Chapter 4 #2
“He said Grant Anderson, baby,” Dannika shouted with a gleeful cry, arms in the air.
“Top forty, under forty, CEO of three out of four of Oceanside’s leading startups, filthy rich, devilishly handsome, and he wants you to plan Anderson Enterprises’ third anniversary party.
There’s an email in your inbox, but I believe his exact words were… ”
She looked at Howie, who finished the sentence for her, his arms out to his sides. “Spare no expense!”
“You guys are kidding. Come on, it’s not funny to tease a new mom,” I said, already moving my mouse to start up the computer.
“Honest to God,” Dannika said, hands up to show her innocence.
“Why me?” There were two hundred eighty-three unread emails in my inbox. I began to scroll.
“Well, as the CEO of the other leading Oceanside startup, Dan may have dropped a few hints that he was planning to have you plan his anniversary party at a fundraising event Anderson attended. Anderson’s always looking to one-up GloTech. Two days later, we got the call.”
“Oh my gosh, I could kiss him!” I cry as I finally reach the email. “Ben and I are taking you two out for a nice dinner, you know that?”
Howie beamed. “Oh, no need…but if you insist, we’ll have steak.” He winked. “Anyway, Anderson’s super excited to work with you, and Cumberland is, of course, thrilled that we got the deal. If you can pull this off, you’ll be Cumberland royalty.”
“She already is,” Dannika said. “That’s why she gets the best clients.” She lowered her voice. “After this deal, we’ll finally have enough to break away and start our own company. And the clients he sends will be coming your way, not Cumberland’s.”
I swallowed. It was something we’d talked about since we graduated, but it still seemed too unrealistic. Especially now, with a baby. Insurance alone would keep me working there for much longer than I liked to think about. “Maybe,” I said.
“Come on, babe. We’ve got this.” Dannika tapped the frame on my desk, where my favorite quote sat.
If you don’t take risks, you’ll always work for someone who does. -Nora Denzel
With three kids, but a lawyer for a husband, Dannika’s risks weren’t exactly the same as mine.
If she knew I’d had my share of our startup in savings for over a year now, she’d be so upset, but I couldn’t bring myself to tell her.
The risks still terrified me. As brave as I wanted to be, my comfort zone wasn’t such a bad place to be.
Before I could respond, I watched as Mr. Cumberland appeared in my doorway. “Palmer, welcome back. We’ve missed you.”
“Yeah, you’re such a hero, Palmer. Coming back to work less than two weeks after having a human literally exit your body,” Howie said, enunciating the words. “Even before your doctor cleared you.”
Mr. Cumberland nodded enthusiastically, not realizing—or caring—the comments were sarcastic. “Palmer’s a fighter, always has been.”
Dannika rolled her eyes, not bothering to hide her irritation. “It would really be a shame if she were able to take more time off, wouldn’t it?”
“Why on earth would she want to do that?” he asked. “Did they already tell you about your client meeting today? Big deal!” His fingers rubbed together, gesturing that I’d make a lot of money, ergo, he’d make a lot of money.
“They mentioned Grant Anderson, yes,” I said, smiling politely. I didn’t have enough energy to hate the man standing in front of me. Not for being unwilling to give me paid time off, not for not even mentioning Gray, not even for expecting me to jump straight into work. I just didn’t have it in me.
Dannika’s brows shot up, and I knew she wanted me to admit she was right. If we had our own business, I could work from home when I needed to. She could’ve taken on the extra clients to give me the time off with Gray.
Someday…
Mr. Cumberland sat down in front of my desk. “I needed to talk to you two about the month’s numbers, anyway. Howie, can you send Ethan in?”
“Sure thing,” Howie said, stepping back from the office at his apparent dismissal.
Already, we were in a business meeting.
Welcome back.
“Well, I can certainly look into the ice sculpture of your logo. We hire a company in Oceanside that handles them. You’ll love their work. We could even have them do the Anderson Enterprises name and then the logo below, if you’d like. I can have them draft up a few options for you to choose from.”
Grant Anderson nodded, his eyes trained on his phone. He wasn’t really listening and kept having to have me repeat things.
“Does that work?”
“Yes, yes, definitely. Just have them send them over.”
“Okay, great,” I said, letting out a sigh. It was just after three, and my breasts were swollen with milk. I needed to pump desperately, but our meeting had run longer than expected. “So, then we just need to go over a catering list and I think we have all the basics.”
“I’ve already chosen everything I’d like served. It’s in the packet there,” he said, waving his hand toward me. “Now, do you hire the wait staff?”
“Yes, like I mentioned before, we’ll take care of handling—”
“One moment—”
He held up a hand, answering his phone. “Hello?”
I jerked my head back in shock. He couldn’t be serious.
“Hey, no, sorry, I was in the middle of something. What’s the status?” He paused. “No kidding? Yeah, we should. Call that girl from the other night, too…what was her name?” Another pause. “No, the one from Cincinnati. Yes, that’s the one.” Again, another pause. “We’ll take the jet.”
I tapped my fingers on the tabletop in the conference room, my breasts so tight, itchy, and uncomfortable, I knew I was going to be leaking any moment.
It was the third phone call he’d answered in our two-hour-long meeting, where we’d only covered half of what we needed to, despite only being scheduled for an hour.
This client is important.
This client could change my life.
This client is infuriating.
“Oh my God, you didn’t? Okay, yeah, you have to tell me what happened.” He paused, letting out a laugh. “I would’ve died.”
Anger radiated through me and, finally, I could take no more. I stood from the table, shoving my chair back. I grabbed my things.
