2. Chase
Chase
Sympathy For The Devil by The Rolling Stones
I clasp my fingers together so tightly, I fear I might actually break skin. All week, since Heather told me about my promotion, I’ve felt like I’ve been levitating.
Marketing Manager of WingMate.
After all the years of interning, late nights working on marketing plans, learning about trends, and discussing insights, all of it boils down to this moment.
Everything is about to change. And even though that both excites and terrifies me, I’ll set aside those complicated feelings for later. Because, right now? Right now is my moment.
Rolling my shoulders back, I take a deep breath in as Heather continues her speech.
“Finding love amongst friends started as an idea. That idea snowballed into the WingMate app, which now fills this building today—“ Heather’s voice fades into the background as she continues pacing the floor, commanding the room as usual.
I take this moment to rehearse in my head what I have planned. All weekend I’ve been practicing my acceptance speech with Mia. Seems extreme, sure, but this moment is big. No one, including myself, would ever imagine me being a manager—of, well—anything.
Me. Chase fucking Rutherford. A manager.
Heather believes in me. And that’s massive.
I wipe away the sweat bead forming on my brow.
About ten members of the executive team sit around the boardroom table while the rest of us crowd around them. Engineering, Product Development, Customer Support, Operations, Finance, and HR make up seats at the table, but it looks like one spot is empty.
One spot—just for me.
Excitement is running through me like electricity. I’m basically bouncing on my tiptoes.
Smoothing back my hair with my fingers, I tune back into Heather as she begins my introduction.
“Which is exactly why I’d like to introduce–”
Suddenly, there’s a loud creak as the boardroom glass door opens.
Heads swivel towards the sound, interrupting Heather’s train of thought.
Oh, come on, we’re so close.
A few audible breaths in the room break the silence.
“Oh! There you are. I wasn’t expecting you for another hour.” Heather grins, glancing at her watch.
I see Todd from accounting sit up and straighten his tie. A few others shift properly in their chairs too and straighten their postures beside me. I roll my eyes. Who could be so important to mess this moment up–
My eyes immediately lock onto the back of a tall, fit man shutting the door.
Since his back is turned, my eyes notice his midnight black hair, first. It’s groomed back at the sides but long enough at the back that it still gives the modern touch.
My eyes float down his body, taking in his crisp black dress shirt, folded up at his forearms, tucked into dark grey tailored trousers that hug his body perfectly.
Jealousy stirs in my gut at the way it sits perfectly on his ass and thighs as he strides through the boardroom, walking his way confidently over to Heather, like he has all day.
He seems… put together. The type of guy who owns expensive socks.
I can almost hear all the women in the office’s hearts swooning. Fuck, and probably some men, too.
Something about him feels oddly familiar in an unsettling way…
My mouth suddenly goes dry. That pastrami sandwich I had for lunch today is suddenly twisting in my stomach in all the wrong ways.
“Actually, this is perfect timing.” Heather smiles, waving her hand out towards him.
What? No. This is my moment. I’ve been so prepared, and his entrance is completely throwing me off.
“As WingMate continues to expand, we must expand with it.” She continues, reaching out to him.
The man clasps Heather’s hand, giving it a firm shake before turning to wave to all of us in the room.
That’s when everything freezes. The moment I see his face, it feels like all the blood has drained from my body.
A face I haven’t seen in years. For good reason.
“Everyone, meet your new COO, Jeremiah Blackwood.” She begins clapping, followed instantly by everyone else in the room.
No, no, no.
I swear my heart is beating even louder than the claps erupting in the room.
There’s no fucking way. It can’t be.
If I’m right, and this is the same Jeremiah I think it is…
I narrow my eyes as I inspect him. I’d remember him looking like this. It has to be some strange fluke. Coincidences happen all the time. And yet, that familiar stir in my stomach erupts all the same.
“Thanks, Heather.” His voice is slow and smooth.
Totally different than what I remember. He places his hand on his chest and looks over all of us.
Barely even glancing my way. “I’m so honored to have this opportunity to be a part of this team.
I’m looking forward to really driving WingMate to the next level. ”
Driving us to the next level? What does he know about WingMate? This is supposed to be my new boss?
And why in hell’s name are my hands so damn clammy all of a sudden? I rub my hands along my slacks and pray that the nerves calm themselves down.
