Chapter 18
eighteen
. . .
beau
“Beau, can you meet me in my office?” Mr. Gardner says as he walks past me. I’m not sure if this is a good thing or not. I can only assume he wants to talk to me about the progress on my marketing project with Piper.
Slowly I roll my chair back and stand. I don’t miss the way Cole is staring at me. Maybe he thinks I’m in trouble. I could be. Who knows? There’s only one way to find out.
My steps are slow as I make my way to his office.
This feels so much like the first time I walked in here and he told me he wanted me to go ahead with the plan.
He’s already sitting behind his desk, and I close the door behind me as I enter.
Might as well do that now in case he really is unhappy with the work I’m doing.
None of it has interfered with my actual job.
At least, for the most part. There are few things I run numbers on up here, but not much.
“How’s the marketing plan going for your friend?” He leans back and clasps his hands in front of his chest. Why does he keep doing that? It looks odd, and kind of like he doesn’t know what to do with his hands.
“It’s going well. We’ve been focusing mostly on social media. She also handed out business cards at a town festival.”
“Did it work?”
I’m not sure which he’s talking about. You can’t really know the success when they are done in tandem.
“Which one?”
“Both. Unless you didn’t separate them out.” He cocks his head to the side as if I don’t already know that.
“The social media posts are definitely working. She said online orders have seen a big uptick. I don’t know the exact numbers, but she wouldn’t tell me it’s helped if it didn’t.”
“And the business cards?”
“I don’t have data on that yet. We’re supposed to meet tonight to go over a few things, plus the next step in our plan.”
Everything I tell him is a piece of the truth.
Pierce has been sending me actual numbers, and the progress has been pretty amazing.
Honestly, Piper should be proud of herself.
She’s doing things for the winery nobody else has managed.
It would be a lot better if Pierce would tell her he knows.
As much as I want to, I can’t be the one who breaks the news.
Not only would she be incredibly pissed at me, but her brother would as well.
He leans forward, elbows on the desk, his hands still clasped but now they look like a steeple. Sort of like that song we learned in Sunday school. I’m not a fan of this pose either, but at least I seem to have gotten his interest again.
“Can you tell me a little about that?”
While I can’t give him a ton of information, I can relay some of what I’ve discussed with Piper.
“She’s mostly been using static posts and videos in her socials, but we’re going to try going live. We have to be careful with the different platforms because of what they allow and don’t. But we think it will be a good move.”
He grins and leans back in his chair once again. “I’ve been hearing that from a lot of our clients. Making themselves available to their customers gives them an upper hand.”
I don’t know about upper hand. It does let people get to know you better. The more your audience connects with you, the more likely they are to support you in your business endeavors. Hell, it’s how I’ve become a fan of some clothing companies and I’ll always buy from them.
“We’re working on some popup type events in the future, but I won’t have data on those until we can get them scheduled.”
“Sounds good. If you need any help, let me know.” I stand and head toward the door. Being in this office with him is not my idea of a good time. “You’re doing good work here. Keep it up and you’ll be in one of the top spots here.”
“Thank you, Sir.”
Before he has a chance to offer any more wisdom, I hightail it out of his office.
The last thing I want to do is be in a position of power at this place.
If that ever happens, I’d much rather have my own firm.
At least then I could work with companies I care about and not have to play the numbers game quite so hard.
Cole is already at my desk when I get there. “Drinks tonight?”
This guy always seems to want to go out after I get out of the boss’s office. Yes, it’s office politics, but I’ve never been one to play them.
“Sorry, taking my girlfriend out for dinner.” Finally, I can say that. The rush of that one simple word on my tongue is enough to keep me from being too annoyed at the Cole.
“Cool. Well, if you change your mind, you know where we’ll be.” As if I would ever choose them over Piper. Girlfriend or not. “I’d love to pick your brain about what you’re doing with your side project.”
Of course he would. That’s not going to happen.
He has been handed everything since he started working here, and passes off all the actual work to other people.
I refuse to be the one who lets him take advantage of me.
Not that I don’t believe in helping my coworker, but so many in the office have piled his stuff onto their desk, and it’s not their job.
Just because he’s related to the boss doesn’t mean he gets special treatment.
The end of the work day cannot come soon enough. Maybe it’s not a bad idea to start thinking about doing my own thing. I’ll see what Piper thinks. She’s the only person I trust to tell me if it’s a good idea or not.
Piper’s door is unlocked…again. Maybe she should get one of those locks with an app.
She’s more likely to remember because it’ll be on her phone.
Other than me, the only people who really come to her house is her family.
She has all packages delivered to the office because most of them won’t go the extra half mile to take it to her house.
A problem I never had when I lived down the street. But I was with my parents back then. They’ve moved away since I graduated high school.
“Is that you, Beau?” Her voice is loud in the quiet house. It’s shocking she doesn’t have music playing. But I guess the tinkle of bells attached to the door let her know my presence.
I close the door behind me. It sounds like what I imagine glitter falling sounds like. Where did she even get these? We’re not even close to Christmas.
