12. Cora
12
CORA
“ I t sucks that you had to come all the way here just to unlock an office door,” I said as we exited the manufacturing facility in Newburgh and made our way back to the car. The parking lot was massive, but Aiden had a reserved spot near the front door. CEO was painted on the ground in bright yellow paint. “But I’m glad I got a tour out of it.”
“Learned all our trade secrets?” he teased.
“Pretty much.”
“I’m just glad the inspectors didn’t decide to make an example out of Elixir over this whole comedy of errors. It’s not like we didn’t have the documentation they were looking for. It just…wasn’t exactly as accessible as we would have liked it to be.”
“They seemed fairly relaxed about it in the end,” I noted. “George must have taken them for a very nice brunch.”
He laughed. “Worth every penny.”
“I suppose today would have been less of a hassle if you’d been able to jump on your helicopter,” I said. “I’m sorry about that.”
Aiden twirled his key fob around his finger. “Don’t apologize. I genuinely enjoyed the drive. It was a nice little escape.”
I enjoyed spending time with you , I thought. We’d finally had a long overdue conversation, catching up on everything we’d missed in each other’s lives these past fifteen or so years. I was still stuck on the fact he’d sent flowers after my dad passed, and I’d never known. He kept surprising me in little ways. Aiden, the billionaire—this man I’d despised on sheer principle—wasn’t exactly the ogre I’d imagined him to be. The more time I spent with him, the more I glimpsed the Aiden I’d known—grown into a man who was every bit as impressive as he’d always had the potential to be.
“Did you get enough content filmed?” he asked. “Enough to satisfy your Masked Mixer fans at least?”
I chuckled. “Yeah! The fans will be stoked to get these little behind-the-scenes glimpses. I think they’ll be as surprised as I was at how big the fermentation tanks are.”
“We can pull almost one hundred barrels off some of those tanks,” Aiden said.
“That’s incredible.”
“If there’s more content you want to make, I’d be happy to arrange for you to come back another day. There’s a lot that goes into getting Elixir on a shelf.”
“Actually, I’d enjoy meeting more of the production team. Maybe getting some little snippets of interviews with them to add to the videos. They can talk about what they do, their role in the process. Oh, I could get them to tell me their favorite cocktail to add Elixir to. It could be like a whole series.”
“That sounds amazing. We’ll get you linked up with marketing.” He stuffed his hands in his pockets, giving a little chuckle. “I can’t believe I haven’t thought about doing any of that until now.”
“What?”
“Featuring the employees in promotional materials. My production team is the best. I really couldn’t do any of this without them.” He turned and smiled at me. “And that includes you now.”
It includes me for now , I wanted to correct him. At least until the contract ended. Was I ridiculous for feeling a little sad that we were probably already halfway through this project? I’d miss that lab when this was all over. Filming there had been a great change of pace for my channel. I’d also miss the hell out of the team—Dot’s excitement for random cat videos, Javeed’s insightfulness, Chris’s constant complaints about the music we played. And I’d miss…other things too.
Aiden unlocked the car as we neared, climbing inside. I got into the passenger seat, buckling myself in as he started the car and peeled out of the lot, heading back to Manhattan.
I stared out the window until the facility disappeared from sight, then stole a donut from the box between us.
Aiden smirked.
“Don’t say anything,” I said.
“About my superior snacks? Never.”
“Wise choice. Now that you’ve spent your whole day pacifying the federal government,” I said, trying not to get powdered sugar on my shirt. “What are your plans for tonight?”
“I promised my dad I’d swing by the Red Lion to help him and Maggie hang the light fixtures that finally came in. Remember me telling you he was trying to sort them out?”
I covered my mouth, swallowing a bite of donut. “I do remember. That was the time you told me not to go over and say hello because I’d only be bothering him.”
Aiden’s head snapped in my direction, his eyes wide like he’d just remembered the argument we’d had. He opened his mouth as if to apologize, but when he saw the teasing look on my face, his expression softened. He turned back to the road, drumming his hand against the steering wheel. “If I remember correctly, that was right after you’d assaulted me with a tripod.”
I clicked my tongue. “I did not assault you.”
He placed his hand on his torso and winced dramatically. “Right through the kidney. It still aches sometimes.”
