Chapter 43
CHAPTER 43
SIMON
T he morning of the event came fast for me. After spending most of the week planning and putting all this together with Karen—who was not a pleasure to work with—we were ready to take the win.
I was feeling good about what we’d come up with once we’d ironed out our initial battle for control. We’d gone with my idea, but we’d reached a compromise and some of her suggestions had been incorporated into our family fun day.
Up early so I could pick up Benny, Josh, and David, all of whom had volunteered to help us out today, I dragged my ass through an ice cold shower and quickly got dressed. Ready as I might be, I’d been having trouble mustering up any real enthusiasm for anything this week.
The icy spray didn’t really help much with that and neither did the rocket fuel of an espresso I made myself before I left the penthouse. The sad reality was that avoiding Abi felt like I’d had the life sucked out me.
I’d only started rediscovering what it was like to really live, and then I’d had to put miles between myself and the person responsible for that discovery. While I was willing to make that admission to myself, I couldn’t let my general lack of liveliness hold me back. I’d lived like this for a decade and I’d been perfectly successful during that time.
Moping about it now wouldn’t do me any favors.
“I’m so pumped for today,” David said as he dropped into the passenger seat of my car. He tapped out a quick drumroll on my console before he buckled up, his energy like a livewire compared to mine. “Benny is meeting us at Josh’s. We figured we’d save you the drive out to his place. We’ve got a lot to do this morning, right?”
“Right.” I didn’t sound any better than I felt, but I eased my foot down on the gas and headed to Josh’s without my body betraying any of the sluggishness of my mind. “You packed sunscreen?”
“Yes, Dad,” he joked, hoisting the navy backpack he’d climbed in with. “I’ve got water too, in case you were wondering.”
“There will be plenty of water available. Although Karen’s insisting on labeling the coolers as Hydration Stations . Apparently, a sign that says water isn’t catchy enough. God, what is wrong with people these days that even just grabbing a cup of water needs to be phrased as catchy and sexy?”
“Wow. You really are getting old.” He grinned and turned his head to me. “Kids these days, am I right?”
“Fuck off.”
He laughed. “I know I’m right, but to answer your question, people have a short attention span nowadays. You need to remind them to hydrate and water doesn’t sound as appealing to drop everything and run for as Hydration Station .”
I grumbled under my breath, my head shaking as I wondered if I really was just getting old. Maybe this was what that looked like. Maybe Abigail didn’t even have anything to do with it, though I doubted that was true.
When we arrived at Josh’s, he and Benny were waiting at the curb, decked out in sporty gear just like David and I were. All of us were in shorts and sleeveless tees with sneakers on our feet. I even had a handful of whistles in the back.
While this was a charity day, the primary objective was to get kids—and their parents—moving. The strategy I’d devised for the day would do that. With my friends’ help, I hoped we could make it so fun that even those who hated sweating would get involved.
“This was a really good idea,” Benny said as he slid into the backseat, with Josh climbing in on the other side. “Seriously, Simon. I think you and that other woman have got a win on your hands with everything you’ve got planned for today.”
“Let’s hope so.” I tightened my grip on the wheel, my teeth grinding together. I felt David’s gaze penetrating my skull as I waited for a break in the traffic. “What?”
“That’s what I should be asking you,” he countered easily. “Are you good, man? Having trouble with Abi again? You’ve been a little quiet since you picked me up, and honestly, you don’t look so great.”
“I had a rough week,” I admitted without inflection. “I’m just in a weird head space. I’ll be fine once we get there.”
“What happened?” Josh asked, scooting forward on the backseat to prop one elbow on my seat and the other on David’s. “This can’t only be about the event.”
“It’s not about the event at all.” I narrowed my eyes on the congested street ahead, scowling at the solid stream of red brake lights winding around the corner. “Fuck. Thank God, we left early.”
“Yeah, now we have time for you to tell us what the hell is going on with you,” Benny said mildly, but I could hear the serious tenor in his tone. He was trying to make it seem like he wasn’t worried and didn’t think it was a big deal, but neither of those things were true. “It’s George, isn’t it?”
“How did you know?”
He shrugged when I took a quick glance at him in the rearview. “Give me some credit, man. I’ve known you for a long time, but also, I heard about you walking out of the Fit Gal update meeting. I wish I could have seen the old man’s face when you took off.”
I let out a string of curses under my breath. “I should’ve known the grapevine was going to set itself on fire about that.”
He chuckled. “I’m sure you took that into consideration before you got up and left.”
“You’re not wrong, but I was hoping people were too busy for gossip.”
Josh snorted. “When are offices ever too busy for gossip? Louie wore mismatched socks the other day and I got six emails joking about it.”
“He’s right, bro.” David’s chin bopped in a few nods. “If gossip burned calories, the world would be full of supermodels right now.”
I let out a bark of dry laughter. “Yeah, I suppose. Here’s the thing, though. This is between me and my dad.”
“And a couple hundred of your closest work friends,” Benny said. “Also known as your employees. Out with it. What did he do this time?”
I gave them a quick breakdown of the situation, ending with the threat he’d issued against Abi and her family before he’d left my office. Benny frowned. “You need to forget about all that. Your dad has always put his own wants above yours and it’s cost you way too much over the years.”
“Yeah, man,” David agreed. “You’re happy with Abi. We’ve all seen it and watching you go through losing her once was bad enough. Don’t go there again.”
“It’s not that simple and you know it. You’ve all been around since before we even lost Brooks. You’ve seen what my dad’s been capable of after that. I won’t let Abi or the Walkers get hurt because of me. Can’t do it.”
