Chapter 15
Chapter
Fifteen
IRIS
I’m pouring a glass of wine when my phone rings. Picking it up, I smile when I see Adrianna.
“Hey you,” I ask when I answer.
Her smiling face fills the screen.
“Hey, how have you been?” she asks.
“Good. You?”
“Busy but happy.”
“I can tell. You look like you’re glowing. Do you have something to tell me?” I tease as I take a sip of my wine.
She rolls her eyes. “No, I’m not pregnant.”
“Hey, can’t blame me for being curious. So what’s up?”
“Oh, I might have heard a rumor today…” She trails off.
Leaving the kitchen, I walk into my living room and sit down. “Do tell.”
“I heard you and Max are having issues.”
I roll my eyes. “I swear the men gossip worse than we do,” I mutter, making her laugh.
“Not wrong, but tell me what’s going on. It might help.”
Do I want to talk about it? No, but at the same time, I know I need to. Out of everyone, Adrianna might be the best one to talk to. I love Olivia and Chloe, but Adrianna is more analytical. Besides, she also fell in love with someone she worked with closely.
That, and let’s be honest, she is also with the most stubborn man in the group and can understand my frustration with men being dicks more than the other two.
“Max is acting differently,” I tell her.
“How so?”
“He’s more…possessive?” I say, frowning. “I don’t even know if that’s the right word, but it’s the best way I can describe it.”
“Max…possessive?” Adrianna asks with shock in her voice.
“Yeah, exactly. For example, I started dating, and he hates it. He’s all, this guy doesn’t know you. You don’t like yellow flowers or chocolate. You should leave him. His jaw clenches when someone flirts with me.”
Adrianna shakes her head, eyes wide, so I keep going.
“I just don’t get it. I’ve had feelings for him for years, and when I start to move on, he then changes his tune?
I was offered a job in London, and now I’m considering not taking it because what if this is when we are finally supposed to happen?
What if I leave and then I’m alone and miserable for the rest of my life? What the hell am I supposed to do?”
“Whoa, girlfriend, I need you to take a deep breath and take a drink of your wine,” she coaches.
I do as she said and nod.
“Wait, you are thinking about leaving The Williamson Group?” Adrianna asks, shocked.
“Yes.”
She rapidly blinks as she shakes her head. “I didn’t see that coming.”
“It’s not a for-sure thing. I’m just thinking about it. The offer came to me, I didn’t go looking for it,” I tell her.
“I believe you, but even if you did go looking for a new job, no one would blame you. You can do whatever you want. You know that.”
Looking away from her, I take another drink.
“Back to Max…do you think he’s acting this way because he was finally forced to face his feelings for you?”
“What do you mean?”
“Max has always had feelings for you but has been too scared to act on them. Do you think that by you starting to date, he’s realized that he has to make a move or risk losing you forever?”
“I mean, that would make sense, so maybe, but why the delayed response? Shouldn’t he have started acting differently when I told him?”
“This is Max we are talking about. He internalizes things and processes them differently. Maybe he had to see it with his own two eyes before it actually sunk in. Max isn’t like the others, and maybe it just took him this long to process what’s happening, whether he likes it or not,” she points out.
Again, it makes sense. That sounds like Max. As badly as I want to believe it, I just don’t know. What I do know, though, is I can’t afford to get my hopes up. If I’m just imagining all of this and it isn’t real, it would crush me.
“Maybe,” I murmur.
“It’s something to think about.”
“It is.”
“Enough about Max, though. What’s this about a job? Are you actually considering it?”
“Like I said, they approached me. I won’t lie, it’s tempting. It’s right up my alley.”
“What do you mean?”
“Well, first off, I wouldn’t be a CFO anymore. I wouldn’t have to deal with the board or handle risk management or any of those things and I would still be working with numbers. Which I love, and we all know London is one of my favorite places.”
“But…”
“But the more I think about it, the less appealing it becomes. I can’t explain it.”
She nods. “You love The Williamson Group and the people you work with.”
“I do. We’re a family, and I hate the idea of walking away from a company I’ve put so many years into.”
“When do you have to decide by?”
“I have some time.”
“Do you want my opinion?”
I roll my eyes. “Duh.”
“I hate the idea of you being so far away. You wouldn’t be able to pop in for an afternoon anymore or come in for a hockey game. We would miss you, but if this is what you want, what you really want, then we would support you.”
“What would you do if you were me?” I ask.
She shakes her head. “I would tell them thank you for considering me, but no thank you. I wouldn’t walk away from a company you love after investing a decade into the place.”
“I don’t necessarily love the job itself, though.”
Adrianna shrugs. “That’s an easy fix. Tell Max you don’t want to be the CFO anymore. Tell him what position you want. Knowing him, he would make it happen. It might take some time to find your replacement, but that’s not a big deal.”
As soon as she says it, it smacks me in the face.
I didn’t even think of that.
If I told Max I wanted to do something else, he would make it happen. He would hate it, but he would do it.
Would it really be that easy?
“I didn’t even think about that,” I tell her quietly.
Adrianna chuckles. “Sometimes we don’t see what’s right in front of us.”
“I feel so stupid.”
“You aren’t stupid, you’re just too close to the situation to see everything. It happens to the best of us.”
“Enough about me, tell me what’s happening there.”
The conversation shifts, and while Adrianna fills me in on the latest things going on with our friends, the only thing I can think about is the fact I need to talk to Max as soon as possible.
MAX
My phone rings, and I groan when I see it’s a video call from the guys. Not just one but all three.
