Once at home, he went in, went to his office, and as was becoming too familiar of a habit, he sat down behind his desk, turned on the computer and settled in for another sleepless night of work.
****
Sitting on her couch eating Chinese take out and trying to get in to the movie she rented on Netflix, Holly wondered why she had made such a fuss about having this extra time at home. At least before she had something to actually do. She was busy, she was moving, and she was having conversation while eating dinner! Now, she sat here pitifully alone and bored out of her mind. Maybe she should get a cat. That thought made her throw down her fork and plate in disgust. “Is this what it’s come to?” she thought. “One doomed relationship and I’m ready to become a cat person?” The thought sent a shiver down her spine.
The movie couldn’t hold her attention so she grabbed the TV remote and turned it off, opting to channel surf for something else. After a while she settled on the evening news and got caught up on current events.
“This is ridiculous,” she chided herself. “I am a grown woman with friends; friends who I have not seen in a while.” Rising from the couch, Holly walked to kitchen and found her address book and began furiously flipping through it to start calling people. It was only seven-thirty on a Friday night, for crying out loud! What was she doing home? Didn’t single people go out on the weekends? Isn’t that what all of those beer commercials were all about? Hell, she could be in a beer commercial if she wanted to! Holly gave herself a pep-talk as she picked up the phone and dialed her friend Linda’s number. “I am a young, attractive woman,” she murmured. “There is no reason for me to be at home on a Friday night.” At the sound of her friend’s voice, she said cheerily, “Are you up for a girl’s night out?”
Thirty minutes later, Holly was walking out the door with a swing in her denim-clad hips and a little bounce in her stiletto boot step. Climbing in to her car she congratulated herself on taking that all-important first step in having a life outside of work. With any luck, this would be the first of many nights out and eventually, she wouldn’t remember her wild weekend with Stephen or feel that pull of desire every time she looked at him in the office.
Yes a girl’s night out was exactly what she needed to actually find out who it was the Holly Abbott could be.
Chapter Eight
So much for big plans.
It didn’t take long for Holly to realize that clubbing was not her thing. The big girl’s night out had been a major disappointment. She had met up with her friend Linda at a local restaurant/bar and while she enjoyed talking with her friend, there were no single men hanging around. After noshing on a shared appetizer and nursing a screwdriver, they headed out to a bar in downtown Raleigh. That held a few more options but Holly found that she really wasn’t as interested in finding a man as she thought she was in the beginning of the evening.
Once she let got of the notion that she only wasn’t out to find a man, Holly let herself relax and enjoy herself. It turned out that Linda chose this particular bar because they had other friends that hung out there and after a couple of drinks, they were all out on the dance floor laughing, dancing and singing and having a great time.
At the end of the night, Holly was shocked to see that half of the women in their group were leaving with men they had met while Linda and another gal had gotten phone numbers from men. To say that she was a little disappointed would be an understatement. As if reading her mind, Linda had said “What did you expect? You’ve got this giant ‘back off’ thing going on that has scared most of these guys off. I figured if you’d wanted to talk about it, you would have brought it up. Hell, I was just glad to have you out with us for once!”
“Was it really that obvious?” Holly asked, totally dismayed.
Not one to hold back, Linda answered, “Unfortunately, yes.” They drove back to the restaurant where they had first met up to get Holly’s car, the whole while talking about the night’s events and how they were going to have to do it again.
Linda made Holly promise to come out with her again soon and to do it without the obvious attitude. “I make no promises,” Holly quipped but knew that she was going to have to make more of an effort on their next outing. With a sigh of frustration, Holly knew she’d probably enjoy herself more if she just relaxed and let her brain go blank for a couple of hours!
That was all of the excitement she allowed herself for her first weekend. The remainder of it, she stuck to her usual routine of laundry and food shopping but did roll up her sleeves to do some cooking. It really wasn’t as fun doing it for only one person but she refused to let that stop her. Food shopping was actually fun because for the first time in what seemed like forever she was actually shopping! She poured over fresh produce and gourmet cuts of meat. It was going to be a great week, food-wise. But now the weekend was over and it was time to get back to reality. The weekend seemed like a million years away at this point.
Holly pulled in to the parking garage early Monday morning. Stephen had a big meeting planned for tomorrow with the Gideon people that involved a catered luncheon and dinner with the company president out at the Angus Barn – the most expensive restaurant in Raleigh. Today would be full of last minute preparations to make sure that everything ran smoothly.
Holly had full confidence that both she and Stephen were well prepared. No doubt Stephen had a list of items waiting for her of things that needed to be fine-tuned. She was used to it; was already expecting it. She would make her last minute calls to the caterers, the florist and the Angus Barn to make sure that everything was in place and was ready to meet all of their specifications.
