9. Maddy
9
MADDY
“ H ey Maddy, is your passport current?”
I looked up from my laptop to find Noah studying me from the doorway of his office.
I smiled at him. “You might be shocked to learn that the woman who’s only been on one airplane actually has a current passport.” I debated telling him I’d gotten it when I was eighteen with the intention of filling it with stamps from around the globe—journeys I’d never been able to take due to my father’s illness.
Something sparked between us at the memory of my first flight.
Noah looked away and quickly settled back into his usual all-business expression. “Fantastic. And you can be ready to leave tomorrow, yes?”
I sputtered a few nonsensical sounds as I tried to make sense of what he was saying. “Wait… I’m going with you? To Europe?”
I’d seen the three-week block of travel on his calendar, but he hadn’t said a word about me going along with him. It wasn’t as if I thought I’d have the time off—he’d need admin support for the many meetings he’d set up—but I’d assumed that I’d be providing it remotely.
His expression darkened. “I thought we went over the fact that you’d be traveling with me when I outlined your responsibilities. Because if it’s going to be a problem?—”
“No!” I interrupted. “It’s not a problem at all, I uh, I just didn’t realize that we’re leaving tomorrow .”
“Good.” He gave me a nod. “Make sure to update the flight crew with your information.”
“I’m on it,” I replied.
“Okay, and once you’ve double-checked everything that Zoe scheduled, you can head home to pack. We leave at seven tomorrow morning so the car will collect you at five. But, obviously, please confirm all of the details because…”
“Because Zoe,” I said. I’d been cleaning up her messes since day one, and I had a feeling they’d keep popping up for a while.
Noah’s mouth went into a tight line. “Exactly.”
His phone rang and he headed back into his office. I took the opportunity to scan my own calendar and realized I was not only going to miss three Thursday Night Family Dinners with my girls while I was with Noah, I was also going to miss Cassie’s gender reveal party.
This was not going to be good. I was already failing the first friend in our group to become a mom.
I felt a free-falling sensation in my gut at how quickly and dramatically everything was changing in my life. Those dinners were the backbone of my friendship with Nia, Hope, and Cassie. Kaitlyn joined us when she could, but she was deep in newlywed life so we all knew she was out of the picture for the next few weeks. I had a feeling they were going to have quite a bit to say about my abrupt schedule change. This was the kind of conversation we needed to have in person, so I texted out an invite on our group text thread.
“Ladies, emergency drinks tonight. Clyde’s at five for happy hour?”
I’d managed to calm my nerves by the time I was sitting at the high-top in the corner of the bar. Cassie was the first to arrive.
“Hi lady,” she said as she folded me into one of her amazing hugs. “You okay?”
I bit my lip and nodded. I didn’t want to have to explain everything twice, so I deflected. “All good. You look amazing .”
Cassie laughed and smoothed her hand down her tiny bump. “You think so? I feel like I’m already growing out of all of my pants. I’m gonna get huge.”
“Stop,” I scolded. “You’re glowing.”
“You talking about how gorgeous our girl looks?” Nia asked as she dropped her purse on the table. “Because she’s achieving goddess status with that skin.”
She doled out hugs, then we repeated the process when Hope showed up. Once we were settled with drinks in front of us, I dropped my mini-bombshell. “So, I have good news and bad news.”
They all went silent and studied me. As usual, Nia spoke up first. “You’re seeing someone.” She glanced around the table. “Right? Doesn’t she look all smiley and cute?”
I blushed. My boss was the only man I was seeing on the regular and I barely allowed myself to consider how attractive he was.
“I wish ,” I laughed. “No, it’s not about that. The good news is I’m finally getting to go overseas. I’m going to Spain! Well, other places, too, but we’ll be spending most of our time in Spain.”
The whoops from the table drew stares from the rest of the patrons in the bar.
“You’ve been wanting this forever,” Hope said. “Tell us everything!”
“Hold on, it’s not a vacation, it’s for work. But I’m still super excited.”
“Ooh, traveling with the zaddy boss man,” Hope said. “That’ll be fun.”
“That zaddy is fine ,” Nia added.
“Stop,” I pleaded. “He’s not like that. This is all business, trust me. Anyway, that’s the good news. We’re leaving tomorrow.” I paused. “And I’ll be gone for three weeks.”
“Clearly that’s the bad news,” Cassie said as her face fell. “Because you’re going to miss my gender reveal party.”
“I’m sorry, Cass. I feel so bad about it,” I said as I reached across the table for her hand. “But there’s nothing I can do about it, you know? I haven’t been there long enough to make any sorts of demands.”
Cassie chuckled. “Yeah, how bad would it look for you to tell your boss that you can’t go to Europe because you need to watch your friend cut into a color-coded cake?”
I squeezed her hand. “Stop. You know it’s more than that. I want to be a part of all of the celebrations for that sweet baby. It’s not going to work out this time, but I promise I’m going to be there for the shower and every milestone afterward.”
