Evidence—the entire Summit deal.
But I don’t have the warehouse to clear my head. I don’t have anyone to fuck. Bristol is in her apartment complex across the city, far away from me. I’m drunk. And if I can’t have her, which I very much cannot, then I’ll settle for talking it out.
I catch Sin’s eye. “What do you think?”
He thinks I shouldn’t have gone forward with the merger in the first place, and he told me so. But Sin looks down at his cards in a surprisingly non-smug way. “Since you’ve already moved your operations, you should go for the fastest resolution. The less time you spend butting heads with Winthrop and Hope, the better.”
“What about you?”
Emerson glances up at me. He’s never given his opinion on the merger, and I’ve never asked him for it. Part of me doesn’t want to know, because I’m sure he thinks it was a waste. Not just letting Hughes acquire my company, but everything that happened before. If he’d known I’d turn out to be a violent prick just like our father, he wouldn’t have wasted his time standing in front of me back then. And part of me just wants him to be on my side, though I’ve annoyed the living hell out of him so often that I can’t imagine why he would be.
“Don’t let them ruin your business,” he said. “You’ve worked too hard for that.”
5
BRISTOL
The address of the new job is in Midtown, which is a farther train ride than the old job. I have to get the twins out the door for school ten minutes earlier. A small price to pay. A really small price. I don’t want to screw up their schedules too badly, but the idea of never seeing Mr. Malcolm again feels like winning a free, all-expenses-paid beach vacation.
I don’t bring the palm tree with me in my purse. For the time being, it stays on my bedside table. Looking at it reminds me of Will and how much he wanted to know about my beach obsession. It’s fine to dwell on that for a few minutes while I fall asleep, but not at work. I need to nail this job.
I’m going to nail this job. The palm tree might be at home, but I brought a little dish and a bag of tropical-flavored Jolly Ranchers in my purse. That’s how I’ll stake out my place at the new company.
Right after I find out which company I’m working for.
The email from the temp agency only included the address and start time, not the company profile. That’s a little weird, but so is getting the job while I’m in the middle of another contract. Googling the building felt like tempting fate, and I didn’t want to be disappointed in front of Sean. Not on the weekend, anyway. If the new job’s terrible, which it won’t be, I’ll tell him about it after work.
Everything about this week seems fresh and new. The fall days are getting shorter, so I climb out of the subway into the light like dawn. It almost makes the city feel clean. This same light would be gorgeous on a white sand beach.
It also looks good shining on the tower I’ve been sent to. My heart lifts at the miles of glass rising into the air. I don’t fall in love with buildings, but if I did, it would be this one. Fancy. Unapologetic. It’s a million stories tall. This is the kind of place that houses companies with serious money. My hourly rate is five dollars more than the last job, so that’s more proof.
My reflection in the tall glass doors looks confident and ready to face the future. She’s not secretly broken-hearted and missing a man who doesn’t miss her. She’s not questioning every move she makes because her con-artist father went missing.
I am confident. I am ready to face the future.
Whether my dad shows up again or not, I need to do the same things—help Mia and Ben through school, put away money, and figure out what I want to do with my life. Sean’s right about one thing. This is the only life I have. If I’m ever going to have a career, I have to go after it. I can’t keep treading water.
Chin up. Smile on. Let’s go.
The lobby of the building has high ceilings and a shining marble floor and a huge directory next to the reception desk.
Hughes Industries, it reads, in big gold letters across the top.
Oh, shit.
My heart moves from a confident, steady tap to a nervous race. I smile harder to cover it. I don’t think anyone’s watching, but I can’t be sure. Beneath the gold Hughes Industries is a department list. Everything here is part of the Hughes’s massive family company.
This must be the official headquarters.
Did Will…ask for me?
Is this an apology? Is this governing? I didn’t think he was capable of that, and a job offer as a temp isn’t the best way to woo a woman, but…
Not now. Not on the first day at the job. I shake out my hair. It looked great in the reflection, and I’m sure it still does. The half-hope, half-dread wind tunnel in my chest is not going to throw me off. Hughes Industries is an enormous company. I can’t just jump to the conclusion that Will is here when he could be in any number of buildings across Manhattan.
One of the men behind the reception desk looks up at me as I approach. “I have you on my list, Ms. Anderson.” He hands over a hard pass that can clip to my pocket and sends me up to another floor. The elevator opens onto a spacious reception area with a round desk. Voices speaking in professional tones hum from the hallways. A phone rings. The woman behind the desk puts her own handset into the cradle and stands up.
“Ms. Anderson. Michael said you’d be on your way.” She comes around the desk and shakes my hand. “I’m Lauren.”
“Bristol. It’s really nice to meet you.” Also, how do you get your hair to look that flawless? Does everybody here look as perfect as you? “I’m reporting for a new position.” I give the name of the temp agency, and she nods along.
“Great. And you’ve got your badge, so you don’t need to stop at reception in the lobby every morning. Perfect. Do you need anything else before I take you down?”
A second to hyperventilate in the bathroom would be great. “Nope! I’m all set to go.”
“Right this way.”
She leads me down a hall behind her round desk. It’s nice in here. The carpet is plush, and there’s no fake wood paneling to be seen. Even the lighting isn’t as fluorescent and abrasive as it is in most companies. We pass meeting rooms, a lounge, and lots of offices. There’s a big space with cubicles in one section.
Lauren doesn’t turn, or slow down.
I think she’s taking me to one of the corner offices. That’s where the important people work. I imagine the beach. Rolling waves. Blue skies. Working for a man with a corner office is always a bit of a risk, but it’s nothing I can’t handle.
Yes, it did technically end badly the last time, but I survived, didn’t I? I got right back on the company horse. At an even bigger and more prestigious company, too. Lots of people would call that a win.
Lauren reaches a door at the end of the hall and goes in.
It’s definitely a corner office.
Did they give Will a corner office? They gave him a superyacht, didn’t they? A corner office would be on that level.
Would I be on that level? A temp contract at Summit was one thing, but this…
Anticipation is a painful knot in my stomach. I might faint, which would make a great first impression at my brand-new job.