Chapter 1 #4
Drea was silently nodding along, but the way Sam said those last two words stilled her. Sam had rarely asked her for anything over their twenty-plus years of friendship, but the tone of her words held a pleading to them.
Sam’s eyes held her. “This company is everything to me right now and I need all of us putting our best foot forward to establish it as a solid firm with integrity. I see big things in the future. And if things go well with Erin, I envision having regular interns from Tulane and UNO. So, the pranking can’t happen. ”
“I got it, Sam. You don’t need to worry.” It was true, she loved pranking interns. Something about their innocence mixed with an eagerness to please made it too easy. But she would never jeopardize Sam’s company or well-being. “Is that all?”
The look of discomfort on Sam’s face gave her chills.
“What is it?” she asked warily.
“There can’t be any . . . funny business.”
Drea squinted at Sam, trying to understand her meaning.
“I saw how she was acting around you. It’s how most women act around you. But that can’t happen either.”
“I didn’t notice.” Her smirk betrayed her and Sam rolled her eyes.
“This is too important, Drea. I can’t risk a lawsuit from some girl who misunderstood your attention.”
Drea scoffed. “I have never had any woman upset with my attention.”
Sam looked to the ceiling. “And that still baffles me.” She blew out a breath. “It’s also not the point, Drea. It can’t happen.”
The rigidity in Sam’s tone quelled any further jokes. “I know. I won’t do anything, Sam.”
There was still hesitation in Sam’s expression.
“Hey.” Drea held her gaze. She already knew how important this company was to Sam. To both of them. “I promise.”
Relief washed over Sam’s face.
Drea couldn’t blame Sam for worrying, but it hurt that Sam didn’t trust her to know enough not to jeopardize Sam’s company. But Drea was used to her reputation preceding her in this city, and even with Sam occasionally. “Anything else?”
“Nope, that’s all I got.” Sam’s warm smile returned as she exited strict boss mode.
Drea stood and started for her desk before turning back. “Charlie’s Friday?”
Sam frowned. “I can’t. Ash has some work function she wants me to go to with her. I’m sorry.”
“You need me to watch Jake?” Drea asked, trying to sound unfazed despite the disappointment.
Sam shook her head. “My mom’s been missing quality grandson time, so she offered to watch him.” Sam’s voice lightened. “But if you could watch him next week, that would be a huge help.”
“No problem. Have a good night, Sam.” Drea strode confidently back to her desk despite feeling like the wind had been knocked out of her. She slid her laptop into her bag and, grabbing her tumbler, headed for the door.
Everyone was packing up or had already left for the day, except for Cassie as usual.
Drea glanced her way and realized Cassie was watching her.
A faint smile appeared on Cassie’s face before she looked back at her computer.
Drea didn’t smile back, suddenly irritated with Cassie for everything: making the intern schedule that Drea had apparently disrupted, being Sam’s right-hand woman. Everything.
She pushed the door open, heading down the stairs and out the exterior door, letting the warm evening air wash over her. The sweet, citrusy scent of jasmine from a nearby yard wafted through the air as summer fought to hang on a while longer before giving in to autumn.
The rev of her car’s engine reverberated in her soul.
Driving always freed her. She ran her hands through her hair, shaking the curls as if it would remove the stress as well.
She squealed out onto the road, the wind whipping at her hair as she sped through the streets.
The pleasure she took in the act of driving let her leave Cassie where she belonged—at the office.
She passed people milling around at the shops and restaurants on Magazine Street, before heading up to St. Charles Avenue where there were fewer pedestrians and she could breathe a little.
She drove alongside the grassy median with the steel rails of the streetcar tracks.
Towering live oaks and magnolia trees bordered the road, the setting sun glinting off the Spanish moss draped over the oak limbs. It was Drea’s favorite time of day.
As she neared downtown, she turned toward the river and pulled into her building’s parking lot.
She said hello to Earl, the doorman, who was always grinning and had the air of a distinguished gentleman, even beyond what would be expected for an octogenarian.
When the elevator dinged at the tenth floor, she walked down the hallway adorned with fleur de lis wallpaper.
The iconic symbol of New Orleans always gave her a sense of home.
Pickles greeted her with meows and lots of cheek rubs against her legs. Drea poured his food into his bowl and let him eat on the marble island in the kitchen, stroking his fur as he crunched away.
“You’ll be my date on Friday, won’t you, Pickles?”
Pickles finished his food and purred as Drea scratched his chin.
“That’s what I thought.”