28. Natalie
NATALIE
Iglanced at my phone. Three texts from James in as many days, and I still couldn’t find the right words to respond to him. He said he wanted to talk.
I wasn’t ready, and I wasn’t sure I ever would be. There was no point, really. He’d made his choice, and it wasn’t me. What else was there to be said?
I could blame my workload for ignoring him, because the Pantone launch was keeping us stupid busy, but the truth was the texts felt…
insincere. Almost like he was just checking in on me to make sure I wasn’t going to burn down the Branson building or go on the record with horrifying behind-the-scenes gossip.
Not that he needed my help making headlines.
He and Heidi were all over the tabloids with stories about her latest struggles.
I’d watched it unfold knowing that it was probably killing James to be associated with the train wreck. They were officially broken up now.
Not that it mattered to me in the slightest.
“Listen up, it’s the end of day social media recap on the Pantone launch,” Calliope yelled as she walked into the creative room holding her phone over her head. “Gather round, people.”
We surged towards her as a group, nervous and hopeful. It was our first time launching something under our own leadership and we had our pride on the line, as well as the numbers. Of course, I wanted James to see what we were capable of without him.
What I was capable of.
I’d been running our department since he’d left, still juggling it with being his assistant and farming out the CEO responsibilities as well.
I was exhausted, grumpy, and for the first time ever, doubting if Branson was right for me after all.
I’d been hired for my creative vision, my hands-on design work, yet here I was overseeing everyone else doing the job I loved.
Not that I could let on that I was unhappy.
I didn’t want my mood impacting everyone else, so I faked it.
Rhea bustled in beside me. “This is still so strange for me, getting instant results. Back in my day we published in print magazines and had to hold our breath for months to see what the world thought. Now, we just push a button, and bim-bam-boom, it’s all out there!”
“I think I would’ve liked the old way,” I replied. “Everything moves so fast these days. I can barely keep up.”
She turned to scan me, frowning. “You look so tired. Are you okay?”
The way she asked the question made it clear it wasn’t just about work. “I’m fine. Just worried about the response to the launch, you know?”
Rhea stared at me a beat longer, skeptical but silent for a change.
Lavonte joined us. “I already have intel, ladies,” he whispered.
We turned to stare at him. “Well? Is it good?” I asked.
He shook his head, frowning. “I wouldn’t say that.”
“No!” Rhea exclaimed. “How is that possible? This is some of our best work!”
Lavonte’s grim expression slowly shifted to a wide smile. “It’s not good, it’s amazing! Everyone is going bonkers for it.”
“Hey, eyes on me folks,” Calliope said, clapping her hands. “I have metrics on our posts as well as a bunch of our influencers’ posts, plus I’ve been tracking our day-of sales… People, I’m thrilled to tell you that we’re setting new records!”
We all broke into applause. Pride swelled inside of me, for what I’d contributed as well as how the team came together.
“Natalie’s idea to send the steamer trunks filled with samples to our influencer partners and celebrities who wear us means we’re dominating every FYP at the moment. The unboxing footage is unreal. Lucy Dubois did a try-on series and every single piece she featured is now backordered.”
I blushed. I’d stolen the idea from Beyonce, but no one seemed to care. All that mattered was that it had worked.
“Greta’s year 2000 vest has been a surprise standout,” Calliope continued. “And the number one seller? Any guesses?”
Everyone spoke at the same time.
“It’s Lavonte’s year 2012 reimagined velour track suit in Tangerine Tango! It’s everywhere!”
He jumped up and down and plucked at the orange sweatsuit he was wearing. “I knew it!”
I grabbed Lavonte’s arm and gave him a squeeze. “That’s so cool!”
He leaned closer to me. “Hey, we both know that the sweatsuit was your idea, you just didn’t have the time to execute it. Thanks for trusting me with it.”
It was kind of him to acknowledge that I’d been the one to do a quick sketch of the iconic staple. I would’ve loved to take on the full project, from concept to completion, but there were too many other responsibilities for me to worry about, so I let Lavonte run with it.
“Let’s have a big round of applause for our leader, Natalie,” Calliope said, gesturing to me. “She’s juggling, like, seven jobs at the same time—and smashing every single one of them.”
I ducked my head and waved both hands, embarrassed by the attention.
“We need to celebrate, so I’ve got a giant table reserved at Bread and Butter, starting now,” Calliope said. “Dinner and drinks are on Branson, so pack up your stuff and meet me there!”
