by Claire Adams
“Do you really think you can get away with choosing that bitch over me?” Renée asked, apparently still not finished with the theatrics, even as I sputtered and wiped the alcohol off my face with the hand towel from behind the bar.
“I'm not choosing any woman over any other woman,” I told her, trying to be reasonable, despite the fact that she had very nearly just blinded me with her gin and tonic. “I've decided that I need to take a break from dating for a while. I'm so tied up with work at the moment, and then there's everything with Emma to think about, as well. I still need to get my head wrapped around all of these changes. I'm not choosing Lexi over you. I'm just choosing not to be in a relationship with anyone at this time.”
Renée laughed, sounding almost manic. “And how long do you think you can make that last, Andrew?” she snapped. “You never were the celibate type. Bet it takes you one week before you come crawling back to me, begging me to get you off. But I'm not going to let you do that. Once you break up with me, you are never going to get a minute of my time, ever again. Do you understand me?”
“I understand you,” I said quietly. I felt a pang at that. I really did want to somehow make things work with her. In some way. I was definitely attracted to her, and I liked her spirit. I liked that she knew what she wanted from life and wasn't willing to put up with any bullshit.
But I wasn't going to try to make things work with her over making things work with Lexi and Emma.
“You're going to regret this,” she told me, still lingering. “I'll make sure you pay for this.”
At that, I felt the last bit of attraction that I had for her seep out of me. I stared coldly at her. “You come from a wealthy family,” I acknowledged. “But you know that I have far more power and money than you do. Don't try anything stupid.”
Renée glared at me and then finally stomped off, leaving the house blessedly silent.
For a moment, I just stood there, wondering if I should be upset. But as I'd told her, I had never loved her. I hadn't wanted to lose her, but I really only felt numb to the thought of never seeing her again.
I glanced towards the coffee table, where the remnants of her glass glittered in the overhead lights. I'd need to clean that up before Emma came downstairs. I wouldn't want her to get hurt.
Mindlessly, I moved towards the table, using the towel from before to sweep the fragments into the small trash can from behind the bar.
“Andrew?” Lexi said from the doorway, her voice quiet but pitched to carry. “Are you all right?”
I only grunted in response. I wasn't ready to talk to her yet, not about this. I was still trying to wrap my own head around it. And even though I knew it wasn't Lexi's fault that Renée and I had broken up, even though I knew that Renée and I were probably both better off this way, I didn't exactly want to tell Lexi all about that.
Lexi was silent for a minute, but I could feel her gaze still boring into my back.
“Thank you,” she finally said, and this time, I could barely hear her. “Emma and I both had such a good time today at the Children's Museum, and just… Thank you. Thank you for letting us stay here. I know it hasn't been easy on you, and I'm sorry.”
I stared down at the sparkling shards of glass. “Don't be sorry,” I finally sighed. “It's not your fault.”
Chapter Twenty-One
Lexi
“So, how have things been going with you anyway?” Misty asked as we waited at the end of the counter for our salads to be prepared. “I feel like I've hardly seen you since you moved in with Andrew. What's more, I haven't heard from you. You were always so good about calling me, but lately, it's like you disappeared off the face of the planet. Everything's okay, isn't it?”
“Yeah, everything has been good,” I told her, smiling. “I appreciate you worrying about me, but I'd let you know if something was wrong. You know that.”
“I know, I know,” Misty sighed. “What have you been up to anyway? Have you managed to land yourself a job?”
“No job yet,” I said with a frown. “I've actually slowed down on applying for jobs at the moment, until I figure out what Andrew's plan is. We haven't exactly talked about whether this is a long-term solution or not.”
“What do you mean?”
“When we first moved in there, he was dating someone else,” I told her. “They broke up the other day. I don't know if they're broken up for good or if they're one of those couples that breaks up and gets back together every other week. I haven't wanted to ask.”
“Because you're hoping he's single, but you're afraid he's not?” Misty asked, sounding amused.
“No,” I said emphatically, even though I knew she was just teasing. “When we first moved in there, he told me that we could stay until the end of this business trip that he had. Then after that, he was going to find us some other solution. Remember, he mentioned moving us to that nice place downtown? We still haven't talked about that, and I don't know what he's thinking.”
“But even if you keep living with him, you're going to get a job, aren't you?” Misty asked, sounding confused. “You aren't the type of person to just live off his billions, even if he's offering.”
“Of course not,” I said. “But I don't even know where I'm going to be living. That affects where I can apply for jobs since I'm reliant on public transportation. So I've just taken a break for a little while. Besides, it was getting hard to look at rejection email after rejection email every morning.”
“Hmm,” Misty said, but she didn't press the issue. “What have you been up to, if you're not devoting every waking second to the job hunt, then? Exploring the city with Emma?”
“Actually, I've just been following your advice. I've either been at Andrew's house or else doing things with Andrew. I'm letting him get to know Emma, and that seems to be going well for both of them.”
“Spending a lot of time with Andrew, hmm?” Misty asked, waggling her eyebrows at me. “Does that mean I can expect another niece or nephew soon?”