“What?” I ask when I answer.
“Well, good evening to you too, sweetheart. I know it’s been a while since we’ve seen each other, but you can come home anytime. I miss you too,” Brantley jokes.
“Yeah, what’s up with that? It’s been a while since you’ve swung through town. If I didn’t know better, I would say you’re avoiding us,” Mason says, making me roll my eyes.
“I’m not avoiding you guys. I’ve been fucking busy. Something you know all about,” I say pointedly to my brother.
“I do, which is why I’m thankful that you switched positions with me,” Mason says.
Ignoring my brother, my eyes shift to Eli.
“Do you have something to rag on me about too?”
“I don’t rag,” Eli deadpans.
“Right…” Brantley drawls.
“Is there a point to this conversation, or can I get off and watch some mindless TV before going to sleep?” I ask.
“What you’re going to do is sit there and listen to our advice,” Mason tells me.
“Yeah, we need to come up with a game plan before you lose Iris,” Brantley chimes in.
I look over at Eli, knowing he’s the one behind this. “I hate you.”
“Hate, love, same thing. Now let’s figure this out before Adrianna gets off the phone. I filled the guys in on everything that’s happening, and we’ve discussed a couple of ideas on ways to win her over,” Eli tells me.
“What makes you think you guys know what will work?”
“All of us have our women, you don’t,” Brantley points out, making me flinch.
“Why are you my best friend again?” I mutter.
Brantley blows me a kiss.
“Anyway, we have a couple of different options. All of which don’t include abduction,” Eli says, shooting Brantley a glare.
Brantley raises his hands in surrender. “Hey, I stand by it. Everyone knows Iris likes him back. I think they should just go to Vegas, get drunk, then have a quick trip to the Little White Chapel and call it a day and live happily ever after. Once she’s married to you, there won’t be any leaving.”
Mason shakes his head. “You and Chloe really are perfect for each other, aren’t you?”
Mason’s not wrong. That totally sounds like something they would do.
Eli clears his throat. “Trips are options, just no drunken marriages. We don’t want the chance of annulments happening.”
“Guys…” I sigh.
“You need to show her that you care. Show her that you know her inside and out. No matter big or small, she needs to know,” my brother says, cutting me off.
Brantley nods. “Make sure you have her girlie shit at your place in case she wants to stay over.”
“We live in the same building,” I remind them.
“Doesn’t matter,” they say in unison.
“Bring her her favorite drink. Have one of her favorite snacks on hand in case she gets hangry,” Eli says.
Mason nods. “Make her dinner.”
Brantley snaps his fingers. “Foot rubs. They go crazy over that shit after wearing heels all day.”
The three of them nod.
They rattle off a few more ideas, and as much as I hate to admit it, they are good ones.
All of them would be easy to initiate. I even go as far as to jump in and tell them an idea that I’ve had floating around in the back of my mind.
The one I’ve floated only to Mason before now.
One that they all agree needs to happen.
“This is all good and well, but what if she leaves?” I tell them when they are done.
“What if she doesn’t, though? What if she decides she wants to stay? Are you really going to let her keep dating losers when she’s right there for the taking?” Brantley asks.
“No,” I say without thinking about it.
“Look, I know our childhood fucked us up. Mom did more damage than either of us are willing to admit, but you shouldn’t let it control you. You deserve to be happy, and the only way that will happen is if you do this,” Mason says.
I run a hand over my face. They are right. I know they are. That doesn’t mean I like it, though.
“She loves London, though,” I tell them quietly.
“She loves you more,” Mason says.
Eli nods. “Always has.”
“So propose in London and then proceed to take her there all the time like you already do. It’s not that big of a deal.” Brantley shrugs.
The P word makes my body tense.
Propose?
The idea gives me cold sweats. Not because that’s not exactly what would happen if this works out, but because it seems too soon.
We can’t just go from friends to engaged with the snap of a finger.
The guys chuckle.
“Totally freaked him out with that one,” Brantley muses.
“You did.” Mason laughs.
“I hate you. I hate all of you,” I tell them.
“That’s not what you will be saying at your wedding,” Eli says, jumping in on the ribbing.
I give them all the middle finger, making them laugh harder.
Dicks. All of them.
“Enough about me, what’s going on there?” I ask, changing the subject.
“Chloe blew up the microwave, and so we are having a new one installed tomorrow,” Brantley tells us.
“How in the hell did she do that?” Eli asks.
“She put a fork in it by accident.” He shrugs as if it’s not a big deal.
We all shake our heads.
“I love her, I do, but sometimes I wonder who’s more responsible, her or Arianna,” Mason says, referring to his daughter.
“Depends on the situation probably,” Brantley says.
“Adrianna and I are knee-deep in gala details. I swear the day after the last one ends, it starts all over again,” Eli mutters.
“But you love it because you love her,” Mason reminds him.
“True,” Eli confirms.
“And my sister-in-law and niece, how are they doing?” I ask.
Mason lights up. “Great. Ari’s got a loose tooth right now. Olivia says that the tooth fairy only brings a quarter, but I don’t know about that.”
“That seems cheap,” Eli tells him.
As the guys and I banter back and forth, I relax. If it weren’t for them and Iris, I wouldn’t talk to anyone, not really. Despite my flaws though, they love me anyway, and for that I couldn’t be more thankful. Especially when they go out of their way to try and plot my way into a relationship.
Because honestly, who else would do that but them? If I didn’t know any better, I would think they want this as badly as I do.