Chapter 50
CHAPTER 50
ABIGAIL
B lake’s movements were smooth and confident as he glided around the ballroom. Underneath my one hand, his shoulder was broad and firm, his palm dry and strong in my other. His fingers were lightly wrapped around my own, his eyes twinkling with humor as he stared into mine.
“I’m glad you took me up on my offer,” he murmured as he lifted our joined hands so I could do a twirl. “I wasn’t sure you would.”
Neither was I.
I’d actually been pretty sure I wouldn’t, but when he’d stood up as I passed his table and asked if I had time for him yet, I’d thought, Screw it. Why not?
Dancing with him now, I knew I’d made the right decision. With every step we took, it was like my heart was hardening. I was so tired of always waiting for the other shoe to drop with Simon. Things were so complicated between us and there was always some misunderstanding or something else keeping us apart.
I still didn’t feel anything for Blake, but I was having fun with him. For a guy who could have such a stick up his ass at the office, he sure was different socially.
I smiled up at him. “I’m glad too. Thank you for offering again. These last few days have been hectic and I’m pretty sure that if you hadn’t, I would’ve been in kitchen right now.”
“The kitchen?” He cocked his head. “Is there a problem with dessert?”
“Nope, but there is ice cream as part of said dessert, which means there are tubs full of it in a freezer somewhere. I’d have found one, sat down on my butt on the floor, and dug in.”
He chuckled. “If that’s what you want to do when we’re done here, have at it. I’m sure the staff wouldn’t stop you. No one has anything but great things to say about you and Jeffrey.”
“You spoke to the staff about us?”
“Guilty.” He shrugged, eyes twinkling all over again. The grin he shot me was sheepish, which was a strangely endearing look on him. “What can I say? I’m thorough. I wanted to talk to them about how their experience was in the run-up to all of this.”
“And they said good things?”
“Absolutely. The words kind , efficient , and organized were used, but I can’t say any more than that.”
I laughed. “Well, that’s more than enough. You’ve already made my night just by telling me that much.”
“I made your night?” His light eyebrows pinched together slightly. “That can’t be possible. This event has been a roaring success. I’d imagine that would’ve made your night.”
“Then you’d imagine wrong.” I smiled when the song faded. “Thank you for the dance, Blake. I should get back to it.”
“Of course.” He dipped into a little bow and grinned at me. I excused myself and headed off to find Jeffrey.
We were almost in the homestretch of the night and I’d be damned if we didn’t finish as strong as we’d started. When I found my partner, he was back in our tiny little office, furiously clicking through something on his laptop.
Our office space was little more than a desk and a chair, and I hesitated in the doorway, wondering why he hadn’t even switched the light on. Instead, dark mode on the screen of his computer reflected from his glasses, but if it hadn’t been for the soft clicking noise of his mouse, I would’ve missed him in the soft glow of his computer and continued my search elsewhere.
“I hope you’re playing Solitaire,” I said.
His head jerked up and he grinned. “It’s important to know what our guests are saying, so I came to check social media. People are raving, Abi. It’s incredible.”
“That’s good.” I smiled at him and stepped out of the doorway. “We should get back down there, though. Are you with me? I was worried when I couldn’t find you.”
“Just needed a minute to decompress,” he assured me. “Do you want to see a few of the posts before we go?”
I was about to say no, then realized that the hotel staff had us covered downstairs and I nodded instead. “Sure, I’d love to.”
As I stepped around his desk and his screen came into view, I saw dozens of posts from people who were our guests this evening. Some had included selfies while others merely mentioned where they were. The response was overwhelmingly positive, though.
“Thanks for this,” I murmured quietly to him in the dark. “I was already feeling good about our chances, but I’m feeling even better now.”
“Don’t.” He huffed out a sigh. “I checked the response to the other team’s event too, and it’s just as positive. At this point, I’d say it’s going to come down to Ashley and Blake’s personal feelings about what each team achieved.”
“Right.” My stomach dropped when I blinked and saw that bracelet in Ashley’s hand all over again. “Well, let’s just hope they’re fair about it.”
“At least people were using the hashtag we asked them to this evening,” Jeffrey said, and I could tell he was trying to remain hopeful. “That will help when they’re gauging the public reaction to our strategies. Who knows, it might just give us an edge.”
Including a specific hashtag on the invitation and repeating it on little signs on the tables and at the bar had been Jeffrey’s idea, and I smiled as I led him back to the grand staircase. “It’ll definitely give us an edge. That was great thinking.”
With my partner in better spirits as we made our way to our table for the first time tonight, I introduced him to my parents and we finally got to eat our chicken. The event went as smoothly as could be, and in the end, pride was surging through me by the time people started saying goodbye.
We had done a darn good job, and if we didn’t win, I could rest easy knowing we’d given it our absolute best shot. Once everyone else had cleared out, Jeffrey grinned as he and I made our way out of the ballroom.
“That was a great night. Thanks again for everything, Abi.”
