by Various
"Yo! Nora. We need you to take a look at these." Julie peers into my office with that dreaded look again.
"Oh, God. Now what?" I stand up and let her lead me out the door.
She marches back to the conference room. All of the marketing packets we put together Friday night are stacked neatly in the corner, but the rest of the room is a complete wreck. Boxes are half open with their contents spilled out onto the floor. White tablecloths, plastic centerpieces, books, and sets of pencils are thrown about everywhere.
"My God, Julie. What the hell happened in here?" I force myself to walk into the room because I hate this kind of chaos.
"Oh. Don't worry. It's not as bad as it looks. The delivery for our conference and Colleen's came in on the same truck. We are trying to sort it all out. I need you to look at the tablecloths. I think they’re the right ones, but just to be sure I thought you should see them." She holds up a large white tablecloth.
"Yeah, that looks right. They have that double run along the edge right? Mrs. Foster was excited about that." I look around the room absently, staring at the mess.
"Hey!" I hear Julie yell, bringing me back to reality. "What's up with you?"
"Sorry. It was a strange weekend. I'll get over it." I smile and try to convince her everything is fine.
"Yeah, you mentioned that once or twice. I don't believe you’re over anything for a second, but in the interest of time I'm letting you off the hook, for the moment." She refolds the tablecloth and puts it back in the box.
I watch as she closes the box and pulls out a large sharpie, writing RFC on it. My mind slips back to the fight with Darren. A sexual deviant? Really? Drawing too much attention to myself. Who is he kidding? I blow out a breath and try to get my head around work. I’m frustrated with myself. Yesterday, I was fine.
"Nora?" Julie is standing right in front of me now holding the capped sharpie. "Nora, what happened to you?"
"Well. Darren broke up with me."
"What? That bastard! This weekend? Are you okay?"
"Yesterday. I was going to break up with him, so actually, I’m relieved. But he was just so strange, and it got nasty." I'm not sure I want to tell her the details.
Julie shakes her head. "Wait, what? Darren broke up with you yesterday and this is the first I'm hearing about it? And since when were you going to break up with Darren?"
I laugh at her look of total bewilderment. "Since I came to my senses. You, of all people, should be happy about it. I haven't told anyone and we've been a little busy today."
"Yeah, that’s true. But I never thought you’d really do it. So the fucker got nasty huh?" She crosses her arms and looks stern.
"He called me a sexual deviant and said I was drawing too much attention to myself. He said I just wanted to be a superstar, whatever that even means. Anyway, the bastard is gone."
"I knew it. I knew he could never handle the real you."
"Pardon the interruption."
Julie and I spin around to the door to find Ryan standing in the doorway. He is wearing a white shirt and tan pants with a tan tie. One hand rests casually in his pocket while the other is holding a leather briefcase. He looks divine. His chocolate and chestnut eyes are sparkling and fixated on me. Oh my God, I have no idea how long he has been standing there.
"Hi, Ryan." Julie seems to have recovered much faster than I have.
Ryan doesn't answer her; he’s looking straight at me. His eyes are burning a hole into my brain. He knows. He heard enough to know that I am no longer in a relationship. My heart skips and electricity runs up and down my body, and a slow smiles spreads across his face.
"Good morning Julie. I trust you had an excellent weekend. I see that you two are in the middle of something, however, Emily is here and would like to have a meeting." He pauses for a moment and looks around the room. "Is there another room we can meet in? This one looks rather, um, occupied."
My brain finally kicks into gear. Messy conference room, need a meeting with Emily, ugh, a meeting with Emily. Need a space. "My office would be fine." I spit out, trying to recover some of my wits.
Ryan looks back to me, his eyes stalling on mine. "Your office would be great. I'll get Emily and steer her that way."
I watch him walk out. Julie spins on her heel back to me.
"What was that about? You two haven't—? Oh, my God! Is that why?" Her mouth is open and a look of horror is on her face.
"No! We have not! Come on." I hiss at her while walking back to my office.
