“Hey, Gina?” I call, looking up from my laptop. She turns around to face me.
“Can you let me know if you hear about anyone selling or renting out places?”
She gives me a curious look. “Who needs a place to live?”
I smile innocently. “Me. I’m thinking of moving out of my apartment.”
Her eyes grow wide. “Why? You’ve been in your place forever. It’s the perfect setup and Mrs. Rothera seems like the perfect landlord.”
Ugh. I wish my friends would stop making me question my decision.
“She’s fine, but I just think it’s the right time. And so many memories were with Jake that I feel like I need to start fresh.”
She frowns. “Has he been coming around? Don’t you dare let him try to worm his way back into your life again.”
I shake my head. “Oh, he hasn’t been around at all. I just feel like it’s a good time. Starting a new year, so why not have a fresh start?”
Gina was not a fan of Jake at all. After he broke things off and started coming around again, she wanted to call her uncle to “scare” him. I don’t know her uncle personally, but apparently, he’s a powerful man who has ways of getting people to do what they’re supposed to do.
My phone rings, startling me. I get excited as soon as I see that Alexander’s calling.
“Hi, stranger,” I answer.
He laughs. “I know. It sure does feel that way. How are you?”
“Good. Just working on Mrs. Rothera’s apartment. She changed her mind again . . .” I trail off.
He starts to laugh. “Why does that not surprise me?”
“Anyway, I’m really looking forward to tomorrow night. Are we still planning on driving into the city?” I ask, changing the subject.
“That’s the plan. How does Delmonico’s sound to you?” he asks. “As you can imagine, Nick is pretty picky when it comes to restaurants.”
“I’m fine with anything,” I exclaim. “I can meet you at your house to save you a trip.”
That’s my way of keeping him away from Mrs. Rothera. I feel bad thinking like that, but she’s always asking him tons of questions, and although he’s always polite, I know it’s frustrating. I also don’t want her making any comments about how complicated new friendships can be.
“Sounds great. I have an afternoon meeting with a client, so in case I’m not home when you arrive, I’m sure Melanie will be.”
I’m so glad we’re on the phone and he can’t see me roll my eyes. Melanie actually works from his home a lot. He splits his time working between Connecticut and the city but she usually stays here.
I’ve gotten used to the fact that she’s there all the time, but should we ever become more serious, that’s something that may have to change for the sake of my sanity.
“Okay,” I hesitate. “By the way, I have some news. I think I’m going to find a new place to live.”
He’s quiet for a few seconds. “What happened?”
I give him a watered-down version of my reasons for moving. I don’t say anything about Mrs. Rothera’s comments about Nick and Caroline, but I do mention Jake and being ready to move on from my past.
“I totally get it. I’ll get in touch with my realtor; he will be able to find you something. He did a great job with my house.”
This is why I adore Alexander. He always has a solution and he didn’t try to talk me out of it.
We hang up a few minutes later but not before he tells me how much he’s missed me and he can’t wait to see me tomorrow night. I may or may not have jumped up and down and danced around the room. Gina makes gagging noises from her desk.
This weekend is going to be great. I just can’t let what Mrs. Rothera said stress me out.
~*~*~
Right before heading home, I’m surprised to get an email from my former client Brad Cooper. I decorated his summer cottage in Cape Cod and I still think it’s one of my best projects to date. Apparently, he’s bought his son and daughter-in-law a home and he’s in need of a decorator. This is excellent news for Summer Interiors, but there is one thing that makes this awkward for me on a personal level: Brad Cooper is Jake’s boss. Of course, just because I do business with Mr. Cooper doesn’t mean I have to have any interaction with Jake, however it is a little weird. I send Mr. Cooper a response letting him know that I’m very interested and request a meeting.
It’s amazing what a difference a little time makes. When I first started Summer Interiors, I thought it would never survive, but within two years, I’m finally busy enough to call it a success (at least a success in my mind). Mr. Cooper was one of my first clients and I really do owe him for taking a chance on me. I guess I owe Jake, too; he was very supportive of my work.
And now, thanks to Alexander, I have practically tripled my business. He says my work sold itself, but I’m sure the fact that I’m his girlfriend helped to “encourage” his friends to hire me. Thanks to him (or my work on his house), I have two official new clients, one being Nick’s restaurant, the other being his friends Chantel and Levi’s apartment in SoHo. Now, if only I could finish Mrs. Rothera’s apartment so I can focus on these bigger projects. When I get home, I stop by her apartment to drop off the latest ideas I found with the Moroccan theme.
“Hi. What a nice surprise,” she says when she opens the door.
“I just wanted to drop these off to you,” I say, holding up a few catalogs and pictures.
“Hi, Summer,” a voice calls from inside the apartment.
