by Stella Rhys
We took turns driving from ballpark to ballpark, and we took detours here and there, just to extend our time alone. We stopped in little towns, we bought chicken mole tacos from a small Oaxacan restaurant, and we ate leaning against the car, watching the brilliant red sun set across the desert horizon.
It felt like I was collecting sunsets with Adam lately, which I loved because each one came with a new story from the part of his life I didn’t know. His true childhood that he never got to reminisce about with anyone except Heidi.
He talked about failed games of hide and seek with Cole, since Cole could never stand to be anywhere but Adam’s side. He talked about how Heidi had always dreamed of opening a place that served breakfast. He even confessed why he liked Rocky, Heidi’s half-blind, fully elderly chihuahua-pug, so much more than her glorious German Shepherd. As it turned out, the explanation was simple.
“Because Rocky grew up with Cole,” he said, laughing as he watched my face light up with realization—realization that included the fact that I was now partial to Rocky as well.
Sorry, Ruby. Still love you though.
On our last sunset, we tried to figure out when and how he would tell Holland the truth about everything. He’d have to give his dad the heads up, but it was going to have to happen. After a long silence, I said, “I know it’s scary.”
The moment had felt so heavy that I didn’t expect the happy kiss Adam buried in my hair.
“I got you. I can do anything.”
He’d said it almost breezily, so matter-of-factly that I was glad he wasn’t facing me to see me swoon.
After that, we spent an hour trying to figure out if and where our paths could’ve crossed when we were little SoCal kids.
Growing up in Torrance, it wasn’t uncommon for Dad, Mom, Emily and me to make the occasional drive to Los Angeles—mostly to visit relatives, but often to see Lakers games, since my dad was partial to basketball like Adam. But we’d definitely gone to a few Dodgers games growing up, and it was fun imagining little Adam and toddler me cheering for the same home run at some point.
It was mostly silly, but it was also like we needed the explanation for our connection.
It had always been strong, but now it felt bigger than anything else we knew. Like perhaps it was fated. So with his arms wrapped around me, my body leaning back on his chest, we stared out at the burnt orange sky and pictured all the signs we’d missed in the earliest parts of our lives. Clues from the universe that one day, we’d find each other again.
Like I said, it was silly. But it felt so good that it felt like we’d somehow floated back to Los Angeles. I barely remembered the flight home. It just felt like I’d transported from that last Arizona sunset to the dark of his bedroom, and his arms wrapped around me again.
I felt light, just brimming with content the next morning when we headed to work. Adam had to go to a meeting first, so I walked into the office myself.
And upon walking in, I felt a strange energy.
Along with stares. And smiles.
Ummm.
I tried to ignore it as I walked past Carl at reception. I wasn’t getting the bad tinglies, per se, so maybe everyone was just in a good mood?
Okay, but why is everyone grinning at me like this?
It made me nervous, like somehow they knew. Considering the last few days, a part of me thought they really could pick up Adam’s scent on my skin, or maybe just the pure bliss emanating from my soul.
But I had a history of good gut feelings. I trusted my senses, and they were telling me right now that this wasn’t bad energy. It was good.
It was definitely weird though, so as I passed The Pit, I made eye contact with Liza and with the slightest tilt of my head, she followed me into the bathroom.
I was vaguely nervous, but once we were in there alone, I felt a smile burst onto my lips. Mainly because of the smile on hers.
“Okay, so something’s weird,” I said, narrowing my eyes, but unable to stop grinning at her utter giddiness. “Care to tell me what’s going on right now?”
“Ummm.” She stretched the noise out as she bounced once on her heel. “I would really like to,” she said measuredly. “But I don’t want to take that moment away from you, so I’ll just say that we’ve heard… you might get a call into Engelman’s office today.”
I stared.
Then my pulse jumped.
No way.
“What—”
“That’s all I know!” Liza said, and I saw a flash of her excited smile before she turned and disappeared out the bathroom door, leaving me alone to realize that it might actually be happening.
I knew I wasn’t about to be disciplined for anything. I also knew this was the time of year that assistant promotions happened.
For the next few hours, I tried to work normally and avoid celebrating before anything was official, but that was certainly hard when people would come by with work questions only to end our conversation in a grin, a fist bump and a “congrats.”
There was only so long a girl could go before texting Georgia to freak out.
ME: Hi. I’m freaking out.
GEORGIA: Hi. Why??? Did he propose or something?
I laughed. She knew about my last few days with Adam, and the stories definitely had her on a high herself, because she was already asking me what kind of ring I’d want.
ME: No. But I think I’m getting promoted to agent.
GEORGIA: SHUT THE FRONT DOOR.
GEORGIA: IS THIS REAL LIFE??!?
GEORGIA: This has been the best three days of my life and it’s not even my life. I’m overwhelmed. I have to go buy out all the champagne from my local store now.
I was cracking up at my desk, and even harder when twelve minutes later, Georgia texted a picture of her cart at the liquor store.
