Chapter 52
CHAPTER 52
ABIGAIL
W alking into the Fit Gal HQ on Tuesday morning, I felt like I was about to face a firing squad. Not only was it elimination day after the team challenges, but I also had to spend it sharing an office with Simon.
It was crazy how one day, I’d been so excited to come here and get to spend time with him, and a few days later, the thought of it made me want to curl into a little ball. I’d spent all of yesterday indulging that side of me, though.
I’d stayed in bed, eaten ice cream until I couldn’t eat anymore, and I’d watched a bunch of tear-jerker movies that didn’t have happy freaking endings. After crying until my eyes were sore, I’d taken a shower and gotten in bed early.
That was about as much airtime as this strange sense of grief I was feeling was going to get from me. One day of misery—and that was it.
Today, I was prepared for battle. I’d been up bright and early, I’d taken August for a nice, long run, and I’d grabbed a delicious matcha on the way back to my house. After a quick shower, I’d applied my favorite makeup, kept my hair natural, and gotten dressed in corporate armor—a tailored navy, pinstripe suit, with a white blouse, sky-high heels on my feet, and lots of delicate silver jewelry.
I felt feminine but powerful. If said firing squad was going to take me out today, they wouldn’t see me sweat before they did.
“Good morning, Charlene.” I gave the receptionist a bright, wide smile as I passed her. “Good weekend?”
“The best,” she said enthusiastically. “I was at both events and you guys slayed, girl. Well done. There’s no way they’re kicking you out after that ball. Good luck, though. It’s probably not going to be a fun one.”
I inclined my chin. “No, it won’t be, but thank you. I’ll see you later?”
“Fingers crossed.” She lifted a hand to show me she meant that literally. Then she smiled and buzzed me through the security point on the way to the elevators.
My heart hammered in my throat as I strode toward them, but I marveled once more at the sheer magnitude of the glass that made up the front of their building. Everything I did today, I knew I could be doing for the last time, and if I was sent out of the competition, I also knew it was unlikely I’d ever come back to Fit Gal HQ.
So I took in every detail, things I hadn’t even noticed since the first time I’d walked in here. Things like the incredible amount of natural light and how much I loved the bright pops of turquoise and pink everywhere.
Gosh, I love this building.
The mere thought of perhaps not getting to return sent another rush of nerves through me. It’d been happening off and on since Saturday night, but I refused to go down that road until I had to, so I made my way to our office, greeting everyone with a friendly smile as I passed them.
If nothing else, I wanted to be remembered around here for being a ray of sunshine as opposed to Simon’s thundercloud. God help them if they end up having to work with him indefinitely. He so doesn’t get the Fit Gal culture.
I groaned quietly to myself. Okay, so that’s not entirely true, but he’s not a fit gal , for heaven’s sake.
Still caught up in my head as I strode into our office, I did a slow double-take when I realized Simon was already in here. He was seated at his desk, looking like he’d been here a while judging by the amount of paperwork in front of him, and he looked up when I walked in.
Those deep-green eyes focused on mine and he smiled. “Good morning, Abi.”
For just a moment, I felt completely gutted, but I kept a straight face. He didn’t get to see how hurt I was. “Good morning, Simon. You’re here early. It looks like your week is off to a great start. I won’t interrupt.”
I strode right past him, sitting down and putting my headphones in just as soon as I was ready to get to work. Our big meeting was set for later this morning, and while I knew there was a one-in-four chance I would be leaving the competition today, I wouldn’t stop preparing.
As I worked, I was all too aware of Simon right behind me. I could feel the tension in the room and I knew he wanted to talk, but I wasn’t ready for that, so I ignored it. Pretending that he wasn’t even there, I focused on my laptop and the upbeat music playing in my ears, and I worked on streamlining my individual campaign ideas for the company.
Despite my best efforts though, I kept having to close my eyes and breathe through the urge to tell him to just spit it out already. Knowing him as well as I did and having shared as much history with him as I had, it was one thing to decide I didn’t want to care about him or his feelings anymore. It was a lot more difficult to just switch it off.
Finally, what felt like an eternity later, it was time for our meeting with Ashley and Blake. While we didn’t know for sure that they’d announce the winners of last week’s team challenge in this meeting, it felt like a fair bet that we were about to find out who was on the chopping block.
I took in a deep breath and removed my headphones, switching off my music. I rolled my chair away from my desk. While I hadn’t looked at Simon again since I’d walked in, I could still feel him right behind me.
“Let’s go do this thing,” I muttered, still without looking at him. “You are still here, right?”
He chuckled, the sound much closer than I’d been expecting. “Still right here. For now, anyway. There’s a fair shot I’m out of the competition today, though. Who knows? In about an hour from now, you might have this office all to yourself.”
I arched an eyebrow, glancing at him from the corner of my eye as I strode to our door. “With your relationship with Ashley? No way. You’re safe.”