I shoved at his shoulder, feeling the firmness of the muscle against my fingertips. “Liar.”
“I’m serious. Especially when it rains.”
“Oh my god, what are you? An old man?”
“I don’t know if I’m gonna make it,” he grunted, hunching over in his seat.
I rolled my eyes. “Honestly. I barely bumped you.”
“You bulldozed into me like you were late for last call at the bar. I’m surprised I didn’t have to call an ambulance to wheel me off the sidewalk.”
“Are you really trying to milk this? I’d like to remind you which one of us used to play a sport where getting tackled was the norm.”
He stopped feigning an injury long enough to change lanes. “You know what, you’d actually make a good linebacker.”
“Missed my calling, huh?”
“Most definitely.” A beat later, he laughed out loud.
“What?”
“I’m just envisioning you on the field, swimming in shoulder pads and a helmet. It’s almost adorable.”
“I’d be menacing.”
“Yes, I’d be terrified.” He reached out and tapped his finger against the tip of my nose. I batted his hand away. “I’d mostly be worried you’d get trampled.”
“Whatever. I should be the quarterback anyway. You used to say I had a good arm, remember?”
Aiden thumped the wheel. “That’s right! I forgot we used to throw the ball around between games.”
I hadn’t. If I closed my eyes, I could imagine I was there again, in the crisp air of a New Jersey autumn evening, making increasingly terrible throws that went absolutely nowhere near him on purpose so I could watch Aiden hustle around the field, diving for the catches and rolling around on the grass, showing off for me. My chest filled with something heavy, and I shoved that memory aside. “You think you could use another set of hands tonight? All joking aside, it would be nice to say hello to your dad and see the progress he’s making on the bar.”
“You know what?” Aiden said. “That sounds great. You can come pick his brain about your speakeasy idea.”
The Red Lion was a messy work in progress. I liked it immediately.
“Watch your step,” Aiden said, pointing out a loose floorboard in the entryway. “I swear to god these things keep popping up. Feels like a Whack-a-Mole game.”
I walked carefully into the main space. Dull light spilled in through grimy windows and a thick layer of dust coated the floor, highlighting the spaces where old booth seats and tables had been ripped out to provide access to the walls for refinishing. My favorite part was the exposed beams and uncovered brickwork which gave the place an undeniable charm. Once construction was done and the place was cleared up, I could tell that the Red Lion was going to be exactly the kind of space I’d like to pop into for a quiet drink.
“My god! Is that Cora Newport?” a voice boomed.
“In the flesh!” I said as Tony came around the bar and swept me into a warm hug. I was surprised at the surge of emotion it brought. Hugging Tony was like stepping back in time into a world where Aiden and I were still together, and my biggest worries were passing my exams and convincing my parents to let me push back my curfew.
That was a world where my dad was still alive, back when I was too naive to truly understand what it was to lose someone or have my heart broken.
“It’s good to see you,” Tony said, stepping back to take me in. He still looked the same. Older of course, with deeper laugh lines and creases by his eyes and streaks of grey in his black hair—Aiden had gotten his fair coloring from his mom. But his smile was the same, and so were the glasses he used for reading perched on the end of his nose.
He’d abandoned a set of instructions on the bartop when he’d come around to hug me. Aiden picked them up. “These for the new light fixtures?”
“I keep telling him we don’t need the instructions,” a woman said, stepping out of a back room I assumed led to either a kitchen or a stock room. “Do you know how hard it is to hang a light fixture?”
Aiden arched his eyebrow. “No?”
“It’s not,” she said, deadpan. “There’s literally nothing simpler. But Einstein over here wants to read all the fine print before changing out some wires.”
Tony huffed. “I don’t need anyone getting electrocuted before the bar is even open.”
“Do I look like an amateur to you?” The woman stepped toward me, shoving her safety glasses up and back into the pile of grey curls pinned to the top of her head. “Hi, I’m Maggie. You must be Cora. Heard a lot about you from Aiden.”
“Have you?” I said, turning in his direction. Aiden was conveniently hidden behind Tony’s page of instructions.
“So, are we going to do this?” he asked, and Maggie and I exchanged a smirk before deciding to let him get away with changing the subject.
