I stood at the stove, stirring in the fake powdered cheese that I inexplicably craved. It was my dirty secret. No southern girl should admit to liking boxed macaroni and cheese over the real stuff. While I stirred, I was running through my head the best way to organize my plan. I wanted it to hit all the emotional punches while highlighting my vision and insights. I knew it was an uphill battle, but I was giving it my best shot. I was hoping the board would be impressed with my by-the-people, for-the-people approach, as well as my medical research and background.
I sat on a stool with a bowl of mac and cheese in hand staring at my laptop screen. I had been working on creating a profile graphic including the company’s history, locations, overview, milestones, and figures, so the board would know I understood the ins and outs of Armstrong Labs. I’d been studying color theory to pick the perfect color combo for my presentation. I was using complementing blues, greens, and cyan. It was minimalistic and professional.
After the profile graphic, I would hit them with my brilliant mission statement. Or at least I found it to be brilliant. Even Kane had said it was golden. I shoved a large spoonful of mac and cheese into my mouth and wondered what Kane was doing tonight. Working on his house? On a date? Perfecting his plan? All three? Did he hate me now?
I needed to stop thinking about him and focus. Easier said than done.
I put my bowl down and tweaked some of the graphs, making sure my numbers and dates were correct before moving on to my mission statement graphic. That was the easiest slide. Next up was an overview of what I found to be our strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and even our vulnerabilities. I was nervous about this section. I didn’t want to come off as incredulous by telling these people where I thought the company was weak and vulnerable. Although, my findings had come from speaking to our employees. Naturally, I’d researched each concern to make sure it was valid, as I knew I would be questioned about my conclusions and have to defend them.
Hour after hour and, sad to say, bowl after bowl of mac and cheese, I searched through notes and checked and doubled-checked figures and my own analyses. My eyes began to hurt so badly that I took out my contacts and went with my trusty glasses.
My head bobbed a few times, but still I pushed on. I may be a runner sometimes, but I wasn’t a quitter. I was a pro at all-nighters. Or at least I used to be. Somewhere along the way, I must have fallen asleep, as I woke to a gentle voice calling my name.
“Scarlett.” The voice sounded almost dreamlike. Or was that dreamy?
My eyes drifted open, and I realized my cheek was plastered to the granite countertop. Worse, there was a puddle of saliva near my mouth. Nice.
I sat up, wiped my mouth, and rubbed my neck, trying to recall the dreamy voice that had spoken to me in my sleep. I wasn’t expecting the voice to have a body, so it startled me when I saw someone next to me, and I almost fell off my stool. As always, Kane was there to witness my lunacy and save me from falling.
He chuckled while setting me straight. “Looks like your dinner is in your hair.” He picked a couple of noodles out of my untamed mane. I hadn’t bothered to style my hair today, as I had been working nonstop.
Ugh. Why? Why did he always find me in the most ridiculous situations? I must have fallen asleep too close to my bowl. I ran a hand through my hair to see if there were any more noodles in there. When I didn’t find any, I put my glasses on and focused on Kane. He, of course, looked perfect in his tight jeans and white tee, though his eyes looked a little red and worn and his hair was mussed. It looked as if he had just rolled out of bed and thrown on a pair of jeans. If that wasn’t sexy enough, his fine layer of stubble did me in. Why did he have to be so beautiful inside and out?
“What are you doing here?” I looked at the large clock on the kitchen wall. It was almost midnight.
He took a moment to look me over before answering. His expression bordered between pensive and determined. “I can’t take it anymore, Scarlett,” he breathed out. “This staying away from you, giving you your space, is killing me. Just tell me what you want, and I’ll do it.”
I took a moment to digest what he had said. “I . . . I don’t know what I want,” I stuttered, not ready for this conversation yet, though clearly he was.
He grabbed a stool and pulled it as close to me as possible before taking my face in his strong hands, calloused by the work he had been doing on his house. He peered straight into my eyes and cut right through to my soul. “Yes, you do. But you’re afraid. Guess what? I’m afraid, too. Afraid of losing you.”
