With three kids, but a lawyer for a husband, Dannika’s risks weren’t exactly the same as mine. If she knew I’d had my share of our startup in savings for over a year now, she’d be so upset, but I couldn’t bring myself to tell her. The risks still terrified me. As brave as I wanted to be, my comfort zone wasn’t such a bad place to be.
Before I could respond, I watched as Mr. Cumberland appeared in my doorway. “Palmer, welcome back. We’ve missed you.”
“Yeah, you’re such a hero, Palmer. Coming back to work less than two weeks after having a human literally exit your body,” Howie said, enunciating the words. “Even before your doctor cleared you.”
Mr. Cumberland nodded enthusiastically, not realizing—or caring—the comments were sarcastic. “Palmer’s a fighter, always has been.”
Dannika rolled her eyes, not bothering to hide her irritation. “It would really be a shame if she were able to take more time off, wouldn’t it?”
“Why on earth would she want to do that?” he asked. “Did they already tell you about your client meeting today? Big deal!” His fingers rubbed together, gesturing that I’d make a lot of money, ergo, he’d make a lot of money.
“They mentioned Grant Anderson, yes,” I said, smiling politely. I didn’t have enough energy to hate the man standing in front of me. Not for being unwilling to give me paid time off, not for not even mentioning Gray, not even for expecting me to jump straight into work. I just didn’t have it in me.
Dannika’s brows shot up, and I knew she wanted me to admit she was right. If we had our own business, I could work from home when I needed to. She could’ve taken on the extra clients to give me the time off with Gray.
Someday…
Mr. Cumberland sat down in front of my desk. “I needed to talk to you two about the month’s numbers, anyway. Howie, can you send Ethan in?”
“Sure thing,” Howie said, stepping back from the office at his apparent dismissal.
Already, we were in a business meeting.
Welcome back.
“Well, I can certainly look into the ice sculpture of your logo. We hire a company in Oceanside that handles them. You’ll love their work. We could even have them do the Anderson Enterprises name and then the logo below, if you’d like. I can have them draft up a few options for you to choose from.”
Grant Anderson nodded, his eyes trained on his phone. He wasn’t really listening and kept having to have me repeat things.
“Does that work?”
“Yes, yes, definitely. Just have them send them over.”
“Okay, great,” I said, letting out a sigh. It was just after three, and my breasts were swollen with milk. I needed to pump desperately, but our meeting had run longer than expected. “So, then we just need to go over a catering list and I think we have all the basics.”
“I’ve already chosen everything I’d like served. It’s in the packet there,” he said, waving his hand toward me. “Now, do you hire the wait staff?”
“Yes, like I mentioned before, we’ll take care of handling—”
“One moment—”
He held up a hand, answering his phone. “Hello?”
I jerked my head back in shock. He couldn’t be serious.
“Hey, no, sorry, I was in the middle of something. What’s the status?” He paused. “No kidding? Yeah, we should. Call that girl from the other night, too…what was her name?” Another pause. “No, the one from Cincinnati. Yes, that’s the one.” Again, another pause. “We’ll take the jet.”
I tapped my fingers on the tabletop in the conference room, my breasts so tight, itchy, and uncomfortable, I knew I was going to be leaking any moment. It was the third phone call he’d answered in our two-hour-long meeting, where we’d only covered half of what we needed to, despite only being scheduled for an hour.
This client is important.
This client could change my life.
This client is infuriating.
“Oh my God, you didn’t? Okay, yeah, you have to tell me what happened.” He paused, letting out a laugh. “I would’ve died.”
Anger radiated through me and, finally, I could take no more. I stood from the table, shoving my chair back. I grabbed my things.
“Hey—hey—ho—hold up. Hang on.” He put his fingers over the speaker. “It’ll just be a minute,” he promised, already returning to his conversation. “Sorry, man.”
“No, it won’t be a minute,” I said, shaking my head. His attention was pulled back to me.
“Excuse me?”
“You had me booked for an hour, and it’s now been two.” I glanced at my watch, though I knew I was correct. “I’m one of the most sought-after event planners in the South, Mr. Anderson, as you well know. If you have no time for this meeting, I’ll ask that you reschedule. I, for one, don’t have time to sit here any longer. You’ve wasted enough of my time.” I lifted my folders to my chest to cover my light-colored blazer as his eyes fell to my chest.
He put the phone down, looking shocked. “I don’t think you realize how big of a deal this party could be for your company, Ms. Lewis. I’d think that running a little long would be worth it for you.”
“Well—” I dug in my heels. Cumberland was going to kill me. “You thought wrong. You may find planners who will sit and let you walk all over them, but I am not one of those. My time is valuable, Mr. Anderson, and I have other clients to attend to. Losing your business will not be the end of the world for me, but losing my time and attention may well hurt your party. I am the best in the business, which means I don’t have to sit around and get treated like this. I’m sure you’re very used to being able to treat people how you please, but I am not one of your staff. This commission doesn’t mean that much to me, I assure you. I have a meeting in a half hour, and I need to prepare. Your time is up.”
He pressed a button on his screen, standing from the table, and for just a moment, I thought he was going to demand to speak to Mr. Cumberland.
“Are you allowed to speak to me like that?” he asked, one brow raised.
Truth was, I had no idea. Reality was, I didn’t care. I needed this job, but there was no way Cumberland was going to fire me. I’d built well over half of the company’s client list. I was insanely good at my job. But at the current moment, my health had to come first. I needed to pump, and it just couldn’t wait.
“I guess we’ll find out,” I said, keeping my eyes locked on his. I wouldn’t waver. I held out a hand, gesturing toward the door. I should’ve said it was nice to meet him, at the very least, but it wasn’t, and I wasn’t planning to lie.
He shoved his phone into his pocket before adjusting his blazer and walking around the table. When he stopped in front of me, he held out a hand. I stared at it.
“I’m very sorry to have wasted your time, Ms. Lewis. I’ll have my secretary email you with the details of what I would like.” His smoky eyes drilled into mine, a slight grin on his lips.
“Y-you’re still hiring me?” I asked, accepting his hand. His grip was firm, and he nodded solemnly.