Heart Block

by Melissa Brayden

  The reporter reached across the desk and switched off his travel-sized voice recorder. “I think that just about does it. Thank you so much for your time, Ms. Matamoros. The article should run next week.” He picked up his attaché case and headed for the door. “I think we’ll approach your story as the little engine that could and then did. Hometown little guys making good always seem to do well with our readership, and it doesn’t hurt that you’re as passionate and likable as you are. Get ready. Sometimes these feature stories can attract more attention than you realize. I hope you have the manpower lined up once that phone starts ringing.”

  “Oh wow, you know, I hadn’t quite thought of that.” She jotted a note to herself on her Post-it cube. “Thanks for the tip.”

  But when the article came out a week later, she couldn’t have been happier. She’d raced to the phone and called Emory first thing that morning after finding the write-up in the Life section. When she arrived at the apartment twenty minutes later, Sarah tugged her inside all the while grinning like a maniac. She was too excited to try to act anything but foolish and had absolutely no problem with that. “Read it. Read it. Hurry. Read it.”

  Emory laughed when Sarah practically pushed her onto the couch. “Okay, but you have to stop grinning at me like an adorable person so I can concentrate.”

  “Got it. No grinning. Not at all adorable. See?” Using the extra energy, she paced very seriously instead, killing time so Emory could read the article. The article all about her family’s business, with quotes from her directly. Super stoked was an understatement.

  It was only a couple of excruciating minutes later when Emory dropped the paper and shot her one of her more radiant Emory smiles. The one that caused her whole face to light up and made Sarah all tingly. “So?”

  “So, you, in addition to being incredibly cute right now, which was against the rules I might add, are also incredibly famous. This is an awesome article, Sarah. I’m so excited for you.”

  Sarah practically tackled Emory in appreciation, threw her arms around her, and eventually settled quite happily into her lap. Emory knew more about these kinds of things, and getting her vote of confidence made everything that much more real.

  “It’s so strange to see my name in the paper.” She picked up the page to look again. “I’m nobody. But look,” she held her photo up to her face and grinned alongside it, “there I am in black and white.”

  “There you are. And I love this photo, by the way. Who do I have to sleep with to get a copy?”

  Sarah slid her arms around Emory’s neck and looked skyward. “It’s possible I can set something up for you.”

  “Oh good, then I came to the right place.” She kissed Sarah’s neck at the open collar of her shirt. “Grace home?”

  “Nope. Headed out with Mindy’s family on a picnic.”

  Emory lifted her head. “So just us? Maybe we can hang out.” She unbuttoned Sarah’s top button and kissed her collarbone.

  Sarah’s mind slid to all the things they could do to each other alone in the apartment, but damn it, it would have to wait. “I wish we could, and we will soon. It just can’t be right now. I have to shower.”

  Emory stilled. “No? ‘Cause I’m really good in the shower.”

  Heat infused her at the memory. “You can’t say things like that to me right now. I’m running late.”

  “You have big plans today?”

  “I have to work.”

  She looked up at Sarah. “It’s Saturday. Even I take an occasional break on Saturday. Let’s take a break together. I kinda like you.”

  Sarah feathered her hands through Emory’s hair and leaned in for a light kiss. “I like you too, but Mama picked up a last-minute job and no one else is available. I should have told you when I called. Maybe you can join us for dinner tonight? I promise I won’t make you cook it.”

  Emory frowned, trying to piece it all together. “Wait, so you’re not going in to the office?”

  “Nope. A house. Real work.” Her eyes flashed as she grinned. “Don’t worry. I didn’t forget how.”

  “No, I wouldn’t imagine.” She attempted a smile, but could feel it didn’t quite reach her eyes. She didn’t know why exactly, but she didn’t like the idea. Emory slid Sarah off her gently and crossed to the window, trying to work it out.

  “Okay. What just happened in that head of yours? What’s wrong?”

