Unstuck

by Liliana Camarena

  “I’m glad we left it all behind,” crap! He wanted to have the Glad-we-can-be-friends talk.

  “Me too,” I nodded.

  “I just wanted to let you know that I get it now. We are not supposed to be together,” He smiled as if he knew something I didn’t. So, I just nodded.

  “Anyway,” he went on, “I gotta go. I still have one hour of road ahead of me,” He hugged me and gave a kiss in the top of my head. “I’m glad we are friends. You can talk to me about anything, ok?” Again I just nodded. He was acting weird, happy weird. Maybe he was relieved that we could be in the same place and act like nothing had happened. I had to admit that I was a bit relieved myself. I realized that I missed Brian as a friend, and only friend, and it was great to have him back.

  “Look! It’s snowing,” Brian said as he got in the car.

  “It’s,” I extended my hand to touch the first flakes of snow. I waved him goodbye as he left and when I turned around Patrick was right behind me.

  “Patrick, your stalker tendencies are really worrying me,” I said as we both walked into the house and he laughed.

  “I just wanted to admire the porch at night. It really looks nice and classy,” He said closing the doors as I went straight to the kitchen and placed all the dishes in the sink “I always thought of Christmas decorations as tacky,” he shrugged “Maybe my mother used too much gold or the 80´s décor wasn’t very classy but I have to admit that I love the way the house looks,” I looked at him and he was leaned against the breakfast bar.

  “I’m glad you like it,” I smiled and turned to do the dishes “Leave those, Sarah is back tomorrow morning,” he had a point and I was too tired.

  “Are you going to work?” I asked and he shook his head.

  “I am going to work out a bit,” I nodded and we both walked out the kitchen “Thank you for decorating,” he said smiling

  “Thank you for letting me,” I smiled back and with that he went towards the gym and I went to the pool house.

  I was so tired but I decided that I was going to decorate because I knew that I wasn’t having time for the rest of the week or month.

  Eighteen

  The weeks to come work seemed to come in waves and waves of unaltered stress. We had the MBU pilot that had to be up and running on the first week of January and Patrick was getting ready to sign a couple of big deals with some companies for the telecommunications branch and that required a lot of running from me and a lot of screaming from him. 8 out of 10 times that the door in Patrick’s office opened I heard my name increasing in decibels every time. Most of the times it was for me to help him get unstuck, which was something we did very often during the stressful times, but other times it was for me to make reservations, go to NY or run after someone to meet deadlines. It was delightful because in addition of dealing with stressed Patrick, the office’s Christmas party (Patrick knew decorating could un-stress me), his family Christmas dinner (yes everyone voted for me to be the planner, yay) I dealt with excited Regina that didn’t stop one second her party planning, we were already wondering who was designing her dress. We were holding a small competition between pretty well known designers. Every designer house wanted to be the one giving her a dress to wear on her especial day.

  Midnight munchies increased considerably during the following weeks, especially because we usually worked very late every single day. We ate the munchies in front of the tree every night as I promised. We found that during the holidays my guru had a especial sorbet: Eggnog sorbet! We stuffed our mouths with it every day. We were so shameless that we ate it in his office during office hours when he screamed for me to help him get unstuck. Seems sugar helps with the unstucking.

  By mid December I thought I was going to die of exhaustion but there’s something in being extremely tired that makes you keep going and going and going. It was around that time that I ran into Brian’s office and cried of tiredness after Patrick announced we were going to London for a 2 day trip. I was too tired and now I was going to experience jet lag. Of course, the damn trip was unplanned, a last minute thing and didn’t allow me to get my bag ready. I went on a 12 hour flight, signed a contract and had dinner with some big business men with the same clothes. It was awful. The only good thing about this is that we ate eggnog sorbet in our way there and in our way back.

  My relationship with Patrick was comfortable but we were so busy that we barely had time to think about anything else like the kisses he gave for example ( note that I say that he kissed me like I’d never kissed him back or enjoyed it) so everything was pretty uneventful. However, I did think a lot about the kisses. A LOT. Too much. I would find myself missing his kisses from time to time and I would kick myself for letting me feel that way because we had gone back, finally, to a stage where we were friends and co-workers, nothing more. Nick didn’t think so. He thought I was kidding myself and thought that if I went ahead and slept with Patrick we would have better results at work (we had outstanding results already, we didn’t need sex) and we would be less stressed (maybe that was true). I was fine, I just needed some rest. But rest wasn’t something I could foresee in the horizon for me because here I was on Christmas Eve running around the office, giving the final touches to the party decoration and finalizing some confidentiality contracts.

  “Lucinda!!!” I heard Patrick’s roar. He wasn’t happy.

  “Yes, Patrick,” I said standing on the door and he motioned me to close the door.

  “I’m stuck,” he said and I sighed. That was the 8th time he had asked me to help him.

  “How can I help?” I said going to his desk.

  “Wait. I’m stuck AND I spilled coffee on my tie,” he said taking it off.

  “Oh Patrick,” I whispered taking a closer look. Yeah, it was ruined. “I will get you a new tie, ok, it’ll be quick,” I said as I took a step back and looked at what he was wearing. It was a simple, but not cheap, black suit. I nodded.