I rolled my eyes. “It's not like that, okay? We're not sleeping together. He's got more than one guest bedroom. We haven't even done anything romantic. He's busy most of the time. All we've done is play some board games with Emma, and the other day we took her to the Children's Museum.” I smiled. “She had a ton of fun.”
“I'd bet she did,” Misty said. “And what about her mama? Did she have fun as well?”
“I did,” I admitted. “It was good seeing Emma that happy. It's been a while since I was able to take her to someplace fun like that. Going to the park is great, but she gets bored with it if we go there too often.”
“Are you hoping to get romantically involved with Andrew?” Misty asked.
“No!” I said, probably too quickly.
Misty's voice gentled. “There's no reason why you couldn't,” she said. “I know you feel like your whole life is in shambles at the moment, but Andrew doesn't seem to mind.”
I sighed. “I don't want to talk about this,” I told her. I frowned, trying to put the reason into words that would make sense to her. “The whole point of this is to make sure that Emma's taken care of. It's not about getting me laid or getting me, I don't know, anything more. I wouldn't feel right going after Andrew, under the circumstances. I wouldn't want to ruin things for Emma.”
“And you think that getting involved with her daddy would ruin things for her?” Misty asked, her eyebrows knitting together.
“What if it didn't work out? Andrew could kick us out, or he could refuse to ever have anything to do with Emma again, or both. I couldn't handle that.”
“Well, even if you're not trying to get back into his bed, there's no reason why the two of you can't be friends,” Misty said, shrugging. “It sounds like you're enjoying his company, at least.”
“Honestly, I'm not sure that I am,” I admitted. I frowned, puzzling it over. It wasn't that I was finding Andrew's company unpleasant, but at the same time, it wasn't as though we were hanging out. It definitely wasn't
like that first night together, where we'd chatted about anything and everything. “Every time I've seen him lately, Emma's been there with us,” I slowly told her. “And it's been great, but it hasn't been like Andrew and I are hanging out. I've just enjoyed watching him interact with Emma.”
Misty frowned but nodded. “That makes sense,” she said. “Emma's kind of your buffer.”
“Yeah, exactly. We got into a disagreement at the breakfast table the morning after I arrived there, about those long-term plans, but neither of us wanted to bicker in front of Emma. So we shelved it to come back to later. I feel like that's what's happening with every point of friction between us: we're just kicking it all under the rug at the moment. But if we were going to start a real relationship, if we were going to start to be friends, we'd have to unpack all of that. I'm not ready to do that yet.”
“That's fair,” Misty said. “If you ever need a babysitter for a little while, though, just someone to take Emma off your hands for a little while so that you and Andrew could really talk”–from the way she suggested it, I could tell she wasn't just thinking that we'd talk–“you know where to find me.”
I giggled. “You're really rooting for the two of us, aren't you?”
“He's a handsome billionaire,” Misty said jokingly. “What's not to like?” She grinned at me. “Seriously, though, you know I just want you to be happy.”
“And you think Andrew would make me happy?” I asked, worrying my lower lip between my teeth as I thought about it.
Our life the past few weeks hadn't been horrible, that was true. It was definitely a big step up from the way that we had been living. But like Misty had said, I wasn't the kind of woman who was content with living off my husband's paycheck.
As much as I admired stay-at-home-moms and as much as I loved Emma, I wasn't sure that I wanted that for the rest of my life. I'd be much happier working, I was sure. Not that being with Andrew meant that I wouldn't be able to work. I just needed to sort my life out before I got romantically entangled with anyone, Andrew or otherwise.
“It's been kind of nice having more time to spend with Emma, now that I'm not frantically job-searching,” I mused. “Maybe I would make a good stay-at-home-mom.”
Misty laughed. “You'd be bored sick within the month,” she told me. “And what would you do once Emma started going to school? You'd go nuts.”
“You're right,” I sighed.
“I bet you just want to put in more Emma play-hours than Daddy does,” Misty remarked, grinning at me. “You're probably jealous because he's so good at handling her. She'll be Daddy's little princess before you know it.”
I stuck my tongue out at her, but then I frowned. “Do you really think that's going to happen?” I asked. I could almost see the signs of it, now that she had mentioned it.
Misty snorted. “No, I don't think that's going to happen, any more than I think that I'm going to be able to usurp her affections for you,” she said. “It's good to have a lot of different people for Emma to love and model her behavior on, isn't it? What's that saying: it takes a village to raise a kid?”
I smiled tentatively at her. “You're right,” I said. “I should be happy that she and Andrew are so taken with one another. I mean, I am happy that she and Andrew are so taken with one another.”
“Good,” Misty said. “I'm glad everything is going so well for you. I really was worried, you know.”
“I know,” I said. I shook my head. “But enough about me. How have you been? Did you find someone to fill that spare room?”
“Yes. Unfortunately, I don't have a place for you if Andrew kicks you out tomorrow,” Misty said. “Unless you wanted to sleep in my closet.” She grinned crookedly. “It's been good. The girl's name is Nicole, and she's a law student, so she's not around the apartment very much. Nice, though, and very clean. Probably the best living situation I've ever had.”