  “I don’t know. I just—”

  “Hey, look at me.”

  Emory did. “I feel like you shouldn’t work directly for the clients anymore. In their homes. You’re heading up the new division. That’s your job.”

  Sarah raised her eyebrows. “Yeah, but I don’t mind helping out. Especially if there’s no one to—”

  “That’s just it. You need to hire more people. Delegate this kind of thing out to someone else now. You’re the boss. It’s your picture that is in the paper. It’s better business to keep that persona intact. So find someone else for today. Threaten their job. Do what you have to do to make things happen.” She decided to assert herself a little. “I just don’t want you cleaning houses.”

  Sarah’s eyes narrowed but her voice remained calm. “You don’t want me to clean houses?”

  “You’re beyond that now.”

  Sarah had no clue what to say. She didn’t understand where this was coming from, but she certainly didn’t like what it was implying. “I do what I have to do to keep the business running smoothly. If my mother needs my help, I’m going to be there for her. I have bills to pay, Emory. I have a child to support.”

  “Then I can pay your bills.”

  Sarah steadied herself against the blow, closing her eyes until the urge to snap passed. “You’re serious right now?”

  “Dead serious.”

  “I can take care of myself. I don’t need or want your money, Em. I never did.”

  “Fine, but that doesn’t mean you have to go back three steps, career-wise.”

  “What are you talking about right now?” She was staggered by how out of touch Emory was with the realities of her life. “I work for a family-run business. There’s no such thing as a vertical pathway. It takes a village.” But there was an angle to this whole thing that bothered Sarah more, and she had to get to the root of it. “You didn’t mind my working for you at your mother’s house.”

  “That’s entirely different.”

  “Why? Tell me why that was different.” Her voice was noticeably louder now, but she couldn’t help it.

  “Because—”

  “Why? Say it, Emory.”

  “Because we weren’t together then. It didn’t matter.”

  Sarah stared, her voice now calm, even. “And now that we are, I have to be worthy of you, the great Emory Owen?”

  Emory looked exasperated, offended even. “What? No. That’s not what I said and you know it. This is about what’s right for you, not me.”

  Sarah stared hard at Emory and Emory stared back, crystal blue eyes cool as ice. Emory wasn’t going to give in, Sarah realized, but damn it, neither was she. She wasn’t committing a crime. She wasn’t hurting anyone. This was her job, her life, and she’d live it as she saw fit. “I think we’re going to just have to disagree on this one. You should probably go now. I have to get ready for work.” Sarah didn’t wait for an answer and left Emory standing in her living room as she went in to change.

  Once she was alone in her bedroom, Sarah replayed the conversation again in her head. She was angry, yes, but also wildly off-balance by the fact that they’d fought.

  It didn’t feel good.

  In fact, it felt downright horrible.

  She sat on the edge of the bed and allowed her emotions to settle. Once they had, she attempted to see things from Emory’s perspective. In her defense, this was new territory for Emory. Rather than lashing out in anger, maybe she could have taken time to rationally explain to her how things had to work when you weren’t made of money. True, it wasn’t Emory’s place to make decis
ions for her, but Emory was used to calling the shots in most every aspect of her adult life. Maybe she was in automatic pilot mode. It’s possible that her heart had been in the right place.

  She decided that she’d call Emory as soon as she had a spare moment and fix things so the nagging ache in the center of her chest would go away. She grabbed her keys and bag and headed for the door to her apartment. She’d just have to find a way to get through the afternoon.

  “Please wait.” She turned at the sound of the voice. Emory sat on the couch looking up at her helplessly, lost. “I don’t want to fight.”

  Sarah let her bag fall, a spark of relief flaring in her chest. “God, I don’t either.”

  “If you’re happy, I should be happy. Sometimes, I try to micromanage and I shouldn’t have done that today. I just want things to be easier for you, and instead I made them harder. Ignore me.”

