25. Loren
25
LOREN
I came into the office later than usual. Matt hadn’t given me any length of time that he wanted me to sleep in for, but I figured I couldn’t take off the whole day.
Despite how our personal lives were changing and things seemed to me fitting and making sense between us in the wake of my pregnancy news, I had a job to focus on.
I hadn’t planned on this baby. Neither had he, but I knew without a doubt that I wanted to ensure I tried for a balance of being a career woman because it would fulfill me and also be a present mother.
“I wonder when we might get word from Gammon,” I wondered aloud as I later walked into the office.
The day after a meeting was just as important as all the others leading up to it. Even if it was a waiting game for word from the prospective client we’d been focusing on, it would be good to wait with the team. Rupert, Brad, and Eli would be anticipating feedback.
But I hope Tom calls off sick again. I doubted he was sick at all, actually, but that didn’t matter. He’d become a source of contention at the office. And I held on to hope that Matt talking with his grandmother and explaining that we were together would help allay any issues from that insistent flirt.
It was different, walking into the building and waiting for an elevator. I wasn’t Loren, the new employee anymore. I’d been here for a while and my feet were wet. I wasn’t Loren, the staff member everyone gossiped about because I argued with Matt. I’d come to learn that bickering was just our love language as we figured out we belonged together. And I wouldn’t be Loren, Matt’s woman. I would be my own woman, hopefully the one who led the team to acquire the client Wendy Richards had wanted for so long.
She was there, in fact, in my office when I walked into it. I hadn’t met the woman who led the company yet. But it seemed the time had come.
“Hello?” I asked.
I didn’t want to ask who she was. I knew. I saw her portrait hanging downstairs in the lobby. Besides, now that we were in the same room, I saw the family resemblance. Matt had the same shrewd eyes that she did, calculating and at times cold. I’d been blessed to see Matt’s light up with love and laughter, but I was familiar with them burning with impatience and arrogance too.
Hers were just… icy as she watched me enter my office.
“You are Loren Amita, correct?” She lifted her chin as though she wanted to affect a feeling of superiority, looking down her nose at me.
Trust me, lady, it’s not that hard to lord over me. I’m too short as it is.
“Yes. Ms. Richards?” I guessed, holding out my hand for her to shake.
She nodded, eyeing my hand as though she wouldn’t take it. Then she did, giving me a firm shake that surprised me. She was older, but she wasn’t a trembling weakling.
Before I could ask what she wanted or why she was here in my office when I hadn’t been, she cleared her throat. “What are your intentions here?”
I raised my brows. “I… work here?”
“That is it?” She clasped her hands together in front of her, letting her arms hang low as if she were completely at ease.
I, however, was starting to sweat bullets. My nerves messed with my mind, and I felt the threat of panic creeping close.
Matt said he’d talk to her. Maybe it hadn’t gone well?
“I am here to work. I am excited about my future as a marketing specialist at Richards Consultation.”
“You’re not here to be a gold-digger?”
I almost gasped at her blunt question. The audacity of this woman. Then again, it was her company, her grandson. Stemming my anger and tamping down my defensiveness that rose to the surface, I drew in a deep, steadying breath before speaking. “No. I am not and never have been a gold digger. I am here to earn my pay as a career woman.”
“And what about my grandson?”
“We are having a baby together.” I lifted my chin up, refusing to let an inkling of shame show in my expression. After the loving that Matt and I shared with each other last night and the promises to make this work between us, I realized I had not a single thing to be embarrassed about.
“We are in love,” I added, not caring if that was too “sappy” or “mushy” for such a proper and prim woman to hear.
“Love,” she repeated dryly, even though it also sounded like a question.
“Yes.” I nodded once, refusing to be swayed out of this declaration.
Maybe this is a test? If Matt already talked to her, she wanted to meet me herself?
“You are that confident, despite only knowing him for a couple of months.”
“Yes. Three months, actually, but time is irrelevant. When you know, you know.”
She pursed her lips. I almost wondered if it was a smile she wanted to hide. Or maybe indigestion. I couldn’t tell, but she didn’t seem pleased.
I was screwing this all up! Fleetingly, I wished Matt were here to back me up, but he said he’d already gone to bat for us. It was up to me. I had to do my part to fight for what I wanted, and I would. I wanted Matt and our baby.