“Holy crap,” I muttered to myself just as I got a call at my desk. I picked it up fast, and my eyes fluttered wide as I heard the hilariously brash, scratchy sound of Engelman’s voice.
“AJ. Get your ass in my office.”
“You fucking knew.”
An hour later, I was in Adam’s office, standing in front of his desk and shaking my head like I was pissed at him.
But we both knew I was so far from that.
“Let’s not act like this was a cakewalk for me, alright? I’ve known since Monday when we signed Knox, and I managed to keep it from you this whole time,” Adam grinned as he leaned back in his chair with his gaze dancing on me, because we both knew we wanted to be touching each other right now. All over each other. But he’d just come back from his meeting, I’d just been awarded my fucking dream job and the attention of the entire office was still trained on me.
I could literally feel the eyes of The Pit watching us down the hall with amusement right now, so it felt like closing his door at this particular moment would be a bad idea. Adam and I were still high from Arizona, there was hot adrenaline coursing through our bodies, and we wanted nothing more than to indulge our needs to touch, taste and lose ourselves in each other.
But with the big spotlight shining on me, all we could do was grin big at each other and react as professionally as possible to this news with the door wide open.
“I’m usually better at reading your bullshit,” I said, hands on my hips as I tsked at myself.
Adam laughed. “What can I say? I still have the advantage in that department.”
“What, bullshitting? I won’t argue that. You can keep that lead, I don’t want it,” I snorted, heading out of his office to confirm the grins of The Pit on us.
“You won’t be saying that when I sign clients out from under you with my bullshitting skills,” Adam called out the hall to me, prompting the chuckles and quick congratulations from the people nearest my desk.
I gave them the obligatory fuckin’ Adam eye roll as I grabbed my phone to text Adam. But he beat me to it.
ADAM: Speaking of bullshit
I suppressed the actual giggle I felt at the back of my th
roat.
AJ: I know. Are we going to have to get used to putting that act on every day?
ADAM: Probably
AJ: Fine by me as long as we even it out :)
ADAM: What do you suggest?
AJ: Lunch break at your house so you can fuck me over the kitchen counter
ADAM: Done. Though I should point out that we’ve made perfect use of the file room before
AJ: I know. But the file room is for quiet orgasms and that’s not what I want today
ADAM: Goddammit
ADAM: Exactly how hard are you trying to make me right now
I bit my grin back as the giggle made its way out of my lips.
Okay, so this secret dating thing was going to be torture, but at least it was going to be the fun kind. I already had a preview of how our future days at this office were going to look. Our offices were going to be farther apart now, and I was going to have fewer excuses to talk to him all the time, but it was more than doable given we could text.
It actually put a new spin to our relationship in the office.
ADAM: How the fuck could you do this to me right now AJ
I snorted when I got that 11AM text from Adam.
I knew he was on his way to a meeting, so I decided to piss him off by sending him the picture I’d just taken in the bathroom—just a selfie with my shirt unbuttoned and the cups of my bra pulled down.
It was timed to torment him just the right amount before we met up for lunch.
ADAM: I’m going straight from the meeting to my house. I want you fully naked over my counter by the time I walk in
AJ: You’re not the boss of me anymore
I grinned to myself, because I could imagine the way his jaw was clenching in his car right now.
ADAM: How hard are you trying to get me to fuck you?
AJ: As hard as possible
ADAM: You don’t have to worry about that. See you at 1
In case anyone was looking my way, I refrained from chewing the corner of my lip.
But I did wait anxiously for lunch, eyeing the clock more than usual as I sifted through the applications that had come in for my job as Adam’s assistant. The posting had apparently been put up on the company website the day we signed Knox, so there were already loads to go through.
I had finally found a decent one when Kenzie came by my desk, craning her neck to look into Adam’s office.
“He’s out for a meeting,” I said.
“I know.”
I looked up. She was standing right next to my desk now, playing with her hair as she stared at the resume on my screen.
“Do you need something, Kenzie?” I asked, frowning because I could already feel a strange vibe coming off of her. For starters, she never hung out at my desk, but it seemed that for once, she’d come by to talk not to Adam, but me.
I sensed eyes from the office peering our way as she just stood there, leaning over now, reading this resume over my shoulder.
When she finally stood up again, she said, “I’ll be his new assistant.”
“You can always apply if you want,” I said, since it was better than saying, you do not possess the attention span or actual skill set to perform well in this job.
Kenzie’s mouth spread in a placid smile as she slid her eyes to me. “I was at the party,” she said.
I frowned. “What party?”
“The Minx party.”
My heart dropped.
Suddenly, her odd little smile made a lot more sense to me. I could feel my stomach lurching, my pulse picking up as I tried to figure out what to say to fake cluelessness. But she hadn’t actually said anything incriminating yet.
Of course, that all changed within the second.
“You guys are a cute couple.”
