The Bridal Squad

by Samantha Chase

  He could have at least commented or made an attempt to welcome her, or even tell her to get lost. Something!

  With nothing left to do, Harper sat down on one of the benches against the wall while Brady helped Julianne put on some boxing gloves. They were talking quietly and she couldn’t hear a word they were saying. Maybe they were flirting. Maybe Brady was saying he was disappointed that she was there watching them when he’d hoped to have Juliane all to himself! Or maybe Julianne was apologizing for having her big sister here watching them.

  Standing, she walked over and began to ask questions – about the kind of gloves Julianne was using, about the bag, the ring…pretty much about every item she laid her eyes on.

  “Um, Harper?” Julianne finally said.

  “What?”

  “Could you go sit down so I can try this? Although I have to admit, you’re getting me riled up so I’m sure I won’t have any problem punching the shit out of this bag.”

  Beside them, Brady chuckled.

  Harper shot him a warning glance.

  He shot one right back.

  Okay, she knew she wasn’t the most intimidating person, but he could have at least pretended that she’d made an impression.

  Again.

  From across the room, someone called his name and Brady excused himself. As soon as he was gone, Julianne punched Harper in the arm.

  “Ow! What the hell?”

  “What are you doing, Harper?” Julianne hissed.

  “What? I’m curious about this whole…boxing thing. And I figured if I could learn it too, we could help each other out.”

  Julianne’s gaze narrowed. “You’re lying. And on top of that, you’re acting weird.”

  “No, I’m not. You’re acting weird.”

  She let out a frustrated sigh. “I’m really not in the mood to be eight years old with you right now, Harper. So either tell me what you’re doing or leave.”

  “Okay, fine. I think it’s weird that you’re doing this – the private boxing lesson.” Before Julianne could comment, Harper cut her off. “And I think it’s odd that you haven’t told Gavin about it. You two tell each other everything. If you’re feeling this stressed out and pissed off, why are you here with…Brady…” She let out a snort of disgust. “And not at home talking to your fiancé?”

  “Wow…okay,” Julianne said, crossing her arms. “For starters, this isn’t a private lesson. At least not the way that you’re making it sound. I asked Brady about this and he offered to help. We’re here in the middle of the gym, Harper, not at home in his bedroom. And shame on you for even going there!”

  “I didn’t,” Harper said with a satisfied smirk. “You did. I just said the word private. You’re the one who took it to the bedroom.”

  With a roll of her eyes, Julianne took a step back. “You know what? I don’t need this. I tell you how I’m stressed out and your answer is to follow me around and stress me out more? How is that helpful?”

  “For starters, I didn’t think you’d get this defensive. Care to explain that? Oh, and remind me again why you haven’t talked to Gavin about this little situation?”

  “Gavin is under a lot of stress at work and doesn’t need to be bothered by this petty nonsense,” Julianne argued. “We knew going into this that it would be stressful – everyone warned us about it – and now that it’s happening, I’m dealing with it. And there isn’t anything he can do to help, you know. All he’d do is tell you to stop egging on Natalie and tell mom to lighten up on you.” Then she paused. “Are you noticing who the common denominator is in all of this?”

  Harper’s eyes went wide. “Wait a minute…are you saying I’m the one causing you all this stress? That all of this is my fault?”

  Julianne chose to let her silence do the talking.

  “Unbelievable,” Harper murmured. “You are unbelievable.” She took a few steps away and then back again. “You know what, Jules, I’ll make it easy for you – I’ll stay out of your way unless it’s absolutely necessary. I’ll skip gown shopping this weekend so mom won’t have any distractions and I’ll even skip Saturday’s Zumba so I don’t bother your precious friend Natalie either.”

  “Harps, that’s not what I’m saying…”

  “It’s exactly what you’re saying,” Harper countered. “And you know what? I’m done.” And with a swift turn, she punched the bag and then stormed off.

  Hanging her head, Julianne let out a weary sigh as Brady walked over.

  “Damn,” he said. “Your sister’s got one hell of a punch. I’ve seen guys twice her size not send the bag swinging like that.”

  “Great.”

  Brady studied her for a minute and then clapped his hands together loudly before rubbing them together. “All right. Let’s get you started.”

  ****

  Wednesday morning, Kayla sat and patiently waited for Adam to call her into his office. He had postponed their Monday meeting – via text – and rescheduled it for this morning. Unease over what she was walking into kept niggling at her.

  Were they over?

  Had he met someone else?

  Did he have a new assignment for her?

  Wait…shouldn’t that last one be the top priority here? After all, this was her job, and she did have bills to pay and all kinds of bridal party hoopla to help fund, so collecting a paycheck was of utmost importance.

  Except…she really wanted to know where her and Adam stood. He was the one steady thing in her life. Sure, there were her friends and family, but they were all going off and doing their own thing. Adam was stable. Secure. For some reason, he helped her hold and retain her focus and she wasn’t sure what she’d do if their relationship – personal or professional – ended.

  The office door opened and he stepped out.

  He wasn’t smiling.

  And he looked…exhausted.

  “Come on in, Kayla,” he said gruffly.

