Chapter 56
CHAPTER 56
ABIGAIL
I t was team-building day at Fit Gal and excitement washed over me even as I rummaged through my closet, trying to decide what to wear. While we hadn’t been given any information about what to expect from today, I had a feeling it was going to be fun.
There would definitely be some kind of challenge involved and I was always down for that. At the very least, it would be a nice break from pitches and presentations, and moreover, I was looking forward to a day of not being behind a desk.
As I decided on a cute workout set in coral and white, I chewed on my lower lip, wondering what to do about the fact that I was also going to be seeing Simon again today. I still wasn’t over the whole bracelet fiasco and what had come before it, the sudden distance and the cool declaration of needing to focus on the client, but I found myself a little more open to talking to him than I had been before.
I’d finally decided that he’d seemed genuine when he’d been trying to explain on Tuesday. I knew myself well enough to know that it would only gnaw at the edges of my conscience until I got the whole story from him.
Some people might’ve been able to just let it go, but the truth was important to me. So was finality. Closure. I’d gone long enough without it to know how valuable it was to have an opportunity to ask questions and get answers.
Since I refused to go back to constantly trying to hash things out in my own head, I’d decided that for the sake of my own sanity, I would talk to him if he brought it up again. I wanted to know what had happened, and once I had that information, I would decide how or even if I wanted to go forward with him.
Whether I liked it or not, Simon was a part of me. I’d allowed the fabrics of our souls to become meshed together when we’d been kids and now I was stuck with the consequences of that. I just wished his dad wasn’t such a damn barrier between us.
Many problems could be overcome, but parents were parents. George Astor was Simon’s father as well as his boss. He would always be there, but that didn’t have to mean that we were doomed.
Maybe.
Either way, I got dressed and pulled on my favorite Adidas, determined to make the best of whatever challenges came my way today. Hey, at least my life isn’t boring anymore, so there’s that.
Filled with resolve, excitement, and positivity, and feeling better than I had all week, I headed over to Fit Gal HQ. Blake had texted earlier and asked us to meet him in the parking garage of all places, and I felt a shiver of anticipation snake down my spine as I pointed my car down the ramp that led to our starting point for the day.
Overhead lights flickered on as I drove through the packed garage and my heart catapulted into my throat when I rounded the final corner to see Simon already waiting with Blake at the elevator. Like me, Simon was in active wear, his consisting of navy shorts with black sneakers and a black, lightweight jacket. Blake, however, was wearing jeans and a blazer, cluing me into the fact that whatever we were doing today, he wouldn’t be coming with us.
Both men turned at the sound of my car coming toward them, with Blake smiling at me and offering a polite wave while Simon’s jaw tightened. He just stood there and stared. My heart rate ratcheted up a notch when our gazes met, but thankfully, before I could get so lost in his eyes that I plowed them over, I remembered that I was driving and pulled into a parking spot.
“Good morning, boys,” I called as I climbed out of my car, my voice echoing slightly through the concrete-walled garage. I grabbed my backpack and jogged toward them, doing my best not to look only at Simon. “Jeff not here yet?”
“I’m here.” Jeffrey stepped out of the elevator and he already looked winded, his cheeks a little flushed as he rushed over to join us.
His wrists were encircled by bright orange sweatbands and he wore clothes that looked brand new. He grinned but I saw the worry in his eyes. I knew he was concerned about being physically outmatched by Simon and myself. He’d alluded to his fears about that kind of thing a few times last week, but this was team-building. We weren’t competing today.
I shot him a warm smile. “I just got here myself. Good morning.”
“Morning, Abi.” He turned to Blake, quickly glancing around before he frowned. “Where’s Ashley?”
Blake chuckled. “We’ll both be monitoring your progress throughout the day from our offices, but I only came down here to send you off on your mission. You’re not staying.”
“Oh.” He rolled his lips into his mouth and nodded, not seeming entirely certain about whether to think this was a good or bad thing.
I moved closer to him and bumped my hip into his. “Don’t worry. We’re a team again today. I’ve got your back.”
Simon’s greens briefly met mine, but the look in them was unreadable. All I knew was that he wasn’t happy. I just wasn’t sure what it was about.
“So, what’s our mission?” he asked Blake, arms crossing over his chest as he turned to face the boss. “Are we washing cars? Trying to drag them around…”
Blake laughed. “Nothing like that. You’re going on a social media scavenger hunt. Each post will give you a clue on where to go next and you must partake in the activity in each post to get the next clue.”
I felt my face split into a wide grin. “That sounds awesome. How will you know whether we’ve done it, though?”
“You’ll send in a picture of all three of you at the activity, and once I get it, I’ll send the next clue.” Blake glanced at Jeffrey. “Have fun with this. It’s meant to be a lighthearted day to give you a break after all the pressure we’ve put you under. We enjoy doing stuff like this with our staff when we do our company team-building exercises, so we thought we’d give you a peek into the fun side of Fit Gal.”