My blood rushed in my ears as I felt the spotlight on me brighten, getting bigger, wider by the second, just like Kenzie’s smile.
There was a taunting malice in her voice as she asked, “How long have you guys been together?”
“Kenzie—what are you talking about?” I finally said. “We attend events together all the time. There’s nothing new about this.”
“You don’t have to pretend, AJ. Why else would he threaten to quit if you weren’t promoted instead of Davis?”
I stared.
Everyone did.
Somewhere down by The Pit, someone said “no fucking way.” Maybe Davis, but I couldn’t tell, because along with my heart hammering in my ears, I heard this ringing sound now. Panic.
I felt like I was drowning in it, but I made sure to give nothing but my best poker face as I spoke calmly to Kenzie.
“Kenzie, none of that is true. But I’m not going to dignify this conversation by explaining to you that I earned that promotion. My work here speaks for itself,” I said, returning her challenging stare until she arched an eyebrow, smirked and walked away.
My heart continued to slam as I exchanged “what the fuck” looks with the people around me. They were offended, just as perplexed as me.
At least they were in that particular moment.
But as the minutes ticked by, I felt a trickle in the air. A slow and gradual shift in attitude as people got the time to pass by each other’s desks, talk under their breaths and basically confer with each other.
Is she really sleeping with him?
I didn’t have to hear the question to know that it was the subject of at least a handful of the hushed conversations and private texts that unfolded over the course of the next hour.
I forced myself to work through it.
It was my worst nightmare. Everything I had feared. But it wasn’t true. I had put in the work and the time. I’d watched less deserving people get promoted over me the past few years. I knew I’d earned this job.
But by 12:30, the judging quiet of the office was so suffocating that I got up to leave. I couldn’t be here right now.
And I couldn’t even care if they knew I was going straight to Adam.
36
ADAM
It was midday on a Tuesday, but instead of being at the office, AJ and I were home, the house so quiet you could hear a pin drop.
As far as the office was concerned, we were out at meetings, but the reality was that neither of us could stomach being there.
It had been four days since her promotion, and we’d had all of a few hours to celebrate it before I found myself coming home to find AJ sitting on my couch, looking at me calmly, but with wet eyes that indicated she hadn’t been so calm a few minutes prior.
“Tell me you never threatened to quit,” she said as I held her in my arms.
“Never,” I murmured, frowning deeply as I dried her tears.
I’d meant it too.
But it wasn’t till I confronted Engelman about his daughter the next day that he told me not to blame Kenzie.
“I didn’t know you were dating. But it came from your mouth, Maxwell. You said you’d leave if I didn’t reward her.”
My mind had spun and my heart had raced as I stood in that office, suddenly wracking my brain to recall my exact conversation with him.
It was the day after I’d taken AJ to Gizzy’s. The day after my mom saw us together for the first time, after five years of hearing all about her, and several years of chatting her up when she came in alone.
We signed Knox that day and I realized I loved her.
I’d had a casual conversation with Engelman about acknowledging AJ’s work with the company—about recognizing her talent “sooner rather than later, so you don’t lose both her and me.”
I had in fact said that.
I had meant it as a way of saying that if the company didn’t act fairly in promoting who was worthy, I’d have to rethink my position.
I had not intended my words as a threat or ultimatum, and AJ knew that. She assured me she did. She kissed me in the driveway when I got home that night, my car pulling in a minute behind hers. “I know that wasn’t your intention,” she told me.
Bu
t intention didn’t matter.
As much as we tried to hang our days on the fact that she had done the work to earn this promotion—that I hadn’t forced Engelman to award it—it was impossible to go on business as usual. Because the office was turning on her.
And for once, my having her back only made it look worse.
No one said anything outright, but AJ and I both knew the weight she once carried at the office.
She was the resident badass among the assistants within her first eight months of working for me. She dealt with me better than any previous hire, made me easier for everyone at Engelman to work with. She did her job, helped others and earned her respect.
But twelve days after her promotion, that respect was back to zero.
She powered through during the day, as did I. We didn’t acknowledge the dating rumors and spoke to each other as we normally would at the office.
Still, eyes followed us. Followed her. She overheard remarks. And on Monday, I overheard one too.
It came from Josh.
He was in one of the agent’s offices down the hall. I couldn’t see which one, but he was doing his usual thing and hanging around and talking shit.
But this time, it was louder than usual.
For everyone to hear.
“Hey, I’m all about using what you’ve got. I’m just mad I wasn’t the one who got to boss her around.”
I looked up to see the heads in The Pit staring into the office where Josh was.
Then turning to stare down the hall at her.
“Adam.”
AJ was pushing me back into my office before I knew what I was doing, and though I could feel her eyes burning on me, her nails practically digging into my chest, I glared down the hall, waiting to make eye contact with Josh.
And when he finally strolled out of the office and looked our way, his eyebrows waggled. “Whoa. Showtime,” he grinned as AJ hissed at me.