"Yeah, but, oh, you want to," she muses behind me.
I count backwards from ten in my head. Come on, Nora, pull it together.
When I get to my office, Emily and Ryan are already waiting. They are seated in the chairs across from my desk. Julie pulls in another chair from the hallway and I walk behind my desk and sit.
"Good morning, Emily. What can we do for you today?" I say with the best professional voice that I can muster.
"Well, we are a day away, and I wanted a personal update on the conference."
"Okay. A personal update. We have a day and we are working like crazy to get everything ready and moved over there. Our conference room is full of boxes; the marketing materials are in, and were put together on Friday. The corporate gift is still on its way. I hope to have that here soon. But everyone knew that was going to be last minute. The hotel is clearing space for us and we should have everything set up and ready by tonight. I expect it to be a long one for us. But that’s nothing new. Was there something specific you were looking for?"
"Sounds great. You do seem to know what you’re doing. When do you need us to come in and oversee things?"
I stare back at her. Did I hear that right? It’s one thing to join in and help manage the set up, but an overseer? Who are these people?
"I'm sorry, I don't quite know what you mean. We don't need you guys to oversee anything. The final set up won’t be complete until late, late tonight. But rest assured, we will be there ready tomorrow morning. That would be a good time to come in."
"Mrs. Foster wanted an overseer." Emily stares back me.
"Did she, now? Okay. Well, are you volunteering? Because between now and tomorrow morning, there’s going to be a lot of messy work and heavy lifting."
Julie's eyes widen in surprise. She can tell I’m pissed, but right now I don't care. I’m on overload and I just don't have time for this kind of shit right now.
Emily’s eyes widen too, as she processes what I have just said to her. I hear Ryan cough.
"Actually," Ryan cuts in. "Emily, as we talked about, the reason I’m here is because Mrs. Foster asked me to work with the team here to make sure all went according to plan. I’m sure I can handle the heavy lifting as well as the logistics involved."
Emily's head spins around to look at Ryan.
I see my out and take it. "So that's settled, then. Thank you for coming in and making sure we all know what we need to do. I'll report to Ryan while he’s here and he can report to you on our progress. If something comes up that needs further attention from your firm, he will let you know. That’s a great plan. Thank you for putting that in place," I say, with a huge plastic smile on my face.
Emily turns back around to look at me now and I lead her to the door. "Thank you for coming in. Julie will see you out."
Julie pounces on this and grabs Emily's hand, steering her towards the front door. I can hear Emily talking but have no idea what she’s saying. I realize I am seething. Oh, the nerve of these people.
Walking back to my desk, I hear Ryan start to laugh.
"What the hell was that, Ryan? What did we do to get them to send over a babysitter. Again?" I hiss at him.
He looks surprised at my reaction. "Nothing happened. That's the way they are. All the mucky mucks sit around and figure no one can be as brilliant and hard working as they are, therefore everyone else needs to be supervised."
Yuck! I sit at my desk and stare at him. This is what confuses me. "Where do you fit int
o all of this crap?"
Ryan bursts out laughing again. Not the reaction I was expecting.
"I’m the prodigal nephew, returned from my wild ways for my own good, not necessarily for theirs."
"Ah. So you being the 'overseer' may not be good enough. Is that why Emily keeps showing up?"
"Yes. My Uncle has faith in me, but Auntie Lynn is not so charmed. This is her baby, and it's killing her that she can't be so involved. Emily is her lap dog, don't let her get to you. You handled that extremely well. Very entertaining, I might add." Ryan's eyes are sparkling and he has a huge, relaxed smile on his face. He truly looks like he’s enjoying himself.
"Auntie Lynn? That is what you call Mrs. Foster?"
"Yeah, family reunions are great. We all gather at my parents place near Pebble Beach and sit around conversing about the latest political scandals. They’re a blast." Ryan starts pacing my office, resembling a caged animal. Time to change the subject.
"So. We’re in the process of cleaning the conference room and getting all the stuff organized for the guys to move it. Wanna help?" I stand and start moving toward the door.
