Chapter 21
Chapter 21
I SAT IN MY seat and stared at my cubicle wall, a goofy smile splashed across my face. I could still barely believe it. After all this time, after wanting this job for so long, I finally had it.
I was so lost in thought I didn’t notice Marissa arrive at my desk until she spoke. “Have you heard the news?”
I grinned at her. How did she know? Surely Laura hadn’t announced it yet? “Well, of course. I’m pretty excited about it.”
She scrunched up her face. “You are?”
“Yeah! It’s awesome.” What is she, insane? “It’s what I’ve wanted for so long.”
“Jeez, Cassie. I know you don’t like the guy, but that’s kind of mean.”
“Mean? Look, as Will said, may the best person win. Well, actually, he said may the best man win, but I figured he was just being sexist, so—”
She gawped at me.
“What?”
“Will’s quit. He’s leaving.”
“What? Why?” Then, the penny dropped. “Oh. I get it. It’s because he didn’t get the job.”
Marissa looked confused. “Is that why?” She narrowed her eyes. “Hang on, does that mean you did?”
I beamed at her, nodding. “Mm-hmm.”
She grabbed my hands and pulled me up, jumping up and down on the spot. “Oh, my gosh, Cassie, that’s awesome!”
I swelled with pride. “Thanks. It kinda is, isn’t it?”
“Yes!” She stopped abruptly. “Not for Will, though.”
I peered over the top of my cubicle at his office. The door was ajar. I couldn’t see any of his pictures on the wall. He’s gone already? “I guess not. But I don’t get it. Why would he leave?”
“I know. He probably didn’t want to have to report to you. You know, male ego and all that. It’s a total cop-out, if you ask me.”
I furrowed my brow. Marissa was right, this was sour grapes, pure and simple. He lost. He didn’t want to see me become his manager, to have to report to me, to have me in charge.
“I’ll be back in a minute,” I said.
“Where are you going?”
I didn’t reply. Instead, I walked out of my cubicle and headed to Will’s office. One sweep confirmed he’d packed up all his belongings and gone. With my jaw clenched, I scanned the sales room. No sign of him. I walked over to Big Jake’s desk.
“Have you seen Will?” I asked, my tone curt.
“Haven’t you heard? He’s quit.” His expression was pinched.
“Yes, yes,” I replied impatiently. “But is he still here , in the office?”
“He might be. He was in the kitchenette a few minutes ago, saying goodbye to some people.”
Without a backward glance, I made a b-line for the kitchenette, only to find it empty but for Bobby, one of our tech support guys, rummaging through the refrigerator. I slapped the doorframe in annoyance, making Bobby jump and turn to me, a guilty expression on his face. Stealing other people’s food, are you, Bobby?
“Seen Will?” I asked.
“What? No, nothing,” he replied, trying to hide a fruit yogurt behind his back.
I rolled my eyes and turned on my heel, scanning the room. I had no time to deal with petty thievery right now. I had a bone to pick with Will the size of a T. rex’s hind leg. The gall of the man to quit because I beat him to the job! I turned the corner and caught a glimpse of him entering the elevator, a box held in his arms with a plant poking out the top. He looked every inch the cliché of an employee on his way out.
“Hey!” I yelled, picking up my pace. “Will!” I reached the elevator as he placed his foot by the door, halting its closure.
“Cassie, hey,” he said, as though he hadn’t just quit because I got the job and he didn’t. Or that he wasn’t a spineless piece of crap.
I shook my head at him. “Why are you doing this?”
“Well, I’d prefer to take the elevator rather than the stairs.” He brandished his box at me. “We’re eleven stories up here, you know, Dunny. This box is heavy.”
I narrowed my eyes at him, my hands on my hips. He was making a joke ? “You know what I mean. Don’t be a jerk.”
He paused for a beat, two. He looked at me, his smile gone. “It’s for the best.”
“Whose best? The company’s? Yours? Mine?”
He shrugged, his jaw locked. “Mine.”
