46. Bryn
Chapter forty-six
Bryn
“So it didn’t matter how your presentation went?” Izzy asks.
“That’s what he-who-shall-not-be-named implied,” I reply over the Bluetooth as I drive toward Wild Bluffs. “But, I mean, he’s also a source in that highly inaccurate article, so I wouldn’t say he’s the most reliable.”
“I honestly can’t believe he was in cahoots with Alexis. What a wild pairing.”
“Somehow, that doesn’t even crack the top three most outrageous revelations of my day.”
“Your upcoming fun-employment throwing you off, huh?”
I sigh. After taking the first ten minutes of my flight home to write and send the world’s most generic resignation letter, I spent the rest of the time thinking about what comes next. Really trying to figure out what matters to me. I’ve used my job as a barometer for my success for so long, I don’t know what to do now that I don’t have it.
I’ve reconsidered my resignation about every thirty minutes at this point, but every time, I remember Kyle would be my boss, and I’m glad I pushed Send while the anger was still controlling my actions.
I’m also glad I didn’t pitch my original idea. I’m sure Kyle would’ve stolen it and somehow his team would’ve turned it into something great. He would’ve been praised, and I would’ve been unemployed. About as far from the professional trajectory I had planned for myself as possible, watching as my idea was taken and turned into something that paled in comparison to what it could be.
I realized something else while on that flight, emotionally spiraling through every decision that led me to this point: I want to be with Jameson. Does it hurt that he didn’t try harder to reach out to me when that article came out? Yes. Of course it does. It’s also understandable that, after the year he had following his break with Alexis, he forced himself to focus on his game. He’s not holding it against me that I haven’t been the chattiest the last few days. While it hurt, I am a grown-ass woman, and the further I’ve gotten from the hurt, the more I realize I get to decide if I let this one mistake ruin something that has the potential to be amazing.
I have no doubt he would’ve called me if he wouldn’t have broken his phone, though I might insist he memorize my cell number just in case. To be fair, maybe I should memorize his as well—I’ve broken a phone or two in my day, and they aren’t as easy to replace in Wild Bluffs as they are in a city.
At the end of the day, I still love him. He’s still the person I want to call to talk through what my next step should be. I feel grounded when I’m with him, like my soul recognizes it’s home when it’s near him.
A text from the man himself came through as I was deplaning, letting me know he was in Wild Bluffs and he wanted to have dinner with me tonight to celebrate my victory. I’m so overwhelmed by everything I learned today that I simply agreed, not bothering to correct him about the whole “winning” portion of the message.
While I find it a bit odd that he just went for the dinner invite after the weirdness between us the last three days, you’ve got to respect the man’s focus. I said I’d make a decision about us after the presentation, and here we are. After the presentation.
To be clear, I’m not complaining. I want to see him.
I just don’t know that I’d have that level of confidence. Definitely not today, when I not only lost the promotion I’d been going for and ended up unemployed instead, but I also learned it had nothing to do with my presentation or proposal. Kyle had already won when we walked into that room.
I pull into the parking lot at the club and jump out of my car with much more pep than I would’ve anticipated, considering the day I had. It’s like my body knows it’s about to see Jameson and has decided to say F-you to my overthinking brain and just be happy. Bold move, body, but I guess we will see where it takes us at this point.
I finish up my call with Izzy, promising to text her later with updates. The wind that hit me as I stepped out of my car is chilly, a spring wind that was likely warm earlier but lost its heat as the sun went down. Following the path of stairs made of old railroad ties at a jog, I don’t stay cold long. Instead, I’m slightly winded by the time I push open the doors to the restaurant.
I scan past a few tables of men before my brain realizes that one pair of men is standing up to welcome me. My eyes immediately go to Jameson, and I drink him in like I’ve just played thirty-six holes of golf in midsummer, in 100-degree heat.
It’s not until I’m about to throw myself into his arms, my body having crossed the large expanse of floor separating us before my mind could issue the command, that I realize Conrad Ferguson is with him.
I pull up short, but Jameson doesn’t. He wraps me in a hug right there in front of everyone, dragging me to his chest, his chin on the top of my head. I burrow into him, the weight of the day lifting off me with each second I’m in his arms. After watching for what was likely an inappropriate amount of time for a public hug, Conrad coughs lightly, breaking Jameson and me apart.
