He shook his head firmly. “Absolutely not. As soon as I heard what happened, I called Lucy, and she assured me that there was no way in hell that you would do anything like that.”
My eyes filled with tears all over again. “Lucy said that?”
He nodded, smiling. “She thinks the world of you, you know.”
I sniffled harder. “She’s a great girl.”
“She is. And I trust her judgment implicitly. Which means I trust you implicitly, as well.”
So touched I couldn’t speak, I reached for his hand, squeezing it, hoping he could see how much it meant to me.
“There’s more.”
“Isn’t there always on a day like today?” I muttered.
“Rick called me Saturday night.”
I frowned. “I thought he was camping in the Grand Canyon Saturday night?”
“Yeah, well, he was too excited to stay. Apparently, he had this great idea for the bid, and he just had to get to work on it.”
My stomach clenched at the thought of him so excited about it. I had felt the same way. Better about work than I had felt in years. And look at me now.
“We talked about a dozen times over the last two days,” Jim went on. “He sent me some of his plans, asked me to get on making adjustments to the interior design.”
“And did you?”
Jim nodded, his eyes serious on mine. “I’ve been working pretty much non-stop.”
“You have?”
“Yeah—I have a tendency to do that when I’m really excited about a project.”
I blinked, trying to focus better. “And you were excited about his?”
“I think the plan you and Rick came up with is a hundred times better than what they’re doing at the office. I really do, Annabelle. I think it’s the winning idea, hands down.”
I gaped at him. “But…Rick doesn’t want to work on it. He thinks I came up with it just to sabotage the group.”
Jim snorted. “Then you’re really bad at sabotage. Because I’m pretty sure this is the winning idea, Annabelle. And I think we need to present it.”
I slumped back into the cushions, the momentary excitement fading away. “But I’m off the project.”
“Does that mean you can’t work on your own?”
I stared at him, not following.
“Look, Annabelle. The stuff Rick sent me is really good. The stuff I’ve been working on is good. And I have a feeling your work is pretty killer, too. It would be a shame to let all of that go to waste.”
“But…we can’t use Rick’s designs. Not without his permission.”
“We can’t present them in a bid, no. But that doesn’t mean that we can’t put together a presentation for him to present. And for Emma. Get it all ready and show it to them. If they have any sense, they’ll agree it’s our best bet and use it.”
“That seems like a lot of work to do just for a shot… Especially when they’re so mad at me.” I shuddered. “You should have seen the way he looked at me.”
Jim stared at me for a moment, something in his expression telling me that he was trying to decide exactly how stupid I was. Finally, he shook his head. “Rick is a great businessman. I don’t know Emma as well, but I have a feeling she’s a lot more interested in winning than in making a point. If we get this together the way I know we can, they’ll jump on board. I know they will.”
“I don’t know…”
He sat back in the couch, watching me. “You know, Lucy told me that you were the strongest person she knew. That’s what she said—you’re the person she can never imagine giving up, not on anything. Was she right?”
I thought about my dad’s words in the car. You’re supposed to be some fierce pit bull in business, right? Then you kick his ass.
I thought about all of the years I had worked to get to where I am. All the things that had come so much harder to me than for my friends. How even after Rick left, when the pain was so bad I was sure I would die of it, I still got up every day and did the things I needed to do to reach my goals.
Did that make me strong?
And then, I thought of the portfolio sitting on the counter, exactly where I had flung it when I got home in search of wine. The portfolio filled with every one of my plans for the future. Years and years of work and dreaming. I had done that alone, without any help from anyone. Even when it seemed hopeless. Even when it seemed like I would never get there. I had still kept dreaming, kept working.
“I’ll do it,” I said, standing so suddenly, Jim jumped a little. I grabbed the wine and took it to the kitchen, turning on the coffee pot.
“You will?” Jim asked. “Just like that?”