  “Thank you,” he said as I turned to leave.

  “Oh wait,” I went back and lift the pants on his legs “I knew it,” I said as I checked his socks. He was wearing checkered brown socks. “My god, Patrick, you and socks…..” I shook my head and made a mental note to buy a pair of decent black socks for him.

  Shopping on Christmas Eve is one of the worst mistakes anyone could ever make. However, it seemed that it was a mistake everyone in Philadelphia made. I was just buying a tie and some socks but it took me 3 hours! By the time I got back to the office it was already time for me to go directly to the event room to supervise the decorations. Yes, May, Inc’s offices in Philadelphia had their own event room located in floor 42.

  “Ok,” I ran into Patrick’s office. I startled him. “Take off your shoes,” I said kneeling in front of him.

  “Pepper?” Said Patrick confused.

  “Hurry up! I know I have to check that you wear the socks and I’m late,” I said taking off the shoes myself and taking off the horrible socks he had chosen. “I still have to change,” I was sweating at this point “Shopping during the holidays suck,” I said as I tried to put one of the new sock’s on his foot.

  “You were shopping all this time? Did you get your dress too?” Ugh! I wanted to smack him right in the head.

  “No, Patrick. I only went to get your tie and socks. Might as well have gotten me a dress for New Year’s.” I shook my head as I put the other sock on. “Put your shoes on, please,” I begged and got up. I saw him putting the shoes back on. “Are you attached to these socks in any way?” I asked showing him the pair I just took from his feet. He shook his head. “Good. I’m throwing them away. They are hideous,” I said as I laid the replacement tie on the desk. “I’ll see you at the party,” I said and left his office. I didn’t give him the chance to even say thank you.

  I grabbed my purse and my dress and went directly to the 42nd floor. The moment I went into the room I felt exhilarated and happy. It was so very Christmas-y! Exactly what I had envisioned for this party. Before checki
ng on every single stupid detail I went directly to the bathroom to get ready before taking care of everything.

  I did my make up as natural as possible because I was wearing a red lipstick that was supposed to center all the attention on my face. I put my hair up in quick bun that looked kind of ok. I put on the fabulous dress I had bought; a sleeveless Kate Spade with black and white wide stripes. It was dreamy and looked so classy and a bit sexy. It was like 5 fingers above the knee so I wore black tights to prevent the slut look. I felt fabulous. I put on black pumps and went out to room to do my job. I’d decided that I was going with the red and gold color scheme because this one classy party.

  May, Inc’s Christmas parties were excuses to close the years business and to agree on new ones for the year to come, it was an excuse to find out if you were getting a raise or a promotion and after all that business deals, it was an excuse to hook up with someone from a different department that you have crushed on. May, Inc’s Christmas parties were huge and I had to make it seem as warm and classy as I could.

  So, Christmas yellow lights were placed all around the room. 4 Christmas trees were placed in each corner of the room. The 4 of them with white twinkling lights and solid red and gold ornaments and on top a red bow. The center pieces on the tables were 3 clear vases in different heights filled with water and cranberries that grounded the candle that laid on the very top. They looked marvelous. The chandeliers were decorated with delicate golden garlands that were entwined with a red garland. Next of every bar in the room (there were 3) there were 3 huge balloons that were turned into perfect imitations of round ornaments. They were two red ones and one golden one. There were another 3 ornaments next to the DJ station. I thought some fun elements around the fun zone could help. They looked pretty cool if you asked me.

  “Lucy, this looks amazing,” I heard Brian’s voice and I turned around and shrugged.

  “It does, doesn’t it?” I smiled and he nodded.

  “You do too,” he said.

  “Thank you. You too,” I said and he nodded.

  “So I heard you are in charge of the Maynard’s Christmas,” he said grinning.

  “Yeah,” I said nodding “I hope I get it right.”

  “I heard you did great on Thanksgiving,” he said as people began to walk into the room.

  “Well, I asked Regina’s advice for that one,” I shrugged as we both waved to whoever passed by. HR and the assistant of course we knew everyone. Almost everyone.

  “Yeah, as long as you keep Elaine happy you’ll be all right. Hello,” said Brian nodding to some guys that pat him in the back. “And from what I’ve heard she already loves you,” I quickly turned to look at him.

  “Really?” I asked while Brian raised his hand so wave at someone.

  “Really,” he said without making eye contact. The smile I had hurt because it was so wide.

  “Let’s find our table,” I said as we walked to the table where we were sitting. It was strategically placed in the center of everything without singling it out. After all, Patrick Maynard was going to sit there and it was a big deal. Of course he would wait to the very last minute to make his grand entrance.

  “Champagne m’am,” I head a waiter said and looked at the tray he was offering.

  “Oh wow, red champagne,” I said confused. Brian chuckled “What the hell,” I said as I took one and gave a sip. It was delicious I nodded and Brian grabbed one. I would have to take it easy on the champagne because it was delicious and I was too stressed and starved.

  “Good Evening,” I heard Patrick’s voice and I made a move to get up as if I was the man in the table and Patrick the girl.