Jeffrey jerked his chin into a nod, but Simon was practically bouncing on his feet already, his car keys somehow suddenly in his hand. He grinned at Blake. “Just point us in a direction. We’re ready to get started.”
Blake’s hands slid into his pockets and he took a step back toward the elevator. “Then go do it. Choose a driver and get on the road. I’ll be posting your first clue shortly. Good luck.”
With a final nod at us, he turned and made his way into the building. Simon spun his keys around his finger, a smirk on his lips as he faced us. “I’ll drive. You heard the man. Let’s get going.”
Without waiting for a response, he spun around and strode to his car, and I took Jeffrey’s arm as I rolled my eyes. “Simon’s an asshole, but he’s a good team member and an okayish driver. We’ll be fine.”
“I heard that,” he called without even turning to glance at us over his shoulder. “I’m more than just okayish. I’m a decent driver at worst.”
I laughed and even Jeffrey cracked a smile. Then we were off. Simon jumped in behind the steering wheel of his fancy, sleek car and I headed for the passenger seat when Jeffrey opted for the back. As I climbed in, I pulled my phone out of my pocket and unlocked the screen.
“I’ll be the copilot and navigator,” I volunteered as I buckled up. “I’ll pull up each post as they go live, read them out, and give you directions to where we think the location is.”
“Are you sure you want to be responsible for the map?” Simon barely managed to hide his smile as he glanced at me. “You’ve always had a hard time with directions.”
I smiled sweetly and battled my eyelashes. “Funny. You always seem to be the one who’s lost.”
“Savage.” He chuckled and shook his head, turning over his engine before glancing at Jeffrey in his rearview. “You okay back there?”
“Uh, yep.” I heard him clicking his seat belt into place and twisted in my seat so I’d be able to see both guys. Jeffrey looked at me. “He said you always have a hard time with directions. Do you two know each other?”
“Oh, yeah.” Simon grinned at him before pushing his gears into reverse and shooting out of the parking spot. “We’ve known each other forever. We went to high school together and everything.”
“Well, that explains a few things,” Jeffrey muttered.
I laughed, but I appreciated Simon not going into more detail than he had. It was definitely preferable that we keep the extent of our relationship—both previously and in the present—to ourselves. “Yes, I’ve had the questionable honor of having to deal with His Arrogance for most of my life. Do you think I can get a medal?”
“His Arrogance ?” Simon laughed, only glancing at me for a second as he gunned it out of the parking lot. “Where the hell did that come from?”
“Just a little place called the truth,” I teased before I remembered that I had to fight against the ease of our connection. Bantering with him was like muscle memory—it happened without any conscious thought whatsoever. “Okay, the first post just came up. Focus, gentlemen.”
As soon as the picture connected to the post loaded, I opened it up, recognizing a Zumba class in the photograph. “The caption says ‘this studio was the first place ever to carry Fit Gal energy drinks. Dance, Fit Gal, dance!’”
Almost immediately, I knew where we were going. “Push the gas. They’re referring to ‘Stress Less, Dance More.’ Their studio is downtown.”
Simon reacted instantly—by getting into the wrong lane. I widened my eyes at him. “Downtown, Simon. Where are you going?”
“Downtown,” he replied, hands in a white-knuckled grip on the steering wheel. “I’m driving, you’re directing, remember?”
“Yeah, but that means you have to follow my directions. You need to turn left.”
“No, if I turn left, we’ll get caught in traffic. Just relax. I know what I’m doing. My way might be longer, but it’s faster.”
He proceeded to take the wrong turn and I groaned, which set the tone for the entire drive to the dance studio. Simon kept making wrong turns and insisting they were correct, and eventually, I yelled, “I said turn right!”
“I thought the name of this place suggested we should stress less, not more,” Jeffrey muttered from the backseat. “You guys sound like an old married couple.”
Simon’s lips tugged into a smirk. “We do, don’t we?”
My eyes rolled, but I wondered why he seemed so happy about that. “Focus on the road, Astor. Do your daydreaming on your own time.”
He winked at me but finally managed to get us to the studio. When we arrived, there was a parking spot waiting for us with a little sign saying, “Congrats on solving the first clue!”
I smiled as we piled out of the car. “Well, boys. I hope you’re ready to dance.”
“No way we actually have to take the class,” Simon said.
Jeffrey jerked his head toward him and then nodded. “I’m with Simon. They said we just need to send a picture of all three of us at the activity and then he’d post the next clue.”
“Rules are rules, gentlemen.” I grabbed both of their arms and dragged them across the busy sidewalk into the studio. “Blake said we need to participate in the activity and they told us to dress in athletic gear for a reason. Besides, you saw what the post said. Dance, Fit Gal, dance .”