I’m not sure why Conrad is here, and it’s throwing me off my game. I was ready to make up with Jameson, maybe eat a little food, say what we need to say, and then head back to his room. I’m ready to jump into the WAG lifestyle, following Jameson wherever he goes. It’ll give me something to do. Hopefully I can be successful at that, at least.
“Hey, Conrad,” I say. “Good to see you…again?” I’m not sure how much I can say at this point. Somehow, the Conrad portion of the article never made it into the list of things that Jameson and I talked about in Arizona, and I’m definitely not going to break that NDA with the man right there.
“Bryn.” Conrad extends his hand, and I shake it. “Good to see you too.” He moves to sit back down, so Jameson and I both follow suit, Jameson helping me with my chair.
“Just to clear the air, I’ve filled Jameson in on our conversation last week. I apologize if our NDA caused any issues between the two of you.”
I shrug. “Surprisingly, it never even surfaced as an issue. But I do appreciate you sharing what you could with Jameson. It definitely will make things easier going forward, although I’m not sure it was worth the trip all the way to Wild Bluffs just to clear that up.”
“Ah, I’m not actually here for that. Jameson and I have talked on the phone a few times in the past couple of days. I informed him about our meeting and the unfortunate timing of your article on Saturday.”
“Oh.” I don’t know what else to say. I’m clearly missing something, and the stress of the day is starting to catch up with me.
Jameson, seeing my confusion, says, “It seems that Conrad and his brothers have a couple of big deals in the works that are going to make waves, so there have frequently been photographers stationed outside of their office. Bad luck, I guess.”
“I am sorry it ended up that way, Bryn. We didn’t know they were paying us any more attention than usual, though I’m inclined to believe it has more to do with my younger brother’s most recent breakup with yet another actress than our actual business. Unfortunately, it seems when your job is to photograph semi-famous people, you can sell to business sites or gossip columns. I suppose you have to respect a diversified income stream.”
“Well, I appreciate the apology.” I take a drink of the water our waitress brought, pretending to read the menu before ordering my usual burger and fries. The men both order as well, which answers my question about if Conrad is joining us for dinner or not.
Once the waitress leaves, I turn back to Conrad. “So, if you don’t mind me asking, what brings you to Wild Bluffs?”
“Ah,” Conrad replies. “I think that portion of this story belongs to Jameson. And while he tells it, I’m going to hit up the bar for a drink.” He asks what we want and wanders off toward the bar, clearly trying to give us some privacy.
Jameson clears his throat, fiddling with the napkin in his lap before bringing his eyes up to meet mine. “I felt terrible after you left my hotel room. I could feel you slipping away, and I knew it was entirely my fault. You deserve more than the man I was the past week. You deserve someone who never stops focusing on you. But I can be that someone. I know I can. Yes, my job makes it harder, but I’m willing to do what I need to in order to make this work.”
It’s everything I want to hear from him, but also so unnecessary now. I’ve all but resigned myself to just designing my life around his. “Jameson, I really appreciate that. And I forgive you. I do.” I plaster on a fake smile as I add, “But, good news! I didn’t get the promotion, and so I submitted my letter of resignation on the plane. I’m totally free to just follow you around the country. If you want me to, of course. I definitely don’t have to. I’m sure I can find something else to do until I find another job. Oh! And it turns out Kyle and Alexis were behind the article the whole time.” I say it all in one breath, so it takes him a minute to parse it all out.
“You want to follow me around the country?”
Not the part of the statement I thought he’d latch on to, but okay.
“Yes! It’d be lots of fun. I have enough savings to last a while. Especially if you’re okay with me staying with you.”
Jameson rubs the back of his neck. “You, the most driven person I know, want to be a WAG who hangs out at all the tournaments?”
My spine hits the back of my seat as I slump a bit. “You say it like it’s a bad thing. Lots of women do it.”
He nods, reaching out his hand to grab mine from where I’m holding it across my stomach. “Yes. And if that’s what you really want, I would of course love that. But I think you may want to hear what Conrad has to say first.”
“Conrad?” I ask. “Why?”