“I don’t have a relationship with Ashley,” he stated clearly but quietly behind me, obviously not wanting Jeffrey and Karen in the next office to overhear. “In fact, I?—”
“We really cannot do this right now.” I checked my watch when I hit the hallway. “Five minutes until they’re starting. With or without us.”
“Fine.” He slid his hands into the pockets of his royal blue slacks, his head high. “I’m telling you right now, though. There’s a very good chance I’m going home today, and it’s precisely because I do not have a relationship with Ashley.”
With that confusing statement, he took off down the hallway, his confident stride putting distance between us quickly. I hurried to catch up, but only so I wouldn’t be the last to arrive in the conference room.
Strangely, Simon stopped when he reached the door, waiting for me before he opened it and motioned for me to precede him. Karen, Jeffrey, Ashley, and Blake were already in the smaller conference room where we’d met that first day, and Simon looked around the table before shutting the door behind him.
Silently walking in, we took our seats—beside one another, unfortunately—and Blake’s jaw clenched as his gaze met each of ours in turn. “We know you’re anxious, so we won’t keep you waiting. This is the day when you’re going to find out who won the last team challenge, and as we said before, one member of the losing team will also be exiting the competition today.”
Nervous, I fidgeted with my fingers in my lap and tried to keep my face impassive. I wanted this client so darn badly—even more so now than I had before—but it would all come down to whether I’d done enough at the ball.
“First things first,” Ashley said, weirdly not even making eye contact with Simon as she leaned back in her chair. “We’re going to talk to you a little bit about each event, tell you what we liked and where we felt like there were opportunities for growth.”
“Let’s start with our first event.” Blake glanced at Karen and Simon and grinned. “Guys, we were so surprised by how many activities you offered for the kids. It was incredible that absolutely every child we saw was constantly on the move. There was something for everyone and we didn’t notice anyone looking bored or like they didn’t know what to do.”
“The water slides were a nice touch,” Ashley added. “We loved that you went beyond the traditional picnic-in-the-park type vibes and that you didn’t only offer flag football and sack races. Including the water play park meant that kids who don’t like any kind of sport still got to be active and enjoy themselves.”
My stomach tied itself into millions of little knots. Is it possible to die of nervousness?
Blake grimaced. “Now, let’s focus on the areas for growth. While we loved how much of a variety you offered, and the music, and the definite attention to detail, we felt like the event was incredibly unstructured and a little bit chaotic.”
“We also didn’t feel like there was enough of a presence for the company. Everyone knew it was a Fit Gal event if they saw it on social media, but people who were walking past and others who may only have seen clips of it online would’ve had no idea. We felt like there was a lack of branding as well as that our product itself was under-represented. You could buy all sorts of things to drink, water was freely available, but where was the Fit Gal?”
Karen paled and Simon simply nodded to acknowledge that he’d heard her. Blake turned to me and Jeffrey next. “Right, now onto the ball. At your event, we felt well represented. There was branding on the tables, at the bar, and at the entrances, and it was a stroke of genius to have the bartenders use Fit Gal in their welcoming drinks.”
“We also liked that you went above and beyond in terms of putting on such an elegant, elaborate affair with what little time you had available to you,” Ashley said. “How you managed to sell so many tickets in such a short amount of time, I’ll never know, but it was a ballsy move to book such a large, extravagant venue without knowing if there would even be a dozen people there to fill it.”
Jeffrey glanced at me and I smiled, knowing how worried he had been about that exact point. She didn’t stop there though, which surprised me a little bit. “We also liked that you kept things so classy. Very often, people think there has to be some kind of element of fitness or exercise at every event we’re a part of, but your event wasn’t about Fit Gal. It was about the Cancer Foundation and we were impressed by how well you managed to represent us while not making anything about fitness at all.”
“Now onto the not so positive things,” Blake said, but his features weren’t as stiff as they had been when they’d addressed areas of growth with the other team. “Ashley and I had to try really hard to identify some areas of improvement for you, but the only thing we felt was slightly lacking was that there could’ve been more focus on fundraising. Next time, we’d like to throw in a silent auction or something similar to raise more money for the cause.”
I blinked a couple times. That doesn’t sound bad at all. Our areas of growth are minimal.
Instantly feeling better, like the nervousness might just not kill me after all, I smiled. “Given more time, we would’ve loved to include something like that. Thank you for your feedback.”
“Yeah, thanks,” Karen said, but her nose was in the air, her cheeks ashen, and her eyes narrowed. “So who won, then?”
“Abigail and Jeffrey,” Ashley said, completely matter of fact.
My heart skipped and raced, but even in our moment of triumph as I turned to give Jeff a high-five, I couldn’t help but notice that she still hadn’t looked directly at Simon. Is it possible that he was telling the truth? Could he really be going home today because he doesn’t have a relationship with her, and if so, what the hell does that bracelet have to do with it?