Chapter 2
Chapter Two
Avril
My heart was pounding. I had too much on the table. If I lost even one paycheck, I’d miss making a payment on the most important thing in the world: my sister.
Not that we could afford the practically fourteen-thousand-dollar-a-month drug that the doctors said might save her life.
We’d sold the family home in New Jersey to get this far, and I’d drained every penny I had from every account, and it was never enough.
So I needed a promotion and a way to get more money fast, and that was why I was at my desk, focusing entirely on spreadsheets.
A message dinged, telling me to head to the boss’s office. I had zero clue about how to get any of what I needed. And I had no time to daydream about Kir Norouzi and how he would just offer me money even though we were acquaintances who’d walked on a romantic beach only once.
The real world didn’t work like that. The real world had someone like Jeffrey Lauglin, who was best friends with my boss, Richard Ziff. Happy-hour-friendly Lauglin badmouthed my social drinking.
I headed into Richard Ziff’s office, and they were both there. Mr. Ziff folded his hands across the table as he sat with a smirking Lauglin. “Why would this application be any different from the last time you applied for a senior analyst position a month ago?”
I’d rewritten my résumé to apply elsewhere after I was turned down for that position, and then I’d taken time off, gone to Hawaii, and had lust-filled fantasies about a muscular man with the strength to knock down both jerks with his pinky.
I lifted my chin. “Two things. Your reaction to my friend Kelly’s decision to not go out with Mr. Lauglin is against company reprisal policies and has no effect on my job performance.”
Ziff’s face went white. “You are a good analyst, Avril, but?—“
I needed to ask for this. If they said no, I had to find a new situation fast. “And second, I am now in a stable relationship. The fact that I was single before was the primary reason I was rejected.”
Lauglin’s face was red. “Congratulations. When did this happen?”
Who I was or wasn’t dating was not company business, but I didn’t blink as I said, “On my recent trip to Hawaii.”
He shrugged. “Vacation romances don’t last.”
I hate Lauglin . I tensed. “We met before the wedding, actually, and he’s not a fling.”
He had a twinkle in his gaze. “What’s his name?”
My hand shook, but I refused to blink. I’d come this far with my lie, so I inhaled and said, “Kir Norouzi.”
Ziff asked, “The trillionaire?”
“The same.”
Ziff nodded quickly. “We’ll set up a second interview for you after the office party.”
I stood. Once I had a job with the higher-ups, I would never see either of these men again. “Sounds perfect. Thank you.”
I walked out, returned to my desk, and finished my work. As I was leaving, I tried to call my sister, Abby, but she wasn’t answering.
As I walked away from the high-rise, my phone rang. I answered. “Britney, what’s going on?” In an old version of my life that didn’t consist of hospital payments, I’d have been heading right to the squad.
Britney said, “Kelly and I are getting cocktails. Join us.”
I stopped in my tracks in the middle of the busy street. “I can’t afford that.”
“I’ll buy. You’re having a shit time.”
I’d have gone bonkers without that trip to Hawaii to get my mind off Abby. My friends continued to save me. I glanced at the address on my phone. “I’ll come say hi.”
They were closer to work than I preferred, but I had a feeling Britney had set it up that way on purpose. She was always the one watching out for the rest of us. I headed to the local bar near Wall Street and the bank I worked at, hoping no one at work would find me there.
As I stepped inside, I saw the whole group except Hope. I hugged everyone. “Miley, Isabel, you came too.”
Britney pushed a drink toward me. “What’s going on?”
I closed my eyes. Having them to talk to meant everything. I took one sip of my pink cosmopolitan and sighed. It was my favorite. “So, good news or bad news?”
Miley, the lawyer, tapped the table. “I say start with bad so we can drink to the good after.”
I sucked in my breath. They all knew how I’d been denied the promotion and why I refused to let Miley sue for me—I needed the health benefits, and it was rare to find a policy that would include my sister.
“I lied and said I had a serious boyfriend.”
Britney asked, “To get the interview?”
“Well, did they suddenly stop talking about our drinking?” Kelly asked quickly.
“Yeah, though Lauglin was still talking about me.”
Britney saluted me with her drink. “Relax. It will work out, Avril.”
I sat back. No one thought the lie was a big deal. It probably wasn’t. “I think so. I’m their best analyst. I almost applied for another job, but I wanted this one.”
Miley said, “You should still apply for other jobs and see what you get.”
Thinking about the risk to my health benefits sent a cold chill down my spine, but I nodded. “You’re right. I just hated that Jeffrey Lauglin stood in my way.”
Kelly said, “I’m glad I turned down his date, because he’s clearly an asshole.”
She was right.
Isabel stood. “I’m going for another round for everyone.”
The music changed. I checked my phone. Abby hadn’t called me back, which probably meant that meant she was sleeping in her hospital bed. I cringed and hoped nothing awful had happened.
Britney slipped beside me. “Can we talk outside for a minute?”
“Sure.”
We weaved through the filling bar and stood a few feet from the door. Then Britney asked, “So, how’s your sister?”
Tears formed in my eyes. “She’s not answering, and I’m scared for her.”
Britney hugged me. “I’m sorry.”
I held her tight. “She’s all the family I’ve got.”
“And us.”
True. Kelly was letting me move in with her so I could send my rent money to the hospital and hope for a miracle. We stayed where we were for who knew how long. When the tears dried, we hooked arms and walked.
