Calendar Girl

by Georgia Beers

  “I am so grateful to have all of you,” she said, and the pride on her face was evident. She glowed. It made Addison’s heart warm for her mom. “The holiday season always makes me a little mushy, so I hope you’ll forgive me if I get overly sentimental.” Soft chuckles went around the table as Meredith looked at each of her kids. “My three beautiful children.” She shifted her gaze to Ed, then to Jack. “My right-hand men. I count on each of you every day, and you’ve never let me down. It’s because of you that Fairchild Enterprises has been so successful and steady for so long. I owe each of you more thanks than I could ever give.” As she did every year, Meredith pulled out her tablet and gave an overall “state of the businesses” report, telling the room how much of a profit each arm of F.E. made for the year, how much each gave to charity, and what was expected for the upcoming year. The numbers were excellent, which wasn’t a surprise. Katrina’s and Jared’s stayed steady from the previous year. Addison’s numbers went up, and she smiled as Katrina bumped her with a shoulder.

  Setting the tablet back down on the table, Meredith looked to each of them around the table as she spoke. “So, with all the accounting put to rest, I think now is as good a time as any to make an announcement.”

  Eyebrows shot up. Eyes widened. Meredith was going to announce her successor. Here and now, at dinner, when none of them expected it. Addison’s stomach revolted, her ulcer making itself known, and she clenched her teeth against the sharp pain that hit, felt a sheen of sweat break out across her forehead.

  “As you all know, I am ready to retire.” Meredith leaned forward with a little conspiratorial grin and added, “At least I think I am.” Dutiful chuckles went around the room as she stood straight again. “Which means I’ll need somebody to take my seat at the head of Fairchild Enterprises, to oversee it all. To run my kingdom.” She winked to take any conceit out of the statement. “It wasn’t an easy decision, but I believe it’s the right one. Come January first, I will happily turn over the reins to my daughter, Katrina.”

  Addison blinked. She felt like the floor fell out from under her, yet she couldn’t move. She just sat there. And blinked. Ed and Jack applauded supportively; clearly, they’d already known. Jared and Katrina and their spouses all looked as shocked as Addison must have. As shocked as she felt. Her hands clenched into fists in her lap. Unclenched. Clenched again. Unclenched. She blinked some more, too rapidly. Her stomach joined her fists in the clenching and it felt like her stomach was ripping her apart from the inside.

  Air. What had happened to the air? She couldn’t breathe. She had to get out of there.

  “Addie. Are you okay?” Katrina asked quietly as she put a hand on Addison’s upper arm. Addison shook it off.

  “I don’t…I don’t understand,” Addison said, and hated how timid and uncertain her voice sounded.

  “Addison,” Meredith said, and the sad smile on her face was too much. It was just too much for Addison. Meredith looked like she was about to explain something to a small child, and Addison couldn’t stand that idea. Couldn’t take it.

  The warning cock of her head must have been enough for Meredith, because she stopped talking as Addison pushed her chair back and stood. She couldn’t listen to the explanation, no matter what it was, because she was way too close to tears. The last thing in the world she wanted to do was start crying in front of her siblings, in front of Jack and Ed and their wives. But she didn’t understand. She had so many questions that she just couldn’t bring herself to ask without emotion taking over. No. She had to get out of there. Without another word, she grabbed her coat off the rack and pushed through the door of the private room, out into the bustle of the busy restaurant.

  Her car was covered in light, powdery snow, but she didn’t want to take too much time brushing it off in case somebody came out after her. She needed to escape. She keyed the ignition, quickly brushed off the rear window, then hit the wipers for the front.

  “What the fuck?” she said out loud as she drove, then punctuated it with a couple of smacks to the steering wheel. That was supposed to be her job. Her job. Everybody thought so. Even Katrina, judging by the astonished look on her face. “What the actual fuck?” Addison had worked her ass off. For years, she’d been preparing to take over the family business. For years. She was the oldest. She had no distractions…no spouse, no kids, nothing to preoccupy her. She did nothing but work. Hell, she had the bleeding ulcer and the high blood pressure to show for it. How could her mother do this to her?

