Chapter 23
Zelda
Ash stifled a yawn as he asked, "What do I have this morning?"
We shuffled forward in the queue to order.
I peered at the chalkboard menu while Ash checked his watch for the third time since wedging our way into this café and claiming a spot in line with the rest of the caffeine-starved commuters.
"First up, a quick call with the people from Shadyside because they have questions about one piece of your proposal.
My sense is they really just need some hand-holding, maybe a pep talk. "
"I'm not the person anyone comes to for a pep talk," he said as he scrolled through emails on his phone. "They can't possibly want that from me."
"Then consider it a pep talk for you," I said. "I think they want you to confirm you've got this one tied up, nailed down, and all the other brutal metaphors involved with telling someone you've got them covered."
Ash dropped his hand to my lower back and pressed a kiss to my hair. "That, I can manage."
"Great because you're on with them at ten. After that, the CEO of Furylight has an hour scheduled with you though I don't know the details on that one."
"It's a standing meeting. He enjoys picking up the phone for an info-dump of his plans once a quarter and I enjoy billing him for a full hour."
I blinked at the menu again. Too many good choices. What did I want, what did I want? "Then you have a call with the team from Pantheon Partners. They're growing and will be hiring hourly and salaried staff—"
"Right, the payroll tax conversation," he said, mostly to himself. "That will be quick and entertaining. It's always fun to explain taxation to finance guys. It's like they blew off the entirety of their accounting coursework when they went to B-school to go golfing."
We stepped up to the counter and ordered the same breakfast sandwiches and coffees we'd ordered every morning. Since food didn't always imitate life, I was the sausage, egg, and cheese traditionalist where Ash was the wild child with spinach, mushrooms, peppers, and feta accompanying his eggs.
"If all goes according to plan, we'll be closed up by lunchtime," I said as we waited near the pickup counter. It was a good spot to ogle sweet rolls and some voluptuous muffins, neither of which I'd sampled yet but I had big plans for next week. "Let the wedding weekend begin."
"Closed, yes," he replied. "I have an hour or two beyond that before I can sign off for the weekend."
"That's reasonable. I can work with an hour or two."
When our order was called, Ash gathered our coffees and took hold of the paper bag. "Regardless of anything my mother has told you, we don't need to be there until seven tonight."
We crossed the lobby, our elbows bumping together in another silent game of Touch Each Other Always. "If you're proposing we simply work all afternoon, I'll remind you I moved all of hell to protect that time from all the people who want a piece of you."
He jabbed at the elevator call button. "We could find something else to do this afternoon."
We shared a meaningful glance as we stepped onto the elevator. "What comes to mind?"
"There are several ways to consider this concern," he started.
"Says the accountant."
"We could find somewhere interesting for lunch.
I could introduce you to roadside clam shacks.
You know you're in New England when you're eating freshly fried littlenecks on the side of the road, especially if that shack backs up to a coastal marsh.
If not bivalves, maybe hit up an arcade near the shore.
Those are always a good time. There's also wandering around Bristol, the little town where the wedding is taking place.
The downtown area has to have something exciting for us. "
I sipped my coffee as Ash unlocked the office door. "I can't tell if you're intentionally skipping over the part about us having a hotel room all to ourselves or if that part hasn't occurred to you yet."
"It's occurred to me," he said as he marched into his office. "It's also occurred to me we have that room for the entire weekend. Pace yourself, love. I can't have you walking down the aisle on wobbly legs."
"Fair point." I started unpacking the food while Ash woke up his computers. "So we have clam shacks, arcades, and small town wanderings for our non-bed options."
"You know I don't require a bed," he quipped as he joined me at the round table.
That was true. He didn't. And neither did I.
"Hey, Zelda," Ash called from his office. "If you have a second, could you grab the Castavechia Family Trust file from the records room? My digital file has to be missing a few things and these people won't get off my back."
I poked my head through his doorway. "Anything else?"
He glanced up at me from where he stood behind his desk, shirtsleeves rolled to his elbows, one hand perched on the notch of his waist while the other held a sheaf of papers. He looked like a slice of bossy deliciousness as he dragged a deliberate gaze up and down my body.