“It’s okay, Mads. You’ll be with us in spirit.”
“And FaceTime,” I added. “If I’m not at a meeting I will definitely dial in.”
“You’re going to miss three FNDs with us, too,” Hope whined.
Those weekly dinners had been the mainstay of our group ever since we left college and ventured out into the real world. They were our chance to unwind and let go of the stresses and responsibilities of our lives to enjoy being together for a few hours a week. They helped us remember that no matter what we had to face, we would always manage to be present for each other. It was rare that anyone missed one, let alone three.
“I know, but I’ll FaceTime for those as well. Just prop up a phone and it’ll feel like I’m right there with you.”
“Yeah, but we’ll be eating pizza from Gino’s while you’re having paella and rioja,” Hope laughed.
“Gotta admit, I’m pretty excited about the food.”
“And the company won’t be too bad either.”
I started to protest but Nia put her hands up to stop me. “Okay, okay, I get that he’s your boss. Officially hands-off. But c’mon, it’s us . Do you ever think about him? Like… fantasize about him?”
I fiddled with the beer mug in front of me as my cheeks went hot. I mean, I definitely noticed that the man looked good in everything. And I’d stood close enough to him to pick up on the fact that his cologne smelled like a campfire in a pine forest. Then there was the way he always looked at me for a beat too long. It wasn’t weird or inappropriate at all, it felt more like… appreciation? I chalked it up to him liking the fact that I knew how to do my job, but deep down, a tiny part of me felt like he was appreciating me —and that felt good.
“I don’t know…” I hedged. “Yeah, he’s absolutely gorgeous, but I don’t want to do anything to jeopardize my job. He had some real issues with his last assistant expecting him to change the rules to accommodate her personal life. I don’t want to rock the boat.”
“That’s fair,” Hope said. “At my office, we have strict policies in place about fraternization.”
I thought about what Gigi had told me in the kitchen on my first day. “Um, the company doesn’t actually have any rules about fraternization. Noah just frowns on mixing the personal and professional.”
Cassie widened her eyes at me. “So you feasibly could fuck your boss if you want.”
Everyone howled with laughter, and nothing I said could stop them.
We ended up laughing our way through our drinks, and I fought back the feeling that I’d be missing out while I was away. I didn’t want to admit that I was also a little nervous about the trip. I liked the familiarity of my friend group and our predictable get togethers. Who knew what I was getting myself into with Noah?
My phone rang, and I wasn’t surprised to see that it was him. It was our first major trip together, so he probably had some last-minute details for me to take care of.
“Hi Noah, what’s up?”
The girls razzed me silently while I tried to keep a straight face.
“I just got some incredible news. Garrison signed.”
“No way!” Everyone was watching me closely. “Congrats, you did it!”
He paused. “If I’m being honest I owe you for the assist.”
I was stunned that he acknowledged my part in the process, especially given how much I’d overstepped. “All I did was make a phone call.”
“Maddy, we both know you did a lot more than that, which is why I want to take you out to dinner to celebrate, before we leave. Can you be ready in an hour? I’ll pick you up.”
I hesitated, reluctant to cut my time with my friends short. On the other hand, I really wanted to see him outside the office again.
I didn’t want to think too hard about why that was.
I glanced down at the jeans and tank I’d changed into after I’d finished packing. It wasn’t exactly a “celebration” outfit, but I knew I could dash home and change in enough time.
“Sounds perfect.”
“Okay, see you in a bit.”
He disconnected before I could say ‘congrats’ again. I realized my friends were staring me down, waiting for me to give them all the details.
“What?” I looked around at them.
“You tell us what ,” Hope demanded.
“That guy Matthew Garrison finally signed with Noah. He’s the one we flew to Fargo to meet. Noah wants to take me out to celebrate.”
Three sets of eyebrows shot sky high.
“Oh, really ?” Cassie asked, sounding downright devilish. “So is this like a date?”
I shook my head. “Oh, no, not at all.”
“Where are you going?” Nia demanded.
I shrugged. “Dinner.”
“It’s a date.” They said in unison.
“No, it’s not like that,” I sputtered.
“It sounds to me like it could be,” Hope said. “Tonight could be the first step.”
“Guys, come on,” I protested. “If he was interested, he would have asked me to date him, not work for him. This is a thank you for my teeny tiny role in getting Garrison to sign, that’s all.”
“Are you going to change your clothes?” Nia asked, eyeing me up and down.
“Obviously, this isn’t exactly appropriate for dinner. Especially the kinds of places he probably goes to.”
“Date,” Nia sniffed.
I laughed them off as I fished out my wallet. “Drinks are on me,” I said, slapping down a hundred-dollar bill.
“High roller,” Cassie laughed. “Guess that job pays well.”
I laughed with her and thought about just how important my new position was to me. I wasn’t about to mess it up by falling for my boss. And besides, I was convinced he’d never think of me romantically.
Except when he looked at me that way, it sure felt like something was brewing.