“Dude, you might not have much of a choice at this point,” Benny said as we finally broke free of the traffic jam and got back to smooth sailing. “It’s going to hurt her either way. You pull away again, she’s devastated. Your dad goes after her company, she takes the knock. Who knows? He might not even manage to take action against them. Nathan Walker is no pushover and neither are any of his daughters.”
“Yeah, but they’re also good, honest people,” I reminded him. “George is not. Whatever he chooses to do, they’ll never see it coming. They’re just not put together to expect shit like he pulls on a daily basis.”
“You could warn them,” Benny suggested with a grimace. “It’ll give them an edge in the competition if they’re prepared for George to strike back, but as much as I’d hate to lose Fit Gal as a prospect, I’d hate to see you suffer again even more. And if we do get the account, I’d rather get it fairly.”
“Let’s see how it plays out, but no matter what, we won’t win his way. We’ll do it on our own,” I said. “After today, it might not even matter. If my team loses, either Karen or myself are out of the running anyway.”
“You’re not going to lose,” David said as we rolled up to the park where the event was being held. He let out a low whistle between his teeth and glanced at me. “With all this put together in just two days? There’s absolutely no way you’re losing.”
As I slowed to find a parking spot, I looked at the park. I knew it was too early to really tell but I was confident in my and Karen’s event. The boys and I were here early to help set up, but there were already scores of people around doing the same thing.
There were massive water slides and bouncy castles, inflatable obstacle parks, soft play for the littler kids, ball pits, and warrior courses. Food trucks were in the process of parking around the perimeter while others were already starting to prepare the healthy meals they sold.
Karen was flitting around with her “Hydration Station” posters, appearing to be instructing a team of interns where to put them. She was in all red today, a power-suit in a park, with her hair straightened to within an inch of her life and heels so high, she swayed a little in them.
Not that I blamed her. She was trying to walk on grass. I would’ve face-palmed if I wasn’t driving.
On the other hand, the venue was already starting to look really good. We had sports stations set up as well, where the guys and I would be helping coordinate soccer, basketball, and football with game rotations going on throughout the day—hence the whistles.
Since Fit Gal also had a number of preferred partners to work with in the health and wellness space, we’d gotten some of them involved as well. Two dozen instructors would be coming out from various studios, gyms, and even dojos around the city to encourage the kids to get outside and get their bodies moving.
“Is that a bike park?” David asked when we’d finally found a parking spot and piled out. He pointed at a pump track I’d had installed for the occasion. “That’s awesome, man. But uh, do these kids even have bikes?”
“I rented a hundred,” I said dully. “I’m sure some of them will bring their own, but I didn’t want to take any chances. We’re getting every size available from toddler to teenager, so we should be okay.”
Josh rubbed his palms together with glee as we strode into the park, looking a little like an over-excited villain hellbent on destroying all laziness in the world. “Something like this should happen every weekend. How is this just not the most fun we’re going to have for years?”
“Lying on the couch watching a movie is also fun,” David volunteered unhelpfully from behind us, but then Karen spotted our little procession coming toward her across the lawn and he fell silent.
I understood why. We’d only just arrived, but already, she looked like she was on the warpath. She marched over to us and pointed a red-painted finger at me. “You’re late.”
“Traffic,” I explained. “There was an accident on the way over and we got stuck behind it. We’re here now, though. I’ll go check in with the vendors.”
“Don’t bother,” she snapped. “Some of us arrived as early as the bakers this morning and have already checked in with everyone as they arrived. They need help pegging down some of the inflatables, and that silly warrior course of yours is spilling into the Refuel Zone .”
I arched an eyebrow at her. “The Refuel Zone being the picnic area?”
“Exactly. In case you haven’t noticed, every room at their HQ has its own unique name. It’s part of their company culture and this perpetuates that.” She stuck her nose into the air and sniffed. “I still think we should’ve gone with a good old fashioned, family values barbecue. We could’ve inserted Fit Gal into the community that way, and sack races are such a classic way for kids to have fun and be active.”
“You really think that a barbecue and sack races would’ve beat this?” I stretched my arms out to my sides to indicate the buzz of activity going on around me. “There’s something for absolutely everybody here, Karen. If you’re going to try to roast me, at least pick a stance that makes sense. Besides, you wanted bouncy castles. We got those and so much more.”
With that, I spun on my heels and strode away, knowing there were much more important things to get done than to tussle with my teammate again. Benny raced to catch up, lifting a hand to shield his eyes against the sun as it crept above the apartment building across the street from the park.
“Well, that lady is an absolute joy, isn’t she?”
“A laugh a minute.” I chuckled and shook my head. “All I’m going to say is ‘thank God, the day has arrived.’ After this, our team will be dissolved, and hopefully, I’ll never have to work with her again.”
Benny nodded his agreement. David and Josh brought up the rear as we headed to the inflatables section first. As Karen had said, it turned out that they did need help and the boys and I jumped in, helping them secure the monstrous playgrounds, some of which would double as obstacle courses.
By the time the event started, the sun was out and growing hotter by the minute, but it was the perfect day for the activities we had planned. Before long, the park was teeming with people, every area overrun and scores of children enjoying having fun in the sun.
Fit Gal was widely known and we’d marketed the event on every channel available, resulting in a turnout that was more than satisfactory. We’d decided to appeal to people looking for something fun to do on a Saturday, but not something that would set them back too much money. It looked like it’d been the right strategy to follow.
I stood under the shade of a colorful tent in the Refuel Zone and grinned as I sipped my water, looking out at what we’d achieved in such a short period of time. While I was convinced that Abigail and Jeffrey would come out swinging tonight at the ball, they would have to pull off a miracle to beat what we’d done here today—and I was desperately hoping that they would fall short.