  “It’s because of Katie,” she said into the empty car. “I knew it. God, I should’ve known better than…” She let her words trail off as she wondered what the hell she’d been thinking, dragging a woman out of the company Christmas gala and never returning. Not just a woman. Her subordinate. She’d broken her mother’s cardinal rule and now she was paying for it. “Fucking A, Addison, what the hell were you thinking? You know the rules. You knew this would happen. You knew it!” She pounded the steering wheel again.

  It was less than two weeks before Christmas and everything around Addison was so goddamn cheerful, she wanted to scream. White lights were twisted around the streetlight poles. Wreaths hung from the fronts of businesses. A car drove by with a giant red nose on its grill and antlers sticking up from each side window.

  Addison hated them all.

  It was only when she’d finally pulled into the underground garage at her building that she forced herself to accept that she shouldn’t have run off in a huff like that. Made her look like a petty teenager. But she was so hurt and so freaking angry that she felt the only course of action was to get away from all of them, especially the ones looking at her with pity.

  Her phone had pinged the entire ride home and did so again in the elevator. With an irritated sigh, Addison pulled it out of her purse. Three texts from Katrina asking if she was okay. One from her mother saying they needed to talk.

  “Yeah, no thanks.” She deleted that one.

  The next was from Katie. Hope dinner’s going well. Can’t wait to see you. Text me when you’re done.

  “Goddamn it,” Addison whispered out on a sigh. The elevator opened on her floor and she headed into her loft. She couldn’t see Katie tonight. She was in no mood. In fact, she shouldn’t see Katie again at all. Since the first day they’d met, she’d done nothing but cause turmoil. Addison had seen it immediately and yet she’d done nothing about it.

  When the little voice in her head reminded her of their night together, how wonderful it had been, how sexy, how freeing, Addison mentally told it to shut the fuck up.

  In her bedroom, she took off her dinner clothes, left them in a pile on the floor, and put on sweats but was unable to find her favorite blue hoodie. “Of course,” she muttered, pawing through drawers. “Icing on the cake of this godforsaken day.” She settled on a different shirt, pulled it on, and went out into the kitchen for something stronger than wine.

  Whiskey would do.

  She took the glass back to the bedroom, flopped onto her bed, and clicked on the TV, channel surfing for something mindless. Finding a cheesy horror movie with laughable special effects, she tossed the remote down and took a slug of the alcohol, which burned its way down her throat and didn’t let up once it hit her stomach.

  Her phone pinged again and she picked it up with an annoyed groan. Katrina again.

  Are you okay?

  Addison typed back quickly. I’m fine. Leave me alone please.

  When she sent it, she saw Katie’s text again and knew she needed to get ahead of it, so typed a quick response to her as well. Not feeling great. Not up for company. It was cold, yes, but Addison had nothing left in her to help with creativity. She honestly just wanted everybody to leave her the hell alone.

  “I just want to get drunk,” she said, then took another slug of whiskey. “I want to get drunk and…” A lump suddenly lodged in her throat as the words hit her brain. …and wonder how my life ended up so…empty.

  A tear slid down her cheek.

  Chapter Nineteen

  When Katie arrived at work Monday afternoon, she was surprised to find Addison’s office dark. She took off her coat, got herself all set up, then buzzed Janie on the intercom.

  “Hey, Janie? Is Addison at an off-site meeting or something?”

  “No, she called in sick.”

  “She what?”

  “She called in sick. Didn’t she tell you?”

  “She didn’t. No.”

  “It’s very unusual, that’s for sure. I don’t think she’s ever called in sick since I’ve been working here.” Janie sounded slightly mystified. “Maybe she’s got that horrible flu that’s going around.”

  “Maybe.” Katie’s brow furrowed as she thanked Janie, then scrolled through her phone to see if she’d missed a text. Nothing jumped out at her, so she quickly typed one out and sent it.

  Everything okay? Janie said you’re sick. What’s up?

  When no reply came right away, Katie sat down and got to work. When she logged into Addison’s email account, she was surprised to see that Addison hadn’t answered any of it. In fact, she hadn’t even read it.