Ryan grabs my hand. Pulsing electricity runs up my arm and down my body. At the same time my stomach crunches deep inside me. Instantly, I feel a blush on my face.
"Wait. You have guys to move your stuff?"
I turn to look at him. "You don't really think Julie and I do all the heavy lifting, do you?" I smirk as his confused look morphs into understanding. A smile spreads across his face and his eyes start to sparkle again.
"Oh. Well played, Young. Well played, indeed." He drops my hand as we walk out of my office.
~~~~~~~~
Boxes moved, gifts wrapped, tables set up, water glasses placed, I survey the conference room to savor the work we accomplished. With Ryan's help, we whipped through most of the logistics; the move over and the set up went quickly. Julie is checking the flower arrangements; we don't need to be reminded yet again how important those are. Ryan is counting chairs and doing a last once over.
It's late, but not as late as I expected.
"Okay." Julie bursts in the room. "Flowers are in place and beautiful. I emailed a photo to Mrs. Foster and she sent back a smiley face."
"Mrs. Foster texted you a smiley face?" I ask, stunned.
"Yep. She did. Wanna see it?" Julie pulls out her phone.
"No. Are the gift baskets ready?"
"Yes. And the marketing packets and the pencils, and, and and!"
"Okay, okay. What's next?" I almost laugh, but not quite.
"What's next is we go to dinner." Ryan's voice comes from behind me.
Julie's eyes widen a little.
"Are we there yet?" I look at Julie, needing her reassurance. Something feels missing.
"Ryan, all clear on your end?" Julie looks suddenly serious.
"All clear here."
Julie turns back to me. "Nora. All clear here. Go to dinner. Eat. We are ready."
"I don't know—" I start.
"Yeah, so that feeling you get? The one you get every time we do this. The one that makes us stay late and triple check everything?"
"That’s the one," I say, as I continue to scan the room.
"Well, we don't listen to that one anymore because the last time you made us stay an extra two hours and everything was perfect," Julie says, standing akimbo and glaring at me.
"Okay," I say, not really listening to her as I run the list in my head against what I see in the room.
"Uh-oh. Ryan. I know that look. Run Ryan, we're going be here for a while."
Ryan starts laughing and that pulls me back to the conversation.
"What?" I say, confused.
He puts his hands on my shoulders, bringing my full attention to his face.
"Hey, Young. The room is ready. Time to go to dinner now." His eyes bore into mine and I am fully present in the conversation.
"Um—" I glance at Julie.
"Yes, Nora. We’re done. Everything is triple checked already. Go." Julie starts getting her stuff together.
I look back to Ryan. "Okay. I think we are ready, then. Jules, you coming?"
"Oh, no. I know what's in store for me tomorrow. I'm going to my hot bath and bed." She doesn't even turn around, just heads straight to the door and walks out.
"Looks like it's you and me, then." Ryan grins at me.
I suck in my breath. Dinner with Ryan. Now that the work is done, I am nervous to be alone with him.
"Okay, then." I breathe out, trying to settle my nerves. "You and me."
"Don't worry, I don't bite." He pauses for effect. "Too hard."
I grab my stuff and follow Ryan out the door. Julie is nowhere to be found. I guess she grabbed a cab at the front. Man, she bolted fast.
As we approach Ryan's car, he reaches out and opens the door for me.
"Suddenly the gentleman, are we?" I say, slipping into the passenger seat.
He laughs, "Suddenly?" and closes the door.
"So," he says, settling into the driver's seat. "Where shall we go?"
"Let's see—It's almost eight. Let's do something kinda quick. I don't want to be too long, big day tomorrow you know."
"Right. Quick and good. I know just the place." He starts the car and heads out of the hotel parking lot.
The table is tucked away in the corner of the restaurant. This place is busy, but the food comes out hot and quick. Ryan knows his restaurants.
"What a great place," I say, in between bites of my salad.
"Yeah. I found this a while back. Good food, quick, not usually this busy on a Monday night, though. I guess the secret is out of the bag now."