“And to you.” I tugged him into a hug he was obviously uncomfortable with, but he laughed awkwardly anyway and patted me on the back before he let go. “Have a good night, Jeff.”
“Yeah, you too.” He turned and headed for the parking garage while I stuck my hand into my purse to look for my phone.
My driver was around here somewhere. I just had to pop him a quick text to let him know I was finally ready to go. As I pulled it out, I heard a much too familiar voice behind me and I felt a crack run through my heart all over again.
“Abi, can we talk?” Simon asked.
I tightened my grip on my phone, unlocking it and firing off the text to the driver before I spun to face him. Simon had lost his mask and his tie was loose around his neck, the top button of his collared shirt undone. His hands were in his pockets and he seemed strangely defeated, but I refused to let that soften me up.
Your shoulders can hang and your entire face can be turned down, but that won’t change anything.
I had promised myself that I’d put boundaries in place for real from now on to keep me from getting too close to him again, and not allowing myself to ask him what was wrong was one of those boundaries. It wasn’t my problem what was going on with him. He could go cry to Ashley for all I cared.
“What is it?” I snapped, too tired, too hurt, and too damn over the lies and uncertainty to give a damn if my harsh tone offended him. “I’ve had a really long day, Simon. I’m not in the mood for your games right now.”
“My games?” Hurt flickered in those deep green eyes, but then he drew in a breath so deep that I saw his chest rise. “Yeah. No. You’re right. It has been a long day, so I’ll get right to it. I just wanted to apologize for earlier.”
“Earlier?” I frowned. “Which earlier are you talking about, exactly? The earlier when you told me that your sole focus had to be the client, or the earlier when you gave said client a bracelet you knew meant something to me?”
What little color had been in his cheeks drained out of them. “I can explain?—”
“Oh, for fuck’s sake, Simon. Do you know how old it has become hearing those words from you? You can always explain, can’t you? Nothing is ever just simple with you.”
“It’s not?—”
“I really don’t want to hear it.” My hands found my hips and gripped them so tight that my fingers hurt a little. “I often forget that you were selfish enough to destroy me back when we were teenagers, and fine. I know it wasn’t your fault and that your dad made you do it, but ultimately, Simon, you’re still the one who broke up with me in a letter .”
Tears stung my eyes, but I refused to let them fall. “What’s more is that you almost had me. Do you know that? I almost fell for it all over again, but moments like this help me to remember why we could never actually be together. You’re selfish, and cutthroat, and you really don’t care how your actions affect anyone else around you.”
“I didn’t give Ashley that bracelet,” he insisted when he could finally get a word in. “It wasn’t what it looked like, and if you’ll just give me a minute, I promise you, I can explain.”
“Why are there so many situations with you that aren’t what it looks like ? I swear, I’ve never met anyone who needs a minute to explain as often as you do.”
I scoffed and shook my head, checking my phone to see if my driver had responded yet, and he had. He was right outside, which meant it was time for me to leave.
Wrap this up, Abi. Walk away.
“Here’s the thing, Simon.” I slid my phone back into my purse and crossed my arms as I lifted my gaze back to his. “You create messes in my life and then you leave me alone to clean them up. I’m done with that. From now on, we’re just two people who share an office twice a week while they’re vying for the same client.”
“I don’t want that, Abi. Please. I know this is going to sound real rich coming from me, but will you please just listen?”
As I stared into those eyes, it took everything in me to say no, but I knew I had to. One of us had to break this cycle we’d fallen into and it had to be me. “No, Simon. I won’t listen. Unlike every other time in my life, this isn’t going to be about what you want. What I want is my life back, and that’s what this is about.”
Without giving him time to try to change my mind, I turned and stalked toward the wide exit doors at the other side of the lobby and burst through them. Angry and upset, I huddled up in the backseat of the town car and spent the drive home mentally tearing myself a new one for letting him back into my heart the way I had.
Simon Astor just clearly didn’t love me the way I had always loved him, and it was about time I accepted that. When I finally got home, I was utterly exhausted, body, heart, and soul. I stepped out of my dress when I reached my bedroom, leaving it in a pool on the floor, then went to wash my face and brush my teeth.
I was too tired for even a shower.
As I walked back into my room, I went directly for my closet and I was rummaging around for my comfortable PJs, those ones that made me look fat and horrible, but were the best garments of clothing I owned. As I lifted piles of folded clothes in my search, I caught sight of the box containing the time capsule Simon had given me all those years ago.
For a moment, I was tempted to just throw it away, but as I stared at it, I couldn’t bring myself to toss it out, so I left it exactly where it was. Buried underneath mountains of clothes I hardly ever wore.
Finally finding what I’d been looking for, I put on the pajamas and stumbled to my bed, collapsing face first into it and imagining my feelings for Simon being just like that. Able to be put in a time capsule and sealed away. That was what I needed to do, relegate them to a distant memory and forget they’d ever even been there.