Ashlei
Walking back into Okay, Cool feels a lot like coming home.
I greet everyone on my way in, taking a little more time to chat with MyKayla at the front desk.
She catches me up on her online dating ventures, while I fill her in on how Kappa Kappa Beta recruitment was and how classes have been so far.
Then, I make my way to my new, permanent cube, and I sit down in the chair with my chest swelling as I adjust my little keyboard.
This is mine.
I feel it deep in my soul, that earned possession. Now that everyone knows about me and Mr. Church, I’m free from having to hide anything about myself. And with my internship being over, I’ve fully transitioned into a full-time paid position.
Ashlei Daniels, Account Manager at Okay, Cool.
My heart flutters a little with the feel of it. After my internship ended, I offered to extend over the summer, and of course, Brandon okayed it. And in the middle of July, my manager offered me the full-time position.
It wasn’t that I was shocked at the offer, but more so that it had come not from Brandon, but from my manager and her team. They wanted me here, and not because I gave great blow jobs.
Because I’d earned my spot.
Another smile finds my lips as I log into my computer, going through the flurry of emails that came in while I was gone.
I took four weeks off between my internship and my first day in my new position, mostly to be there for Jess during recruitment, and to get through syllabus week before work got crazy.
And then, there was the weekend in the Bahamas with Brandon.
I bite my lip as last weekend flashes through my mind — days spent on the boat and exploring the island, nights spent wrapped in the sheets.
My skin is still bronzed from the island sun, the tan line left from my swimsuit top visible around my neck, and I run my finger over it with my cheeks flushing.
It had been absolutely perfect, wasting away a few days with him before we both got back to reality.
I could still close my eyes and see his eyes dancing in the candlelight over our private dinners served on the yacht, could hear his laughter as I swam with the pigs and one nipped at the strings of my bikini, untying the bottoms, could still feel his warm hands framing my face as he swept his lips over mine on the beach, the moon high and full above us, waves crashing gently at our feet.
I sigh, feeling warmth spread through my chest like that island sunshine.
I’ve known Brandon for a full year now, and somehow, he still manages to surprise me.
He’s still on my mind after I have lunch with MyKayla, so before my first team meeting, I slip into his office, hellbent on sneaking a kiss or two.
That plan is throttled, however, when I walk in and find two, long, tan and toned legs with red-bottom stilettos strapped to the feet hanging from the edge of his desk.
I stop in the doorway, following the line of those legs up to the body attached to them.
The girl sitting on the corner of his desk — the desk he’d bent me over too many times to count — is younger than me, by the looks of it, with long, bleach-blonde hair and lips painted the same bright red as the bottom of her Louboutins.
She’s wearing a chic, black pencil skirt with a crisp, white button-up top that cuffs at her elbows.
She has her arms wrapped around a binder, and her eyes on my boyfriend as she laughs.
As he laughs with her.
I’m not sure how long I stand there — it must only be a fraction of a second, though it feels like hours. And when the laughter subsides, Brandon finds me in the doorway, and his smile somehow stretches even wider.
“Well, if it isn’t our brand-new account manager,” he says, standing and fastening the button of his blazer. He turns his attention back to the girl. “Sophie, this is Ashlei Daniels. She started as an intern, too, and today is her first day as a full-time employee.”
Sophie turns her wide, sparkling, honey eyes to me, then.
We’re practically twins.
“Wow, so you’re the famous Ashlei Daniels,” she says, genuinely.
She stands then, and I take a breath that doesn’t burn quite as badly now that her legs aren’t dangling off Brandon’s desk anymore.
“Sophie Miller,” she says, extending her hand for mine. I shake it with the best smile I can muster. “I’ve heard a lot about you already.”
“Have you, now?” I ask, quirking a brow at Brandon.
“You have a great reputation here,” she explains. “I’ve only been here two weeks and already I’ve heard your name referenced a million times. It’s nice to finally put a face to the name.”
The longer she talks, the more I realize I can’t figure her out. At first, she seemed bubbly and sweet, but something about the firmness of her handshake, the way her eyes linger on mine, the confidence in the way she holds her shoulders back, in her smile…
It puts me on edge.
It’s like she already owns this place and everyone who works here, too.
“That’s sweet,” I say when our hands release. “It’s nice to meet you.”
“Sophie is already making a name for herself, too,” Brandon says, circling his desk to join us on the other side of it. “Two weeks in and she’s already brought in a new client.”
Brandon smiles at Sophie, and she beams under his gaze like a prized peacock.
I narrow my eyes.
I don’t know why jealousy is flaring hot and bird-like in my chest, but it is, and I hate that I feel threatened by this girl just as much as I hate that I had no idea who she was before this very moment.
Why hadn’t Brandon mentioned her to me?
Then again, why would he?
I’ve been off work for three weeks. I’ve repeatedly told him not to talk about work around me because it was my break, my time off, my vacation.
Now, I’m back.
And apparently, there’s a new girl in town.
Sophie waves him off, blushing — and I swear to God, my fists curl at my sides at the sight of those stupid red cheeks.
“You’re too kind, Mr. Church,” she says, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear as she peeks up at him through her lashes.
Yes, peeks up at him, like a shy little girl.
“I’ll get these reports on your desk by the end of the day,” she says, patting the binder in her hands. Then, she turns to me, and there’s a glint of something in her eyes when she smiles. “It was so nice to meet you, Ashlei. I look forward to working together.”
I smile, too. “Yes, you too, Sophie.”
With one last little wave of her fingers, she’s gone, and Brandon pulls me into his arms for a kiss that distracts me long enough to forget why my chest was tight in the first place.
Why did I just feel threatened by a freaking intern?
I shake my head at myself, wrapping my arms around Brandon’s neck with a sigh. “Hi,” I say.
“Hey, you. How’s the first day back going?”
“It’s busy,” I admit. “Took all morning just to catch up on emails and get my calendar in order. I’m about to walk into my first meeting, but I wanted to see you first.”
“I’m glad you stopped by,” he says, releasing me and putting a work-appropriate distance between us. “We still on for dinner tonight?”
“You bet your sweet ass, we are.”
He chuckles. “Good luck at your first meeting, babe.”
My heart flutters at the pet name, and he leans in to kiss my cheek before rounding his desk to get back to work. I’m almost to the door of his office when I turn again, watching him, something pulling at a string tied around my chest.
He stops typing, looking at me with a frown. “Everything okay?”
There’s a question looming inside that aching chest of mine, but I can’t quite figure out what it is. All I do know is that it was born from jealousy.
And that that jealousy is unfounded.
So, I force a breath and smile, shaking my head. “Just taking one last look at my hot boyfriend.”
Brandon rolls his eyes, balling up a piece of notebook paper on his desk and throwing it at me. I catch it and toss it up in the air before pretending to slam-dunk it in the waste bin by his door.
“See you tonight, cheese ball.”
“Tonight,” I echo.
And I ignore what’s left of that burning question as I make my way down the hall to my meeting.