  “Wow,” Katie said softly, a hint of worry creeping in. “She must really be sick.”

  It was weird. While Katie didn’t want Addison to be sick—of course she didn’t—she found herself slightly relieved. After the abrupt, impersonal text from last night, a little ball of doubt had rolled in and parked itself in the pit of Katie’s stomach. Because, let’s be honest, they’d had sex the night before, and now it seemed quite possible Addison was blowing her off with some lame excuse about not feeling well. At least the fact that she’d called in sick backed her up so that maybe it wasn’t a lame excuse after all and Katie could relax.

  Deciding it made more sense to simply sit at Addison’s desk, Katie moved her things and got to work. The red light on Addison’s phone was blinking and when Katie dialed in, she found six waiting voice mails.

  “Who even leaves voice mail messages anymore?” she muttered as she listened to each one and jotted notes. She returned three of them. The other three were going to need input from Addison herself. Katie opened all the new email, responded to the ones she could, and flagged those that needed Addison’s attention. Then she made a list of things they needed to discuss tomorrow, when she assumed Addison would return.

  Between the phone calls—two of which came with fires that needed putting out—and the constant incoming emails, not to mention the pop-ins by various staff members, Katie’s afternoon flew by. She only knew what time it was because Janie buzzed her to bid her good night. At six.

  She hadn’t heard her phone beep, but when she picked it up, there was a return text from Addison.

  Fine. Just really sick.

  “Oh, man,” Katie said, then typed, I’m so sorry. Can I bring you anything? Soup?

  The next response came immediately. No. Probably contagious. Thanks anyway.

  Katie stared at her screen for nearly a full minute before putting the phone down without typing back. She didn’t like the way it was making her feel, causing an uncomfortable churning in her gut, but she had no reason to think Addison wasn’t actually sick. The woman never called in sick, according to Janie, so if she had, she must be sick. Right? It was the only thing that made sense. Unfortunate timing, yes, but Katie needed not to make it about her. This was about the sick woman and nothing else.

  Wasn’t it?

  It took everything she had not to drive over to Addison’s loft and check on her. But she was pretty familiar with Addison’s demeanor, her short texts and to-the-point instructions. If she said not to come over, she meant do not come over. And while Katie did allow herself the leeway of thinking that, because they’d had sex, she could probably skirt some of Addison’s rules, she wasn’t 100 percent sure. She liked to think she knew Addison, but the reality was, she only knew what Addison showed her. Katie was a smart girl and she also understood that Addison was one of those people who ran very deep and complicated under that calm surface of hers and knowing her was not a quick and easy accomplishment. She had the feeling Addison was like a set of Russian nesting dolls and that every time you cracked through a layer, there was another solid one underneath.

  But Katie wanted to know her. She wanted to know everything about her.

  That was going to be a challenge. But it was one she was up for.

  * * *

  It was Wednesday at noon and Katrina didn’t bother knocking. Didn’t call out a warning. No hello. She simply slid her key into the lock of Addison’s front door and let herself in.

  “What the—?” Addison sat up quickly from the couch, an expression of confusion all over her face. “What the hell, Katrina?” Her voice was sharp; her eyebrows dove into a V above her nose. “Haven’t you ever heard of knocking?”

  “Haven’t you ever heard of being a goddamn adult?” Katrina snapped back.

  She was done. She was so done.

  Addison flinched as though Katrina had slapped her. “What?”

  Katrina tossed her purse down on the chair, and her coat followed the purse. The television was blasting some cheesy infomercial about an indoor grill pan, and Katrina clicked it off, sending the room into silence. Then she parked her hands on her hips and stared down her big sister. “Seriously. Are you fucking twelve?”

  Addison sighed and waved a hand at her, then settled back down onto the couch and reached for the remote on the coffee table. “Go away, Kat.”

  “Not until I say a few things.” Katrina snatched the remote away before Addison could turn the TV back on. She’d almost said, “Not until I unload on you,” but that seemed a little harsh, even for these circumstances. But it was exactly what she wanted to do because she’d had so much more than enough.