  Sarah sighed and sat on the arm of the sofa next to Emory, offering a tired smile. “I could never ignore you, even if I wanted to. You’re stuck with my attention, I’m afraid.”

  “Even when I’m overbearing?”

  “Can you imagine how much I must like you?”

  “Wow.”

  “I know.”

  Emory took her hand and squeezed. “So go to work and forget I was a headstrong idiot. Maybe, if I’m lucky, you’ll call me later and let me know when I can see you again because I really want to see you again soon. You know, redeem my good name?”

  She leaned down and kissed Emory’s temple. “I will most definitely call you. I can think of all sorts of ways you can make it up to me. Creative ways.” That earned a smile and Sarah’s heart did a little backflip.

  Back on track, she thought to herself, back on track.

  *

  It was a slow day at Global Newswire, but then mid-quarter Tuesdays always were. Trevor was busy with client mail outs and most of the account execs were out on presentations. Emory picked up the phone, seizing the slower pace of the afternoon.

  “Wanna come over and see how a press release makes its journey?”

  Sarah paused on the other end of the line. “Are you offering me a tour of your office?”

  “That’s exactly what I’m doing. Can you swing it? How are you ever going to understand how to properly market that up-and-coming business of yours without a little hands-on coaching in PR? Plus, that means I’d get to lay eyes on you, which, you know, is kind of the whole point of this phone call.”

  Sarah checked her afternoon appointments while Emory waited. “I have to meet my designer, Samantha, at the Miller house at four o’clock. But I have time before. I can be there in a half hour.”

  “Perfect. Give your name to the receptionist and she’ll call me when you get here.”

  An hour later, as the elevator opened onto the forty-fourth floor, Sarah found herself in a rather impressive looking lobby. It became clear to her that Global Newswire inhabited the entire floor of the office building. Three elegant couches were arranged in the center of the large room with a marble coffee table in the middle. In the corners, towering vases of fresh flowers were each showcased with dedicated accent lighting. A coffee station stood to the right with a stainless steel carafe and every kind of flavored creamer you could imagine. Near the far wall stood a dark oak reception desk complete with a beautiful looking woman behind it.

  “Welcome to Global Newswire,” she said in the most soothing voice Sarah could imagine. She was smiling but carried an elegance befitting the rather impressive room. She couldn’t help but smile at the sharp contrast to her mother’s elderly receptionist, Marjorie.

  “Sarah Matamoros to see Emory Owen.” The young woman eyed her for a moment, the smile never leaving her face.

  “Do you have an appointment with Ms. Owen?” She turned to her computer screen and began tick-tacking away on her keyboard.

  “Yes and no. She knows I’m coming, but I don’t think you’re going to see it on your calendar there.”

  “I’m afraid you’ll need an appointment. Ms. Owen is very busy and hasn’t made any note of your meeting.”

  “Would you mind giving her a call?”

  “If you’ll be so kind as to take a seat, I’ll see what I can do.” The smile was no longer quite as warm. Sarah did as she was told, but took out her phone in the process and shot off a quick text message. “Your receptionist thinks I’m trying to infiltrate Fort Knox. Help?”

  It was only a moment before her phone buzzed in response. “Well trained, that one. On my way.” Emory appeared shortly and whisked Sarah through the thick oak doors that led into the world of Global Newswire. The receptionist, whose name turned out to be Leslie, apologized profusely, much to Sarah’s guilty pleasure.

  “I’m glad you could make it,” Emory said.

  “Are you kidding? And miss the chance to see the empire you spend day and night constructing?”

  Once inside, Sarah was surprised to see that the posh elegance of the lobby was reserved for essentially that, the lobby. The inner office of the company looked more like a working newsroom with few frills.