  One of the many things she always admired about Adam was that he didn’t play games with people. You always knew where you stood with him. He got straight to the point. And on top of that, he wasn’t one of those metrosexual types – he wore jeans, his hair was normally in need of a trim and unless he had some sort of formal business function to go to, he had no problem wearing sneakers to work.

  Right now, he looked rough around the edges. More so than usual.

  Kayla followed him into the office and shut the door before sitting down. Adam picked up a pile of papers from his desk and began scanning them.

  O-kay…something was definitely up.

  Taking a page from his book, she took a steadying breath and said exactly what she was thinking.

  “I don’t think you rescheduled our meeting so I could come here and watch you read, Adam. What’s going on?”

  Slowly, he put the papers down and folded his hands on the desk as he looked at her. But he didn’t speak. His expression was neutral and it was making her crazy.

  “Seriously, you’re not even going to answer me?” she snapped and then huffed. “Do you have an assignment for me or not? Because I’ve got things to do.”

  Yeah, it was childish and even though five minutes ago she was curious about the nature of their personal relationship, something about his behavior just rubbed her the wrong way and she was lashing out.

  Adam shifted and leaned back in his seat. “Where do you see yourself in five years?” he asked.

  Wait…what?

  “Excuse me?”

  He repeated the question.

  “What difference does that make?” she asked defensively.

  He shrugged. “Humor me,” he replied. “It’s not uncommon for people to ask or answer that question. Five years, Kayla. Where are you?”

  Damn. “I guess I haven’t thought about it,” she replied honestly. “I don’t like to look that far ahead. I prefer living in the moment because things can change in the blink of an eye. So why put your focus on a future that may never happen?”

  He nodded, his arms n
ow folded across his chest. “But if you had to think about it, where do you see yourself? Let’s start with your career. What are you working toward?”

  Part of her relaxed. She could talk about work. “Well, I’d like to think that I’m still doing the kind of stuff I’m doing now – traveling all over the world and taking pictures in some amazing places.” She thought for a minute. “I hope I’m not reduced to doing wedding photography or working in a portrait studio,” she said with a laugh. “Not that there’s anything wrong with that, but I’d love to see some of my work on display in some galleries or that sort of thing…or maybe win a Pulitzer for one of my pictures. That would be kind of cool,” she added with a smile.

  “All very attainable goals,” he said. “And what about in your personal life? Where do you see yourself?”

  “Probably still living here in Raleigh,” she said without really thinking. “I like it here. My friends and family are here…”

  When her eyes met his she saw something in his eyes – just a flash of it – but it was like…pain. Or sadness. Or disappointment.

  Adam instantly straightened in his seat and turned to his computer. “Weather predictions are positive for some great viewings of Uranus at Opposition and the Orionids meteor shower. It would mean about a week in Nevada for the best viewing here in North America. Are you interested?” he asked, totally in business mode.

  “Um…yeah. Sure.” Astronomy events were fairly common and not all that exciting for her, but they were the kind of things that held her over until something bigger and better came along. Kayla watched as Adam typed up a storm and she knew he was using the program to assign photographers to certain tasks. “So…that’s it? The assignment’s mine?”

  He nodded but didn’t look at her. “Yup.”

  She’d wait him out. He had to stop typing eventually, right? At some point he was going to have to look at her and talk to her about something other than work. That’s how it normally went – they’d get business out of the way and then…they’d focus on other stuff.

  After about three minutes, she’d had enough. “Oh for crying out loud, Adam! There’s nothing left you can possibly be typing!”

  He merely glanced at her and went back to focusing on the screen.

  Standing up, Kayla put her hands on her hips and let out a loud sigh. “What is going on?”

  “What do you mean?”

  She rolled her eyes. “Seriously? That’s all you’ve got? In all the years we’ve known each other, you’ve never played dumb so please don’t start now.”

  His fingers instantly stopped typing and he slowly came to his feet. Kayla swallowed hard because she knew him well enough to know that she had officially hit a nerve. “I’m not playing dumb,” he said, his voice so calm and yet so deep that it was a little intimidating.

  “You blew off our meeting on Monday in a text message,” she began counting off. “Then I get here today and you leave me waiting out in the reception area, which you’ve never done before. And when I finally get to come in here, you’re all but ignoring me and asking me vague and ridiculous questions and handing me a bullshit assignment that any rookie photographer could do! So I’ll ask you again, what’s going on?”

  Pinching the bridge of his nose, Adam closed his eyes and she knew he was mentally counting to ten. It’s what he did when he was frustrated about something. “Sit down,” he said. “Please.”

  If she wasn’t so damn curious about what this was all about, she would have told him to go to hell and simply left. But she needed to know…

  “Kayla, how long have you and I known each other?” he asked softly, sounding more like himself than he had since she got here.

  “Years, Adam,” she replied as her heart began to beat rapidly, nervously.

  “We’ve had a good, healthy working relationship, haven’t we?”

  She nodded. “We have.”

  “And I believe we’ve had a satisfying personal relationship as well.”

  Another nod. “I agree.”

  He leaned forward and rested his arms on the desk again. “But I feel like we’re in a holding pattern and…I can’t do it anymore.”