Tomorrow would also be the first time that she and Stephen would have to interact outside of the office. For meetings such as these, when he was entertaining and out-of-town client, Holly acted as his hostess. She would be there for all of the meetings tomorrow not only speaking on behalf of Ballinger’s with her own portion of the presentation but at dinner with him to entertain and be company for any of the spouse’s the came along on the trip.
By this point in the Gideon project, Holly had come to know this particular group of people very well. With offices all over the world, a contract with Gideon was going to put Ballinger’s Security systems in countries it had never been before. It was a huge coup for Stephen and Holly was so proud and excited to be working on this project with him. The Gideon group was based out of Los Angeles and so Holly had taken several trips with Stephen out west and knew by the time everything was in place in all of their locations, she would have to travel with him again. Yikes, that was going to be awkward.
She refused to go there right now. For the time being she was going to focus on getting through today and all that needed to be done. There were gifts to be delivered to the hotel for the president of Gideon and his wife as well as making sure that the limousine that was picking them up at the airport was stocked with their favorite champagne.
Riding up in the elevator, Holly kept running a mental checklist in her head even though she knew that Stephen would already have the list ready and waiting on her desk. Sure enough, as she walked behind it and put her purse down, there it was, propped up against her computer screen. The man was meticulous, that was for sure.
Going about her morning routine, she heard Stephen already on the phone in his office. It seemed that last week’s pattern of behavior was bound to continue. Oh, joy. Coffee was brewing, her computer was warming up, she retrieved phone messages and within minutes Holly was walking towards Stephen’s office with the pile of messages that demanded immediate attention.
Predictable and stable would be something that most people would love in a job, wasn’t it? Holly used to think so. Now, she would almost kill for a little spontaneity. This act of merely existing in this job was staring to grate on her nerves. Stephen sat in profile to her as she walked in and her mouth actually watered. His hair was a mess already from running his hands through it in frustration and he was clean shaven. For a moment
she allowed herself to remember what he looked like with a day’s growth on his chin and how it had felt against her cheek, her throat, her thighs. She stifled a sigh and walked up to his desk and placed the mug and messages down.
For the first time in a week, Stephen actually looked up and met her eyes and smiled. Holly smiled back at him and for a moment, it felt as if everything was going to be okay. They were going to have to make things work – especially for the meetings tomorrow. If he couldn’t even look at her, someone was going to pick up on that. These people with Gideon had been around them long enough that they would notice if suddenly Holly and Stephen weren’t coming within ten feet of each other and acted completely awkward with each other.
That could spell disaster. So for the sake of the deal, Holly vowed to let the awkwardness of last week go and do all that she could to restore them to their previous relationship. She’d have to talk to Stephen about that when he was off the phone…or maybe after lunch…or maybe…
“Holly?” She jumped at the sound of Stephen’s voice. “Are you okay? You just sort of zoned out right there?”
Well it seemed that he was on the same page as her; gone was the sullen man of last week and here before her was her old boss. Okay, things were going to be fine. “Sorry, I guess I’ve got this running tally going on in my mind right now of everything that has to happen in order for tomorrow to be a success.”
“Ah.” He nodded and reached for his coffee.
“Speaking of which, I’ve got calls to make to the caterer and whatnot,” she began as she slowly made her retreat to the door. She kept her tone friendly and light and remembered to keep casual eye contact the entire time. “I got your list to use and if there’s anything else that you can think of, just let me know, okay?” Stephen nodded and she walked out of his office and shut the door with a sigh of relief.
This was not going to be an easy day, she told herself, but Holly was determined to get through it all and do it all cheerfully. By lunchtime, all of her calls had been placed; the limo was confirmed and stocked as she requested with Cristal chilling and Godiva chocolates for the ladies. The caterer was delivering gourmet fruit and cheese baskets to the hotel to the top executives and had confirmed the menu for lunch the following day down to the letter. It was everything that Holly needed to hear and she felt as if a great weight had been lifted in one respect but still had another giant one weighing her down in respect to herself, personally, for tomorrow.
After lunch she met with Stephen to go over the agenda for the next day and to do a run through of their presentation. Stephen was impressed with what Holly had put together and knew that between the two of them, the contracts would be signed and they would be in production with the Gideon’s by the end of the next day.
As Holly rolled up some of the posters that they were going to use for the meeting, Stephen watched her and smiled. “I think we’ve got this one, Holly,” he said happily. Nothing made Stephen happier than a successful job well-done and ready to be signed and sealed. “I can’t imagine anyone having a problem with anything that we’ve presented.” She turned to him and nodded in agreement and smiled.
“If it’s all right with you, Stephen, I think I’m going to go and get the conference room set up with easels and everything today so that there will be little for me to do tomorrow and I can focus on the caterer and getting the food set up in such a way that it won’t be too crowded in there.”
“We are going to have a few more people than usual in there, aren’t we?” he asked, suddenly concerned that there was suddenly a fly in the ointment.
