Chapter 40
Chapter forty
Audrey
Last year, I stepped off the plane for the Elson summer soiree a completely different person than the one I am today.
Rhett and I dropped Mabel off at Renee’s and drove to the airport this morning.
He carried my bags through the airport and waited in line to get me the exact coffee I wanted while I caught up on emails, playing the perfect supportive boyfriend.
I knew he was uneasy, and I felt bad, because it was partially my fault.
He was about to meet my family who I hadn’t put in the best light.
On top of that, it was his first flight.
And once we were on the plane, Rhett’s unease was more clear, even though he tried to mask it.
I’m glad I got first class, so he wasn’t crammed in a small seat.
I knew if he was nervous about any of it, he’d never admit it.
But I knew his tells by now; hands tightly clasped in his lap, foot tapping on the ground.
I was a bit grateful for the chance to take care of him for once, though. It took my mind off the reality of this weekend. And this weekend was about giving him a break, letting him escape the constant grind he was in, and showing him he deserves to be spoiled, too. Just like he shows me.
So, when the flight attendant comes by with the cart, I jump in without hesitation, ordering him a double whiskey before he even has a chance to respond.
“It will help with your nerves,” I reassured him, and he went along with it, nodding with a look of amusement.
“I’ll be fine the moment I'm out of a metal tube thirty-five thousand feet in the air.”
“Okay, well, until then, take this.” I pull my weighted silk eye mask from my bag and hand it to him.
He holds it like it’s a foreign object and I stifle a laugh.
“Sip your whiskey, put in your headphones, slip on the mask and lean back. We’ll be in the crowded terminal at JFK in no time.
” I wink, giving him a taste of his coy medicine and Rhett rolls his eyes, but steals a kiss before listening to my instructions.
I pat his leg as he leans back, watching his lips twitch in a satisfied smile.
It takes about twenty minutes before Rhett’s out cold, giving me a chance to pull out my phone and finally do something I have delayed for too long.
I know the professional and appropriate thing would be to wait until I am back in the office this coming week and talk to Ed directly.
He’d no doubt be at his beach house with his wife and kids this weekend, so this wouldn’t get addressed until after the holiday weekend.
But that doesn’t matter; it's the principle of it.
I’m fully aware the repercussions of this email could damage my career, or stall it, but that is beginning to not feel important. Not as important as my relationship with the man in the seat next to me or my relationship with myself.
I type out an email saying what I should’ve said weeks, or really months ago, copying Ed, his secretary, and the CFO in the New York office. I thank them for all their hard work in arranging the new position but let them know I won’t be taking the role.
I hope he takes it as well as my parents seemingly did.
After delaying for way too long, I had finally worked up the courage last night to tell them.
After dinner, and after what I knew would be my father’s nightcap, I called my parents.
I told them I would not be taking the position, and I would be ‘pursuing other opportunities in North Carolina.’ I fully expected pushback, or a deep, bone-chilling disappointment.
My mother barely reacted, almost as if she expected this of me.
My father was more annoyed at how his old friend Ed Pierce would view this.
A flaky, unmotivated Elson. Family reputation was everything.
That’s why it was easy to get them to promise to keep this news under wraps, and not to bring it up at the party.
It was in the past. And the moment I hit send on the email, it felt like turning the page in my book. Life was unfolding in North Carolina, and that’s where I needed to be.
It’s where I wanted to be.