  And then her heart stopped.

  He was ending it.

  “Oh,” she said, but it was barely more than a whisper.

  “Kayla, I think you are an amazing woman. I love working with you and I’ve loved the time we spent together.”

  “But…?” she asked nervously.

  Adam sighed and leaned back in his chair. “But…we’re not going in the same direction. In five years, you’re still going to be who you are now. Probably a more successful version, but other than that, it’s who you’re going to be.”

  “That’s not a bad thing, Adam,” she argued lightly. “You’ve always known how important my career is to me. Why is it suddenly a bad thing?”

  He shook his head. “It’s not a bad thing at all. In fact, I admire you – your drive, your ambition – but work isn’t life. Work isn’t who you are and it shouldn’t be all that you have.”

  “But it’s not all that I have,” she said, getting more and more frustrated. “I have a life, Adam!”

  The look on his face showed how much he didn’t believe that. “Kayla…come on. I know you. I’ve known you for a long time. You have a small group of friends you hang out with and do the occasional girls’ night out, but other than that, you’re working. You take pictures, you travel, and you work on the pictures you’ve taken. Once in a while you and I go out and grab a bite to eat where we talk about your pictures.”

  “That’s not all…”

  “Yeah,” he said with a sad smile. “And then you come home with me and we make each other feel good and you slip out while I’m asleep.” He paused. Shrugged. “That’s not what I want anymore.”

  Did he mean in general or just with her?

  Unfortunately, she was too afraid to ask.

  She slowly let out a breath. “So…where does this leave us? Would you rather I not work for you anymore?”

  Clearing his throat, Adam seemed to collect himself and immediately transformed back into business mode. “I don’t think that will be necessary. We’re both adults, right?”

  She wasn’t prepared for how much this hurt. All she could do was nod.

  “I’ll keep scoping out assignments for you, you’ll keep freelancing like you always have and basically, nothing has to change.” Then his eyes met hers. “Well, except for the…personal side.”

  “Right,” she murmured as she glanced down at her hands that were tightly clasped in her lap.

  “It’s for the best, Kayla,” he said, his voice going gruff again. “I have a different five-year plan than you. And it wouldn’t be fair to either of us to force the other to change.”

  Wait…was he saying she was part of his five-year plan? That he had been thinking of them moving forward?

  His phone rang and she nearly jumped out of her seat. “Adam, I…”

  “I really need to take this,” he said. “Doreen will have a printout of all the travel details for you so you can stop and see her on the way out.”

  And just like that, they were over.

  She was dismissed.

  ****

  The roast was done to perfection.

  The candles were on the table just waiting to be lit.

  Natalie looked at her reflection in her bedroom mirror and smiled.

  All week Jayce had been working so hard and she wanted to have a stay-at-home date night with him. She was wearing a strapless navy cocktail dress she knew he loved and a pair of sexy heels and she’d prepared his favorite dinner. Earlier, she sent him a text to pick up a bottle of wine on his way home along with a picture of her in nothing but the red lace lingerie she had on underneath her dress.

  Normally he would respond rather quickly to one of her flirty texts, but today he hadn’t. Poor baby, she thought. He really must be swamped.

  Five minutes after six, Jayce walked in the door, too
k one look at her and frowned.

  “Did you pick up the wine?” she asked using her sexy voice.

  “Wine? What are you talking about?” he asked as he walked across the room while loosening his tie.

  “I…I sent you a text earlier,” she said, following him across the room and picking up his tie when he dropped it to the floor.

  “I didn’t get a text,” Jayce said. Natalie crashed into his back because he stopped so abruptly. His hands immediately went to her arms to steady her. “Are you sure you remembered to hit send?”

  Now it was her turn to frown. “Of course I hit send, Jayce,” she said, trying not to let her frustration show. She kept her voice calm and sweet even though she was more than a little annoyed that he was putting a definite crimp in her romantic plans for the evening.

  Pulling his phone from his pocket, he scrolled through and then showed it to Natalie. “See? No text from you.”

  She thought she was going to be sick. “But…but…it was…you know…a sexy text,” she whispered.

  He shrugged. “Go and check your phone. I’m telling you, you probably just didn’t hit send. Not a big deal.”

  But it was a big deal, she thought as she fled the room to find her phone. It was on the kitchen island and when she pulled up her messages, it showed that it had been delivered. She immediately went back to the living room where Jayce was sitting and flipping through the television channels. “I think there’s a game on tonight,” he said, his eyes never leaving the TV screen.

  “Jayce,” she began calmly, “I just checked my phone and it shows that I sent the text. How can that be if you didn’t get it?”

  He shrugged. “Maybe you sent it to someone else.”

  “That’s ridiculous,” she huffed and then looked at her phone again and gasped. “Oh, no!”

  From the sofa, Jayce chuckled. “Who’d you send it to? Julianne? Your mom?”

  “Harper! I sent a nearly naked picture of me to Harper!” Yeah, she was going to be sick. Slowly she sat down on the sofa beside him. “Oh, God. What am I going to do?”

  “I don’t see what the big deal is. She probably already figured out that you sent it to her by mistake. And you weren’t completely naked, right?”