by Lisa Suzanne
She scoots to the end of the couch until I’m centered between her knees. She places her palms on either side of my jaw and presses a soft kiss to my mouth. “Yes,” she whispers, and then I lean my forehead to hers as we both smile.
It’s an intimate moment that’s casual and informal and somehow so us, and even though it’s not what I planned, it’s the purest and most perfect moment of my life.
We laugh together, we smile together, and we toast to each other as we both take a sip of our drink, and then we resume our position under the blanket together as we watch the fire crackle in the fireplace. She tells me she can’t believe I got her father to agree to it, and I have a feeling I’ll be rewarded later for my efforts.
There’s time for planning, time for talking, time for working out the when and the where—even time for making love again. But for now, we’re both content just knowing that we have our entire future spread out before us.
Mark is busy in his office, and Reese is rocking the baby to sleep when the doorbell rings. I sigh and flip the blanket off. I grin at my fiancée and kiss her before I stand, and then I head to the door to see who it is.
The feeling of contentment I just had under a blanket in the family room seemingly darts out of me and into the fireplace, burning up before my very eyes as my spine stiffens and my shoulders tense.
I can’t even form words. Happy New Year. What are you doing here? It’s good to see you. Welcome to Mark’s home. Fuck you, every last one of you. I’m glad you’re here. I wish you weren’t. Mark gave me his stake in FDB back. I want the company back. I want to work with you guys again.
They’re all sentences that form in my head and die on my tongue.
It’s Becker who breaks the silence first. “Hey, man. Been a long time.” He sticks out his hand to shake mine, but I just stand there stupidly as I stare at four people who were once such a huge part of my life but who cut me out because of the mistakes I made.
I notice he doesn’t say it’s good to see me. He doesn’t ask how I’ve been or what I’ve been up to. He simply indicates the passage of time.
My mouth catches up to my brain, and words finally tumble out. “Happy New Year.” They’re probably the least offensive of the words that formed in my mind, and they also say the very least.
“You seem surprised to see us,” Jason says. He tightens his arm around Tess’s waist.
“I am.” I open the door wider. “Come on in.”
Jill clears her throat. “Reese, um...” She pauses and runs a hand along her baby bump. She looks like she’s due soon, which makes sense since it’s been six months since I’ve seen them and they announced she was pregnant. “Reese invited us for a New Year’s party. We didn’t know you’d be here.”
“And I didn’t know you were coming.” We all stand awkwardly in the foyer. “I’m sorry. Vivian and I will get out of your way.”
“Vivian?” Jason says. He looks past me, and I turn around and see her standing there at the entry to the kitchen.
“Hi everyone,” she says. She gives a little wave, and the light catches on the new diamond ring on the third finger of her left hand.
“You...and you?” Jason asks, motioning between Vivian and me.
Vivian shrugs and holds up her hand with the sparkly diamond. “What started as a lie turned into the truth,” she says softly. She steps over toward me and laces her arm around my waist, and I pull her close and kiss her temple.
Jaws drop all around me, but before congratulations can be issued, Reese comes rushing into the foyer. I realize we haven’t even actually told her or my brother the good news since it just happened and they’ve been doing their own things.
“Oh, God, I’m sorry. I meant to be the one to open the door,” Reese says. She’s out of breath, like she just ran across the entire house. She hugs Jill first and rubs her belly before hugging everyone else and leading the new guests into the kitchen, where I hear her issuing instructions of where to bring their overnight bags.
Viv’s eyes meet mine in the foyer as we listen to the chatter in the next room. She arches a brow, and I shake my head.
“I had no idea they were coming,” I whisper.
“I didn’t, either. But what better time to close out the past and start fresh than on New Year’s Eve?”
I pull her close and press my lips to hers. No matter what happens tonight with everyone else around us, I’m satisfied in the knowledge the two of us are going to make it through to the other side together.
We make our way into the kitchen, where we find my brother greeting the guests who just arrived.
“Wait a second,” Reese says, and the action around us stops. “What’s that?” Her eyes are wide as they fall on Viv’s brand new engagement ring.
I clear my throat. “It’s an engagement ring.”
“You’re engaged?” Mark asks. Both his brows shoot up in surprise.
I nod. “I asked her about a half hour ago and she said yes.”
“Oh my God!” Reese squeals. She rushes over to Vivian first and hugs her, and then she attacks me next. “I can’t believe this! How did you keep it a secret? Did Mark know? Mark knew, didn’t he? God, he’s good at secrets.”
I laugh. “No one knew.”
“Even me,” Viv says, and everyone around us laughs as the room moves into action. Congratulations are issued, talking and excitement resumes. The girls all want a close look at the engagement ring when Mark takes me to the side. He bro-hits me on the back with a brotherly hug. “Congratulations, man.”
“Who would’ve ever thought I’d be marrying the woman you sent in to fix my company?” I ask him.
He shrugs as he lifts both hands palms up as if to say he knew it all along, and I suddenly get the feeling he did know. He saw something in Vivian that was a perfect match for me, and despite knowing there were obstacles in the way, life made a path so we’d find our way to each other.
