Open To Negotiation (Knight Enterprises #1)

Chapter 1 Quinn

Quinn

“Iswear to God, if she throws up one more time, I’m going to lose my fucking mind.” I snorted into the phone while stirring the ramen noodles on the stove as my best friend continued on. “She threw up on the carpet even though I have mostly hardwood in my apartment. There were chunks in it, Quinn!”

“You’re a nurse, Aubrey. Your puppy puking cannot be the most disgusting thing you’ve ever seen.

It’s probably not even the worst thing you've seen today,” I said as I turned off the burner and carried the pot to the cork coaster I had already set on the table.

No reason to dirty a bowl, I wasn’t trying to impress anyone.

“Whatever, Quinn. Luna is an adorable little mutt, but she does gross stuff, and people are different than dogs.” Aubrey and I had known each other since grade two, and for as long as I’ve known her, she’s always wanted a dog.

Now she finally has one, and every little bodily function it has manages to freak her out.

“So, how was your day?” she asked as I yawned in between bites.

“Well, considering it’s after ten o’clock and I’m just getting home, you tell me.”

I was a consultant at Elevate. We worked with organizations to create targeted marketing strategies for whatever they came to us for. My job was the coordination and planning, not actual marketing.

Did I have a passion for it? No. Was I going to leave? Also no.

It was the first interview I’d had after I graduated with a business degree. I took the job because the pay was good enough. It was my first job, and I wasn’t going to turn down a sure thing.

Three years later I was still there, with little to show for it aside from being burned out and bored.

You wouldn’t think marketing coordination would be a stressful job, but between the companies constantly changing their minds at the last minute on ideas and my manager being disorganized and absentee, I worked later than I ever thought I would need to. I was exhausted most of the time.

I counted feeding myself tonight as a win.

“Quinney, I think we need to get you out this weekend.”

I cringed at her suggestion. I wasn’t anti-social exactly. I was an optimistic person, and I was good at talking to people, but lately I preferred sitting at home with a book. I’d told myself it was just a phase in my life and I was just fine with it.

“I think I have other plans,” I said while twirling the noodles around my fork. It was a weak excuse, and my best friend knew it.

“Bullshit. When was the last time you went out?” Aubrey asked. I honestly couldn’t remember. After working late all week, I usually spent my weekends catching up on chores, reading, and squeezing in a little extra work before the whole cycle began again. “I can tell you since I was there.”

“Pft, you aren’t my only friend,” I said, causing both of us to laugh since we both knew it wasn’t true.

I had a very small circle. Growing up Aubrey was the social one, she pulled friends into our group, and since we graduated my preference was to stick with what I knew.

“Okay, so I might not have plans to go out, but I did just start a new hockey romance, so I do have plans.”

“That’s a terrible excuse,” she pointed out, and I could practically hear her eyeroll through the phone.

“We’ll have to agree to disagree on that one.” Losing myself in a book was one of my favorite things.

“Quinn. You’re hot, young, and single. Don’t let that dick take anything more from you.” Aubrey’s voice went quiet at the end, filled with compassion.

“I’m on a dating break.”

“Not this again! You’re too—”

I cut her off. “Please stop telling me I’m too hot to be taking a break from dating. You and I both know that has nothing to do with this.”

Her assessment of me was a tad exaggerated, to be expected given that I was her best friend and she was the ultimate hype woman.

My natural red hair was long right now, falling below my bra.

I was slim, but I had hips and a butt, and my boobs were a respectable C cup.

My favorite feature were my green eyes. I got them from my mom and with burgundy mascara they stood out even more.

At twenty-six I’d gotten comfortable in my own skin.

Growing up, there were things I wanted to change.

Like when I was eleven, I refused to believe I had red hair because I didn’t want to stand out.

Then when I was sixteen, I hated that I had freckles on my shoulders but not my face. But now I had accepted them.

That didn’t mean there weren’t days where I felt bloated or where I didn’t like how I looked in some clothes, but it didn’t take up as much mental space for me as it used to.

I could eat healthier, but since I live alone and get home late more often than not, ramen or boxed mac and cheese are a sad staple of my week.

“Fine, Quinn, but can we please go out? I can leave Luna with Max, and it can just be us.”

I smiled even though she couldn’t see me. “Fine, you win.” We didn’t get to hang out often anymore without her boyfriend in tow, so I wasn’t going to pass up the opportunity.

“Yay! I—” She was cut off by her sweet dog barking up a storm. “Shit, I have to go. Let’s figure it out tomorrow. Luna!” She didn’t wait for me to say goodbye before she hung up on me.

I let out a sigh and looked around my apartment; it was a cold night, but I’d opened a window to let some fresh April air in.

I didn’t have any pictures hanging up, other than the one of my mom and I on the bookshelf in the living room.

This place didn’t feel like home. I don’t know if I even know what that felt like.

I had minimal furniture, just what I needed to get by.

My couch was piled with colourful blankets and pillows because I wasn’t an animal, but the place still didn’t feel permanent.

My apartment was a one-thousand square foot layout with one bedroom.

It was in a slightly run-down part of town, but the building had some updates.

Sure, the elevator didn’t always work, and yeah, the lights always seemed to be burnt out in the parking lot, but it was safe enough.

I had savings and I could maybe look for more space, but I wasn’t here all that much anyway.

There was a small kitchen, living room, and my bedroom which was a bit of a chaotic mess with all my clothes vying for space. Thankfully I had in-suite laundry so I didn’t have to make small talk with my neighbors while washing my underwear.

I let out another sigh, a comfort show replaying on the TV in the background. I was feeling stuck, and I couldn’t quite pinpoint why. I needed something to change but that meant that I needed to do things differently.

I just didn’t know where to start.