“Hey—hey—ho—hold up. Hang on.” He put his fingers over the speaker. “It’ll just be a minute,” he promised, already returning to his conversation. “Sorry, man.”
“No, it won’t be a minute,” I said, shaking my head. His attention was pulled back to me.
“Excuse me?”
“You had me booked for an hour, and it’s now been two.
” I glanced at my watch, though I knew I was correct.
“I’m one of the most sought-after event planners in the South, Mr. Anderson, as you well know.
If you have no time for this meeting, I’ll ask that you reschedule.
I, for one, don’t have time to sit here any longer.
You’ve wasted enough of my time.” I lifted my folders to my chest to cover my light-colored blazer as his eyes fell to my chest.
He put the phone down, looking shocked. “I don’t think you realize how big of a deal this party could be for your company, Ms. Lewis. I’d think that running a little long would be worth it for you.”
“Well—” I dug in my heels. Cumberland was going to kill me.
“You thought wrong. You may find planners who will sit and let you walk all over them, but I am not one of those. My time is valuable, Mr. Anderson, and I have other clients to attend to. Losing your business will not be the end of the world for me, but losing my time and attention may well hurt your party. I am the best in the business, which means I don’t have to sit around and get treated like this.
I’m sure you’re very used to being able to treat people how you please, but I am not one of your staff.
This commission doesn’t mean that much to me, I assure you.
I have a meeting in a half hour, and I need to prepare. Your time is up.”
He pressed a button on his screen, standing from the table, and for just a moment, I thought he was going to demand to speak to Mr. Cumberland.
“Are you allowed to speak to me like that?” he asked, one brow raised.
Truth was, I had no idea. Reality was, I didn’t care.
I needed this job, but there was no way Cumberland was going to fire me.
I’d built well over half of the company’s client list. I was insanely good at my job.
But at the current moment, my health had to come first. I needed to pump, and it just couldn’t wait.
“I guess we’ll find out,” I said, keeping my eyes locked on his. I wouldn’t waver. I held out a hand, gesturing toward the door. I should’ve said it was nice to meet him, at the very least, but it wasn’t, and I wasn’t planning to lie.
He shoved his phone into his pocket before adjusting his blazer and walking around the table. When he stopped in front of me, he held out a hand. I stared at it.
“I’m very sorry to have wasted your time, Ms. Lewis. I’ll have my secretary email you with the details of what I would like.” His smoky eyes drilled into mine, a slight grin on his lips.
“Y-you’re still hiring me?” I asked, accepting his hand. His grip was firm, and he nodded solemnly.
“I didn’t get where I am by letting people walk all over me, either. I respect the fighter attitude, Ms. Lewis. Even when it’s me you’re fighting.”
I nodded, unsure of what to say.
“If you ever decide to leave this place, let me know. We have openings for people with your attitude.”
“Thank you. I’m going to be opening my own business soon,” I said. I don’t know why I told him. Perhaps to gain further praise. Perhaps to show I didn’t need him.
“Well, if you need investors…” He pulled a card from his pocket.
“Th-thank you, Mr. Anderson.” I suddenly felt incredibly embarrassed for my outburst.
“Don’t back down, Ms. Lewis. It’s that fighter spirit I’m betting on. Don’t lose it.” With that, he walked past me, phone already out, and he was gone.
From her office, Dannika stood, thumbs up, a question on her expression.
I looked down, noticing the dark patches on my blazer.
I didn’t have time to talk. I hurried to my own office and grabbed my bags, then walked back to hers.
I passed by Mr. Cumberland’s office, staring through the glass walls.
His office was double the size of the rest of the offices, but unlike ours, his was empty.
Impersonal. Plain. He had no family or friends to boast about on his walls.
He barely looked up from his phone call, waving at me as I walked past.
“I’m heading out,” I told her. Her eyes traveled to the stains when I moved my arm from in front of my chest.
“Oh, my God. Do you need a jacket?”
“Do you have one?” I asked.
She jumped up, pulling hers from the back of her chair and wrapping it around me. “There you go. What happened?”
“We got the deal, but it took longer than expected,” I said. “I’ll fill you in tomorrow, okay? I just need to get to the car.”
“Pump while you drive, if you need to. I had to do it plenty of times.”
“Will you let Cumberland know I’m leaving early?”
“Honey, you just secured the biggest client of the year. Cumberland should be kissing your feet.” She giggled, tossing her braids over her shoulder. “Get home and snuggle that baby for me, okay?”
I nodded and darted from the office, planning to do just that.
Thirty-five minutes later, I parallel parked in front of the apartment building and pulled the bags of milk from my pump, careful not to spill any.
I placed them carefully into the cooler, shoving my breasts back into my bra and stepping from the car.
I crossed the quiet street and hurried up the stairs, twisting my key in the knob.
The apartment was eerily quiet.
“Ben?” I called in a whisper, setting my bags down on the sofa. I crossed through the living room and kitchen and down the hall, heading into the bedroom. “Are you guys napping?” I pushed open the bedroom door, my blood running cold. “Ben?”
The room was empty. I stepped back into the hall, pushing open the bathroom door. It was empty, too. Where were they?
The nursery was silent, no signs of life anywhere.
“Ben?” I called louder. Where could they be?
I walked back into the kitchen, opening the fridge. Gray’s milk was still in the fridge, only two bags missing.
I pulled my phone from my pocket and clicked on his name in my recent calls.
My hands were shaking as I lifted the phone to my ear, ice-cold fear shooting through my body.
The nagging feeling that something definitely was not right was back, rearing its ugly head with the memory of the suspicious phone call.
“Hey, it’s Ben. Sorry, I can’t come to the phone right now…”
I hung up, a lump in my throat.
Where is my baby?