Chapter 24 #2
The band has just started a slow song, and the lights have dimmed like it’s homecoming in the gym.
Aiden’s gaze never leaves mine. “Will you dance with me?”
I nod and he takes my hand, leading me to the dance floor. There are other couples surrounding us. Millie and Kaylie. The Wilkinses. The Parkers. Mrs. Lawrence and Donny (weird). Mom and Dad. Mr. and Mrs. Jackson. The Sharmas. Charlotte and Sawyer make their way to the floor too. Interesting.
Aiden and I sway back and forth to the music. I have my arms around his shoulders, and there’s nowhere else I’d rather be now, honestly. It’s as if I can pretend I’m sixteen again. Not a care in the world. Just this cute boy and my cute dress, and this dance and this moment.
I would press my cheek to his chest if I didn’t think it would end up on the Hot Sheet in the morning. As it is, we’ll still probably be there just for dancing. If Mrs. L knew about what happened in the greenhouse, her head would explode. Oh, that makes me smile.
“I’m sorry we got interrupted earlier,” I say. “I thought I was meeting Maria out here, but she came looking for me.”
“It’s okay,” Aiden says. “But there’s something I need to tell you.” The look in his eyes is serious. Intense. It makes me shiver.
The tiniest bit of panic bubbles in my chest. But I have to hear him out. Maybe whatever he says will make what I want to say more obvious, because at the moment, I have no idea what I want to say to him. I’m so confused. And I haven’t had much sleep.
“Ellie, I—”
“Ellie!” Someone is calling my name. Loudly. I pull my arms from Aiden’s neck and turn toward the crowd. Who said that? I exchange a brief confused look with Aiden.
“Ellie!”
We’ve stopped dancing. The crowd parts, and Steve Gibbons and Geoff are headed directly for me. Geoff was the one calling my name.
Aiden and I move off the dance floor to meet them.
“Eleanor, there you are,” Steve says. He is out of breath.
He looks totally disheveled, not at all his usual put-together self.
His clothes are wrinkled, and he’s got mud on his pants.
Did Miss Guin get him? Ah, karma. Sometimes you come in the form of a goat.
I can’t help but smile at that thought as I introduce all three of the men.
I also note with some smug satisfaction that Steve is not wearing a Patagonia vest tonight.
He’s got on some sort of a blazer instead.
Aiden gives Geoff a once-over while Steve puts a hand on my shoulder. I pointedly stare at his hand until he removes it. I take a step back. I can feel Aiden’s strong, comforting presence behind me.
“What are you doing here, Steve? I thought you were going to call me,” I say, crossing my arms over my middle.
“I decided to drive out here instead. This event,” Steve waves his hand in the air to indicate the entire barn, “is the hottest thing on social right now.”
I furrow my brow. “Wait. What? The Autumn Harvest Festival?”
“Yes. It’s all over my Instagram and TikTok feeds.”
I refuse to look surprised. Instead, I shrug one shoulder as if it’s totally what I expected. “I’m really good,” I say. “Anyway, why did you come out here?”
“Geoff says you’re considering coming back, and I thought I’d have a better chance of convincing you in person.”
“You’re considering going back?” comes Aiden’s voice from behind me. I do not miss the surprise in his tone. Or the disappointment.
I turn to him and tell him the truth. “I don’t know.”
Steve threads his fingers together. “Please, Eleanor,” he begs. “Please come back.” He reaches behind himself and pulls a piece of paper out of his back pocket. He promptly hands it to me.
“She goes by Ellie now,” Geoff informs Steve as I unfold the paper to see the GMJ letterhead.
It’s a job offer. Twice my previous salary and a bonus as much as half that.
There is also a new title on the page. Lead Event Planner.
I had been an associate planner. A lead planner is on track for partnership. They get all the biggest accounts.
“What do you say?” Steve asks, staring hopefully at me with big, fake puppy-dog eyes.
I stare back at him as a hundred thoughts fly through my head. If he’s offering me double my salary, that means I was paid way too little before. Plus, what exactly did Geoff tell him happened? And why was he so quick to believe the worst about me?
“Geoff told me what happened,” Steve explains. “He told me all the ideas were yours. He told me he lied.”
“If he told you the truth, why is he here with you? Why didn’t you fire him like you fired me?”
“What? Well, I...” Steve’s normally nonstop talking temporarily drifts into silence. “I mean, he admitted what he did.”
My voice rises. My nostrils flare. “You didn’t even give me the courtesy of an explanation. You wouldn’t even let me go back to my desk. You still have my tumbler!”
