The Love of Her Lives: A BRAND NEW unforgettable and utterly emotional summer romance (Must-read Rom

Early March, four years ago

I examined my reflection critically, attempting to smooth down the lapels of my new green Zara blazer, which had gotten a little bunched up in delivery. Damn. I wished I’d thought to press it before my first day, and now it was too late. Hopefully nobody would notice the creases.

The blazer wasn’t the only thing looking less than perfect. Sure, I’d washed and blow-dried my hair, so that was pretty sleek — especially given I’d had my trademark bob re-trimmed just a week ago. But all the make-up in the world wasn’t hiding my tired, puffy eyes.

It had been a mistake to go out with Bonnie on a Sunday night, right before the first day of a new job. Now, after maybe four hours’ sleep with several interruptions due to acidic indigestion from the wine we had drunk, I had to make a good impression with my new boss and colleagues at Magnolia Marketing + Advertising.

I shrugged on my wool coat, as it was still cold this early in March, slid my office shoes into my tote bag, and shoved my feet into sneakers for the walk to the office. It was only twenty minutes away, and I still didn’t own a car. It was hardly worth it, living so centrally in Chicago.

At the sleek, high-rise building, I paused to switch into my pumps before entering the triple-height lobby. This place was even nicer than the offices of Mason, Saunders, Rose, where I’d spent the last two years working in the Marketing department. I’d only been working at the architectural firm for three weeks when Frank and Ange Mason died, and I’d felt an obligation to his memory to stay there, even though the work wasn’t exactly what I was looking for. When the remaining partners had finally changed the firm’s name to Saunders, Rose, Associates, it seemed like a sign that I could move on.

After three months of applying to agencies, I’d landed the role of Digital Strategist at Magnolia, which had a roster of exciting clients — fashion and sportswear brands among them. I’d be writing digital advertising copy, blog content, and marketing emails, and working with a colleague on online ad campaigns. It was the perfect step to developing a great marketing career, and being able to write every day, work with interesting people, and earn enough to rent a studio alone in downtown Chicago.

I would finally be fully self-sufficient, with a good life I had earned on my own merit, despite the hand I’d been dealt with my crappy family background.

I’d be a real person.

I emerged from the elevator on the forty-sixth floor. Through many layers of glass doors, I could already tell that the views were going to be spectacular from up here. I pushed through the first set of doors into reception. “Hi, I’m Millie MacKenzie,” I told the cute young woman at the desk — a redhead, a few years younger than me. “It’s my first day here. I was told to report to reception and Erin would come meet me.”

The receptionist beamed. “Millie! We’ve been looking forward to you joining us. I’ll let Erin know you’re here.” She picked up the phone. “I’m Shira, by the way.”

“Thanks, Shira. It’s nice to meet you.” I stepped away from the glass counter and sat on a white leather chair in a chrome frame. I’d been here only twice before, for the interviews with my new boss, Erin, who had been joined for the second round by two more senior people whose names I’d already forgotten. There would be a lot of new names and faces to remember.

Erin emerged into reception, her blonde hair in a tight ponytail, hand outstretched in greeting. “Millie. Welcome to MMA. Come, let’s get you settled.”

The next two hours were a whirlwind of office information, a tour of MMA’s half of the forty-sixth floor, a meeting with Human Resources, and countless introductions. Eventually, I settled at my desk, which was in an open-plan area close to another person’s spot. That person wasn’t at their seat, but the desk, in contrast to my blank canvas, was a mess of documentation, sticky notes, and several pinned-up photos of a wedding.

“That’s Stephen’s desk,” Erin said, noticing my gaze. “He’s our Senior Campaign Strategist, so you’ll be working together on a lot of digital marketing projects. But he also gets pulled into a lot of the sportswear advertising campaigns, so he’ll have other stuff going on too. He’s a great guy — I’m sure you’ll hit it off. He’s with a client this morning, but he’ll be in soon. Here, let me show you the login, and then I gotta get to a Zoom meeting. I’ll take you for lunch later.”