We stood looking at one another—me glaring, my anger bubbling, and Will with an expression on his face I found hard to read. Will must have removed his foot because the doors began to close. I didn’t know why, but I did not want him to leave. Not the company. Not now.
I thrust my own foot out and halted the doors’ progress. “You shouldn’t be doing this.”
“Look, Dunny—” he began. He let out a breath. His expression changed. “You know what? It’s all good. In fact, I’ve got another job.”
I gawped at him. “You do?”
“Yup. Now, if you wouldn’t mind removing that foot of yours, I need to get going.”
I looked down at my foot and back up at Will. Defeated, I pulled it back and waited. What for, I didn’t know.
“Thanks. Hey, come to my leaving drinks. O’Dowd’s at five.”
“Sure,” I muttered as the doors closed.
I stood for a moment, deep in thought. I chewed on my lip. Will had another job? That was fast work indeed. Maybe he knew I was going to get the job and went looking a while ago? Then again, maybe he just made it up to stop me being angry with him? Well, it didn’t work. No siree bob. Will Jordan was a spineless coward, and I was lucky he was gone. The kind of person who simply bailed out when the going got tough wasn’t the kind of person I needed in my team.
After hours of company gossip about Will’s sudden departure, Laura called a full sales team meeting in the boardroom to announce my promotion. Amid the congratulations, I could detect pennies dropping all over the place as people put two and two together and realized why Will was gone.
As I packed up my desk and slipped on my jacket at the end of the day, Paige and Marissa arrived at my cubicle.
“Coming for a drink to say goodbye to Will?” Marissa asked.
I busied myself with arranging my desk, straightening my pens in their tray and stacking my different-colored Post-it note pads in order of size. You know, life changing, important stuff. “I don’t know. Probably not.”
“Come on, Cassie. Everyone will be there. You’re the new boss. You need to show you’re fine with this,” Marissa reasoned. “We’re both going, aren’t we, Paige?”
“Well, he is my future you-know-what, so of course I am,” Paige replied.
“Why not,” I conceded with a shrug, my lack of enthusiasm obvious to just about anyone. I knew they were right; I did need to appear as though Will quitting was no big deal. Which it wasn’t, of course. Just a minor speed bump in my ascension up the corporate ladder.
We arrived at O’Dowd’s five minutes later. Most of the sales team, half the marketing team, and even a couple of the executives were gathered together in a large, rowdy group with Will at the center, laughing and joking. Paige caught Will’s eye and waved, blushing so much we could toast s’mores on her face. Oh, yeah, she’s got it bad.
We went to the bar and ordered our drinks. When we joined the group, it was clear Will had been there for some time enjoying the beer on tap with The Cavemen.
“Ladies!” he said, grinning at us. “How wonderful you joined us.”
Paige sidled up to him. “Hi, Will,” she purred, still the color of a Hawaiian sunset.
He wrapped his arm around her shoulder. “Millsey!”
I turned away, unable to stomach their mutual affection. What Paige saw in that gutless wonder was beyond me.
As I chatted to one of the team, I caught Will’s eye and he grinned at me, raising his glass. I smiled back and looked away. I had no idea what to say to the guy anymore. The sooner I got out of here and back to Parker— Oh, my! In all the excitement of the day’s events, I had completely forgotten to meet up with him. I glanced at my watch, five forty-three. I had precisely seventeen minutes to get back to my car, drive through the busy Auckland streets, and get to my place.
I squeezed through the throngs to explain to Marissa why I was leaving.
“Good luck,” she said, giving me a hug, although her expression suggested she thought I’d need significantly more than mere luck.
I turned and scanned the bar for Will. It was the right thing to do to say goodbye to him. I would probably never see him again, and although I didn’t think a whole lot of him now, I owed him that.
As I made my way through the crowd, one of the executive team, Malcolm, a short, bespectacled man with wiry hair and a penchant for cravats, quietly congratulated me on my new job. “It’d be in poor taste at this event to mention it publicly, but I did want to congratulate you on your promotion, Cassie.”
