on various projects—at least temporarily. If you’re in touch with Cadie, just know that we parted on the best of terms, and everyone here is so grateful for the contributions she made as a longtime valuable member of this team. Questions?”

  “That’s impossible!” Will exclaimed with a laugh. He wasn’t sure why he was laughing, but then he really didn’t seem to have any control over anything anymore. “What—what—what are you even saying? What is that even supposed to mean?”

  A stunned silence had overtaken the room in response to Kevin’s announcement, but the silence deepened and grew nervous in light of Will’s slightly unhinged outburst.

  “Okay, thanks, everyone,” Kevin said gently. “That’s all.”

  As everyone apart from Kevin and Will stood to go, soft murmurs replaced the silence. The momentum and energy that had been coursing through the room moments earlier had been sapped by the news of Cadie’s departure. After all, no one around that table had been at ASN longer—not even Kevin. The announcement likely came as a sad surprise to the entire staff.

  But there was nothing like a well-timed torrent of unprofessional emotion to pick things up again.

  Will remained in his seat, still staring at Kevin, though he was fully aware that as his coworkers left they all watched him—no doubt hoping he would shout again or maybe punch the wall or something before they lost line of sight. He didn’t have time to be bothered by the busybodies and the inevitable churning of the gossip mill. He was just waiting for the unexpected twist or the punch line, or whatever had to be coming.

  Kevin stood and reached out to press the intercom button on the phone in the center of the table. “Miranda, will you please let Ellis know we’re ready for him?” While still holding down the button, he glanced at the clock on the wall. “We may need to order some takeout. I’ll check with Ellis and Will and get back to you. Thanks.”

  Cadie McCaffrey is no longer an employee of ASN.

  Will played the words over and over in his mind, attempting to make sense of them. He’d fully expected Kevin to announce that she’d been taken off the “Make Good, Do Good” project. That wouldn’t have surprised him in the least after everything that had occurred between them on Friday—whatever that was. But this?

  The door to the conference room opened and Ellis appeared. “About time you guys finished up.” He shut the door behind him and then joined Kevin and Will at the table. “I’m starving. If you want me to be at all productive, I’m going to need some food here in the next twenty minutes.” Ellis looked at his two friends at the table—from one to the other and then back again. Neither said a word. “What? What’s going on?”

  The tension built for a few seconds more and then Will jumped up from his seat. “When were you going to tell me?” he shouted at Kevin.

  “It literally just happened—”

  “You expect me to believe that?” Will scoffed. “The woman doesn’t take an early lunch without sending a memo.”

  Kevin raised his hands helplessly. “Be that as it may, it’s the truth. I came straight in here after meeting with her. She quit about an hour ago.”

  “Who quit?” Ellis asked. “What did I miss?”

  Will had his hands on the headrest of the rolling chair he’d been sitting in, and his fingers were digging into the leather more forcefully by the second. He felt his anger and regret bubbling to the surface, and all he could think of was every single thing he should have done differently.

  “Why didn’t you stop her?” He pushed down on the chair, sending it careening into the dry-erase board on the wall before tipping over and landing on its side.

  Kevin kicked his own chair out from under him as he stood and issued a warning. “Son, you need to calm down.”

  “Cadie quit?” Ellis asked. “Oh, man. I didn’t even get to say goodbye. Is she still here?”

  Will’s eyes flew open. One more regret for the list. Had he wasted too much time? He hurried to the door, not willing to let one more second pass.

  “She’s not here, Will!” Kevin called out after him as he ran down the hall.

  Will heard him, but there was no way he wasn’t going to check it out himself. There was no way he wasn’t going to do all he could to catch her before it was too late. Until she turned in her keys, until she did her exit interview, until Human Resources submitted the termination paperwork. Until all of those things happened, he still had a chance to convince her she’d made a horrible mistake. He was sure Kevin and ASN would take her back in a heartbeat.

  In less than a minute he was crossing the common area between The Field and The Bench, and two hallways later he was running into the accounting suite.

  “Hey, Will!” Anna greeted him from her desk. “Is everything okay?”

  “Where is she?” he huffed.

  “Who?”

  “Cadie. Is she still here?”

  She couldn’t have left without saying goodbye. Without saying something. She wouldn’t do that.

  Anna bit her lip as she stood and walked over to him. “You didn’t hear? Wow, I’m really sorry to have to be the one to tell you—”

  “No, I know!” he said with an involuntary groan. Stop it, he lectured himself. Anna’s not the one you’re angry with. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to . . . sorry, Anna. I’m just—”

  “Will?”

  He heard the voice coming from Cadie’s office, and for the most fleeting of moments he was optimistic. When he looked up and saw Darby standing in the doorway, he knew for sure he was too late.

  “Can I get you something?” Anna asked, her voice rich with concern. “You don’t look so great.”

  He wasn’t trying to be rude, but he didn’t have time for Anna. He really didn’t. “Darby? What . . . I mean, why did she . . . why didn’t . . .”

  “Come on back, Will,” Darby kindly commanded.

  He walked past
the other desks that he’d passed so many times through the years. He’d never really taken note of any of them. Sure, he’d always said hello to whoever was present, and he and Darby had shared all sorts of ridiculous secret handshakes that had been exchanged through the years, but he was always focused on that moment when he would round the corner, step into Cadie’s office, and see her.

  This time, his attention was drawn to each desk, and the containers full of orange Tic Tacs that sat on all of them. Pain erupted into rage when he spotted Anna’s desk and a stack of CDs he’d spent hours creating. With the back of his hand he sent the stack crashing to the ground, and countless little orange candies went flying through the air.

  He owed Anna another apology, but right then he knew he couldn’t trust any words that might come out of his mouth.

  “Will, come on,” Darby commanded again, a bit more sternly.

  He walked into Cadie’s office, and rage gave way to sadness. “How is it already empty?”

  Empty was an exaggeration, of course. Everything work-related was still present. Filing cabinets, a computer and papers on the desk, chairs and a coatrack. All that was missing were any signs that Cadie had ever been there.

  Empty.

  “Let’s sit,” Darby said as she shut the door behind them and grabbed his hand to pull him to the two chairs on the near side of the desk. “Can I get you some water or something? Anna’s right. You’re really pale.”

  He shook his head. “What happened? Friday night went so well . . . until it didn’t. And I have no idea what changed. Whatever it was, it couldn’t have been worthy of this. Did she get another job? Where’s she going to be? I totally understand if she got a better offer or something, but it’s not like her to not even give notice.”

  Darby sat back in her chair and tilted her head as she studied him. The silent contemplation continued a long time, and enough curious expressions passed across her face that Will began to worry. What had he said? What had he done? Why in the world was she looking at him that way?