Of course I was afraid. “You left me,” I cried.
“I know.” He removed my glasses before leaning his forehead against mine. His thumbs caressed my cheeks. “I’m sorry I hurt you,” he whispered earnestly before his lips brushed my own.
His kiss made me forget for a moment that there was any hurt between us. I pressed my lips against his, and suddenly, I was home. I savored the moment, the pure sweetness I had missed so much. However, Kane was impatient. With an urgency I hadn’t felt in years, Kane parted my lips. His tongue crashed into my mouth, making me gasp. Instantly, the fire I’d been searching years for reignited. I grabbed his shirt and twisted it in my hands, begging him to continue the assault on my mouth. He complied ardently, almost devouring me. When he was done with my mouth, his warm lips trailed down until he landed on the hollow of my neck, where he was rewarded with another gasp. He groaned before pulling away and meeting my eyes. There I saw myself. Always in his view.
“Tell me what you want, Scarlett,” he gently implored.
I had no breath left to speak, but it was obvious what I wanted. My actions spoke louder than any words. But was that the right thing? I opened my mouth to speak and nothing came out. It was as if my heart had gotten stuck in my throat.
“Tell me,” he begged.
When I was too afraid to answer, he turned away, his eyes landing on all my notes and my laptop screen. “Why didn’t you pursue your dreams?” He sounded so defeated.
I closed my laptop lid. Tears forming in my eyes. “You stole them from me when you left. And now you’re going to take the company away from me too.” The lateness of the hour and the never-ending days had finally gotten to me. My emotions spilled out.
Kane brushed back my hair with such a look of adoration. “No, Scarlett; I can’t take the blame for stealing your dreams. You let those go, not me.”
“No.” I jumped off my stool, defiant. “I’m pursuing new dreams.”
Kane stood and scoffed. “Running Armstrong Labs isn’t your dream. It’s your father’s.”
“Of course, it is. I’m his daughter. You have no idea what my father and mother had to give up to make this company succeed,” I raised my voice.
Kane lowered his head and sighed. “So, you can forgive him for giving you up for his company, but you can’t forgive me for trying to do the right thing.”
I gripped the counter, taken aback by the sting of his words. “I didn’t say that,” I whispered. “I just . . . I just don’t know what to do. You don’t know the pressure I’m under,” I pleaded with him to understand.
His shoulders rose and fell with a large exhale. “You’re right.” He leaned in and kissed my forehead, lingering there as if he couldn’t break away.
I wanted to stay in that moment. Just him and me, soaking each other in.
“Scarlett,” he broke the silence, “you’re going to have to choose, darlin’. And you will have every choice available to you. I only hope when it’s all said and done, you choose what you really want.” He pushed away and turned to leave.
“What do you mean?” I stared after him.
He didn’t answer my question. He only waved from behind as he headed toward the mudroom. “Good night, darlin’. I love you.”
Like a puddle of goo, I melted onto the stool, wondering what had just happened. “I love you, too,” I eeked out, knowing he wouldn’t hear me. Then I rested my head back on the counter, not caring if I got macaroni an
d cheese in my hair. It was the very least of all my worries.
Plot Twist
I dragged myself into the office on Monday, desperately needing another weekend. Between working on my business plan and Kane’s appearance in the middle of the night, my mind was spinning. His words kept playing over and over in my head, not to mention that kiss. Sometimes I used to think my memory had exaggerated how amazing his kisses were, but Saturday night made me realize I hadn’t been giving him enough credit. My spine was still tingling from it. As was my heart he’d pricked with his words. He had this way of putting things into perspective. It was maddening. He also left me with questions. Like, what choices would be available to me? And would I be brave enough to choose them?