"I can't answer that," he said, his attention stuck somewhere between my hips and breasts. "Not until after I dispose of this issue and lock the doors."
"Then finish it," I said, walking backward from the threshold. "Remember, we have an entire weekend and you promised me cornhole at this shindig."
"I can promise you we won't be spending much time on cornhole," he called after me.
A smile plastered on my face, I ducked into the records room, a space more akin to a large closet than the type of room deserving of a name.
I set to locating the Castavechia file but discovered it wasn't where it should've been, and as I hunted for it I found several others in the wrong location and tucked them under my arm.
Humming to myself as the files in need of rehoming grew, I almost missed the voices floating down the hall.
That was unexpected. It didn't sound as though Ash was on a call and he'd concluded all his meetings for the day.
We didn't get walk-in visitors. All the delivery services had already passed through.
The files still in hand, I stepped out of the records room, moving toward the front of the office when I heard Ash ask, "Is there something specific I can help you with?"
I knew that tone. It was his why the fuck are you bothering me? tone.
Before I reached the end of the hallway, a response lanced through me. "I'm meeting my girlfriend here."
Oh my god, no. Please no.
"Your…girlfriend," Ash repeated. "Are you sure you have the right suite?"
"Quite certain, yes."
How the hell did he find me?
"Who might that be?"
He cleared his throat in that condescending manner of his. "Her name's Rose. Rose Besh."
"Rose?" Ash asked with as much hostility as he could pack into four letters.
"Yes," he replied. "I believe she's here. Is that correct?"
Since my brain was busy commanding my legs to carry me forward, it missed the panic switch cue from my gut to run, hide, fight, claw, kick.
Whatever it took to hold on to the world where I didn't have to be small and invisible, that was what I had to do.
As I rounded the corner and came face-to-face with the reason I'd pined for an organized spice rack and a life belonging to me.
The reason I hadn't been asked if I liked cheese in years.
I stopped in the reception area, a shoulder's width of distance between me and Ash and an entire ocean between me and Denis.
I folded my arms over my chest, clutching the files with both hands until the edges bit into my skin.
Then I held them tighter, welcoming the grooves and cuts as frustration—no, anger, this was anger—drenched me like a summer storm.
"What are you doing here?" I asked Denis.
"There you are. I knew I was in the right place." Denis put on a show of clutching his chest before motioning to Ash. "Thanks for your help. If you don't mind, I could use a minute alone for a private discussion with my girlfriend."
"You're in my office. I'll stay, thanks," Ash replied.
"We have nothing to talk about," I gritted out. Ash was staring at me and hoping for some kind of explanation, I knew this, but I couldn't offer him that yet. That would come later, when I'd fixed this.
"We have everything to talk about, Rose," Denis replied.
"What were you thinking, going off on your own?
This isn't good for you. It's not smart.
" He blinked at the modern office space like it was a cold, empty shell not unlike his impression of my brain.
"Did you really think you'd be able to do this?
By yourself?" Not waiting for a response, he continued, "Come along.
We'll go home where you belong. Where you're needed.
We'll forget about all this nonsense and get back to our routine. "
"I am not going anywhere with you. Not now," I said. "Not ever again."
Denis pressed his teeth into his top lip as he chose his response. "This isn't the time to let your emotions get the best of you, Rose. Call up some maturity, would you? You know I don't appreciate when my girlfriend acts like a child in front of others."
"I am not your girlfriend," I replied. "I have nothing to say to you. We're finished."
"Now that's not true and you're well aware of it," Denis said in that lofty, professorial voice he'd cultivated while I'd juggled jobs to cover our rent. "Please, Rose. Stop making a fool of yourself. I haven't the time for your juvenile games."
"Watch yourself," Ash growled.
"I know you think that's going to shut me up because it's worked all the other times you've thrown those words in my direction," I replied. "But it's not working anymore. I've given you enough of my time. You should leave."
"Yes, you should," Ash said.