Chapter 26
Chapter
Twenty-Six
ADRIANNA
Everything is going great, despite the changes Elijah made leading into tonight. Part of me wishes it was the event I had planned, but Elijah nailed it even though it’s on the wrong night of the week. Still, for a Monday, it seems to be going well.
As I stare around the room and take in everyone having a good time, I’m not even mad that I know I’ve lost this bet. He earned this. It is amazing.
It will suck having to leave the foundation, but I know Elijah will take care of the place. He won’t hire someone who will run it into the ground.
He loves it as much as me. He’s proven that tonight.
“Hey, are you okay?” Elijah asks as he comes up next to me.
I offer him a soft smile. “Of course, I was just taking everything in.”
“We did well, didn’t we?” he teases, making me laugh.
“Eli,” Mason says.
We turn to find Mason, Max, and Brantley standing together as they wave him over.
“Come on,” he says as he reaches down for my hand.
Without thinking about it, I move my hand away from his and step back. “Actually, I’m going to head to the restroom.”
Elijah’s eyes narrow. “Are you sure you’re okay?”
“I’m positive. I’ll join you as soon as I’m done.”
He leans in and kisses me softly before heading toward his friends. I watch as they slap him on the back when he joins them.
Shaking my head, I take off toward the bathroom. Miraculously, when I step inside, it’s empty. After relieving myself, I wash my hands. Once my hands are dry, I run them over my hair, making sure the flyaways are staying down, and check to make sure my lipstick is still in place.
Leaving the restroom, I head back into the ballroom and look for Elijah. When I spot him, I start making my way toward him. When a group of people stops in front of me, I have to circumvent around them coming up from behind the group. That’s when I hear it.
“Will she be okay with you taking the position?” Mason asks, making me pause.
“She will be fine. She understands how it is,” Elijah tells him, making my heart drop to the floor.
Oh god. I knew he won, but I didn’t think he would keep the CEO position. Is he planning to keep me as his assistant forever?
I feel sick to my stomach at the thought. I don’t mind working for him, but at some point, the balance of power will be so far in his favor that I’m not sure we will ever recover.
I have to quit.
I hoped I could keep the job with the new CEO, but I can’t keep working for him. Not like this.
What did he mean by I know how it is?
I don’t like how that sounds at all. We will need to talk about this, but not tonight. I can’t tonight.
I must make a noise because Elijah looks over his shoulder and smiles when he sees me.
“Come join us,” he says as he holds out his hand.
Part of me wants to run away and find a corner to cry in, but this isn’t the time. With a brittle smile, I step forward and place my hand in his.
“Hello, everyone,” I say as he pulls me into his side, holding me close.
I close my eyes as I enjoy his warmth, who knows if this is the last time he will ever hold me again.
“How do you think tonight is going, Adrianna?” Max asks, unknowingly poking the bear. Or who knows, maybe he does know.
“It’s going well. Elijah did a good job,” I tell him honestly.
“Shit, he killed it. If I didn’t know better, I would have said he hired someone to plan this for him,” Brantley says as he brings his drink up to his mouth.
“You can rest assured, everything in here was my idea,” Elijah deadpans.
“I can vouch for you as well. Trust me, no one would meet with Mr. Burns willingly,” I say, making everyone laugh.
It hurts to say, though, because I’m the one who had to fix that mistake, not Elijah.
This night is spiraling.
“Is he that bad?” Mason asks.
“He’s the owner of the shop and thinks that his ideas are the only option. You have to convince him what you want is what he picked out,” I tell him.
“Dude was a pain in my ass. I was almost convinced for a minute that you called ahead and told him I was the devil to get him to give me a hard time,” Elijah says.
I snap my fingers. “Missed opportunity. I should have thought of that.”
The conversation shifts, and I let my smile drop. My chest hurts as I try to hold myself together when all I want to do is cry over everything I’ve lost tonight.
“Hey, are you okay?” Elijah whispers in my ear.
“I’m okay.”
“Are you sure?” he asks as his hand rubs my arm.
Reluctantly, I pull out of his hold. “I’m good. Promise. I have to go check on something, though.”
“I’ll come with you.”
I shake my head before he can even finish offering. “No, don’t stay here and have a good time with your friends. I can handle this.”
“If you’re sure…”
“I’m positive. I’ll catch back up with you soon.” Before he can respond, I turn away and start making my way through the room.
I stick close to the wall with one destination in mind.
When I reach the balcony doors, I look around to make sure no one is paying attention before slipping outside.
The chill makes me suck in a breath. It’s not cold outside, but it feels like it compared to the crowded ballroom.
I look up at the sky to try and stop the tears, but they fall anyway.
I silently cry as my dream falls crashing around my feet. I want to be mad at Elijah, but I can’t be. I knew the score, and I went into the bet willingly. I knew the stakes.
More tears fall as realization sets in.
I can’t stay. He’s going to get his wish, and I’m going to put in my resignation letter. As much as I love working for him, I can’t stay. I need to leave and start over.