The room filled with whoops, and everyone dispersed to shut down their laptops. I trudged back to my desk and plopped down.
“Hey,” Rhea said. “Let’s go.”
I shook my head. “Can’t, at least not for a while. I still need to get the paperwork going for Lorraine’s replacement, and then I have to go through some new resumes for Clint’s position.”
“Still no one yet, huh?” she asked. “Why don’t you step into his role for real? You’ve been doing an incredible job so far.”
I shook my head vigorously. “Oh, no way. This is not what I signed on for.”
“You miss it, huh? The hands-on design stuff.”
“So much.” I sighed. “But I’m doing what needs to be done so…” I shrugged.
“Well, you’ll be back to designing soon enough, don’t worry.”
I gave her a wan smile but didn’t answer. I still wasn’t sure what my future looked like, but I was positive that it didn’t involve managing other people doing my dream job.
The room cleared out in a flash, and I felt like I could finally exhale.
I grabbed my phone and scrolled to my music.
Definitely no Beyonce. I selected a low-key ambient music station that would be soft enough to help me focus.
I propped my head on my hand and closed my eyes, letting the relaxing tones wash over me.
My arm slipped off my desk and I jerked awake. It was dark outside. How long had I been asleep? Fuck, I had so much to do, and I was starving.
The music cut off abruptly, and I wondered if my phone went dead. I grabbed it and realized that it was plugged in. Was it Wi-Fi problems? I pushed back from my drafting table as a loud buzz sounded from the speakers.
“The Rogue’s Rebuttal, by Erin Woodley,” a loud voice echoed around the room.
I frowned. How was my audiobook collection being broadcast?
It wasn’t like I had the time to enjoy them, so I hadn’t touched my audiobook app in ages.
And when had I purchased a new Woodley book?
I’d never even heard of this one. I looked at my phone again and saw that it was still paused on the ambient station.
“Prologue,” the familiar narrator’s voice rang out.
“A true rogue never apologizes for his sins. It was a lesson that I needn’t have been taught, as the heir to a vast shipping fortune.
Plunder and pillage had been the way of life for my ancestors, until we finally stepped into a supposedly more genteel way of living.
Still, though, the lessons of my pirate forefathers lived on within me, the first being, your reasoning is never wrong. ”
I snorted. Billionaires were all the same, even the old-timey ones. I decided to let the audiobook keep playing.
“It was a woman who finally showed me the error of my ways. A woman unlike any I’d known before. A woman of grace and beauty, but more vexingly, a woman who didn’t bow to me.”
I smiled as I attached the start documents to an email. I liked this fictional badass heroine already.
“As I speak her name, the weight of it upon my tongue tastes bitter. For all of the ways I’ve failed her, and due to my desire to disobey my forefathers.
I have to find the right words to apologize to the most beguiling woman I’ve ever encountered.
To win back the incomparable Miss Natalie Reynolds. ”
I froze. What?
Maybe I was still asleep. How was this real?
Because the narrator reading the book was the same one who’d read all of Erin Woodley’s books.
And the writing style was undoubtedly Erin’s.
Was it just an insane coincidence? But Natalie wasn’t a period-appropriate name for a book about a nineteenth century rogue!
“The truth was,” the narrator continued, “I was bewitched by her. But I hurt her terribly, and have been cast out because of it. My dearest Natalie has ignored my every attempt to reach her. Now, I need to be extraordinarily clever to show her I’ve learned the error of my ways.
Because I would do nearly anything just to make her mine again. ”
My eyes inexplicably filled with tears. Romance novels used to make me feel hopeful. I believed that true love was possible, but now I knew better.
“Natalie…”
The voice behind me made me jump, and I spun around in my chair to find James staring at me. I should’ve been used to him sneaking up on me by now, but once again he’d managed to scare the hell out of me. I was too confused to be angry.
“What are you doing here?” I sniffled and hoped that he couldn’t see my watery eyes from across the room. “You’re not supposed to come back for months. Are you unhappy with my work or something? Is that why you’re here? Because I’ll have you know that since I’ve been in charge of creative—”
He frowned at me. “Natalie, no.” He sounded injured. “Were you not listening?” He pointed up towards the speakers.
I smacked my desk in frustration. “Is this about the sound system again? What the hell, James?”