Return to Rosewood Beach (Rosewood Beach #1)
Chapter 1
CHAPTER ONE
Julia Owens stood in front of the full-length mirror in her New York apartment and turned slowly back and forth, inspecting her reflection. Early morning sunlight streamed across the floorboards of her chic bedroom, glinting on the glossy sheen of her toenail polish.
“No, that’s not right either,” she murmured, frowning a little as she looked at the emerald-green blazer that she’d paired with a black pencil skirt. She didn’t want to look like she was asking for attention, and the green was too bright, she decided. But the skirt looked good, and she could pair it with the black heels she’d bought yesterday.
She took a deep breath, smiling a little to herself. A nervous, tingling kind of excitement was pulsing through her—it was that same excitement that had woken her up at five-thirty in the morning and prevented her from going back to sleep.
She glanced at the clock. It was now six-fifteen, and she’d been spending a little over half an hour trying to decide on her outfit for the day. She wanted to look and feel her best—and give off all the right signals—before the meeting later that morning. It was very important that she settled on an outfit that looked just right.
As she started to take off the blazer, a yawn overpowered her. She blinked, telling herself that she should go into the kitchen and start making some coffee.
I should have gotten more sleep before this big meeting, she thought, tucking the blazer back inside her perfectly organized, color-coded closet. But I’m just too jittery.
She smiled as she pulled a white blouse with a fancy collar out of her closet. She was going to do exceptionally well today, she felt sure of it. The last time the advertising firm she worked for had taken on a new client, they’d had the advertising event in Los Angeles, and she’d headed it up. That new client had been an organic dog food company, and Julia had done a fantastic job at the event.
She closed her eyes, focusing on remembering that day as a means of bolstering her confidence. She remembered the way she’d spoken to the representatives from the dog food company, and the positive way they’d responded?—
She frowned for a moment, remembering some strange tension that had happened between her and her coworkers that day, but in the next moment, she brushed that memory aside. Emotions were always high during big events, and it wasn’t something she should worry about. That partnership with the organic dog food company had been a success, and she figured that all’s well that ends well.
She opened her eyes again and finished putting on the blouse. It was made of satin, and it was pleasantly soft to the touch.
“There.” She grinned at her reflection, turning back and forth and inspecting herself. “That’s it. I look like I’m ready to take on the whole world of advertising.”
Once her outfit was decided on, she got back into her pajamas, since she didn’t want to get her clothes wrinkly. She still had a lot of time before she needed to leave for the office, and she wanted to make herself a healthy breakfast and do her makeup carefully.
She went into the kitchen and started a pot of coffee brewing. She used a gourmet coffee that she’d bought out in Los Angeles at an adorable little tea and coffee shop, and the air was soon filled with the rich, nutty aroma of the brewing beverage.
She prepared a banana mango smoothie for herself, along with a fried egg sandwich with avocado and tomato. She wanted to make sure she ate enough to give herself the mental energy she would need, especially since she hadn’t gotten as much sleep as she should have.
She was used to planning all the details of her life carefully, the way she was planning that morning carefully. Ever since she’d graduated from college, she’d been determined to be successful in her advertising career. She’d worked hard and calculated all of her decisions with precision, making sure she always came out on top.
She ate her breakfast as she checked her emails and jotted down notes in her planner. The food was delicious, but she was focused more on her work than tasting it. When she’d finished, she went into her bathroom and started to carefully do her makeup and hair. It took her half an hour, and as she worked, she practiced how she would introduce herself to her firm’s new potential partners by speaking into the mirror.
The new potential client was Cutie Pie, a baby product company, and it was a huge organization—it had the ability to skyrocket her company to greater heights if everything went well and Cutie Pie signed on to do business with them. She felt eager to take on the challenge of making sure she and her coworkers made an excellent impression on Cutie Pie. She’d already studied their products in great detail—something she’d done as soon as she’d heard they might be signing on. Although she didn’t have any kids of her own and she wasn’t particular familiar with baby products, she’d done her research and she already had a lot of great ideas for advertisements. She’d always been great at coming up with innovative ideas, even for products she didn’t use.
She finished her makeup and stepped back from the mirror, smiling in approval over her appearance. She gave herself a brisk nod, feeling that she was ready at last for her big day. She got dressed into her work clothes, and just before leaving her apartment, she grabbed a chic black raincoat to throw on—it was early April, and still often cold and rainy.
She made her way through downtown New York City to the skyscraper where her advertising firm, Caldunski Inc., had their offices. Her heels clicked across the cement as she hurried up to the glass front doors. She stepped inside and was greeted by the feeling of cool air on her face and the familiar smell of the downstairs lobby, which always had a lingering aroma of patchouli.
She took the elevator up to her floor, adjusting her bracelets and giving herself an internal pep talk. She checked her reflection in the elevator mirror, making sure that the up-do she’d created with her long brown hair was still smooth. Her sharp, well-defined features looked particularly attractive because of the way she’d done her makeup, and she felt her confidence surge.
She stepped out of the elevator and made her way toward the meeting room. She’d arrived before the meeting was due to start, but she saw no harm in sitting down at the table a little early. Punctuality looked professional. She put on a confident smile as she strode toward the meeting room, even though her heart was fluttering a little bit with nervousness.