I just laugh and shake my head then push his shoulder, and he grins. “Oh, and I already have the perfect wedding gift for the two of you.”
I narrow my eyes at him. “Should I be worried?”
He pulls me further aside so the others don’t overhear. “You want your old place in Vegas back?”
“What?”
“Your old place. I’m the one who bought it.” He puts air quotes around the last two words. “I lied when I said all your shit was in storage in LA. I knew you’d go back eventually, and I knew I’d give you back the shares, too.”
“Holy shit.” I stare at him in wonder. “Are you serious?”
“Yeah, and I’d like to stop paying that service to go in once a month for dust control and lawn maintenance.”
I shake my head in disbelief. “You’re like a goddamn fairy godmother.”
“No one’s ever called me a fairy before.”
I laugh and hug my brother. “Thank you,” I say softly.
chapter twenty-seven
“What’s this about?” I ask once the door to Mark’s office closes behind Jason.
They asked me if they could speak to me in private once the initial excitement wore off—not the other way around. I figured I’d talk to them at some point the second I saw them standing at Mark’s front door, but I didn’t realize it would be quite so soon. I wonder if Mark did this on purpose—invited them here, didn’t tell me or them we’d each be here...it all adds up to Mark and Reese’s team efforts to get me back to where they both must know I want to be. Even though Mark said he was done and he washed his hands of my company, he’s still making moves to put me in the driver’s seat, and I’m not sure what I ever did to deserve that aside from being born to the same parents.
Gratitude.
I think that’ll be my word for the new year.
I decide to let them do the talking since they have no idea Mark gave me FDB back yet. I’ll navigate this conversation as I would any business deal, but a brand spanking new part of me will also take the human side into consideration. These guys a
re—were—my best friends. They were more than just business partners to me, and they didn’t deserve the lies, the omissions, the half-truths.
The three of us stand on equal ground—no one goes behind any desks in any sort of power move. I lean on the back of Mark’s desk casually, but the two of them stand tall in front of me.
Becker clears his throat and glances at Jason, who nods just slightly. Neither of them look at me during their silent conversation, and I remember with regret I used to be at the center of those sorts of conversations with them. Now I don’t even know what they’re saying. I’m lost. Left out.
And it’s my own fault.
“What you did was really shitty, Brian. I’ve watched you lie to other people, use them, manipulate them for a long time, but you never once did that to me,” Becker begins. “At least that was what I thought. I never liked it and never supported it, but you were my best friend, so I accepted it as long as I knew you were straight with me. When it turned on me and affected my future, my well-being, my life, I couldn’t accept it anymore.”
“I get that,” I say. “And I’m sorry for withholding financial information from you about FDB. At the time, I thought I was acting with good intentions.”
Jason holds up a hand to stop me from continuing. “I don’t know if I can ever forgive what you did with Tess behind my back,” he says. They’re the first words he has said directly to me since he arrived on my brother’s front porch. “But Tess and I are in a good place now. I want to try to move past it because FDB needs you back.”
I draw in a sharp breath of surprise. “What?”
“We need you back,” Becker says, echoing Jason’s words.
“There’s a reason we formed that triangle,” Jason says. “I’m IT, Beck is creative, and you’re business. We’ve tried for the past six months to find someone who could step into your position without you there, and we’ve failed. Miserably. There’s too much knowledge in that ugly mug of yours to just hand the reigns over to someone else. Just before we took a break for Christmas, I studied the financial reports. It’s a total disaster.”
“Three contracts are due for renewal in January,” Becker continues, “and all three have threatened to terminate with us if they can’t renegotiate with you.”
“Everly, Masonite, and Dutch?” I ask, naming the three large contracts I know expire within the next month, and Becker nods. “What did they say?”
“They all said basically the same thing. They signed the contract with you, you understand their needs, and they will shop around for other companies offering solutions if they can’t get the best deal from you directly.”
“Did you tell them I no longer work there?” I ask cautiously.
Becker shakes his head. “We told them you still have a stake in the company.”
“That I was willing to give up if you guys asked me for it, but you couldn’t even be bothered to reply to my email.” I don’t try to mask the raw hurt in my voice.
“We didn’t know what to say,” Jason says. His voice is cold and hard. “You told us between the three of us, we didn’t even own the majority of our own company anymore. That was the part that pissed me off the most. I trust Mark, I do, but he had the power to do whatever the fuck he wanted with his stake and we couldn’t have stopped him.”
“I’m sorry I signed over so much control to someone who was only ever supposed to be a silent investor,” I say. This seems like my chance to mention I actually own sixty percent of the company now. The old part of me wants to hold off, to pocket the information until they beg me to come back, to swoop in and save the company, to retain our big clients. But the new part of me just wants fucking honesty, and so, in order to prove I’ve truly changed, I go that route. “But I want you to know Mark signed over his stake to me a few days ago.”
