Chapter 3
three
. . .
piper
Good God, why did I drink so much with Beau last night? It’s been a while since I’ve had a hangover, but I don’t remember it kicking my ass like this.
Thankfully, the office is mostly quiet. I can hear music playing from somewhere out front.
It’s not enough to really bug me, though.
It might be light jazz? Parker decided it was a good idea to have some sort of music playing when people come in to buy their wine directly from us.
He was right, but I’ll never tell him that.
Mostly because he doesn’t have my back when it matters.
My head feels like there’s someone banging on drums inside it. The knock on the office door doesn’t help matters.
“Come in.” Having to deal with people today is not something I want to do, but it’s better than hearing the pounding on the door.
“Hey, Sister,” Parker says as he walks in. “How ya doing this morning?”
“Please, stop yelling.” I hold my hand up to stop him.
“I wasn’t.” He takes a seat in the chair across from the desk. “You look like hell.”
“Gee, thanks.” The office is a common area for everyone. I don’t know why he felt the need to knock. Everybody usually walks in unannounced.
“Is it a migraine? I have some ibuprofen in my truck. I can grab it for you.”
“No, it’s not a migraine.” I reach into my desk and pull out my bottle of medicine. “I’ve got some right here, thank you.”
“Ah, so you took the meeting to heart?”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“Well, if it’s not a migraine or a regular headache, that means you went home and drank away your frustration.”
He’s not wrong, but I don’t want him to know how much it affects me when they don’t take me seriously.
“I may have drunk too much with Beau last night. No big deal.”
“I see.” He nods as if he knows something I don’t. “Hope the hangover goes away.”
“Did you need something?”
“Huh?” He’s already standing and making his way toward the door.
“You came in here for a reason. Did you need something?”
He scratches the back of his head. It’s one of his tells when he has bad news, or doesn’t know how to say whatever he’s thinking. He’s done it since we were kids. I guess some things are never outgrown. It doesn’t give me much hope they’ll ever take me seriously.
“Yeah, Pierce said he needs to talk to you.”
“He couldn’t come to me himself?” It figures. He always sends someone else to do his bidding. I know he’s technically the boss. But that doesn’t mean ordering everyone around because you don’t want to do it yourself.
“He’s in the middle of unloading bottles.
I offered.” He didn’t. Peter is the only one who offers to do anything without being asked.
He’s always trying to prove himself to our big brother.
One day he’ll realize no matter what he does…
it’ll never be enough. It’s just sad it’ll take so long for him to come to the conclusion.
“Give me a few and I’ll go see what he wants.”
He gives me a salute and walks out the door, closing it behind him. I really hate that everyone in the family, aside from Paula, bows down to Pierce’s every whim. It’s the only reason he continues to push everyone around.
I swear he’s like the bully in school that continues to pick on you until you finally stand up for yourself. The only difference is when I do it, he makes it more of a point to ignore anything I have to say. It’s infuriating.
A few minutes. That’s all I need to get myself put together and face him.
The last thing he needs to know is I’m nursing a hangover.
I’ll never hear the end of it. At least I didn’t come to work still drunk like a few of my brothers have on occasion.
And what did I do? I took up for them because that’s what a good sibling does.
At least, when it’s not hurting anyone else.
I slip my shoes on before leaving the office.
Honestly, being able to hang out without shoes at work is one of the perks of handling the social media.
Though, it’ll be nice if one day I’m able to turn one of these rooms into a studio for all of my ideas.
It’s not like all the rooms in this old house are being used.
Most of them are blocked off to the public and are sitting empty.
It’s another idea I planned on launching, but I have a feeling it would go as well as the last meeting.
The walk from the main building to the production facility is a bit of a trek. My great grandpa wanted to be able to leave work at work. He didn’t want the temptation of going back out there when he should be spending time with his family.
I still think it’s pretty cool our main building was once their house.
Rooms were added on as the family grew, and it’s a nice touch of Starlit Fields history we could add into our branding story.
Maybe if I bring that up to Pierce, he’ll let me add it to the site.
I can even find one of the photos of the house our parents have at their place.
It makes for a great story and gives some insight into where our winery came from.
There are so many ideas bouncing around my head, and I worry they will never come to fruition because my brother simply doesn’t care. Or, he doesn’t care enough to make our company shine the way it could.
When I get to the production building, he’s unloading bottles and setting them on a shelf. They still need our labels on them, but he always waits to do it. He doesn’t want to make too many labels if we don’t have enough wine to bottle it.