I recognize the voice right away; it’s Melanie, Alexander’s assistant. What the hell is Melanie doing here in my building? When I peek inside, I can see the lights are dimmed.
I give Mrs. Rothera a dumbfounded look. Obviously she can read my expression, or maybe she can read my mind? I really don’t know how this whole thing works.
“Melanie is here for her reading,” she says, obviously responding to my facial expression. “We met at the Halloween party.”
Melanie comes to the door with a big smile on her face. Of course she has her best behavior on here. She rarely shows her bitch side when other people are around.
“Hey, Melanie,” I say, trying my best to not show how I really feel. “I’m sorry to interrupt. I will leave you to your work. Let me know what you think of those ideas.”
I turn to walk away when Mrs. Rothera stops me. “We haven’t started yet. Would you like to come in?”
I put a big fake smile on my face. If I don’t stay for a minute I’m sure Melanie will run back to Alexander and make it seem like I’m the bad guy.
“For a few minutes. I have a lot of work ahead of me tonight. Fun Friday night for me,” I say, trying to make friendly conversation.
When I sit down, I can feel all eyes on me for some reason.
“Melanie was just telling me you’re looking for a realtor,” Mrs. Rothera says. I can tell that she’s pretending to be nice but I’m sure she’s upset.
I’m completely frozen. How the hell . . . oh, I know exactly what happened. Alexander probably had Melanie contact his realtor for me and she must have blabbed it to Mrs. Rothera. Crap. There’s no way I can talk my way out of this one. I glance at Melanie who has an innocent smile on her face, but I know better. Underneath that sweet exterior is a master manipulator. I have no doubt her mind came up with a similar idea to Angie’s, except she doesn’t want me moving in to Alexander’s.
“I am,” I reply. “I’ve been toying with the idea of buying a house, but nothing is set in stone.”
Okay, so maybe that was a tiny lie. While I would love to purchase my own house, I’m not sure if I’m ready for that yet. But, I can’t just come out and tell her that I want to move out to distance myself from her.
“I was wondering why you were in need of a realtor,” Melanie exclaims. “Alexander asked me to get in touch with him for you. I know he would love to help you find a place of your own if that’s what you’re looking for. Although, it seems like you have a great setup right here.�
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She’s so transparent. She would probably have a meltdown if Alexander asked me to move in with him. I wonder if Mrs. Rothera can see through her act?
“I know, he’s such a sweetheart,” I reply with a big cheesy smile. “He offered to help me even though I told him it wasn’t for sure just yet.”
She nods. Mrs. Rothera hasn’t said much, so I’m not sure what’s going through her head.
“Anyway, I’ll leave you to your meeting,” I say, practically leaping off the chair. “Have a great night.”
I hurry toward the door before either one of them says anything else. I know this conversation isn’t over but I will leave it for now. If anything, I guess I should be grateful to Melanie for breaking the ice at the possibility. Even though she had ulterior motives, it will probably make it easier in the long run.
Chapter Three
Did I mention how much I love Alexander’s house? It’s exactly how I imagine my dream house would be. As soon as I pull into the circular driveway I get this strange feeling, almost as if I’m home. Ugh! Angie is getting in my head. This is crazy.
Sure enough when I arrive in the afternoon, Melanie is still there. Alexander arrives about two minutes after me, so Melanie and I pretend to be happily chatting even though we barely said a word to each other before he walked in the door. After he excuses himself to get ready, I decide to be the better person (again) and make conversation with her.
“How did your reading go last night?” I ask, taking off my coat. I rub my hands together, trying to get my hands warm. I figure I should try to sound as sincere as possible. Honestly, I really don’t care but I am curious.
She gives me a skeptical look. “It went well. She’s such a great lady.”
I nod. “She sure is.”
Melanie finally looks up from her laptop. “I could tell she was really disappointed at the possibility of you moving out without telling her.”
I grit my teeth. This woman is so infuriating, “I had no intention of moving out without telling her. I just barely started thinking about it, which is why I haven’t had a chance to discuss it with her yet.”
Of course you had to open your big mouth, I think to myself. I take a deep breath. I refuse to let her get me all frazzled right before my evening with Alexander.
“Anyway, it really doesn’t matter right now being that it’s in the early stages.”
She completely ignores me as she packs up her computer. I really want to ask her why she’s here on a Saturday, but I already know the answer. She’s a star employee, and in order to be that, she is 100% dedicated to her job and immersing herself completely into Alexander’s life.
“Is everything okay here?”
We both turn to see Alexander standing in the doorway.
“Just fine,” Melanie says cheerfully. “I’m done for the day. I have your calendar set for next week and all your travel arrangements are booked for next month.”
Travel arrangements? Where’s he going?
“Thanks,” he says. “Have a great rest of your weekend.”
As soon as she leaves Alexander gives me a skeptical look. “Are you going to tell me what that was about?”
