Chapter Two
The quiet elegance of the restaurant, paired with an exquisite meal, a quiet jazz song playing on the grand piano, and a stunning date was something that had been highlighted in my calendar for a week.
It was something I had been looking forward to; now, all I wanted to do was go home and sink my problems in a bubble bath.
I pushed the noodles around my plate and tried to ignore the heavy rock sitting in my stomach. I sighed and took a long sip of cold water, hoping it would snap me out of the mood I was in.
“So, I assumed if they had made it to a meeting with me, the idea would’ve been past the early stages, but they didn’t even have a presentation.
” Harrison was in the middle of his story, and I was fighting to catch up.
He took a long sip of his Scotch and shook his head in disgust. “It was just me and this old hag, discussing the cakes she’s ‘mastered.’”
I gave a tight smile. “That’s so silly.”
He sighed heavily and rolled his eyes. “A new quarter means a new list of pitches, and I’m just drained. Did you get your numbers sorted out?”
I dropped my fork and gripped my cloth napkin, nodding slightly. “Yes. Looking as expected so far.”
Harrison tilted his head, still holding onto his small glass. “You’ve been quiet tonight.”
Mr. Sterling’s “get down and dirty” line was bouncing back and forth in my skull like a hammer. I shook away the dark cloud that seemed to engulf me and gave Harrison a real smile. “Sorry, like you said. A new quarter means a lot more work, just drained.”
He nodded and resumed eating. “Did you get a new assignment?”
A part of me wanted to tell him everything. I wanted to tell him why this “down and dirty” assignment was going to be torture. But on the other hand, what would it matter? What could he say that would change the inevitable?
He was too stunning to be real. I was so lucky to have him agree to be my boyfriend and soon-to-be fiancé.
His dark hair, which got trimmed every three weeks, a sharp jawline that was shaved every morning, a tailored blazer across his square shoulders, a gold watch, everything about him screamed refinement.
And he had chosen me, well, rather, we had courted until he used the “I love you” statement, and that was that.
He was a safety net.
“Yes,” I finally answered, taking a bite and chewing slowly. “Actually, it’s a very big deal. Mr. Sterling is giving me a solo project, and when it’s done, he’s going to promote me to his position.”
Harrison grinned, his teeth practically blinding me. “Allegra, are you serious? That’s unbelievable. Guess that means we may not have to wait until December to get engaged.”
“It does?”
He shrugged tightly. “Well, weren’t we waiting until you got your promotion?”
Maybe in his mind, that’s why we were waiting, but I always figured it was because that’s when my lease was ready to be renewed. “Oh, right, of course.” I nodded confidently. “Yes, well, it will take me on the road for a few months.”
He took a big bite and chewed for a while. “When has that ever stopped us? I’m on the road for weeks at a time.”
“It’ll be months this time.”
Harrison shrugged cooly. “I’m sure I’ll have some overlap, and we can spend the weekend at a bed and breakfast.”
I don’t know what surprised me more, the fact that he was okay with me being gone for unforeseeable amounts of time, or that he was already planning weekend getaways.
“A toast,” he said, signaling our waiter to fill his glass back to the brim. “To my incredible girlfriend, soon-to-be fiancée, the most perfect marketing executive, soon-to-be marketing director, in all of Chicago.”
I raised my glass and clinked it against his. “To my boyfriend, soon-to-be fiancé, the best venture capitalist in the business.”
“You’ve got that right,” he said, pulling out his phone. “I’ll be back, it’s Jackson.” He held the phone to his ear and wandered away from the table.
I watched him walk away, holding on tight to the grin until he was out of sight. Once he turned the corner, I propped my elbows on the table and buried my face in my hands.
~~~
“I’ll call you tomorrow?” Harrison asked as I unlocked the door to my apartment.
I nodded. “Where are you off to now?”
“Florida. We’re going to check on the resort that got started up about six months ago.”
“That’ll be fun.”
“Yeah, should be. When do you leave?”
I leaned against the door frame, having forgotten for two glorious seconds about my impending doom. “Late tomorrow night.”