I said, “Leaving my job means I’d put Abigail in a month of jeopardy where I’m not sure how I’d pay for her treatments.”
Britney squeezed my hand as we reached the door. “I totally understand. I was hoping you’d tell me she was on the mend.”
We went inside, and I said, “Cancer totally sucks.” Cancer was about to steal my sister from the world, and I was running out of options.
“It does.”
As we passed the bar, a familiar hand brushed against my shoulder. I turned and stared into a pair of brown eyes. He said, “Avril, here you are.”
“Kir?”
He was the last person I’d expected to see. He’d made it quite clear in Hawaii that we were a wrong match. I was living in a fantasy world because my own life was a disaster, but it kept me from going completely insane.
He smiled at me. “I hoped I’d see you when I bumped into Kelly over there.”
Britney waved and walked past.
I raised my eyebrow. “I thought you said you don’t get out much.”
His lips quirked in a smile. “I don’t. I was meeting a friend, but he had to go.”
People filed passed and shoved, I pressed my hand to Kir’s hip to steady myself, and his muscles sent a thrill through me. I smiled. “Join us.”
He stared at me like he saw the real me, and I forgot where we were for a second until he said, “I don’t want to intrude.”
I offered him my hand. “Come. You’re the nicest guy I ever met, and Hope’s seat is now empty.”
“You know why?”
“I do,” I said.
“Good. She told me last night she was with child.”
Kir was warm and sexy, which was exactly why I never wanted to ask him for anything. I tugged his arm for him to walk with me. “She told us too.”
“And how’s the search going?”
“Search?” I turned back around.
More people pushed past me, but I waited. He quickly said, “For the guy you can give your heart to.”
A laugh escaped my lips, and heat rose to my face. I shook my head. “I really shouldn’t talk when drinking.”
“I got you home safe.”
I let out a sigh. “Except you think I’m sitting around, waiting for some Prince Charming type who probably doesn’t exist.”
He narrowed his eyes like I’d surprised him. “What do you mean?”
Oh, he had no idea, and since he didn’t know about my life, I kept my truth light. “Even if Mr. Perfect was sitting right beside me, I don’t know if I would have the time to invest in a relationship.”
“I understand.” He held my seat for me.
“I doubt it,” I said as I slid in next to him.
He sat beside me. “My family wants me to settle down, but I’m not even sure I have a heart.”
I shook my head at him. He was being hard on himself. “You are the nicest guy there is.”
He pressed his hand to his heart. “Ouch. Twice now.”
“What?” I tilted my head as I gazed at him.
He pressed against me, and our shoulders brushed. “Look, you’re the prettiest woman I ever met, and women tend to not like ‘nice guys.’”
I wasn’t sure what to say. I stared into those brown eyes of his, and my lips tingled for the impossible. Kelly pressed her knee against mine and clamped a hand on my hand. I pivoted, and she pointed at someone walking toward us.
My heart thundered. “Oh my God!” I tugged Kir’s arm around my shoulder.
He asked, “What?”
I sucked on my bottom lip. Using him for his name was probably the worst thing I could have done, but maybe fate was being good to me. “Can you just pretend for five minutes that we’re dating?”
My heart raced as Lauglin stood behind us and said, “Avril, here you are.”
Kir held me.
I turned and smiled at my coworker. “Here I am. Lauglin, have you met Kir Norouzi?”
He held out his hand to shake. “Not officially, but it’s nice to meet you.”
Kir shook his hand.
Isabel said, “Goodbye, Lauglin.”
Kir held my hand on my lap.
Laughlin took my friend’s warning and walked away. Kir waited till he was gone and then asked, “Who was that guy?”
Britney quickly said, “One of Avril’s annoying coworkers. Glad you were there for her.”
Kir’s phone rang. He let my hand go. “Well, I have to get going, but, Avril, you have my cell, so if you ever want to talk about anything, call.”
I wished I was that shameless. My body tingled to lean in for a kiss, but I only said, “You too, Kir.”
He lingered. I sighed—he smelled woodsy and sweet and wonderful. Then he waved and left.
I pivoted back to talk to my friends, and Britney asked, “What was that?”
I blinked. “At least the office gossip will report he’s seen me with Kir.”
Isabel shook her head. “Not Lauglin. Kir clearly likes you.”
Impossible. We’d talked about how we weren’t a match as we sat on a beach in Hawaii. “We’re just friends.”
Miley said, “Right, because we should just be friends with sexy, hot trillionaires who are clearly into us. That makes total sense.”
Everyone laughed, and I relaxed. They were right, but I wasn’t going to throw myself at him. I had too much going on.
Hours later, I marched up and stood in front of the red door to my Chinatown apartment. I let myself in. Most of the analysts had much nicer addresses. I’d been downsizing for a year. But it was home.
I slipped my shoes off. Soon I wouldn’t have a place to call my own, but leaving was worth it. As I headed to take a shower, my phone rang.
For a second, I wished it was Kir, but then I shook off that thought as I saw who was calling. “Hey, Abby, what’s going on?”
“I’m canceling the next phase of treatment.”
I bounced on my feet. “Why would you do that?”
“The treatment is one million dollars. You don’t have that.”
We’d sold our parents’ old house to pay for us to get this far. I closed my eyes. “We’ll figure it out.”
By “we’ll,” I meant I’ll . I had to find a way to pay for everything my sister needed. She’d fought for me when I was a kid, and now it was my turn. I wouldn’t let her down.