Steve’s mouth keeps opening and closing like a puppet’s while I get madder and madder. I may have made some mistakes in my life, but whatever else I do, wherever else I go, I’m not going back to a place that wouldn’t even let me take my sweater and my tumbler when I left.
“I’m not coming back,” I say to Steve. His face falls. So does Geoff’s. “And both of you can suck it.”
“What?” Steve points at the paper I’m still holding. “Didn’t you see the numbers?”
“I sure did. And frankly, if you can pay me that much now, it means you weren’t paying me what I was worth before.”
“But... I...” He’s at a loss for words, and honestly, it’s fun to watch. Finally, he tugs on his lapels. “Take the night. Think about it. Sleep on it.”
I am in high dudgeon. My dudgeon is high.
My chest is puffed up, and I’m standing up as tall as a five-foot-four lady wearing boots can, and I know my eyes are flashing fire.
There’s no stopping me now. Once that voice in my head green-lighted all of this, I mentally pulled the rip cord.
It feels good. It feels great, actually!
“I don’t need the night. The answer is no.
And if you keep telling other companies lies about me, I’m going to sue you and GMJ for everything you’re worth. ”
Steve’s face turns red. He clenches his fists. Now he looks angry. “You’re going to regret this, Eleanor.”
“I don’t think I am.” I cross my arms over my chest. “And don’t make a scene, Steve. You don’t want to burn any bridges , do you?”
“Look, Eleanor.” Steve’s hands are on his hips now.
“You heard the lady, Steve. And it’s Ellie .” This comes from Maria, who steps out of the crowd to give Steve her best you-eff-with-my-friend-you-eff-with-me face. “Now get out of here.”
Steve and Geoff finally slink away. I’m about to turn to Aiden, when I glance up to see four people dressed in suits looking quite out of place in the barn. They are about ten feet away, and they are all watching me.
One of the members of the group, an older woman with dark hair and a killer black business suit, steps forward.
“Good job, Ellie Lawson,” the woman says. She has a bit of gray at the temples, is wearing very expensive heels and jewelry, and looks like she belongs in an executive boardroom, not at this festival. I bet her watch costs more than my old yearly salary.
“You know me?” I say, and then I glance at her companions. I realize they look familiar. They’re the three executives from the Bolt Hotel Group. The ones who I’d presented to the day I was fired.
“I know of you,” the woman informs me.
If those are the executives, then this woman must be...
“Laura Bolt, chief executive of Bolt Hotels.” She offers a hand for me to shake.
Oh my God. Laura Bolt! She is a legend in the hospitality industry. She built the company from the ground up. I cannot believe she’s here. Why is she here? I shake her hand, feeling as if I’m in a dream.
“We’ve been looking for you,” Laura says.
“You’ve been looking for me ?” I point at her first and then at myself. That can’t be right. I must have heard her wrong.
“Yes,” she says. “As soon as I met Geoff, I knew he hadn’t planned one minute of our event.” She shakes her head.
“I planned it,” I tell her.
“I know. My team told me you were the one with the original presentation,” Laura continues.
“How did you find me?” I ask. Because seriously, what is happening?
Laura’s similarly well-dressed female associate steps forward. “Your social media account was filled with news about this festival.” She waves a hand in the air. “It’s beautiful, by the way. So well done.”
Laura Bolt nods. “Just as beautiful as I want my Barn and Branch event to be next weekend.”
I gulp. How is this happening?
“We want to hire you,” Laura says. “May I?” She nods at the piece of paper still in my hand.
I give it to her. She scans it and hands it back to me.
“I’ll triple your previous salary, and I’d like you to come on as the head of event planning for the new brand.
And you’re right. They were definitely underpaying you. ” She winks at me.
Have I died? Is this heaven? Or have I fallen asleep and this is a dream I never want to end?
“You want me to be the head of event planning for Barn and Branch?” I repeat the words as if they were not originally spoken in my native tongue. As if I need to ensure I understood them correctly.
“Yes, I didn’t realize how much of a background you have in the hospitality industry. Until this.” She rolls a finger in the air indicating the barn. “Your parents own this place, right?”
I am vaguely aware of Mom and Dad standing off to the side watching all of this unfold. I glance over at them, and they smile at me. They are watching my dream come true. I notice some other townsfolk watching. This is sure to be top of the Hot Sheet in the morning.
“In fact,” Laura continues, “this inn and the orchard are perfect candidates for the brand. We’ll send over an offer first thing Monday morning.”