by Nicki Night
“I don’t know. Just something different. I don’t plan on leaving yet. I just know this is not what I want to do forever. It’s been on my mind a lot lately.”
The quiet of the night took over once again. After a while, Carter continued. “I don’t know. Maybe it’s a phase.” He paused again. “Me wanting to leave doesn’t mean I don’t plan on beating you in this challenge,” he said after a while.
“Aw. Your confidence is admirable.” Ethan patted Carter’s shoulder. “I hope you don’t feel too bad when you lose.” Both men laughed. Ethan needed that laugh.
“Anyway,” Carter interrupted. “How are you doing?” He shifted in his chair and put his foot up on the ottoman. “I noticed you seemed a bit tight during dinner and when you and Dad finally came out onto the deck. You always get a little...you know...quiet when we talk about some of Dad’s ways. Why does it bother you so much?”
Ethan was always ready for a good round of jokes but had never liked that his father didn’t believe it was necessary to share his approval of his boys. He understood Bill’s sternness and he loved his parents immensely, but he also knew something about them that his siblings didn’t. He’d been warned never to tell a soul. Ethan and his siblings were close, and they had always shared everything—except this one secret. And it was because of this secret that Ethan desired Bill’s approval the most.
“I don’t know, man,” he finally responded. “It’s just important to me, I guess. It’s hard for me to make light of.”
“It’s important to me, too, but despite that, we know how proud he is of us whether he says it or not.”
“Of course. But it would still be nice to hear that directly from him.”
“True.” Carter nodded and sipped his scotch.
“Let’s get to the subject on the forefront of everyone’s mind.” A Cheshire grin spread across Ethan’s face. He looked back at the door to make sure no one was approaching. “So Edison made it to a second family dinner. Is she on her way to being my new sister-in-law?”
“Whoa, whoa. Been there... Well, almost,” Carter said of the wedding that hadn’t actually happened. “Not sure about going back. Edison and I are friends just having a good time. That’s all.”
“Cool. Just enjoying each other’s company, huh?”
“Till the wheels blow off.”
Ethan chuckled. “Uh-huh.” Since the disastrous end to Carter’s engagement a few years ago, he’d taken to running from love like he was being chased by a wild animal. He hadn’t dated seriously in years and it wasn’t due to a lack of options. However, it was nice to see him enjoying one woman’s company even if it was short-lived.
Their conversation reminded Ethan about Zoe. He enjoyed her company a lot, too. He knew he shouldn’t but Ethan wished for more time like that with her. The conversation never dulled. Even their periods of silence were comfortable. He cleared his throat. She penetrated his thoughts way too often. Maybe he needed to find someone else’s company to enjoy so he could take his focus off Zoe. He couldn’t be with her anyway.
He leaned toward Carter as if he had a grand secret to tell and asked, “Does your friend have a friend?”
“Ha! She has plenty of friends, but you wouldn’t be interested.”
Ethan reared his head back. “Why wouldn’t I?”
Carter tossed him a skeptical stare.
Ethan held his hands up. “What?”
“One word... Zoe.”
Ethan looked back at the door again. “What? Zoe! She’s my employee,” he said incredulously.
“And that doesn’t seem to stop you from being sweet on her.”
“Wh-what?” he stammered.
“You can fake it with your team, but I know you too well, brother. You’ve been sweet on her since the day she stepped into your office for her first interview. Not that you’ve done anything wrong,” Carter assured him. “And before you ask, no, there aren’t any rumors sliding around that I know of. I just know you. I see it as clear as a sunny day. It’s in your eyes when you speak about her. The way you smile at the mention of her name. It’s evident in the way you try to avoid her when everyone is around. You can fool them, boy, but you can’t fool me.”
Ethan closed his gaping mouth. There was nothing to say. He was close to all his siblings, but the tie between him and Carter was even more unbreakable. Now his father was suspicious, too. He thought back to their earlier conversation. Bill was right. There was too much at stake. Aside from his possible promotion, Ethan would hate to be the cause of something terrible happening to Blackwell’s reputation at such a critical time. He needed to be more careful around Zoe.
“Yet she’s untouchable,” he said.
“It doesn’t help that she’s gorgeous.” Carter smirked, looked out over the massive yard and took another sip of his drink.
Ethan chuckled before taking a sip of his own scotch. He sighed. What more could he say? Zoe was working her way into his system beyond his control. And she was totally off-limits.
Nine
Zoe loved the city, but the energy and excitement of Manhattan came at a cost. After navigating the thick rush-hour crowds on the Long Island Rail Road and subway system for this month’s management meeting, she was glad she no longer had to deal with that commute on a daily basis.
The weather reports predicted a storm would roll through the city late that evening, but strong winds had already begun to kick up. Wall Street ended abruptly at the Hudson River, and that coupled with the high winds added an unseasonable chill to the air.
Zoe held her coat tight at the neck. The wind beat her face and blew fiercely through her hair, giving her more to contend with as she pushed her way through downtown streets toward the headquarters for Blackwell Wealth Management. It was too early for scarves and gloves, but she wished she had put both on before leaving the house. If the winds were any stronger, she imagined they would pick her up and set her down a few yards back.