I smiled at him. This man was now my peer. It felt strange—in a good way. “Thank you, Malcolm. I’m looking forward to the challenge.”
“I’m sure you’ll do a fantastic job. And with Will pulling himself out of the race, you were the logical choice.”
Stop the bus. What ?
“I’m sorry?” I questioned, trying to keep my tone light. “When, exactly, did Will pull out of the race?”
“I think Laura mentioned he did it over the weekend.” Malcolm picked up on my shocked expression. “Look, I don’t want you to take this the wrong way. From what I understand, you were a strong candidate for the role all along.”
I swallowed. “So, he should have got the job?” There was a definite tremor to my voice I hope he didn’t pick up on.
Malcom put his hands up in surrender. “I shouldn’t have said anything. I’m sorry.”
“No, no. It’s f-fine,” I mumbled. I looked over at Will. He was standing in a group of people, laughing at something someone had said. Paige was standing next to him, laughing along with him.
I made my way through the crowd to him. I needed to talk to him, to find out why he had done what he’d done.
“Hey, Will. Can I have a word?” I asked, trying to appear calm and relaxed.
By the look on his face, I had failed. “Sure. Get some air?”
I nodded and followed him to the front of the bar and out onto the street. Several smokers were chatting, leaning up against the wall.
“Let’s go upwind,” Will suggested.
A moment later, we stood facing one another as a truck drove past, revving its engine loudly. Suddenly nervous, I looked down at my feet. “Why did you do it?” I looked up into his eyes.
“Do what?” he bluffed. He gave up the pretense within two seconds flat. “You wanted it more than anything. You told me.” He shrugged, as though throwing his career away for me was a perfectly sane thing to do.
My breath hitched in my throat as my heart slammed against my ribcage. “You did it for me? Why?”
“Cassie, I—” He pursed his lips and looked up the street at a passing car. He turned back to face me and shook his head. “Never mind why. The job’s yours. You being happy is, well, I want you to be happy, let’s just say that.”
I looked down at my hands, clutched in front of my belly. Will left the company so I could become Regional Manager. He gave up a huge opportunity—for me. My heart was still banging in my chest. My mouth went dry. As I looked at him, his Poldark-handsome face, nothing else mattered. Not the job, not our rivalry, not even Parker and his “is-he-slash-isn’t-he-still-in-love-with-Sara” drama.
In that moment, all that mattered was that Will cared enough for me to step aside and allow me to win.
“Can you answer me one thing?” he asked.
I nodded, not trusting myself to speak.
“Are you—” he began only to pause, pressing his lips together.
“Am I what?” My voice breathless, barely audible above the thudding of my heart.
“Look, don’t take this the wrong way. And I don’t want to pry into your private life or anything. But do you think Parker is the right guy for you?”
I shook my head. Parker? He wanted to know about Parker? “Err, yes.” Other than the fact he’s in love with someone else, that is.
He looked crestfallen. “Oh.”
“Why?” My voice trembled.
“It’s just.” He stepped closer to me. My whole body tingled. “I wanted to know, that’s all.”
He was now so close to me, I could feel his warm breath on my face. Completely against my better judgment, I made the mammoth mistake of looking up into his rich brown eyes. I had long since known they were the kind of eyes a girl could get lost in.
Looking into them now, I knew it was game over.
In an instant, it became a moment that should have had its own romantic soundtrack, not the muffled thud thud of the music from inside the bar. Without even fully understanding why, I reached my hands up to cup his face, and brushed my lips against his. I could feel him surrender as he kissed me back. He pulled me into him until I was pressed up against him, his arms sliding around my waist. I inhaled his aroma and melted into him. Our kiss was warm and soft, exciting and new.
It was first kiss perfection.
He ran one of his hands up my back and slipped his fingers into my hair as our kiss intensified. My sudden need for him was overpowering. I tugged at his shirt and reached my hand inside to feel the warm skin of his taut belly. A shot of desire ran through me, settling deep down, rendering me breathless, my legs suddenly unsteady.