“That seems really fast.”
“The tour has already been going for a month or so.”
He pursed his lips in surprise. “Are you excited?”
That was a loaded question. “Yes. I think I can come up with a lot of stuff that Mr. Sterling will love.”
He checked his ridiculously huge watch. “I’d better be going. It’s Allegra’s wind-down time, am I right?”
Harrison rarely tried to joke or be funny; he knew he had so much more to offer. So it took me a minute to realize he was kidding. I laughed too late. “Right.”
“Kiss me.”
I leaned across the doorway and gave him a lingering kiss, with just enough tongue to satisfy him.
“Love ya.”
“Sleep well.” I shut the door, sighing contentedly. Soon, we would be married, and we wouldn’t have to play the drop-off goodnight kiss game. That would be nice. Planning dinners and dates would be much easier then.
Harrison was right, though. It was nine already, past the “Allegra wind-down time”. I carefully took off the dress that cost a full paycheck and hung it beside the others.
The reality of knowing I would have to pack for this rodeo tour suddenly hit me in the face like a heavy slap. What was I going to bring? My idea of “dirty clothes” included workout clothes, a single pair of old jeans, and sneakers that I had been planning to donate a year ago.
The cardboard box collecting dust bunnies behind my laundry basket caught my eye, begging me to open it.
No. If I wanted to endure this tour without getting dragged through the mud, I would leave that old box where it was.
I drew a steaming hot bath and dropped a bath fizzer in the bottom. I didn’t have time for the full forty-five-minute soak, thanks to the restaurant taking over thirty minutes to bring out our food, so I did my routine in hyper speed.
As I was putting my robe over my pruney body, my phone rang. My heart jumped. It was already ?:??. Who could be calling me so late? I wiped the sweat off my hand and flipped it over.
Crap.
I answered the call and put it on speaker. “Mom? Is everything okay?”
“Your check bounced,” she answered loudly.
“That’s not possible, Mom. I just put money in the account yesterday.” I smeared creamy lotion on my skin. “When did you try to deposit it?”
“Yesterday.”
“What time yesterday?” I rubbed the skin oil on my hands and then gently applied it to my face.
“Early, like eight or something.”
I unclipped my dry hair from the top of my head and brushed it from the ends up. I would wash it in the morning after my run. “Well, that’s the problem, Mom. You know I always deposit it at noon on the 20th of each month. We’ve had this conversation too many times.”
There was a big sigh on the other end, as if she was preparing herself for the lecture she was going to give me.
“Allegra, I swear if you were any more disrespectful, I would just hang up. Your daddy wouldn’t believe how you talk to me.
” Her thick Texas accent coated each word.
“I had a long day, and I don’t need a calendar lecture from my own flesh!
My power bill was due, and I ain’t got time to check the clock for your noon deposit. ”
I felt like I had been gut-punched at the mention of my father. The ringing in my ear was screaming. I sat on the edge of the bathtub and gripped my phone so tightly I thought it would crack in my hands.
I didn’t respond right away; otherwise, I would’ve said something I would’ve immediately regretted. So instead, I took a few deep breaths, set the phone down, and stood back up. “You’re right, Mom. I am sorry. I will start depositing it in the mornings rather than the afternoons. Does that work?”
“Fine,” she said shortly. “Thank you for your time, your highness.”
Click
I gently set my phone down and swept my arm across the countertop. The endless products, the hairbrush, my two-hundred-dollar perfume, all clattered to the ground in a satisfying heap. I was still breathing hard, but I had to admit the destruction had made me feel a little bit better.
I knelt on the floor and began picking up the products.
My perfume’s glass bottle had shattered, unsurprisingly, and now the bathroom was overpowered with the lavender smell.
Oh well. In all honesty, every time I used the perfume, all I could hear as it spritzed was, “two hundred, two hundred,” as if it was hissing at me.
My mother would be appalled that I even owned something that expensive.
When I had calmed down from my tantrum, I finished brushing my teeth, climbed into silky pajamas, and laid my head on the pillow at exactly 9:44.