Claps erupt through the room once again, welcoming him in.
Heather looks over and locks eyes with me.
Oh, fuck. My throat tightens as I swallow.
How’d my acceptance speech. How’d it start again?
Grinning from ear to ear, Heather looks so happy as she grips onto Jeremiah’s arm. My brows furrow as I strain to look closer. Since when did Jeremiah have muscles? Firm, round biceps that stretch through the material of his shirt—
“And that’s not the only news we have today.” She continues, stopping whatever thought that was.
“Our marketing team is incredible and, truthfully, the backbone of this company. As we move forward, we’re going to need someone who knows WingMate like the back of their hand.
Someone who is driven, cares deeply about the cause, and knows what the people want.
Someone who shows nothing but determination and care for the success of WingMate. ”
Oh, God. My mind has gone blank.
Is it hot in here? I feel like I’m burning. I run my hand down my chest and catch a snag. Looking down, I see there’s a mustard stain on my navy tie. My stomach drops.
That damn pastrami sandwich.
This can’t be happening. I angrily lick my thumb and scrub at the spot on my tie.
“Which is exactly why I’m promoting Chase Rutherford to be our new Marketing Manager.” Heather beams, waving me over. I feel all the eyes in the room find me as the room fills with claps and cheers.
I look up from my tie and straighten my back, trying to act as cool and collected as possible.
Because I am cool and collected.
Not lukewarm and a mess as I feel right now. Fuck, what’s going on with me?
My eyes dart to my new boss, who is looking at me with piercing eyes and a rigid jaw.
Does he recognize me? His face gives off no clear emotion, so it’s hard to tell.
“Come on, Chase.” Heather waves at me again. I demand my feet start moving, and focus on making my way beside her.
I notice Boss Man has moved his attention away from me and onto the other teammates in the room, but whatever. This is my moment anyway. And now he gets to see who he’s working with.
Once I join them, Heather smiles at me as she embraces me in one of her famous warm hugs.
“What do you have to say for yourself?” She clasps her hands together.
The whole room quiets down.
“Well, I–” Even with him standing on the other side of Heather, I feel his presence beside me stiffen.
I swallow deeply as I look out to all the watchful eyes on me.
“I’m very thankful for this position and—“ A few of my coworkers shift in their chairs awkwardly.
“WingDate—WingMate! WingMate means the world to me and–“ I run my hand down my tie.
Is everyone looking at my stain? I feel like everyone is staring at my stain.
And why can I not remember anything that I was going to say?
It was something about the team and being a part of something special… no—being a part of something wonderful. Shit!
I can hear someone in the room awkwardly coughing into their fist. I realize now I haven’t said anything in a few moments.
“I’ve been waiting for this opportunity forever, so…yeah. I’m really thankful.”
So, yeah? So, yeah?
I smile, awkwardly nodding. I see a couple of faces cringe in the crowd and I swear, I see damn Todd give Lisa from legal a side glance.
Unconfident, slow claps start to fill the room.
Dammit. I just made myself look like a doofus. I am so not a doofus.
I quickly glance past Heather to my left, finding Boss Man watching me. His brows pinch together as his gaze slowly travels from head to toe before he looks away dismissively.
I clench my jaw and focus back on the crowd in front of me.
“I feel good about this. We’re destined for great things.” Heather grins, standing between us, gripping both Jeremiah and me on the shoulders. “Great things.”
***
As soon as the meeting ends and we’re all dismissed, I duck out and beeline for Mia’s desk. As one of our social media managers, she’s a smaller part of the company, so she wasn’t invited to the board meeting.
Which, thankfully, means she wasn’t there to see how badly I fumbled through the speech she’d spent all weekend helping me prepare.
Unable to stop my momentum, I crash into her desk, knocking over her framed picture of Aaron Taylor-Johnson.
“What the–” she blurts out, scrambling to fix her belongings. I sit down on the edge of her desk and perch my arm up on the ledge divider.
“That was terrible.” I immediately confess, looking over my arm. I’m trying to stay as unobvious as possible as I try to spot him across the office floor.
“What was? What happened?” Mia frowns, tucking her beaded braid behind her ear.
I love it when she does this hairstyle with two little beaded braids in front of her face and two long ponytails on either side of her head.
Of course, this is not the moment to tell her that.
Right now, there are more dire things to discuss. That can wait until later.