“Like he mentioned, we’ve talked a lot the past few days. Please don’t be mad at me, but I didn’t know that you’d already talked to Conrad about your MyUsual idea. So, when I was trying to think of ways to let you know that I support your career, I realized I could use my connections to help. So I called Conrad. Unfortunately, he told me the same thing he told you, that his firm wasn’t interested in partnering with Hungry Guy on it.”
I nod, not that surprised that we both thought of Conrad. It still doesn’t explain why he’s here, though.
“I thought I failed,” he continues, running his hand through his hair. “I didn’t know how to prove to you that you could do it both. That you could be successful in your career and be with me. Because I know you can.” He lifts my hand, kissing my knuckles. My heart expands at the words, even as a small part of my brain argues that it can’t be true. Giving that part of my brain the middle finger, I convince myself to believe Jameson, this man who has never asked me to be anyone except who I am.
“But then Lila helped me out. And so I called Conrad back.”
At this point, he finds Conrad at the bar, clearly waiting for a signal that it’s safe to return to the table. Jameson gestures with his head, and Conrad makes his way back with our drinks.
“Is she caught up?”
“Ready for your part of the performance,” Jameson jokes.
Conrad relaxes back in his chair, one ankle crossing the other knee. “I’m sure Jameson mentioned that he also reached out on behalf of your MyUsual concept.”
He pauses, and I nod my agreement before he continues, “After explaining to him the same things I told you about why Hungry Guy isn’t the right partner for us for that app, he called back with a different idea—that the Ferguson Brothers Investment Firm develop the app ourselves and bring in all the major restaurant chains as partners.”
“Oh. I…that’s…” I stumble over my words, unsure what to say. Is he offering to buy the idea from me? Just telling me that they are going to take it? I don’t think they can do it without paying me something. I did get some level of protection from the NDA.
Conrad, sensing my confusion, continues, “I liked the idea, so I discussed it with my brothers, and we came back to Jameson with the dollar amount we thought we could buy it for. Jameson, however, thought that you’d prefer something other than the quick buyout, so I went back to my brothers, and what I’m here today to offer you is a director-level position with Ferguson Brothers Investment Firm. It’s a fully remote position that reports directly to me. You’d manage the development of the MyUsual app, and then, once that is running, you’d be responsible for building a portfolio of similar products.”
I feel my mouth drop open, and my chest tightens. Is he for real?
“I can send you the contract with all the information, but not knowing your current salary, I think the amount we are offering should be about twice as much as what Hungry Guy offers their directors.”
“Oh, I—” Jameson shakes his head, silently trying to communicate that I shouldn’t tell Conrad that I quit today, but I don’t want to start off by lying to my boss.
I look Conrad in the eye and say, “Thank you so much for the offer. It truly sounds like everything I could have dreamed of. And I know this isn’t the best tactic, but I want to be honest with you. I quit Hungry Guy today. Turns out, they promoted the guy who leaked the article about Jameson and me to the press. Doubling my current salary of zero dollars shouldn’t be too hard.”
Conrad laughs. “Okay, first professional development day will be spent working on your negotiation skills. I actually know a former hostage negotiator who can do wonders for you.”
“I also want to make sure you’re not doing this because of Jameson. I can find another job on my own. I’m—” Conrad holds up his hand.
“Let me stop you right there. I do not hire people just because of who they know. I looked into your work at Hungry Guy. I even talked to your boss, Tara. I believe you are the right fit for our company. Jameson might’ve been the one who suggested the idea, but I would’ve never agreed to it if I didn’t want you for your own skills and experience.”
I smile, appeased by his statement. “I’ll definitely need to look over the job offer, but this sounds amazing.” I exchange an updated email address with Conrad, and he promises to send over the offer first thing in the morning.
Our food arrives and we fall into casual conversation, the men carrying the bulk of the conversation while my brain tries to process everything that has happened today.
I can’t believe I started my morning thinking I was going to get a promotion at Hungry Guy, have to move permanently to California, and lose Jameson in the process. Now, I’m employed by one of the top investment firms in the country, am free to work from wherever, and it’s all because of Jameson. Because he believes in me and supports what’s important to me. Because now that I’ve had the chance to think about it, I know I would’ve never been happy just following him around. I need the challenge of work. I like the mental stimulation of my job.
But I also want to be with Jameson.
And somehow, the man managed to coordinate the perfect opportunity for me to do both.