Chapter Fifteen #3
Then, because, of course, I spotted him just before dinner.
He was alone, looking at his phone in one of the hotel’s common spaces.
I had some time to kill after leaving Deven with work to finish in the room.
Alec checked his watch, and I both hoped and dreaded he would hurry away.
I used to make fun of him for checking his watch while holding his phone. Some things don’t change.
I was moving before I decided to. Alec saw me and stayed put, but I caught him shoring up his footing as if bench pressing past his limit.
“Hey,” I said, refraining from asking if now was a good time.
“Hi, Mason,” he said, more of the fake Alec cheer and charm on his face and in his voice than earlier.
“Have a minute?”
The cheer and charm faded. “Not really. I’m taking a client to dinner.”
“Oh, nice. Didn’t know anyone was entertaining pitches here.”
“It’s not… I’m no longer in sales.”
He was curt and sounded clipped for delivering such a sizable piece of news. Even his face displayed mild professional annoyance. It hurt in a way I didn’t know how to react to.
“Really? That’s surprising. What are you doing here, then?”
“He wanted me to come along and check something out.”
“Who are you working for now?”
“Myself. I’m an independent consultant.”
“Wow. That sounds like a perfect fit for you.” I wasn’t used to speaking to people who didn’t want to talk to me. It was a mistake to approach him. “Well, glad you’re doing well. Congrats.”
“Yeah. I’ve gotten some pretty big clients in the last year. I don’t have to tell you, but my contact list was legendary.”
After a polite chuckle, I said, “It was that.”
We stared at each other. It was awkward, and I was about to walk away when Alec asked, “How about you? How have you been?”
“I’m a Sr. Rep. now with my own Jr.”
“Good for you, man,” he said, some of his old self poking through as he smiled.
“Thanks.” I smiled, too.
It got awkward again as our faces turned stale, yet neither looked away. I couldn’t read him. A buzzing in my stomach forced its way up.
“I miss you,” I said.
It was my last salvo. The end of the world on the edge of a dime, and the last arrow in my quiver after not hiring a private eye. Alec took it like I slapped him. His eyes and nostrils flared as he sucked in air, then let it out.
“I miss you, too,” he said without looking at me.
That felt like the sun after a long winter. The light in the dark he used to be.
“Can we talk for real? In private? There’s a lot we need to say to each other.”
“I don’t know if that’s a good idea, Mason. Maybe some other time. My client is already late to meet me, and we’re about to lose our reservation.”
There was the slap. Or, really, another punch to the gut. He never wanted to hash it out. No closure needed on his end. No benefit to hearing my voice or spending time with me.
“I’d like that,” I said, trying not to sound as devastated as I felt. “You still have my number?”
“I do, yeah.”
“Great, well, reach out sometime. Any time.”
“I will,” he said, preparing to part ways.
Why did it sound like he never wanted to speak again if he missed me? I must’ve been only another ex to him. And I wasn’t even that. He’d always be much more to me. I missed my friend and mentor—the old boss I’d always wanted to impress.
“Oh, by the way, I landed a pitch with CompComm.”
Alec’s face lit up in both surprise, and what I believed was pride. “No fucking way! That’s great, Mason! How’d you do it?”
I went red and couldn’t stop a smile from creeping. “Had to figure out what Rebekah Shenandoah wanted, like you always said.” My smile grew wider. “That, plus charm, persistence, and the assurance we have the superior product.”
His smile grew, too. “What was it? What does she want?”
“Maybe if you call me and we get a drink or something, I’ll let you know.”
“Well, full transparency here. CompComm is one of my clients. I’ve been working closely with Rebekah for months. As far as I can tell, that woman wants for nothing.”
“Whoa, what? That’s huge! When you said big clients, I thought you meant…”
“You thought I was full of shit.”
“Yeah!”
We both laughed, releasing a fraction of the tension, animosity, and everything else between us.
Alec said, “Well, if the meeting is at their headquarters, I’ll be there. Denver is my home base now. If you meet with Rebekah herself, I’ll be in the meeting. I sit in on all of them.”
“It will be!”
“Then I’ll see you there.”
We smiled at each other. Moments ago, it would’ve been awkward, but it wasn’t. He looked over my shoulder and said, “Oh, here he comes.”
“I would really like to have a grown-up conversation with you, man. For real.”
I knew the face he gave well, that fear of being the slightest bit late. “I’m not gonna be able to have the kinda talk you wanna have at this conference, man. But I’ll call you.”
“No, you won’t.”
“No, I won’t.” He chuckled.
“Maybe we can grab a drink after the CompComm pitch if you’re there?”
His smile faded, but not as much as it could have. “I don’t know. I keep private and professional well divided these days.” He stared at me for a beat. “We’ll see how things go. You might not be in the mood for something heavy after sparring with Rebekah.”
“I’d want to talk to you while my plane was crashing, Alec,” I said, containing my excitement at the mere possibility of having a discussion with him.
He laughed hard and smiled at me. “I’ve really got to go,” he looked over my shoulder and waved, “He’s waiting for me now.
” One last glance before he walked away.
“It was good to see you again.” He patted my shoulder like he was talking to no more than a former associate.
“Take care, Mason,” he said and walked away.
“Hey,” I said, forcing him to turn around. “You were right last year. Rebekah wants to win. But not against anyone or anything. She wants CompComm to enter the consumer market. That’s her plan, and how I scored the meeting.”
He knew. Of course he did. His smile from ear to ear proved it. How he didn’t respond proved it more.
I had never been more excited to give a pitch in my life.