“About the only thing Tony has done right is order the light fixtures I told him to,” Maggie muttered to me, a smug grin on her face. “His choice looked like something off a whale’s?—”
“No, they didn’t!” Tony cut in. “And I told you. The only reason I went with these,” he gestured to the boxes in the middle of the bar, “was because my first choice had a supply chain issue.”
“Whatever you say,” Maggie said. “I know I’m right, and that’s all that matters.”
“This sounds just like me having superior road trip snacks,” Aiden said. “When you’re right, you’re right.”
“Oh, don’t start with that again,” I said, crossing my arms.
“Says the girl who ate half the box of donuts,” Aiden pointed out.
“It was a long drive. What did you want me to do? Starve?”
He handed the instructions back to Tony. “I’m just saying. Mini donuts will always trump pretzels.”
Maggie smirked, nudging Tony, but I didn’t have a chance to parse what that might mean before the door thumped open, and a man I didn’t recognize walked in. He was tall, with dark hair and a bit of a beard.
“Oh, thank god,” Maggie said. “I’m finally getting some real help around here. Miracles do happen.”
“Going for the unshaven look now?” Aiden asked before clapping the man on the back.
The man pulled away and rubbed at his beard. “I’ve been running between work and Nana Dee so often that I forget what day it is, never mind that I should shave.”
“Don’t,” Maggie told him. “Looks good on you. Distinguished. Ladies love a beard.”
Tony rubbed his own hairless chin, lips pursed.
Aiden gestured in my direction. “Trent, this is Cora. Cora, this is one of my college buddies I was telling you about.”
“You got the college run down, did you?” Trent said. “This guy try to tell you the cosmetics company was all his idea?”
I laughed. “Is that what he normally does?”
“Hey, knock it off,” Aiden said. “I gave you…two percent of the credit in the story.”
“More than usual,” Trent teased. He held up a metal box. “Anyway, I’ve come bearing the tools of the trade.”
“So are you the handy one of the college friends?” I asked.
“Hey!” Aiden protested at the same time Trent smirked. “I’m handy.” He picked up a hammer as if to prove a point.
“Watch where you’re swinging that thing,” Trent said, plucking it out of his hand. He turned to me, shrugging. “My grandfather worked as a carpenter before he and Nana Dee started their business. Taught me everything I know. Most importantly, how not to put a nail through my finger.”
“See?” Maggie said to Tony. “I told you that was lesson number one.”
“And I told you the hammer slipped.”
“Aiden was telling me about your grandmother earlier,” I said to Trent, talking over Tony and Maggie’s bickering. “I was sorry to hear she’s been having health issues.”
Trent glanced over at Aiden in surprise, like he hadn’t expected him to share that information, but then he nodded. “Thank you. I’m hoping she’ll get in to see her doctor soon, and that’ll clear up the mystery. If she was just less stubborn?—”
“Then she wouldn’t be the Nana Dee we know and love,” Aiden said. “But don’t worry. We’re gonna make sure she feels supported in whatever happens next.”
I tilted my head, watching Aiden interact with Trent. He’d always been the kind of guy to pump up his teammates when they needed it or cheer up a friend who was going through a rough patch. It was startling to see how much of him was still that boy I fell so hard for as a teenager. He knew how to present himself as the business mogul the world expected him to be, but here, away from the office, he was relaxed. And seeing him surrounded by people who knew him well enough to tease him, it was easy to uncover more of that sweet, supportive, charming guy.
Trent joined Maggie and Tony at the bar, unpacking the light fixtures.
I shifted closer to Aiden. Close enough that my voice wouldn’t carry. “That was really nice of you. What you said about Nana Dee.”
He shrugged. “I know Trent’s stressed about it. That’s why I invited him down here tonight. Thought it might help him take his mind off the things he can’t control. At the very least, listening to my dad and Maggie bitch at each other will be a nice break from worrying.”
“Unless you and Tony screw it up and we all end up electrocuted,” I said. “There’s always that to worry about.”
He narrowed his eyes playfully, and something about the way he smiled at me—easy, carefree, giddy—made me want to take his hand just like I would have in high school. He may have been all grown up now, but he still made my heart beat just as hard as he did back then. “Maggie would never let that happen.”
I looked away before my face could flush. “Thank god for Maggie.”