  “Lucinda,” he said placing his hands on my shoulders and I got the message that I didn’t need to get up. He sat next to me and said “fellas,” to the heads of all the departments that were seated at the table with us.

  “You did a splendid job with the decorations, Lucinda,” he said and I smiled. He was using his business voice. The one I only heard when we were with clients, partners or co-workers.

  “Thank you,” I said and grabbed the red napkin from the table to place it on my lap. The evening began the moment Patrick ordered a drink. The food was hideous, I have no fucking clue who was in charge of the menu but I was sure they were close to losing their jobs. Patrick and I shared a couple of glances every time we tasted a new course. We both hated the food and we could foresee in our near future some midnight munchies. Over dessert a couple of business deals were closed. Brian informed me that it was an unspoken fact that when the dessert was served everyone could mingle and that’s when people from other companies went to say hi to Patrick and business deals were made and closed. After that, Patrick turned to look at me and smiled. I knew with that the party was officially starting for us IF we wanted to party.

  Patrick was the owner and CEO of the company and he could get shit faced and no one would dare to say shit but he wasn’t like that. I mean we definitely drank a lot of red champagne but we didn’t get too drunk. Whenever we felt a bit dizzy I got us some macaroons from the candy table and then went on drinking the champagne.

  “Do you always stay until the party is over?” I asked as I gave a sip to the champagne.

  “No. I always leave after dessert,” he said passing his arm over my shoulders. Maybe he was a bit tipsy if he forgot we were in public.

  “Why are we still here?” I asked looking for some sign of drunkenness.

  “I’m having a good time,” he said looking at some people dancing. Not only was the table strategically placed but his place on the table. He sat in the exact spot where he could oversee everything going on. Nothing would happen behind his back. “And it’s enlightening,” he said signaling with a movement of his head towards the dance floor where a couple was grinding.

  “Oh My God,” I covered my mouth with my hand. I leaned towards him and whispered “That’s Laney. James’ assistant. And he is Samuel, he works in advertising,”

  “You know everyone?” he looked at me.

  “Almost,” I shrugged “the first weeks I was here I made sure I learned who was who in here. Everyone looked at me like I was a disaster waiting to happen so I made sure to know everyone by name and position because it would help me to do my job but it will also help me to remind myself who were the assholes that didn’t cooperate in hopes of seeing me cry,”

  “Are those assholes here?” he asked looking down at me and I looked up at him and shook my head.

  “Maybe,” I said shrugging and looking back at the dance floor.

  “Pepper, would you tell me who the assholes were?” he asked in a semi-polite voice.

  “Nope,” I shook my head.

  “Lucinda,” he said in a warning tone.

  “Patrick, I already had my revenge,” I giggled. “Ok, that’s enough for me,” I said pushing the glass of champagne away.

  “You are giggling,” he said and I nodded. “Do you want to go?” he asked “Yeah, maybe,” I said nodding.

  “Ok, where’s your coat,” He asks and shook my head as I tried to get up from the chair. I was tipsy.

  “I didn’t bring one. I forgot,” I said as I finally stood up.

  “Here,” I saw him shrug out of his suit jacket and gave it to me. I instantly felt a thousand pairs of eyes on me. The gesture was too personal. “Take it,” he said when he saw me staring at the jacket.

  “Everyone is looking at us,” I said looking up to meet his eyes.

  “So?” he shrugged “you said it yourself. Everyone already thinks we are together thanks to those pictures,” that was true.

  “But...”I wanted to find an excuse.

  “But nothing, Lucinda, just do it for me,” I nodded and turned around so he could cover me with his jacket.

  “Leaving?” I heard Brian and we both nodded. Patrick whispered something to Brian and then we left.

  “The food sucked,” Patrick said as soon as we were in the SUV and Mike was driving us home.

  �
�God, it was terrible,” I rested my head on the seat “Want to grab some sorbet?” he asked with a mischievous look and I nodded. I was excited.

  So Mike took us to my guru. It was a new experience because neither of us had been there together. It was a first for us. We stared at the menu making uuhs and ahhs in appreciation of everything we had in front of us. It took us forever to decide what we were having. We decided on the Eggnog (of course!) and the Champagne sorbet because we wanted to keep up with the champagne theme. After that Mike took us straight home.

  “In front of the tree?” I asked Patrick as he closed the door once we were home.

  “Of course,” he said following me into the kitchen.

  “What the hell?” I asked in the kitchen when I spot a huge container in the breakfast bar.

  “Oh good it’s here,” said Patrick walking into the kitchen “What’s that?” I asked placing the paper bag with the sorbets next to the container.

  “It’s the red champagne. We both love it, I asked Brian to have some sent here. They were fast,” he said looking pleased.

  “They were,” I nodded.

  “Let’s have red champagne and champagne sorbet in front of the tree,” he said like an excited 5 year old.

  “Ok,” I said excited as a 3 year old kid.

  I poured the champagne into some kind of pitcher because I had no idea what was the right container for champagne and took it plus some glasses and the sorbet to the living room where we sat on the floor in front of the tree. We drank a few more glasses of champagne and ate almost the entire pint of sorbet. We laughed, gossiped and talk business as usual.