“Just like that.” I smiled at him over the counter. “Lucy was right about me. You picked a smart girl there.” I grabbed two mugs from the cabinet. “Do you take cream or sugar?”
“Both.”
I got to work on the coffee, making mine a little stronger than normal to help clear the wine fuzz and adding a healthy serving of sugar just for the hell of it. My mind was already doing a pretty good job of clearing itself, listing all the things we would need to get done before tomorrow.
“Hey, Jim?” I called. “Why don’t you order some breakfast? We have a lot of work to do.”
***
“It’s looking pretty good,” Jim said, standing back to examine his board from a distance. “What do you think?”
“The same thing I thought twenty minutes ago,” I told him. “It looks fantastic.”
He sighed happily. “Not to toot my own horn, but I think it does, too.”
I laughed. “You know quality when you see it.”
I looked down at my checklist, feeling like we were in pretty good shape. Jim, Lucy, and I had snuck into the office at five, after a full night of working in my apartment. The conference room was full of half-empty coffee cups, the trash cans full of take-out boxes, all evidence of a late night by the rest of the team, who had presumably left at some point to get rest before the presentation.
I felt a shot of nerves and returned to my list. With Lucy’s help, we had managed to get just about everything set up. Jim had spent most of the night on his design boards, and it was by far the best work I had seen him do since arriving in Vegas. I had spent the majority of my time making sure the new plan’s financials matched the requirements, as well as checking and double checking the building codes to make sure we hadn’t inadvertently crossed any lines. But we couldn’t have done any of it without Lucy. She had stayed up with us through the night, her bad leg elevated on pillows, researching the market for spa resorts. She had found various statistics and studies to support our idea that a retreat in the middle of the city could be very profitable.
Even better, she had called on a friend of hers, an up-and-coming chef that just so happened to own a locally sourced, all-organic-menu diner in the same neighborhood of the development. He had agreed to come in and serve breakfast to the entire firm, giving them tangible proof of what we had in mind for the restaurant.
We had used the color printers to put together our information, all of it as clear and well organized as I could make it on such short notice. We were ready. Somehow, that terrified me. I had felt much better in the thick of it, the adrenaline pushing us to work through the night. Now that there wasn’t anything left to do, the nerves were starting to make me feel sick.
I looked at my watch for the hundredth time. “He’ll be here,” Lucy assured me. “He said he would.”
I nodded. John Croft had told me it would take some rearranging with the other guides, but he was fairly certain he could get there in time. I had prepared an entire portfolio on the area’s natural amenities and the types of activities we could sponsor for our guests, but I knew having Croft here, with all his expertise, would add some legitimacy to that portion of our bid.
“Sit down,” Lucy urged. “Rest a minute.”
I laughed shakily. “I’m worried that if I sit down, the adrenaline will leave me. And there
’s still so much work to do.” In my mind, I went through it. Present to the rest of the firm. Somehow convince them that they could trust me, that this could work. And that would only be half the battle. After that, if we somehow got them on our side, we would still have to do the actual presentation to The Covington Group. That was, if Rick didn’t kill us both for using his plans.
“I’m going to get you some coffee,” Lucy said, turning her wheelchair toward the door.
“Don’t be silly,” Jim said, placing a hand on her shoulder. “I’ll get it.”
She scowled up at him. “Do we need to have another conversation about treating me like an invalid? I’m perfectly capable of getting the coffee.” She patted her legs. “I can balance the tray right here in my lap. Easier than if I was walking.”
Her scowl turned to a smile as she looked up at him and he bent to kiss her, softly. And in that moment, I got it—they worked together. As strange as it might seem on paper, as shocking as it had been to find out, they were in love. And I supposed not too much else mattered when it came down to it.
Jim watched her go for a long moment before turning to face me. “So. How do you feel?”
I groaned, collapsing into a chair. “Let’s talk about something else.”
He grinned, joining me in the next seat. “Fantastic idea.”