Almost inaudible at first, a little voice inside me got louder and louder, telling me this was wrong. So, so wrong. It might have been an incredible kiss—quite possibly the best I’d ever had—but that didn’t make it right.
A moment or an hour later—I wouldn’t be able to tell you if my life depended on it—I finally came to my senses. With a strength Superman himself would be impressed with, I pulled away from him, utterly appalled with myself. And the way he’d made me feel.
I put my hand to my mouth and tried to wipe away our kiss. It was pointless, of course. What was done was done. I couldn’t un-kiss Will any more than I could make Parker love me.
“We shouldn’t be doing this, Will. It’s not right.”
He shook his head, his face full of desire—for me. “It is right. Cassie, can’t you see?”
I took another step back. “No.” I shook my head. “No.”
He reached for me, his eyes on fire, his lips parted. He took my hand in his. “You feel it, too. I know you do.”
My breathing was rapid, shallow. He was wrong. I couldn’t feel anything for him. He wasn’t Parker. He wasn’t the one I was meant to be with. He was Will Jordan, not my One Last First Date.
“But what about Paige?”
“What about her?”
“What do you mean? You’re dating her.”
He chortled. “No, I’m not.”
I gave him a sideways glance. “Yeah, you are.”
“Dunny, I think I’d know if I was dating someone.”
It was a good point. “Well, she thinks you’re dating.”
He let out a sardonic laugh. “Good for her. We’re not. We went for a drink as friends last Friday. That’s all.” He slipped his hand around my waist once more. He leaned down and brushed his lips against mine. I lingered, relishing the way he felt, his scent, his hard body pressed against mine.
No. This had to stop.
I stepped out of his embrace, resolved. “Paige or not, you’re only kissing me because you’re emotional leaving the company, or something. And I’m”—I wracked my brain for an excuse for my shocking behavior—“well, I’m drunk.”
I’d had half a glass of wine. I wasn’t a huge drinker by any stretch of the imagination, but not even I could get drunk on that tiny amount of alcohol.
He shook his head. “If anyone’s had too much to drink, it’s me. I promised myself I wasn’t going to say anything. Do anything. But...” He put his hands on my shoulders, forcing me to look into his eyes, “Cassie.” His voice turned breathless, his dark brown eyes boring into me. “This is real. You have to know I’m in love with you.”
I shrunk back from him, my eyes huge. “You’re in love with me?”
Was this some kind of a joke?
He nodded, smiling, as though this was the best news in the world. “I love you.”
I took another step away from him, wanting to put as much safe air between us as possible. He watched me, still with those eyes I could get lost in, still with that look of desire for me written all over his face.
“No. No. We can’t do this.”
Pain flickered in his eyes. “Why not? I know you have feelings for me. Cassie, we’re so right together.”
I smoothed down my skirt, self-conscious. A couple of the bar patrons smoking their cigarettes were watching us. I smiled weakly at them, and they turned away, talking quietly among themselves. We’d put on quite the show for them tonight.
Resolved, I shook my head, my lips locked together. I cast my eyes down to avoid his. I’d made that mistake once tonight: I wasn’t making it again. “I’m in love with Parker. I’m going to marry Parker. That’s just the way it is.” Forget the fact he was probably in love with another woman. “I-I have to go.”
“Cassie, don’t do this.” He reached out to grab my arm and I pulled it away.
Without looking at him, I turned away and headed briskly down the street, away from the bar and Will, as fast as my heels would take me.
I knew I was running away, I knew I was being as spineless as I had thought Will was being over leaving AGD.
I had to get out of there. I had to get far away from Will. Will who loved me. Will who I had kissed like my life depended on it only moments ago. Amazing, incredible, confusing Will.
A block away and I began to breathe again. I was almost safe. It was then I noticed someone calling my name. It was a woman’s voice. I turned to see Marissa, rushing down the street toward me. “Cassie!”
I had to decide in a split second whether to stop and plaster on a fake smile for her, as though I’d been running because I was late, or to simply keep on running.
I’m not proud. I chose to run.