“I resent that!” I said. “I make a great roommate.”
“You do,” Misty agreed. “But the cranky baby wailing at three a.m. leaves something to be desired.”
I laughed. “Yeah, don't I know it.”
“Anyway, nothing major has been happening. I went out for drinks with some of my coworkers last Friday, and that was kind of fun. I miss going out with you, though. You made a much better wing-lady than Christina from accounting.”
I felt another pang of guilt. “I know I haven't been the best friend lately, but I feel like things are really looking up for me now,” I told her. “And you know that as soon as I have the money to come out for drinks with you again, I'll be there.”
“Hey, relax,” Misty said, reaching over to grab my hand. “I was just teasing. I know that you're busy right now, even beyond your financial situation. You just concentrate on you, and I'll also concentrate on you, and eventually, we'll get you and Emma back on your feet again.”
I smiled at her. “You're the best friend,” I told her. “I don't know how I got so lucky.”
“Maybe you used up all your luck with meeting me, and that's why you've had shitty luck with everything else,” Misty suggested.
We both burst out laughing, and I felt happier than I had in ages. For the first time, it felt like maybe things were finally starting to turn around for me, just like Misty thought. I could only hope so.
Chapter Twenty-Two
Andrew
In a fit of anger, I tore up the former meeting agenda. There were a number of important points on it that I wanted to discuss, but it looked like we weren't going to have time for them. Instead, we were going to need to focus this meeting on the company's recently published quarterly revenue numbers. Exclusively.
I had, of course, planned to touch on those numbers, but I hadn't expected them to be as bad as they'd ended up being. Not that Orinoco was in any sort of trouble, but we hadn't even come close to hitting our internal goals for the quarter.
It might not seem like much; the company was still surpassing its competitors in terms of productivity and revenue, but those internal goals were in place for a reason. Once we started slipping on those, it was only a matter of time before some other company toppled our dynasty.
Put simply, if we didn't continue to grow, we were stagnating or worse.
When I stalked into the meeting with the company executives, I could tell from the hush and a couple pale faces that they knew exactly what was coming. It was no secret how I handled the company.
I slammed the quarterly report down on the table, glaring around at the rest of the men and women gathered in there. “Let me see a show of hands if any of you haven't seen the latest quarterly numbers.” Nobody moved. “That, at least, will save me from wasting the time going over them,” I said sarcastically. “Does anyone want to take a guess at what I'm so upset about?”
Still, no one moved. I snorted. “See, this is exactly the problem. You all seem to lack ambition. No one wants to be the first to step forward. And we can't afford that, in the industry that we're in. I'll give you one more try: does anyone want to tell me why we can't afford that in the industry that we're in?”
Silence. I scowled and pointed towards the intern, Bobby. “Bobby, why don't you come up here,” I said. It wasn't a suggestion.
The kid paled and hurriedly made his way towards the front of the room, even though I knew that if he really had his way, he'd be running from the room as fast as he could.
“Bobby, why don't you tell everyone what you think,” I said. Again, not a suggestion. “Why can't we afford a lack of ambition in the industry we're in?”
I could practically hear him swallow. “Because if there's a lack of ambition, there's a lack of innovation,” the kid stammered, looking over at me to see if he had answered correctly, before quickly turning his eyes back towards the rest of the executives.
“And?” I prompted.
“And, uh, if there's a lack of innovation, we don't stay ahead of our competitors?”
“Are you asking me that?” I said incredulously. “Bo
bby, go sit down.” The kid scurried to obey. “Is that the problem?” I asked snidely, glaring around at the executives. “Do you all have some uncertainty on whether or not we need innovation? Because let me tell you, our competitors are already snapping at our heels. We're one step away from being just another has-been. But it seems that some of you would rather rest on our laurels than continue to improve the company, is that it?”
“But sir, we're still increasing our profits,” one of the marketing executives protested.
Everyone else turned to stare at the man, myself included. It wasn't unheard of for someone to speak out during these meetings, but everyone knew that the person who spoke out during these meetings got fired immediately. It had been a while since anyone was stupid enough to do that.
The marketing exec seemed to realize what an error he'd made as soon as the words left his mouth. He squawked and put his hand over his mouth, looking as though he'd give anything to take those words back. His face turned an interesting shade of purple.
For a long moment, I just stared at him, letting his fear sink in. “And tell me, Mr. Harrison, do you think that our internal goals have no purpose?” I asked him.
“Of course not, sir,” he said, tripping over the words in his eagerness to get them out.
“Does anyone want to tell me why we have internal goals?” I asked, not taking my eyes off the quaking man. No one spoke, but this time, rather than call someone out, I slammed my hand down on the table, making all of them jump. “We have those internal company goals for the same reason! The only way we're going to keep our profits up is if we continue to improve as a team. The world is changing, and our industry is changing every day. Every day, there's a new competitor out there. Every day, the other companies in our industry are watching us and trying their very hardest to overtake us. If we start to relax, if we let ourselves slip, we're one short fall before becoming obsolete. Does everyone understand that?”