“So.” I nodded toward the door. “You and Lucy, huh? We never really discussed how that happened.”
He smiled, bashful, and it was so cute, I could have puked. “It just…happened. When we got back to Mary and Charles’s place, she started coming up to our floor a lot, just to talk. I think she was bored, all cooped up. Before too long, I realized I was seeking her out, just to talk. Anytime I read something I thought she might like. Or saw something funny.” He shrugged. “She was the one I wanted to tell.”
I nodded, remembering that feeling well. Of wanting to share everything, no matter how mundane, with that one other person. I wondered, bleakly, if I would ever feel that way again.
“You know,” Jim said slowly, and there was something in his tone that made me think he could read what I was thinking in my expression. “I never thought I would get over Phoebe. I really didn’t. I thought I would carry the pain of that with me forever. I… I put a wall around my heart, you know? It was like… I didn’t want to get over it. Because that would be like betraying her. Even though she hurt me so badly.”
His words were so familiar to me that I found I was having trouble breathing steadily. I nodded, trying to laugh. “You know that sounds crazy, right?”
He chuckled softly. “Maybe it’s just different for guys. At least, the romantics among us.”
“Different?”
“Women are much more fickle than men.”
I snorted. “You must be joking.”
“I am not! Do I need to remind you that my fiancée found her future husband two months after leaving me?”
“She was a special case of horrid bitch,” I said. “I don’t think it’s that way for most girls.”
“No?”
I sighed, thinking back over the last ten years. “No. You held onto the idea of Phoebe for a long time. But as soon as you realized you could be happy with someone else, that was it. Once you had a chance at happiness, you took it.” I bumped his shoulder with mine. “And you didn’t waste any time, did you?” We both laughed softly, but my entire chest hurt. “I think girls hold on just as long as you romantic men. Maybe longer. Especially when there’s no hope.” I grimaced. “Or maybe that’s just me. My own special gift. To be unable to let go even when every bit of evidence shows me there’s no point. To be unable to let go no matter how much time passes or how clearly the other person demonstrates that he doesn’t care anymore.”
I looked up to see Jim watching me, his eyes wide and stricken. “Annabelle—”
I smiled shakily, wiping my eyes. “Sorry, that was kind a drag, wasn’t it? I’m just tired.” I pressed my fingertips against my eyelids, taking deep breaths. “I should go fix my makeup.”
But I never got the chance. Just then, there were voices in the hallway, and I stiffened. Emma was here.
“Lucy?” she was saying. “What are you doing here?”
Lucy appeared in the doorway first, eyes wide, a tray of coffee on her lap. And behind her was Emma, followed closely by Rick.
Oh God. Had he heard me? He wasn’t looking at me, instead staring at Jim with narrowed eyes. Emma stopped in the doorway, also staring. “What’s going on?”
Jim looked at me, eyebrows raised. “You ready?”
I nodded once and stood. “Jim and I have been working on a presentation for the bid,” I said, happy that the shakiness of the previous moments had worked its way out of my voice. “We think it can help.”
“Annabelle.” Emma sounded exhausted. “We talked about this. Today is going to be crazy. We were here half the night working. Now is hardly the time—”
“It’s exactly the time,” I snapped. “If you don’t want to lose the bid, you need to listen to our plan.”
She stared at me for a long moment. I was vaguely aware of Rick behind her, but I kept my eyes trained on my old friend, determined to convey to her exactly how serious I was.
Before she could respond, there were more voices in the hall. “What’s she doing here?” Liz snapped, Mary and Charlie gaping at me behind her.
“Saving your ass,” I told her, smiling sweetly. “Everyone come sit down.”
“I am so tired of you acting like you’re the queen bee around here,” Liz snarled. “Emma kicked you out Tuesday, and—”
“And I’m still your boss,” I replied, shocked at how calm I could sound while simultaneously picturing ways to crush a person’s skull between my bare hands. “Now sit down.”