  A series of several dozen workstations dotted the large open space with private offices flanking its perimeter. “These are the editors,” Emory said, gesturing to the rather bookish looking individuals at the workstations. They stared, entranced, at a series of codes on their computer screens. “Once a press release has been sent to us with instructions on who’s to receive it, the editors code the transmission before sending it over the wire through our satellite links. The codes tell the press release where to go. It’s also up to the editors to proof the release. If it’s transmitted with an error, we have to issue a correction, which is a huge strike against us in the industry. We try to avoid it at all costs. This office is currently error free. I can’t say the same for the Dallas office, however.”

  “What happened in Dallas?” Sarah was incredibly intrigued by the process.

  “Five errors in six months. I’m travelling down there next week to implement a new training program with one of my editorial managers. I’ll be letting two of the editors go while I’m there.”

  “Wow. Doesn’t that upset you to have to tell them they no longer have a job?”

  “It’s just business, and a necessary part of running a company. Haven’t you ever had to fire anyone from Immaculate Home?”

  “Once for stealing, but that seemed unavoidable. When someone underperforms, we always try to make them better.”

  “And if that doesn’t work?”

  Sarah considered this. “We find ways to compensate for the weak link, I guess. I just can’t shake the knowledge that they have families to support and kids to put through college.”

  “I can’t consider those kinds of things. In fact, I never have.”

  “I guess I’m a softie then. Now show me your office so I can ooh and ah at how important you are.”

  “I like the sound of that. Right this way.” They strolled down the hallway to Emory’s corner office and paused outside next to the desk of a very serious looking young man with flaming red hair. “This is my assistant, Trevor. I think you’ve spoken to him on the phone once or twice.” Trevor stood and extended his hand politely. “Trevor, this is Sarah, my girlfriend.”

  Trevor’s eyes widened in delight. “Well, in that case.” He reached out and pulled Sarah into a warm hug.

  “All right, all right, that’s enough. Let the girl go.”

  “It was nice to meet you, Trevor.” Sarah laughed, following Emory into the office. Once inside, she took only a brief moment to scan the spacious room before turning back to face Emory. “Do you think we could close the door for a minute?”

  “Okay.” Sarah had an indiscernible look on her face that made Emory uneasy. “Is everything all right?”

  Once the door clicked into place, Sarah closed the distance between them until she stood in front of Emory. “You just called me your girlfriend.”

  It had seemed second nature to Emory and she realized
now that it shouldn’t have. “Oh, I’m sorry. I guess I should have asked if it was okay. I just figured because you didn’t know Trevor—”

  “Shhh.” Sarah placed a finger across Emory’s lips. “I loved it.”

  “You did?”

  “I did. Do you know what I also love? You in this business suit.” She slipped her hand inside the jacket and ran her palm from the center of Emory’s chest up along the side of her collarbone. “You were wearing something similar the day we met, remember?”

  “And did you like it then?”

  Sarah considered the question. “No, I found it intimidating. But now that I know the woman inside it, it’s just plain hot.”

  Emory grabbed Sarah by the hips and pulled her closer, kissing her soundly. Sarah reciprocated hungrily, sliding her arms up and around Emory’s neck. Then a thought hit and she pulled back just enough to meet Emory’s eyes. “Are you sure we should be kissing at the office? You are at work, after all.”

  Emory inclined her head. “The door is closed. We can do anything we want. No one will come in without knocking. One of the perks of being in charge.”

  “Okay then, maybe just a little more of the sexy kissing.” Sarah grinned and dipped her head.

  Emory loved kissing Sarah. She felt it all the way down to her toes and it left her in the most wonderful fog. Somewhere in the back of her consciousness, she registered that hands were tugging vaguely on shirts, moving down arms, shifting all the while closer, and she could vaguely hear the humming sounds people made while making out. It was like hovering just above heaven for her.

  “Hey, Em, will you take a look—holy shit. Sorry. Oh my God.”

  At Lucy’s highly unexpected entrance, they froze. No one spoke for several seconds, ratcheting up the awkward factor several notches. It was Emory who laughed first, followed shortly by Lucy. Sarah smiled until the tension seemed to evaporate from the room.