“Why is your door not locked again?” Her voice came from her room and it’s the first place I check. Except the room is empty.
“You are the only person coming today. I didn’t see the point.”
I follow her voice to the bathroom on the opposite side of the room. “I know you don’t think anything will happen to you out here, especially with your family around. But…you never know.”
“You worry way too much.” She laughs. “How did you like my bells? It’s practically a warning system for when I forget to lock the door.”
“They are definitely loud. Did you have to search through the Christmas decor to find them?”
“Actually, I stole them off a wreath I found in the closet.”
The wreath she’s talking about comes to mind. She found it on the curb because someone was throwing it out. It’s hideous, but she hung it on her door for the holiday season because I dared her to. She tried putting it on my door, but I shot down that idea as soon as she voiced it.
“I can’t believe you still have that thing.”
She shrugs as she applies her lipstick. “Me either. I actually forgot I had it until it fell after I moved a box.”
This bit of information doesn’t shock me. She always moves things around and unearths items from the past. Honestly, sometimes I wonder if her house isn’t a time capsule. I’m pretty sure it would tell the history of our friendship.
Now she’s putting on mascara. This is more than she’s ever done when we’ve gone out to dinner. Not that it happens often. We like to get food and bring it home because we can drink cheaper on our couches.
“What’s with all the makeup?” I hope like hell she doesn’t take it the wrong way.
“We’re going on a date?” Her statement comes out more like a question, and uncertainty flashes across her face.
“Yeah, but it’s still just me.” Not that I mind. I’ve seen her when she’s dressed to the nines for a date. The last thing I want her to do is think she has to go through all this to impress me. She’s been doing that since we were teenagers.
“It’s still a date.” She grins and her reflection in the mirror is breathtaking. “And I occasionally like to get dressed up. Believe me, it’s not all about you.”
“Okay then.” I hold my hands up in surrender. She’s not wrong. I’ve seen her put on makeup and do her hair only to sit on the couch and binge watch whatever TV show has her interest at the moment. “You look great by the way.”
“Thanks.” Her cheeks turn a soft shade of pink.
I wonder how long I’ve had this effect on her, and how I’ve never noticed.
To be fair, she’s always been great at hiding her emotions.
It’s one of the things she’s excelled at since she’s the youngest of six.
Even though she almost always got her way, she never wanted to do anything to tip the boat.
“I’m going to wait in the living room.” I point my thumb over my shoulder. Crowding her is the last thing I want to do, and that’s what this feels like. She has a process when she’s getting ready to go somewhere. Just because we’re officially dating doesn’t mean I should be encroaching on that.
“That’s cool. I’ll be ready in ten. I just need to find my shoes.”
A small chuckle comes out of me as I turn toward the door. The office at Starlit Fields is incredibly organized. Not a paperclip out of place. But her closet…that’s an entirely different story.
It’s like there are two versions of her.
One that allows herself to be carefree in her own space, and the other completely aware of where everything is.
Everything in my professional life and home is slightly messy.
It’s clean, but cluttered. Bad habits I picked up from my parents and I’ve been working to fix for years.
While she finishes getting ready, I head to the kitchen. For some reason nerves are setting in. This is the first time we’ve been out and about in Asheville since we became official. I kind of understand why she’s getting ready, and going all out. It’s almost like an armor for her.
When we were in high school, she’d come to school with a full face of makeup and her hair curled. It was how she showed up to take tests or do anything she was afraid of. I guess it made her powerful and like she could accomplish anything.
I wonder if it was something she picked up in the intro to theatre class we took. It was a blow off class for me. Anytime we did shows, I would work on the tech side. But she loved stepping into a new character. She could be anyone she wanted without any fears.
I wonder how her life would have turned out if she’d stay in theatre classes. If she would have left Asheville for good. Or, if she would have stayed to fulfill the obligation she feels toward her family business. I guess we’ll never know.
I grab a bottle of wine and a glass. A little liquid courage never hurt anyone. The need to force my nerves to settle down is not something I anticipated. I take a sip and let the sangria work its magic through my nervous system.
“Oh, I didn’t realize we were starting the night early.”
The wine sloshes in the glass as I jump. A quick check confirms none of it spilled on me.
“Do you want a glass?” I point toward the cabinet.
“Nope, I’m starving. Are you ready?” Her eyes bounce toward the glass in my hand then back to me. A sign to finish up before she gets hangry.
Tilting the glass up, I drink the last bit of wine. “Yep.” I quickly wash and dry the glass before setting it back in its spot on the counter. The cork goes back into the bottle. I’m sure we’ll finish that off as soon as we get back from dinner.
“Ready to face the fine citizens of Asheville?”
She scoffs. “Please most of the people are probably running their kids around and getting ready for a weekend of little league games.”
She’s not wrong.
I place my hand on the small of her back, and she leans into me. Being able to touch her freely without second guessing is the confidence boost I need.
Who knew I would be this shaken up having her by my side like this after being a part of her life for over a decade.