“Parker said you needed to see me?”
He looks up from the bottles in his hand. “Yeah. We need to update the website and I need you to take some photos of the new wine.”
What is he talking about? I don’t remember him saying anything about a new wine.
Although, I also tuned him out during most of the meeting yesterday.
He might be a little right when it comes to me acting childish.
It’s not that I do it on purpose. At least, not most of the time.
Yesterday…I just couldn’t be bothered to give a damn about what he had to say.
“Do we have any of the new wine bottled up?”
“Yes.” He nods to the left. “We just need the usual stock picture and information about the wine.
“Okay.” I fail to see why he had me come all the way out here for that. He could have brought me a bottle when he was done unloading. “Is there anything else?”
He doesn’t say anything for a few minutes and keeps unloading bottles. He opens his mouth at the exact time I turn to leave. “Next time you have an idea, you need to come to me before you ambush everyone in the meeting. It was unprofessional to go behind my back like that.”
Is he fucking serious right now? As if I haven’t tried going to him with ideas in the past. He shot them down in private and I doubt he ever took them to Dad.
This time at least it was in a public setting so the rest of the family could see I have some perspective when it comes to the company.
They’ll always see me as the person who does as she’s told and doesn’t do anything more than they ask.
Well, that changes now. I’m not going to let Pierce know because I don’t think he deserves the heads up. No, I’ll show up in ways that matter when it comes to the winery. Ones that will have proof and data behind it.
I know for a fact it’s the only way I’ll win our dad over. Even Pierce won’t say no to a suggestion Dad makes. This time I’ll gather what I need and go directly to him. Pierce isn’t the boss of Starlit Fields yet. I’ll take this time to remind him.
“Is there anything else you need?”
“No.” He moves to the other shelf holding the filled bottles and grabs one. “You need this to take the photo for the website.”
“Oh, yeah. Thanks.” I grab the bottle from him and hurry out of the building. He has more audacity than anyone I’ve ever met. Even Parker, who’s known to be over the top, would never talk down to anyone like that.
It never ceases to amaze me how we were all raised exactly the same, yet have come out so different from one another. Clearly, Pierce got hit with the asshole branch at some point in his life, and it shows every single day.
This time I’m taking the kill them with kindness approach. It’s what he’ll least expect. Who knows, maybe he’ll appreciate the work I put in.
One of the perks of working for the family, and handling minimal tasks, is I get to leave early if everything is done.
My phone dings with a message as soon as I get home.
Beau
Wanna hang out tonight?
Piper
Sorry, I have a date. Thanks for last night by the way.
Beau
Oh cool, hope it goes well.
The fact he’s wishing me luck speaks volumes of my dating life.
Every single date I’ve been on the past few months has been disastrous.
None of them meet the expectations I’ve set for myself.
I don’t know if it’s because my parents taught me to have high standards, or if it’s because none of them will ever replace Beau.
I don’t really have time to worry about that right now, though. I need to get ready for tonight.
Piper
Thanks. I’ll share my location when I get to the restaurant. You know in case the guy tries to kidnap me.
Beau
I seriously doubt that would happen. But sounds good.
He says that every time I tell him I’m sharing my location. It’s a safeguard that makes me feel more comfortable going places without him. I mean, it would be weird to show up to a date with my best friend. The one time I suggested it, Beau looked at me like I’d lost my mind.
He’s the one person who has always made me feel safe.
I’ve been in love with him since the day he helped me carry my flowers home in middle school.
Too bad I’ll never do anything to jeopardize our friendship.
He’s too important to me. It’s why I keep going on these dates.
Maybe one of these guys will make me forget the feelings I’ve always harbored for Beau.
Eventually one of these guys will knock my socks off, right?
At least once I should be able to hit the dating jackpot.
I’m not holding my breath, though. For whatever reason, I tend to attract people who are self-involved, only want to get free booze, or think they’re getting in my pants right after the date.
Sorry, that’s not happening. Nothing against folks who live more freely than me, but I need to know sex isn’t all they’re after.
My phone dings again, but this time it’s the alarm. A not so gentle reminder I need to leave sooner than later to avoid hitting traffic.
I rush to my room and quickly change. A glance in the mirror shows my hair and makeup are still perfect from this morning.
It takes me a few seconds to share my location with Beau before grabbing my clutch and hauling ass out the front door.
Being late isn’t the first impression I want to give this guy.