Their monthly management meetings usually lasted a full day, but Bill had already mentioned they were likely to end the meeting early to allow everyone to get home safely before the hurricane they’d been tracking would hit their area. Zoe had stocked her and her mother’s refrigerators with anything and everything they could possibly need to ride out the storm. She looked forward to a cozy night and full weekend of wine, pajamas, movies and snacks.
She was glad her sister’s health was stabilized. When she’d gone to speak with Shena at their mother’s house that one night, she’d convinced Shena to get back on her medicine. Shena agreed and had been doing well since. Hopefully it would last. Maybe Zoe would even have Shena join her, or she’d go to her mother’s house and spend her movie-watching, pajama-wearing weekend with them. The day was just starting. She had plenty of time to decide.
Braving the increasing winds, Zoe made it into the office fifteen minutes early. She checked in with Security and headed up the twenty flights to Blackwell’s offices.
Some of the team had already arrived. Her colleagues stood around the conference room in clusters of two and three, gnawing on fruit and bagels. The smell of fresh-brewed coffee scented the air, and her stomach growled.
“Stand down!” She swatted her belly playfully before placing her coat and bag in a seat next to her fellow branch manager, Jasmine.
Jasmine stopped chewing and chuckled into her hand. “I felt the same way,” she said. “I was starving by the time I got here.”
“I actually had a fistfight with the wind,” Zoe joked. She gestured at her windblown hair. “Obviously I lost.”
“Ha!” Jasmine laughed. “It still looks better than mine.” She pointed to her own head. It wasn’t bad, but it wasn’t the perfectly coiffed style she normally wore.
“Be right back.” Zoe spun around and headed to the bathroom to assess the damage done to her hair. She finger-combed some of it back into place, fres
hened her lipstick and washed her hands before returning to the conference room.
She headed to the array of pastries on the console in the back of the conference room. Choosing a sesame bagel, she dug out the bready center and filled it with cream cheese. Then she made herself a steaming cup of coffee and flavored it with a creamer. She took a long, slow sniff. The French vanilla creamer made her mouth water.
After a bite and a sip, she moaned. “Jazz,” she began, shortening Jasmine’s name, “either this is the best darn bagel and coffee I’ve ever had or I’m hungry as heck!”
“I promise you’re hungry as heck, but enjoy nonetheless,” Jasmine said.
The women laughed just as Ethan and Carter walked through the doors. Zoe sat a little straighter, noting the impact of his presence on her every single time. She would sit straighter, smile harder, smooth her hair into place even if it wasn’t mussed. She’d check her teeth for lipstick stains. His presence kept her on guard whether she admitted it or not. She just hoped no one else noticed. Quickly, she tried to eject a sesame seed that had lodged its way into the small gap between her two front teeth before speaking.
“Morning!” Carter sang.
“Good morning, everyone.” Ethan’s deep voice rolled through her like electrified molasses. It was sweet but still made her tingle.
Morning greetings sprang out across the room.
“Some wind out there, huh?” he acknowledged as he pulled off his overcoat and sat directly across from Zoe.
She would have preferred for him to sit next to her. It would have been easier not to have to look into his gorgeous face. Now she’d have to actively avoid looking at him. She had also caught him staring on several occasions.
Moments later, everyone else had arrived and settled into their seats with various combinations of breakfast foods on paper plates. Bill walked into the room, snatching all the attention. He was a distinguished-looking gentleman who carried himself with perfect posture. His stature exuded importance yet was still warm. Ethan was just like his father.
“Good morning, all, let’s dig right in. We’ll try to get you all out of here as soon as possible so you can go on home and get comfortable before this big storm sweeps in tonight. Dillon, let’s start with your territory.”
“Certainly, Bill.” Dillon’s team stood and made their way to the front of the room to report on their progress.
Carter’s team went next and the reporting was rounded out by Ethan’s. Carter led in number of new clients, but Ethan’s team was in the lead with the amount of assets acquired. Dillon was close behind on both.
There was so much to go over. Despite how swiftly they moved from one subject to another, the hours rolled on, and before they knew it, it was time for lunch. They jumped right into the next topics after lunch and planned to shorten some of the reports and presentations to let everyone start on their way home.
Suddenly, Bill’s executive assistant, Monica, ran into the room to tell the team what was happening outside. At twenty stories off the ground in a sturdy steel-reinforced skyscraper, they were cushioned from the true impact of the elements. All they saw were gray skies and rain.
Bill switched one of the several flat screens from its usual financial channel to the breaking news Monica had told the group about. Everyone balked at what they saw.
The storm was hitting earlier, harder and faster than anyone had expected. Strong winds had already knocked out power lines in areas right outside and around the city. Several trains in the subway system were affected by the outages and were now dealing with signal problems. Large debris had been blown across the rails for some of the commuter trains. Zoe hoped she could get out of the city without any major delays.
Bill called the meeting to a close and told everyone to make their way home as best they could and to check in once they arrived. The group said quick goodbyes and headed out.