  “Terrific.”

  Katrina took a seat in the chair across from the couch. She braced her forearms on her knees, folded her hands, and studied her sister. She looked like hell. Her hair was pulled up into a messy bun, but even that didn’t hide the fact that it was dull and stringy. She had no makeup on, which only made the dark circles under her eyes stand out like she was about to take up her position in center field. Her sweatshirt was wrinkled, as were her yoga pants, as if she’d been lying on the couch for days in them. Which Katrina was pretty sure she had.

  “What’s going on with you?” she asked softly, surprising herself by taking a more gentle approach than she’d intended.

  Addison turned to her, wide-eyed. “Really? Have you been away?”

  Katrina frowned. “No, Addie, I haven’t. I know what happened and I know you were upset by it. But what’s—” She waved a finger around to encompass Addison’s form. “What’s all this? This isn’t you. You don’t…pout. You don’t sulk.”

  “I’m not sulking.”

  Katrina tipped her head from one side to the other, then waited, but Addison didn’t offer more. “Look. I get it. You expected to take over Mom’s seat. Honestly, that’s what Jared and I expected, too, but…have you even talked to her?” She already knew the answer. Meredith had called and texted several times since Sunday, and Addison hadn’t answered. Meredith wasn’t about to come over here. I didn’t get where I am today by kowtowing to anybody who doesn’t like my decisions, you know, she’d said to Katrina earlier in the week, using her usual bluster to cover up the fact that she was actually quite hurt by her daughter’s cold shoulder.

  Addison shook her head.

  “Maybe you should.”

  When Addison turned to look at Katrina, there was no anger this time. No flash of ire. Only hurt. Pain. Confusion. “Why?” Addison asked quietly, her eyes welling up. “So she can tell me that working my ass off for pretty much my entire life, that forfeiting everything else so I could focus solely on her company, wasn’t good enough? That all my dedication was for nothing?”

  Katrina almost laughed then. She felt the chuckle bubbling up from her gut but forced herself to swallow it. This was not the time for teasing. It was a time for explanation. And she had to grudgingly admit to a tiny sliver of sympathy for her stubborn, often very black-and-white sister. Hands on her thighs, Katrina pushed herself to her feet and strolled over to the windows, gazed out onto the bustling street below, watched the people hurrying home early on one of the last shopping days before Christmas. “I have always admired you,” she said without turning around. “From the time I was old enough to know you were my big sister, I’ve wanted to be just like you. We’ve both heard the stories of how, as a toddler, I followed you everywhere.”

  A small snort came from the couch. “You drove me crazy,” Addison said, but there was nothing but fondness in her tone.

  “In school, I tried to be like you. Tried out for the same teams and clubs.” Katrina turned then, looked at Addison who, surprisingly, seemed to be paying close attention to her words. “I only made a few of them. I was never quite as good as you. At anything. Everybody knew it. And you know what? I was okay with that. You were my big sister and I have never been anything but proud of you.” She moved back to the chair, took a seat as she contemplated her next words. “Lately, though…” She only saw that her words startled Addison because she was watching her closely.

  “Lately what?”

  “Lately, my pride in you has decreased because lately, my frustration with you has grown. Lately, Addie, you’ve become kind of…dense.”

  Addison’s eyebrows shot up, as did the tone of her voice. “Dense? You think I’m dense?”

  Katrina nodded. She knew this stung—though Addison would never admit to that—but she had to push on. There was no turning back now. Addison needed to hear it all. “I mean, you’re stubborn. You always have been. That’s not news. And it’s served you well. I often wish I was as hardheaded as you, as focused. But I’ve never thought of you as so focused that you miss the entire big picture before.”

  Addison sat up now. Swung her legs around and mirrored Katrina’s position. Her brows met in a V above her nose, and she was obviously puzzled. “What big picture? What is it that you think I’m missing?” Her voice was low. Quiet. Katrina recognized it as her sister’s you’ve-hurt-me-but-instead-of-saying-so-I’m-going-to-gather-information voice. She knew it well. Had counted on it, actually.

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