“Then what of the reports that your coworker, Tom, filed last week?” She raised her brows in that silent-question way that was getting on my nerves. I’d met some cool cucumbers before, but this woman was an ice queen.
“Matt and I had a lapse in judgment, erring with mixing business with pleasure when we were working.” I cleared my throat, proud that I could own up to that. “We recognized the inappropriateness of that—not that we were together, but doing so on the clock and in this workplace setting. We have agreed to keep our personal lives at home and focus on work here.”
“Hmm.”
That didn’t tell me much. Did she believe me? Was she grateful I didn’t lie and could face her directly? Was she annoyed and wanted someone better for her grandson?
“Tom has been bothering me since my first day here, a constant distraction on the team. Rupert, Brad, and Eli can bear witness to that pattern as well.”
She held up a hand. “No need to drag anyone else into this matter.”
“Oh.” I blinked, worried anew that I was butchering all of this.
“Thank you for taking the time to speak with me,” she said curtly, moving toward the door.
Well, I had to, didn’t I? With you barging in here and waiting to ambush me in my office?
“Anytime,” I said as she exited.
Afterward, I tried and failed to get my mind on the work tasks I had to handle today. I couldn’t focus at all, though, and I panicked that everything was going down the drain.
Hailey was at the dentist. I couldn’t rely on her. The rest of the team were busy with tasks. And Matt was…
I winced, looking at my phone and debating whether I should call him. I didn’t want to cling. I didn’t want to bother him. I knew he had many things to catch up on since taking his long walk yesterday to come to terms with suddenly learning he’d be a parent.
As if on cue, the device rang. It wasn’t Matt contacting me, but someone else I could be distracted with.
“Emily,” I greeted happily. “How are you?”
“It hasn’t been one of the better days,” she admitted.
“Oh, no.” I frowned.
“Sometimes, I worry that everyone in the office is going to assume I’m less than because I’m pregnant. I mean, yeah, hormones mess us up, but it’s not like I’m a blubbering mess that can’t be counted on.”
I smiled, sympathetic. “Hey, at least there are a lot of women working with you.”
She groaned. “Ugh. You’ve got that right. You work with lots of men.”
I nodded, even though she couldn’t see.
“Anyway, I feel like we have really connected since we met. Fast friends, ya know? I was hoping you wouldn’t mind meeting me for lunch so we can talk.”
I grinned. “That sounds perfect.”
She would be a good distraction from worrying about whether I’d messed up with Wendy. Or if I was fired. Or if Matt was struggling with convincing his grandmother we could work together and be a couple. Or…
I sighed, leaving to chat with her.
We were fast friends, and over the next hour, we talked and commiserated about so many things. It felt a lot like being with Hailey, but more, because Emily was also pregnant. She asked me how I liked working for Richards Consultation, with it being such a male-dominated company. I asked her how she got along with her coworkers too, who were all older and no longer in sync with the whole being-pregnant phase of life.
“I agree,” Emily said when we talked about our hopes to balance working and being a first-time mother. “I don’t want to give up my career. Gammon is a wonderful place to work.”
I hadn’t revealed that Matt was my baby’s daddy yet. I didn’t want to until we agreed that we could go public with the news that we were together. But that didn’t stop me from talking highly about being his employee. “I look forward to a long future at Richards.”
“Duh.” She smiled as we signed our receipts for our lunches. “Now that you’ve got Gammon as a client, you'd better be working there for a while.”
I choked on the sip of water I'd just sucked up. As I coughed a bit, she smiled and patted my back.
“Whoops. Maybe I should’ve let that secret slip when you didn’t have anything in your mouth.”
“Are you serious?” This was amazing news! And news I hadn’t counted on getting this soon. “We’ve only had two meetings.”
“My boss decided at the previous meeting,” she said with a wink. “She was very impressed with how you and Matt worked together to make things presentable. You sold her on going with Richards.”
I bit my lip to contain my happiness. A squeal was building in my chest, and I didn’t hesitate to wrap her in a huge hug. “Oh, my God! I’m thrilled.”
“Me too. I’m so glad!”
I let out a huge exhale, feeling like I’d explode from relief and joy.
“The way my boss worded it, as long as you’re working there, and with us, we’re all going to be headed toward great success.”
Smiling at my new friend—and client!—I nodded.
You’ve got that right. The future will be bright.
Now I just needed to find my boss and update him on the good news.