"Mmmmm, this is so good," I say, biting into my hot sandwich, tasting the flavor exploding into my mouth.
"So. Not to be the one who brings up the elephant in the room, but you and Darren? The break up?" Ryan looks serious.
"Yeah. It was a weird weekend. He sort of went off. He called me a sexual deviant , so be wary. I might, I might—"
Ryan laughs, at the comment or me, I'm not sure. "Sounds like just my type.” His eyes flash salaciously. “You okay?"
"Yeah. I thought I'd be all freaked out. But, honestly, I was about to break it off anyway. So, truth be told, I was relieved. I mean, don't get me wrong, I could have missed all the nasty name calling. But, whatever."
"Should I go kick the shit out of him for being an asshole?" He sits back in his chair. I take a moment to look at him. He looks like he could kick the crap out of him.
"No, but thanks anyway. After three years I guess I just—expected more, maybe. But then again, if that expectation had been met, we wouldn’t have broken up. So, I have no reason to be anything other than relived that it is over and move on."
"All right, Young." He nods his head, almost approving me. "Plus, you need to find someone who can match your sexual prowess."
His eyes become serious, burning into mine. My stomach jumps into my mouth. How does he do that to me? I force a laugh to cover.
"Yeah. Better be on the lookout."
As we walk out of the restaurant, I notice that it's not quite ten. I’m still keyed up, but I can't tell if it's the conference tomorrow or just that I'm with Ryan. The wind is cooling, but it's still warm out here. Summer is definitely on its way.
We walk back to Ryan's car in silence. I have no idea what he is thinking. My own thoughts are jumbled and broken. His hand brushes over my lower back as our strides match. For the first time, his touch doesn’t send a jolt of electricity through my entire system. The warmth of his hand spreads from my back across my body. It's comforting and calms my nerves. I smile up at him as we walk together. I still can’t believe that this man is my sexy stranger.
"What?" Ryan asks, quizzically.
"Nothing." I say embarrassed. We stop walking. "I was just thinking about that dance."
We’re standing inches from each other. The hand on my lower back slowly pushes me into him. His eyes are looking straight into m
ine, chestnut circles pleading with me. Without thinking, I inch ever so slightly forward. That’s just enough, and apparently what Ryan was waiting for. With that small movement he sweeps me into his embrace and kisses me.
His lips are soft and warm. His breath is minty. He pulls back, searching my face. I lift my feet just enough to kiss him, this time not holding back. As my lips touch his, I feel a firestorm erupt inside of me. There is an uncoiling deep inside, a wanting that is being released. My hands dive into his hair and I feel his hands pressing into my back.
His tongue urges my mouth open and I comply, letting our tongues intertwine, my desire becoming stronger with each touch. His hands slide down my back to my ass, sending electricity down my legs.
I feel cold steel on my back; somehow he has maneuvered us against a car. His mouth presses harder into mine and I feel his hands tugging my hair. His mouth moves down my neck while his hand tugs harder on my hair, causing my head to tilt back, exposing my neck to him.
He presses into me and I feel his arousal against my pelvis. Hot flashes of desire rip through my body. I am ready to tear off his clothes right here in the parking lot. Just when I think I am going to explode, he pulls back, breathing hard.
"Well, I guess that answers that, then," he says, in between breaths.
Gathering myself, now that I’m not trying to rip his clothes off, I take a deep breath.
"Answers what?" I ask.
He laughs. "If it was just me. I didn't want to be some unwanted stalker." He looks almost shy, surprising me with his uncertainty.
"Oh, that. Nope, not just you." But now I’m a little embarrassed.
He leans into me and growls, "I am so happy to hear that."
Holy shit, that has to be the sexist thing anyone has ever said to me. I almost come right there, and I feel my knees buckle. He leans back and pulls out his car keys, raking his fingers through his hair while opening the car door for me.
Recovering, I wobble into the seat.
I watch as he walks over to his side of the car and opens the door. "Okay, Young. Let's get you home," he says, as he slides in the car.