I stepped off the elevator, a bit apprehensive about seeing Kane. We hadn’t spoken since Saturday night. I’d thought about calling him, but so much hung in the balance right now. Armstrong Labs was my family’s company. My legacy. Perhaps even my children’s legacy. He needed to understand that. Sometimes we had to give up what we wanted for something better. That’s what I was trying to do.
When I entered the executive wing, I was met by Sir Randall, almost as if he were waiting for me. “Your father wants to see you, Dr. Young Lady.”
“Right now?”
He nodded before marching past me.
I quickly dropped off my bag and laptop case in my office before heading over to meet with Auggie. I was anxious to see him. He’d gotten home after I’d called it a night last night, then left before I was ready this morning. He was a machine. That worried me. He needed to be taking it easy.
Unfortunately, I had to pass by Kane’s office to see Auggie. I’d been hoping to sneak in undetected this morning. Luckily, I didn’t see Kane, though Jaycie was there as perky as ever. She looked fresh as could be in her mint dress that showed off her shapely, yet muscular, legs. Not to mention all of her ample curves.
“How was your weekend, Scarlett?”
“Good. Thank you.” I tried to hustle past her.
“We still need to do lunch,” she reminded me.
I really needed to stop brushing her off, but I was afraid all she would want to talk about was how attracted she was to the man I loved. Then I would want to slap her with some breadsticks or something. I’d never slapped anyone with anything, and I didn’t really want to break that streak.
“Let me check my schedule,” I put her off again.
“I won’t let you forget,” she sang.
“I know you won’t,” I sang back, feeling guilty. I should just go to lunch with her, but I was kind of in the middle of something huge.
I knocked on Auggie’s door.
“Enter,” he called out.
I walked in to find him pacing the floor, running his hands through his hair.
He stopped for a moment, gave me a glance, then kept on pacing.
I rushed to him, worried. “Auggie what’s wrong?”
He pinched the bridge of his nose. “Scarlett, I need you to send me your business plan.”
I shook my head, praying I hadn’t heard him right. Though I was sure I had, and my throat started closing up. I hurried to speak before I lost my ability to. “Uh . . . I thought I had until Friday to finish it.”
“You do,” he growled. “But a situation has arisen, and I need it now.”
“What situation? It’s not done,” I stammered, in major panic mode. It was like one of those dreams where you showed up to class naked.
“Just send me what you have.” He was clearly upset.
I grabbed his hand. “Dad.”
He let out a heavy breath and gave me a sad smile. “I do love it when you call me that.”
Tears filled my eyes. “You do?”
He nodded.
I squeezed his hand. “Please, tell me what’s going on.”
He cleared his throat. “Kane has . . .,” he hesitated.
“Kane has what?” My heart started beating wildly out of control. “Is he okay?”
“He’s fine,” Auggie snarled. “He’s pushing the envelope, like he always does around here.”
If I wasn’t mistaken, I heard a hint of pride, even though he was obviously unhappy about it. Which was even more confusing to me. “Why do you need my business plan so soon?”
Auggie walked off. “Scarlett, please just send it to me. We’ll talk more later, when I know what I’m dealing with.”
I rubbed the back of my neck. “It’s so raw, and I have a few more people I want to interview, plus some more research,” I rambled.
Auggie sat down at his desk as if he were exhausted and gave me a look of understanding. “It will be enough for now. Continue working on it.”
I stared blankly at him, not believing this was happening. What was Kane up to? “Okay,” I eeked out before turning to leave.
“Scarlett, is there anything you want to tell me?”
I stopped in my tracks, facing the door. “Like what?”
“Do you want this job?”
That was such a loaded question. What had Kane told my father? He was supposed to have kept my secrets. Is this what he meant by choices?
“Scarlett,” my father pressed.
I shut my eyes and let out a deep breath. “Yes,” I squeaked out. It wasn’t a lie.
“Okay,” he sounded relieved. “We’ll talk later.”
I marched out the door and straight to Kane’s office. I didn’t even bother knocking before opening his door.
“He’s not there,” Jaycie informed me before I could open the door all the way.
