Chapter Fifteen
Seven Months Ago
Monday morning, the phone at reception rang, startling me from my desk nap. “Quinn, the client isn’t here yet,” I said into the receiver. “I told you I’d let you know.”
Quinn sighed on the other end. “I know. I’m just so nervous. Ethan and I worked really hard on this presentation and I want it to go well.” She sighed again. “But mostly I want it to be over.”
“First of all,” I said, “if you keep sighing like that, you’re going to hyperventilate, and secondly, you’ve been practising all week. You nailed it last time you presented it to me. You’re going to do amazing.”
I waited for her to respond, but all I heard was dead air. “Quinn?”
She walked around the corner, professionally dressed in navy, wide-legged tailored pants, a crisp white blouse and a navy blazer. Her hair was slicked back into a no-nonsense bun. I missed her purple leggings and billowy blouses. I missed her unruly tri-coloured hair.
“Sorry,” she said. “I just thought I’d come out and talk, I can’t sit down anymore.”
“You look great.” I reached behind her collar and pulled.
“Ouch, what?” She jerked back.
I handed her the tag I’d ripped off her top.
“Oh. Thanks,” she said, leaning on my desk. “So, I lied. I really came out here to ask how the wedding planning was going. Tell me about it to distract me.”
“It’s going well,” I said. “It’s actually going much better than I thought it would. Luke is pretty fun to hang out with.”
“By fun, do you mean sexy?” She leaned in like she was hoping to get some dirt.
“I wouldn’t say ‘sexy’,” I air-quoted. “Not in the stereotypical sense anyways.” I trailed off. Now that I thought about it, he was good looking. Not the kind of guy I was normally attracted to, but there was something about him. His humour maybe? Definitely his personality. And his eyes turned a special kind of sparkly green when he smiled, which was basically always.
“Babe,” Quinn said, waving her hand in front of my face. “I think we lost you there for a minute. Where did you go?”
I shook my head to clear it. “Sorry. Nowhere.”
She looked at me like she didn’t believe a word.
“How did your date go last night?” I asked, trying to divert her train of thought.
“Ugh.” She laid her head on her hands. “Turned out he had a surprise wife.”
“Oh no, really? What an asshole.”
“Yeah.” She flopped onto the comfy lounger by my desk. “I told him I wasn’t going to be his mid-life crisis, grabbed my purse and left.”
“Hey!” I stood up. “I have an idea.”
“I’m not dating Luke,” she said, laying her head back against the chair.
“Fine.” I sat back down. “You’re missing out though. He’s really nice and smart and fun. He’s funny and kind. He’s a great listener. I always feel better after hanging out with him.”
“Sounds like you should set him up with yourself.” Her head popped up and she cocked an eyebrow.
“Nah, he’s not really my type.” I shuffled some papers.
“Why not? He sounds great.”
“He is great. He’s just…I don’t know. He’s just not the kind of guy I usually go for.”
“Because he doesn’t look like he spends three hours at the gym every day?” She rolled her eyes.
I didn’t know what to say. Was she right? Was I discriminating against Luke because he didn’t look like the men I’d been with in the past? Because he wasn’t all chiseled abs and dancing pecs? Sure, he was a bit softer around the edges than every other guy I’d been with, but sinking into that hug? I had never felt so warm and safe.
I was about to say as much when Ethan came around the corner and rested his elbow on the desk. “Hey, Julie, how’s it goin’?” He picked a pen up off my desk, clicked it a couple of times, and put it down again. He had on new cologne. I liked it.
“Good, thanks. You?” I grabbed the pen and moved it out of his reach.
“I’m excellent, thank you. Ready for the big presentation. Have you seen the PowerPoint Quinn made? It’s amazing.”
Quinn grinned. “Well, I did come up with the concept. I wanted to make sure it was presented properly.”
“Good luck, you’re going to do great,” I said, walking around my desk to give Quinn a hug.
“Where’s mine?” Ethan held his arms open and my mind immediately went into the gutter.
“Hey!” Marc boomed as he walked around the corner, scaring the crap out of me. I lowered my head to hide the heat that was surely radiating off my face. “Are you guys ready? The clients should be here any minute,” he said as he ushered them into the boardroom.
“I guess I’ll have to get my hug another time,” Ethan said quietly before he turned to leave.
He must not have a girlfriend anymore,I thought and my stomach buzzed. I then remembered my sobriety goal.
Crap. This was going to be a long six months.