I hope I can find another job soon because if not I’ll be screwed. Hopes and ambitions don’t pay the bills.
No matter what, I will do what I have to do to keep the house.
I won’t lose the last bit of my mom.
I just hope I don’t have to lose Elijah either.
ELIJAH
I can’t help but smile as I look around the room.
Everyone looks like they are enjoying themselves, and the donation numbers rolling in prove that.
I honestly didn’t think tonight would go as well as it is.
I hoped, but still I was skeptical. I’ll never admit it, but for a minute, Adrianna got into my head and I questioned if I could pull this off.
Everything is going according to plan. Bill Lind has been taken care of, I have Max and Mason’s approval. There’s only one thing really left to do. I know Adrianna doesn’t like surprises, but I hope she likes this one. Fuck, do I hope she likes it. If not, I don’t know what the fuck I’ll do.
Just a little bit longer, and she’ll know. Everything is falling into place.
“Mr. Samson, it’s time,” the event coordinator I hired for the night to make sure it runs smoothly says, pulling me out of my thoughts.
“Of course,” I tell her.
“Good luck,” Max says as he slaps me on the shoulder.
Discreetly, I give him the middle finger, making him laugh out loud as I fall into step behind her.
I follow her to the stage and step into the spotlight.
When the music comes to a close, everyone turns toward me.
I scan the crowd, looking for my girl. When I finally find her, I can’t help but smile.
Fuck me, does she look amazing tonight. I can’t wait to take her home later and show her the attention she deserves.
“Good evening and thank you for joining us. For those of you who don’t know, my name is Elijah Samson, and I’m the CEO of The Williamson Foundation.
” I wait for the applause to die down. “Tonight wouldn’t be possible without the hard work and dedication of everyone who works for our foundation.
They are the ones who work behind the scenes to make sure everything gets done and that the money we raise goes to a truly worthy cause.
So thank you to the team for working the long hours and answering my endless questions.
I would also like to thank my assistant Adrianna.
She kept the foundation going before I stepped in, and she’s the one who picked tonight’s cause.
Tonight, we are here to raise money for domestic abuse survivors.
The money you donate tonight not only goes to getting them out of dangerous situations safely but also to giving them the ability to start over.
Every twenty-four minutes, someone is physically or mentally abused, most often by someone that they love.
Look around the room.” I wait for them to do so.
“One in three women and one in four men experience some form of abuse from a partner, and if you ask me, that’s a tragedy.
That means the person next to you has possibly experienced some level of hurt that they never should have gone through.
” I pause, waiting for it to sink in how messed up the world we live in is.
“So let’s do our part and try to change that.
While we might not be able to stop the bad things from happening, we can try and give people a safe place to recover.
I beg you to open your hearts and your checkbooks and donate tonight.
Your money will be going to a good place, and I’m honored that you trust me enough to make sure it goes where it’s needed. Thank you.”
I hand the mic off and step off the stage. Scanning the crowd again, I see that Adrianna is where I last saw her, leaning against a pillar.
“You didn’t have to thank me,” she says as I approach.
“Of course I did. You are the one who decided which charity to give the proceeds to, and even though this isn’t the party you wanted, it’s still yours. You helped make it happen.”
She looks down before looking back up at me. “Thank you.”
I reach out and run my hands along her arms. “Hey, are you okay? You seem off.”
“Of course. It’s been a long night.”
“You just seem sad,” I say, trying to name the emotion that’s all over her face.
She takes a deep breath and looks around before meeting my eye.
“Maybe I am a little sad. Tonight is a little bittersweet. I always feel this way after every event. Typically it’s all go, go, go to the finish line, and then once it’s over, it’s like, now what?
It’s months and months of work for it all to end in a matter of hours to start all over again as soon as the next business day rolls around. ”
I think about what she’s saying and realize she’s right. Once the clock strikes midnight, it’s like a clean slate will be set and our attention will focus for another few months, only to start all over again.
“I hadn’t thought about it that way.”
She smiles softly. “I know. It’s your first, so I’m not surprised.”
“You know I’m sorry about throwing out all your plans and starting over.”
She shakes her head. “Don’t be. A bet is a bet, and for it to be fair, you had to start from scratch.”
I go to say something, but someone calls my name. I look over and see an older man with salt-and-pepper hair, waving me over.
“Go,” Adrianna says softly.
“But we weren’t finished.”
“We can talk more later. Right now we need to schmooze and convince everyone in the room to give us more money than they already have.” She reaches out and squeezes my arm.
She goes to walk away, but I catch her and pull her into me. I kiss her softly and smile when her body relaxes into mine.
“Let me know if you need me.”
“Okay.”
I watch her walk away.
That woman has blown me away. There isn’t anything I wouldn’t do for her. I just have a few more things to do before I can show her how much I care. My name is called again, and I shake my head.
It’s time to get to work. Like she said, we need people to open their hearts and wallets, and I’m not about to let her down, not now after we’ve come this far.