Both Jason and Becker’s heads whip over in my direction.
“What?” Becker says.
I nod. “I own sixty percent of FDB. He told me he washes his hands of the company. He won’t give us more money. We’re on our own.”
Neither of them say anything. They just stare at me with wide eyes.
“How big of a disaster are we talking?” I finally ask.
Jason clears his throat. “Pretty big.” He pulls out his phone and taps a few buttons then flashes the screen at me.
I glance at the report he opened, and I blow out a breath. “Jesus,” I mutter. FDB is back in the red, but much further into the red than I’d gotten us. And with the promise of no more money from Mark, which I fully believe this time, I’m not sure how we’ll get out of the mess.
And then I’m struck with a crazy idea.
Navigation.
An idea so crazy it just might work.
Gratitude.
“What would the two of you say to thirty-thirty-thirty and ten?” I ask.
They exchange a glance, and Jason nods. “We only have twenty percent each now,” Becker says. “So obviously thirty would be preferred. But who would the ten be?”
“The only person I know who has a one hundred percent success rate taking companies from the red back to black.” I grin. “A fixer, if you will.”
“Vivian?” Jason asks.
I nod. “I’m marrying her, and we already decided we’re moving back to Vegas. I’d like to be able to offer her a permanent position if she’s interested.”
“And if she isn’t?” Becker asks.
“Then we’ll do thirty-three-point-three-three-three percent each.”
“Where will the final point-zero-zero-one go?” the mathematical Jason asks.
I chuckle. “We’ll flip a coin for it.”
“Or whoever downs five shots of tequila first without puking,” Becker suggests with a laugh.
I laugh along with the two guys I’ve missed more than I realized. Things may not be perfect between us quite yet, and there may be a long way to go to repair the damage I caused, but at least I have the chance to fix it.
* * *
Vivian squints at the computer screen in Mark’s office. She scrolls the mouse, studies the numbers, and thinks. She switches between some tabs, studies another page of the spreadsheet, and nods a few times. She squints some more and twists her lips before flipping back to a different tab.
Becker, Jason, and I stand behind her, watching her every move, her every reaction to the latest FDB financial reports, with bated breath.
She finally swivels the chair around to face the three of us. She shakes her head and sighs. “It’s a real mess, boys.” I can tell both Jason and Becker are holding their breath beside me, and my own heart is racing as well. She pauses and clears her throat. “But I have a few ideas.”
All three of us exhale at the same time.
“You do?” Becker asks, and I just smile at her with pride. My heart is so full it practically feels like it’s going to burst out of my chest.
She nods. “More than likely we’ll need to apply for a business loan to get us through the next couple months. If I take the ten percent you’re offering me so I’m part owner of the company, I can take care of the loans and Brian will be free from the financial burdens to talk to clients and ease their minds that everything is okay with FBD.”
“If?” Jason asks.
“Before any of us sign any paperwork or even verbally agree to anything, I just need to ensure this is something all three of you want,” Vivian says. Her blue eyes shine with excitement, but I only detect it because I know her so well. She’s all business, her face serious as she gives us her concerns before agreeing to anything. “Without reservation. I don’t want to step into something that already has a messy past. I want assurance you’re all willing to work together, that you’re ready to forgive the past and move forward. I really believe FDB is the way of the future, but you can’t dwell on the past if you want future success.”
I hold my breath again as my former—and possibly future—partners think through her words.
“I’m in,” Becker finally say
s.
“Me, too,” Jason says.
“All in,” I say.
Vivian nods and a huge smile breaks out on her lovely face. “Then congratulations, my fellow business partners.” She shakes Becker’s and Jason’s hands, and then she reaches her hand out to shake mine. I take it then pull her into me and plant a kiss on her mouth.
“Hey, none of that in the office,” Becker protests good-naturedly.
We all laugh, and it feels like the perfect way to close out the old year as we look toward navigating the future with hearts full of gratitude.
We might not have started in the right place, but we certainly ended there.
epilogue
I’m so lonely without her.
I stare at the bed we shared just five months ago then shift my gaze out the window. I didn’t think I’d be back here so soon, staying in the same room at my brother’s house I stayed in last year for half the year.
It’s strange being back here after all that’s happened, and it’s even stranger to be here without Vivian.
I’m not crying.
At least that’s what I tell myself as I thumb away the moisture by my eyes and watch mesmerized as the water rolls in and out of the shore. I’m overcome again with a tornado of unfamiliar emotions.
A knock at the door pulls me from my thoughts. I wipe both my eyes and draw in a deep, unsteady breath. “Come in.”
Reese’s eyes soften when they fall upon me and her lips tip up in a small smile. “Are you doing okay in here?”
I nod. “Fine.”
“Don’t you look dapper,” she says.
“And don’t you look beautiful.”
She wrinkles her nose and shakes her head as if to tell me to stop with the compliments. “I have something to tell you.”
My brows draw down fearfully. “What?”
“She said to tell you she’s not coming.”
My heart stops and then falls down into my stomach. “What?”