I turned and faced her. “Do you know where he is?”
“He came in early this morning to meet with Mr. Armstrong and then left. He said he was taking the rest of the day off and he didn’t want to be bothered.”
Too bad. I was going to be bothering him. “Thank you.”
“Can you do lunch today?” She smiled sweetly.
Against my better judgment, I said, “Sure.” It’s not like I was in the middle of a huge life change and had hours of work ahead of me. But my mind was spinning so fast, I wasn’t sure I would be able to think straight. Especially after I gave Kane a piece of my mind.
She clapped her hands together. “Yay! Finally. There’s this great little Italian place I love close by.”
“Perfect. Excuse me. I have some pressing matters this morning.”
“Of course. Does noon work?”
I nodded and walked toward my office. The first thing I did was reach for my phone and dial Kane’s number.
He picked up right away. “Hello, darlin’.”
“Don’t darlin’ me. What have you done?”
“Scarlett,” he said my name so tenderly. “I promised that you would have all the options. I meant that.”
“How? Why does Auggie want my plan?” I barked at him.
“You’ll have to ask him.”
“I did, and he said you were pushing the envelope. Did you tell him I didn’t want this job?”
“Do you think so little of me?” He sounded angry.
That pulled me up short. “No,” I whispered, ashamed.
“Scarlett,” he sighed, “talk to your dad. And when you finally decide what you want, let me know. You know how I feel about you. Goodbye, darlin’.” He hung up.
I stared at my phone willing the tears not to fall, but they did anyway. What had he done? And would I love him or hate him for it? Who was I kidding? I was always going to love him.
I grabbed my laptop, set it on my desk, and turned it on. Not even bothering to sit down. With shaky hands, I logged in and pulled up the files I’d been working on. My presentation and plan were in no shape to be evaluated. Regardless, I zipped the files, ready to send them to Auggie, but first added a lengthy explanation in my email to fill in the blanks and more accurately portray my vision. I also mentioned who I still planned to talk to and the research I had left to do. I wanted to shake Kane for whatever it was he was playing at. Was he forcing Auggie to see
I wasn’t ready? Or was he trying to convince Auggie I needed his help? Or worse, was Kane throwing in the towel? Was that how he meant to give me options? Well, I had news for him: I wouldn’t accept that. I was either going to earn this or lose this fair and square.
I sent my email, and for the rest of my morning, I paced around my office, not knowing what to do with myself even though I had more than enough to do. I kept wondering what Auggie thought of my plan and presentation. When I wasn’t wondering about that, I was thinking about Kane. I remembered a long time ago he’d told me if I didn’t choose my dreams, it would complicate my life even more. Well, things were complicated all right.
I wondered how life would be now, if eight years ago I had told my father the truth, and if Kane hadn’t tried to do the “right” thing. I had a feeling I would have been in a lot more Facebook posts and I’d still be doing my residency, as forensic pathology requires one more year past clinical pathology. Would I be happier? Would Auggie still have been proud of me? Or would he and Momma be disappointed that I didn’t want their hopes and dreams?
By the time noon rolled around, it felt like midnight. I almost canceled with Jaycie, then decided I would feel too guilty if I did. Besides, I needed some fresh air. My office was becoming more and more claustrophobic as the day wore on.
Jaycie and I mostly made small talk on the way over to the restaurant. I let her drive me in her sporty little coup. Another thing she had in common with Kane—she loved sports cars. She couldn’t say enough about how fun it was driving the Porsches at the conference and, of course, how gorgeous Kane looked behind the wheel.
When we got settled at our table and ordered, the tone of the conversation shifted.
Jaycie bit her pouty lip. “I’ve heard rumors that you and Kane used to date. Is that true?”
I wrung my napkin on my lap. “We did, a long time ago.”
She breathed a sigh of relief. “Was it amazing?” She was obviously obsessed with him, which on one hand disturbed me, but on the other hand, I understood.
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