“Hey, Julia?”
Julia turned and saw the firm’s secretary, Kenzie, hurrying toward her with a worried expression.
“Good morning, Kenzie.” She smiled cheerfully at the other woman. “You look great,” she added, admiring Kenzie’s bright pink blazer, although she was glad she herself hadn’t worn anything that flashy. Secretaries could wear whatever they wanted, really—she needed to make a more professional impression than that.
“Thanks,” Kenzie stammered, looking a little uncomfortable.
“Is everything okay?” Julia frowned, curious as to why Kenzie was acting so oddly.
“Has Marshall talked to you yet?”
Julia shook her head, feeling a sudden sense of foreboding in her stomach. “No, he hasn’t. Not today. Why?”
At that moment, their boss, Marshall, stepped out of his office and nodded at Julia. The look on his face was somewhat grim, and the sloshy feeling in Julia’s stomach intensified.
“Come on into my office for a minute, Julia,” he said, not quite making eye contact with her.
“Um, okay.” She turned to Kenzie, wondering what was going on, but the secretary avoided eye contact with her as well.
Straightening her shoulders, Julia followed Marshall inside his office. He gestured for her to take a seat in the chair placed on the opposite of his desk, and she sat down, trying not to squirm.
“I hope this won’t take long, Marshall.” She gave him her best polite smile, trying to hide the way her insides were wiggling like jelly. “I don’t want to be late for the meeting. You shouldn’t be either.”
Marshall inhaled slowly through both nostrils, and then he exhaled. “Julia, you’re not going to be at the meeting. There’s no need for your services in this new advertising deal.”
She felt as though the floor was tilting slightly, she was so stunned. “What—what do you mean?” She shook her head, not sure what to make of his statement. “What on earth are you talking about?”
Marshall inhaled slowly and then exhaled again. “I mean, that as a matter of fact—” He paused, taking another inhale and exhale. It was clear to her that he was searching for his words. “We’ve decided to do away with your position altogether.”
Her jaw dropped, and her body felt hot and then cold all over.
“You’re firing me?”
Marshall cleared his throat delicately, still avoiding eye contact.
“On a Monday morning? Ten—no, seven minutes before a major meeting with a potential client? You realize I studied for this meeting, Marshall? I did work on this.” Her shock was quickly giving way to anger. “Am I really being fired?”
“I wasn’t choosing that terminology, but?—”
“You couldn’t find one moment this weekend to tell me? You couldn’t even send an email or a text? I had to get all dressed up and come down here so I could pack up my desk while everyone’s here to see me walk out?”
Although his expression remained blank, the tips of Marshall’s ears were starting to turn slightly pink. “I’ve been busy preparing for this meeting.”
“What kind of a lame excuse is that? I’ve been busy all weekend preparing too. And for what? I did all that work for nothing.”
He cleared his throat. “I concede that I should have found the time to let you know sooner.”
She stared at him, still reeling from the news. Her anger was beginning to shift into an unpleasant feeling that was similar to getting punched in the stomach. For a few moments, she struggled to get any words out, and then she stammered, “Why am I being fired?”
He glanced at his watch, frowning and twitching his shoulders a little.
“It’s nothing personal, Julia, just the usual downsizing that all companies have to do from time to time. Unfortunately, I don’t have a lot of time to discuss this right now. I have the meeting with Cutie Pie, and I don’t want to be late.” He hesitated for a moment, and then said, “I’ll send you the details via email, along with information about your severance package. And the final documentation of your termination, of course.”
A million thoughts seemed to race through her brain at once.
She wondered why Marshall thought that it was unpleasant to say the word “fired,” but he seemed to have no problem using the word “termination.” She wondered why he couldn’t have just taken a few minutes to fire her over email if that was how he was choosing to really explain the whole thing to her anyway. She wondered what on earth she was going to do, where was she going to go next.
Marshall cleared his throat gently and Julia stood, feeling stunned. She didn’t say goodbye to him, she simply walked out the door and down the hallway to her office. Her one consolation, she thought bitterly, was that most people would be in the meeting while she was leaving Caldunski Inc. with her stuff and she wouldn’t have an audience for her departure.
She had to blink back tears as she took down her pictures, utensil holders, and knickknacks and began to stuff them all into her purse. It was a large purse, and they almost all fit, but not quite. She had to sneak past the meeting room to get an empty cardboard box from the mail room. She could hear the sounds of the meeting going on, and she winced, wishing she could be in there to share all of her ideas.
As she was leaving the building, a wave of nostalgia swept over her. She’d been so excited for that job, so sure that it was her next step in climbing the ladder of success. Now there she was, being ushered out with her tail between her legs.
She took a back door out onto the sidewalk, since she didn’t want to walk through the lobby and be seen by everyone who was getting into the elevators. She wasn’t dressed for showing up to the office to clean out her desk—she was dressed for a meeting. It looked like she’d done something terrible within the first five minutes of work and gotten thrown out on her ear.
She strode across the sidewalk, feeling dazed as she tried to hail a cab. Her head was spinning, and she knew she needed to try to concoct some kind of plan, but she was still reeling from the shock and disappointment and hurt of it all.
What on earth had just happened?