I was pretty quick to get oriented with my laptop and shared document system — thank goodness for those two years at Frank’s firm, which had given me the grounding I needed. It was 12:30 already, and I was considering putting my head round Erin’s internal office door to see if she was ready for lunch, when a tall, slim guy with dark-framed glasses marched into the desk pod and slung a shoulder bag onto the desk chair next to mine.

“Oh, hey,” he said, not looking at me, leaning over to switch on his computer. “You must be the new digital strategist. It’s... Mel, right?” He turned to me, shrugging off his coat. When his eyes met mine, he gave me a wide smile.

Cute. Kind of nerdy, but in a geek-chic kind of way.

I smiled back at him. “Millie. Hi. Nice to meet you. Stephen?”

“Sorry... Millie. And yeah, I’m Stephen.” He pulled some documents out of his canvas bag, dropped the bag on the floor, and sat, swiveling his chair to face mine. “I’m the...”

He trailed off, an unreadable expression on his face.

“Wait a minute,” he added, his tone a notch higher. “Don’t I know you?”

Now that I was really looking at the guy, he seemed incredibly familiar too. Where did I know him from? Hold on... it was coming...

Stephen held up a finger, then pointed it at me. “You were at Northwestern, right? You were, like, a year or two behind me in the Comms program?”

That was it! Yes, I’d seen Stephen around campus, and maybe even been to a couple of the same lectures. And I’d met him during Orientation Week, hadn’t I?

Oh yeah. It was all coming back.

I’d thought he was attractive then, too.

“Right!” I exclaimed. “Yeah, that’s me. I spoke to you once, as well, at Student Club Week. Didn’t you... run some kind of astronomy club, or something?”

Stephen chuckled, rubbing his brown hair. “Astrophysics. Yeah, I was president of the astrophysics club in my sophomore and junior years. I’d been really torn about whether to study sciences or comms, so I compromised by doing the comms program, but hanging out with science geeks in my spare time.”

I laughed. “I remember now. You were trying to get me to join the club, and you got me talking about parallel universes and such, but your club night clashed with the a cappella group, so I didn’t.”

Stephen slapped his forehead. “Yes! I took my girlfriend to see one of the shows your group sang in, and I remembered you at the time. A production of West Side Story. It was awesome. That was only our second date.” His bright blue eyes flickered to the pinned photos on his side of the half-wall dividing our desk pods.

“Yeah, the theater group never had enough singers for their musicals, so our vocal group was usually brought in to help the chorus,” I replied, following his gaze. The photos were of Stephen and a pretty young Asian woman — him in a sharp suit, her in a strapless wedding gown, its train cascading around her feet and down the steps of some formal building. In another, they were kissing on a manicured lawn.

I glanced down at Stephen’s left hand. On his ring finger sat a very shiny gold wedding band, slightly too big.

Dammit.

The good ones were always already taken.

I forced the brightness back into my face, and nodded towards the photos. “Is that the same girlfriend?”

Stephen nodded. “Eve. Yeah, we met senior year at Northwestern, been together ever since. We just got married this last Christmas.”

“Congratulations.”

“Thanks. She’s the best.”

Erin came up behind us, pulling on an expensive-looking cream wool coat. “I’m glad you two are getting to know each other. Ready for lunch, Millie?” I nodded. “Stephen, you’re welcome to join.”

Stephen was already typing away at his keyboard. “Thanks, but you two go ahead. I gotta catch up after this morning.”

Erin led me out into the elevator lobby. “There’s a great place around the corner we always take clients to. Think of it as a welcome-to-MMA treat.”

“Awesome,” I replied. “I’m starving.”

I stepped into the elevator, holding the doors back for Erin. Honestly, it was probably a good thing Stephen was already married. It wouldn’t be a good look to get involved with my closest colleague — the guy I had to sit right next to, for God’s sake, and work with on multiple projects. What a disaster if a relationship like that didn’t work out. And either way, as a new staff member, I wouldn’t want to be the subject of office gossip, which getting involved with a coworker would definitely prompt. It was much more important that I did well at my new job and was respected, so I could develop in my career.

No, it was absolutely for the best that Stephen was not an option, romance-wise.

Now I would just have to find a way to not develop a massive crush on him.