Jasmine, Brian, Zoe and Ethan, who were all headed to Long Island, agreed to travel to Penn Station together. Less than twenty minutes later, they arrived to find the station in a state of complete chaos, teeming with people waiting on trains and complaining of delays and cancellations. They navigated through the dense crowd as closely as possible, trying to find information on when their trains would depart to Long Island.
Jasmine found that her train was leaving in seven minutes. She hugged her coworkers and raced through the throngs of people toward her platform. Brian decided to head to his mother’s house in Queens and jumped on a subway that was still operating. That left Ethan and Zoe to wait on information about their trains.
Zoe dialed Jasmine to make sure she’d boarded safely.
“I made it, but you won’t believe how many people are on this train,” Jasmine said breathlessly. “I’m squished against the door. A lot of folks couldn’t get on and have to wait for the next one. What time is your train leaving?”
“Lucky you. I don’t know what time my train will leave. They pushed the departure back. They keep changing the information. The signaling problems seem to be affecting more and more lines. Let me know when you get home, okay?”
“And you do the same,” Jasmine replied.
“Look at this.” Ethan held his phone out so Zoe could see what he was watching. He handed her one of his earbuds so she could hear over the noise in the station.
She watched and listened in awe as a weather situation like none she’d ever seen in all her days as a New Yorker played out before her. This was worse than the superstorm the city had experienced several years before.
Breaking news announced that the storm had in fact hit the tristate area well in advance of when they’d anticipated, bringing with it harsh elements and extreme winds. It had already dumped several inches of rain across New Jersey and was dumping just as much over New York City. It swept across the city with a swift vengeance. There was even talk of tornadoes touching down in some areas. The hurricane ravaged the area, uprooting trees, flooding homes and businesses and leaving thousands without power.
“Wow.” All Zoe could do was shake her head. She and Ethan continued to wait for updates from the stations. For a long time, it didn’t look like any trains were pulling out at all.
After she and Ethan had been waiting well over an hour and a departure time for her train still hadn’t been posted, Zoe was beginning to believe she wasn’t going to make it home. She called to check on her mother and sister. Fortunately they were safe in her mother’s house.
“Keep us posted, honey. Let us know what’s happening. Come here if it’s easier for you than getting home.”
“Thanks, Ma! I’ll let you know.”
Zoe ended her call and huffed. What if she couldn’t get out of the city? She’d have to stay at a hotel. She didn’t have any close friends in Manhattan.
She and Ethan listened to more news and continued checking the board for any updates on departures. Each time an announcement blared over the PA system, she prayed they would mention her train. Instead they announced more cancellations and delays.
“Any updates on your train?” she asked Ethan at last.
“No, but I’ll be okay. I have an apartment here in the city if I can’t get back home,” he admitted. “I lived downtown while attending grad school and decided to keep the place after graduating. I go there sometimes after work or if I don’t feel like heading to Long Island after hanging out late. You’re welcome to stay there if you’d like. I don’t keep the refrigerator or cabinets as well stocked as I do my home on Long Island but there’s enough to get by.”
“Thanks for the offer, but I’ll figure something out.” Zoe was grateful but didn’t think staying at her good-looking boss’s house was the best idea.
Her phone rang. It was Jasmine. “Hey. How’s it going?”
“I can’t hear you!” Jasmine said.
Zoe repeated herself more loudly. Penn Station was now filled to the brim
with panicking riders worrying about getting home to kids and pets.
“I just got off the train.” Jasmine was yelling into the phone. “The parking lot is flooded. I’ve never seen anything like this before. I’m wading through water to get to my car now. How are you making out?”
Zoe huffed. “I’m still at Penn Station. Only a few trains left right after yours. Nothing else has moved since then. It’s been well over an hour.”
“Oh my goodness. What are you going to do? If they don’t start letting trains through soon, you’ll have to get a room, Zoe!”
“Ugh. What a nightmare. I’m hoping this passes through as quickly as it came.”
“You and me both,” Jasmine said.
“Text me when you’re home safe.”
“Okay. And you let me know if you make it home or end up staying in the city,” Jasmine insisted.
“Will do.” Zoe shook her head before adding, “Have a good weekend despite the weather.”
“I prepared, so let’s hope all goes well.”
“Okay. Talk to you later.” Zoe ended the call. She had to figure out her next move. “Ethan, you don’t have to wait on me. If these trains don’t start moving soon, I’ll get a hotel for the night.” She smiled at him. “I appreciate you making sure I’m okay, but I don’t want to hold you up any longer. You could be warm, safe and dry in your apartment by now. Oh! And how’d your brother and father make out?”
“Don’t worry about me,” he insisted. “I want to make sure you’re okay. I just spoke to Brian. He made it to his mother’s house. Carter and Dad are fine. Carter jumped on the subway to his place in downtown Brooklyn and Dad made it across the Williamsburg Bridge just before it was shut down due to winds and flooding.”
“The Williamsburg was shut down?” Zoe asked in disbelief. This truly was another superstorm.
“Yep. Can’t believe it. The news said some subway stations were closed due to flooding, as well.”
“Whoa.” She shook her head. It seemed that she’d definitely have to spend the night in Manhattan. She looked around at the crowded train station. All she could see were tightly packed people for yards.