“We’ll be fine, Stephen,” she assured. “We have had more people in there and with the right amount of planning and preparation, we’ll all be comfortable.” Holly turned and walked out of the office with the rolled up posters under her arm, confidence in her step and Stephen couldn’t help but admire her.
Stephen was about to sit back down behind his desk but decided to follow Holly to the conference room to help her set up. They were so well prepared, there really wasn’t much else for him to do except wait for the meetings tomorrow. Anything he did right now would only be nitpicking with perfection.
Holly was surprised when Stephen came walking in to the conference room. As if of one mind, they began moving chairs, clearing off tables and setting up easels. Within thirty-wordless minutes, the room was as ready as it would ever be. Everything else that needed to be done would be done once the caterers arrived the next morning – they were bringing tablecloths and decorative flower arrangements with them along with the food. Holly could picture how it was all going to look and was pleased with how they were prepared thus far.
The remainder of the day was spent separately – Stephen making phone calls, Holly making sure that the assistant that she was going to have for the day knew where everything was and showing her what would be needed to be done during the conference. At 5:00 Holly popped her head in to Stephen’s office to tell him that she was leaving and he was sitting behind his desk rubbing his temples.
“Everything okay?”
He dropped his hands and looked at her. “I know we can’t possibly be more prepared than we already are. There is nothing that Gideon is going to throw at us that we won’t be able to handle and have an answer for but until it’s a done deal, I just can’t seem to relax.”
Holly was about to offer to stay and ‘run lines’ so to speak but had to stop and think about it before opening her mouth. By staying and working late, she would be breaking the rule that they had set in place in what was a huge point of contention with getting her to stay on at Ballinger’s. Stephen was they type that might not see this as a one-time deal and suddenly start expecting her to stay late every night again. Tomorrow night, while not technically working, she would be out late with him and their clients. That would be two nights of her time that she was giving up for the sake of his company. Still, looking at him, he did truly look worried. This was the biggest contract of Ballinger’s history and while it would not break the company if Gideon decided to pass, it would certainly help skyrocket it if he accepted.
With a sigh of resignation Holly walked further in to Stephen’s office and said, “Do you want me to stay for a little while and we can go over everything again?” The look on Stephen’s face was so hopeful, so full of gratitude that Holly was sure that she had made the right decision. But as soon as it appeared, it vanished just as quickly.
“Thank you, but no,” he said politely. “I don’t think we need to go over all of that again. It’s my issue; not yours. Go and enjoy your evening and I will see you here in the morning.” He paused and looked at his desk as if searching for something to do and then grabbed up his phone and began to dial.
A more stubborn man, Holly did not know. Not willing to argue with him, he had made his choice, Holly bid him a good night and walked out of the office. With a stiff spine she walked to the elevator and waited. Once it arrived she stepped inside, thankful to be alone, and leaned heavily against the back wall. There was no going back, she guessed. Their relationship was irreparably damaged and she either had to learn to deal with this distance that was now between them and not let it upset her or she would have to move on.
That was a thought that she did not want to take root right now. This week was too important. Ever the professional, Holly knew that she would stay on until the Gideon project was completed – whether it was the end of the week or the end of next year. She had invested a lot of time and effort in to this project herself and if being cold and impersonal with her boss was what was required to see it through to the end, then so be it. There were worse situations, she imagined, that she could find herself working in.
Once at ground level, Holly headed out of the building and across the street to the parking garage. Once in her car, she sat there and stared off into space. Like it would have killed him to let her stay? She thought. “I mean, there I was, offering my help to the man! This was nothing like it was in the past where it was just
expected of me to stay, I offered!” Snapping out of her reverie, she drove home while carrying on quite the animated conversation with herself.
“And you know,” she began to herself out loud, “I don’t know why I thought it was such a big deal to be home at five-thirty every damn night. It’s boring! Sure, it’s been nice eating real food instead of take out but really, Stephen always brought in whatever I wanted. It wasn’t like he was forcing me to eat Burger King every night, for crying out loud, why did I have to go and make such a damn fuss and screw everything up?”
That was a bitter pill to swallow. As much as she’d like to blame it all on Stephen, the truth was that it was her words that put the ball in motion; Stephen was just honoring her wishes and now Holly had to pay the price for it. If there were anyone around who knew all of the things that had happened and gone on between the two of them, Holly was sure that there would be fingers pointing and mocking voices of “Careful what you wish for.”
Pulling into her driveway, she sighed with frustration and climbed from the car. She waved to some neighbor’s who were out and about in their yards – what were their names? –before heading in to the tomb-like silence of her home.
At seven-thirty the next morning, Holly was entering the massive building that housed Ballinger’s and found Stephen waiting for the elevator. After exchanging ‘good morning’s’ they boarded the elevator and rode up to the eighth floor in relative silence. As they exited, Stephen went straight to his office and Holly went about her thing. When the coffee was done and she headed in to Stephen’s office as she had done almost every morning for three years, she decided that she’d had enough.
In the Eye of the Storm Page 10