I certainly am going to tell him. Hopefully he sees what an awful person she can be.
I purse my lips together. “Melanie told Mrs. Rothera that I was looking for a realtor and now she’s upset with me.”
He looks confused. “What? When did she do that?”
I let out a sigh. “She was at her apartment last night. I guess she’s seeing her now for all her psychic needs,” I say sarcastically. “When I stopped by to drop off some décor ideas, she asked me about it.”
He rubs his face. “I’m so sorry. I asked her to get in touch with my realtor for you. I had no idea she would do something like that.”
Of course he didn’t. This just proves he doesn’t know what she’s capable of.
“Where are you traveling to?” I ask, thinking back to the travel arrangements Melanie mentioned. I admit it does bother me a little that she knows more about Alexander’s life than I do.
He rolls his eyes. “Dallas, San Diego, San Francisco, and Vancouver. I just decided to do them all in one shot. Less back and forth for me.”
I nod my head silently. He walks over to me and pulls me into his arms.
“How about we don’t talk about work anymore? I just want to enjoy being with you tonight.”
I smile. “That would make me very happy.”
I promised myself I wouldn’t let Melanie ruin my evening and I meant that.
~*~*~
I love Manhattan. I really don’t take advantage of living so close but I really should. When we arrive at Delmonico’s, Nick and Caroline are already there. Alexander gives them both a kiss on the cheek and turns to me.
“You both remember Summer. She’s agreed to be my date again tonight,” he says as he takes my coat from me.
“Of course,” Nick says, leaning in to kiss me on the cheek and Caroline follows his lead.
“Your dress is to die for,” she says as she holds up my arms. She gives me a warm smile.
Okay, so far so good. It’s possible that even psychics can be wrong, right?
“Look at you two,” Nick says, raising his eyebrows. “I can see things are moving along rather nicely.”
Alexander starts laughing. “Shocking, isn’t it? I’m expecting her to get sick of me and kick me to the curb any day now. She’s a saint to put up with my crap.”
I nod playfully. “That I am.”
Of course I’m totally kidding. Alexander is a pretty amazing guy, and so far I haven’t seen anything that would make me want to kick him to the curb (other than his choice in personal assistants). Granted, it took Jake eighteen months to turn out to be a complete ass, so who knows.
I lean in to kiss him on the cheek and he gives me a wink. After a bit more playful banter, Nick orders a bottle of champagne to celebrate.
“So, Summer, tell me all about you,” Caroline asks, while Nick and Alexander chat with each other.
She seems extremely nice, almost too nice. I guess Mrs. Rothera got in my head. I’m not usually this negative.
“I’m afraid I’m incredibly boring,” I say. “I grew up here in Connecticut. I started Summer Interiors about two years ago. No pets, never been married.”
Crap! I wish I didn’t mention the whole marriage thing.
She grins. “You’re too modest. From what I hear, your company is doing very well. The restaurant looks amazing and Xander’s house looks fantastic.”
Xander? I didn’t know he had a nickname.
“Well, thank you,” I say sincerely. “I didn’t know anyone called him Xander.”
“No one calls me that,” Alexander interrupts. He obviously overheard that part of our conversation.
Caroline shakes her head. “It was a nickname Helena gave him. He never really liked it.”
And there it is. I was wondering if she was going to come up in conversation tonight.
“I hate it,” he exclaims.
Nick and Caroline start to laugh.
“There’s a great story behind it,” Nick says, taking a sip of his drink. “The four of us were on vacation in Aruba and somehow the subject of nicknames came up. Alexander over here insisted that he never had a nickname, even in his childhood. At that point we decided he needed one, so Helena started calling him Xander. It started as a joke but it stuck after that.”
I’m half listening to Nick’s story because I’m too busy obsessing over the fact that they’ve all been on vacation together. I’m trying not to overreact, but it’s becoming very clear just how close they all were (or are). I know that Alexander had a life before me, complete with a wife of four years.
“And you both promised to never call me that, remember?” he replies.
They both nod, trying to hide their smiles.
“That was one of the best trips we’ve ever been on,” Caroline adds. “I love Aruba. Remember t
he casino? We always had the best time together.”
I’m quickly feeling like the fifth wheel here, behind the three of them and their memories with Helena. Alexander must see my discomfort because he takes my hand and kisses it.
I give him a grateful smile.
“Have you been to Aruba?” Caroline asks me.
I shake my head. “Oh, I wish.”
The conversation shifts to vacation destinations, which is fine with me. Anything is better than more trips down memory lane with the happy foursome. The rest of our dinner is uneventful. Before dessert, Caroline and I excuse ourselves to visit the restroom because . . . well, I’m not sure why but we do. I think it’s the law or something.
Winter Can Wait: A Novella (Seasons of Summer Novella Series Book 2) Page 2