When she made no move to do so. I looked over at Charlie and Mary. They were both watching the showdown with slightly open mouths. “Charlie, please,” I said. “This won’t take long.”
He nodded, taking his wife’s arm and steering her to a seat at the table. I breathed a sigh of relief and turned to Emma. “Please, Em. Just listen.”
Her eyes searched my face before she finally sighed. “Fine. Please make it fast.”
I turned back to Liz, crossing my arms and glaring at her. She searched the other faces at the table and, seeing no one else willing to mutiny, sat down in the closest seat, grumbling loudly.
“Thank you.” I looked briefly at Rick who was leaning against the back wall, his expression inscrutable. I took a deep breath and started my pitch.
For the first ten minutes, I was sure we were lost. Mary barely looked at the portfolio I placed in front of her; Liz was downright hostile; and Emma was completely unreadable. When Jim turned on the projector and Rick’s designs filled the screen, he swore. “You used my designs?” he snarled at me.
There was a time I would have cowered under that glare, but now all I wanted to do was slap him. Luckily, Jim stepped in. “She didn’t touch the designs you gave her. I, however, felt I was within my rights to use the plans that my business partner gave me. Of course, we would never pitch these without your consent, but I saw no harm in using them for an interoffice meeting.”
Rick opened his mouth to argue but stopped himself, resuming his casual pose against the wall, as if he couldn’t care less about any of this. I closed my eyes to gather my strength before continuing.
Slowly, what they were seeing seemed to pique their interest. Charlie was squinting from the screen to the booklet in front of him. Even Mary got up to rub her fingers across the faux-fur coverings Jim would use for the suite rugs. Emma watched the entire presentation in silence, her expression giving nothing away.
“A friend of Rick’s will be here for the bid to go over the adventure-tour options,” I said as I finished the section on the activity center. Rick’s eyes snapped in my direction at that, but I ignored him.
“As you can see, these plans are very different from what we’ve been talking about,” I s
aid, clasping my hands, knowing I was coming to the end and having no idea if I’d convinced any of them. “I think we have something fresh and unique, something that will stand out from the crowd and that will also incorporate and celebrate the neighborhood of the development, instead of just trying to make a clone of a Strip hotel. I think we have something special.”
I finally looked at Rick, staring until he met my gaze. “I know that you think it’s a good plan, Rick. You were very excited about these ideas. Please don’t let your anger at me cloud your judgment.”
He didn’t respond, just stared at me.
“But that’s the thing, Annabelle,” Mary said. “It’s hard not to let our opinion be clouded. You really let us down.”
I looked at her, surprised to see that she actually seemed hurt. I generally wrote Mary off as silly, inconsequential. Someone who really didn’t care about the work, only about her ability to swan around here in her fancy suits feeling important. But from the look in her eyes, I had misjudged her. She really thought I let the company, and therefore her, down.
“I’m sorry I didn’t display better judgment about Will,” I told her sincerely, before looking to Charlie and Emma, wanting them to know that the apology was for them, too. I ignored Liz. “I had no idea that he was using me. I swear to you. As far as the hotel plans Emma found…”
I looked at my hands. I was tired of feeling guilty about what I wanted just because it was different from what they thought I should do. Wasn’t that what it all came down to? They expected me to stay here, working myself to the bone, the way I always had. It was what I did. It was what was good for me, good for them. So of course I would fall in line. I always did.
I looked up, my eyes on Emma now. “There’s nothing wrong with having a dream of my own. That’s what those hotel plans were. They have nothing to do with this firm or with any of you. The fact that you would use that dream to…to doubt me…is…it’s bullshit.” I took a deep breath. I had never talked to her like this, but I was determined not to back down. “I have worked my ass off for this firm. You all know that. You all know me. If you think that I would actually do something to actively hurt this company, to hurt any of you… Well, I guess we don’t have the friendship I thought we had. And if you really think that about me, I’d be happy to submit my resignation right now.”
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