“Really,” Drew answers. I pull my arm from his and clap my hands like an excited little girl, and Drew frowns at me. “I’m surprised you haven’t been there yet.”
I bite my lip, once again feeling the divide between us. Me the poor girl and Drew the wealthy CEO. “I haven’t been to many places in Manhattan. I spend most of my time in Brooklyn,” I remind him.
“Well then, this will be an experience for all of us.” He pulls my arm back into his and we continue our stroll. It takes us an hour to get to the Upper East Side since we walked, but we got to show Aaron all the New York City sights along the way. We walk past Rockefeller Center, the Empire State Building, and so many other points of interest I’d been hoping to see. I’ve been to Times Square a million times. Aaron was fascinated by it in the daytime, but it’s truly spectacular at night. He also pointed out every Broadway show he wanted to see, which surprised me. He doesn’t seem like the Broadway kind of guy…not that I would know. I can’t afford a Broadway show, even the cheap tickets you can buy hours before the show starts.
At Serendipity, we get a table and I peruse the menu full of delicious treats. The only thing I want is a frozen hot chocolate. The guys can’t decide between sundaes and banana splits. Watching their decision-making process is amusing.
“Bananas are healthy,” Aaron tries to rationalize, “but then I want the frozen hot chocolate too.”
“So get them both,” Drew says, his face still buried in the menu, like it’s no big deal and people just eat two desserts all the time. “I’m doing a caramel hot fudge sundae,” he announces and tosses the menu in the center of the table.
“Fuck it. I’m doing both,” Aaron finally says, tossing his menu on top of Drew’s.
We all sit quietly for a moment while we rest and wait for our dessert before Drew breaks the silence.
He clears his throat and folds his hands on his lap before looking at Aaron. “When are you headed back to L.A.?”
Aaron flips his phone around in his hand and shrugs. “Was thinking about staying here for a while. Something about the New York vibe I kind of like.” He sets his phone down on the table and rubs the stubble on his chin, not making direct eye contact with Drew. I can tell he’s trying to feel Drew out on this topic and there’s an uncomfortable silence between them.
Drew looks at me and then back to Aaron. “But the L.A. office needs you.”
I cringe. They’ve been getting along and this sounds like he’s trying to get rid of him.
“They really don’t, though,” Aaron replies, a hint of disappointment in his voice. “And maybe it’s time to expand into New York.” He leans back in his chair and looks pointedly at Drew. “Ashley has been basically running the L.A. office for the last year. It’d be a great promotion for her and an opportunity for me to focus on getting New York up and running.”
Drew holds Aaron’s gaze, showing no emotion one way or the other. I swallow hard, shifting uncomfortably in my chair. Just as I’m about to interject to ease the tension, our server appears and delivers all of our desserts. I flash her an uneasy smile because she knows she just interrupted something. There’s a weird vibe in the air and I wish we could just go back to the chummy mood of five minutes ago.
Drew picks up his spoon and stabs his caramel hot fudge sundae before scooping out a large bite and shoving it in his mouth. I nervously swirl the straw around my frozen hot chocolate, my stomach twisting in knots as I wait for him to say something, anything.
Drew stabs the ice cream again before releasing the spoon. Leaving it in the large mound of dairy deliciousness, he leans back in his chair.
“Realistically…” He pauses and I about vomit with anticipation. Things have been going so good between them that I don’t want a confrontation now. “It’s not a bad idea.” Drew picks up a napkin and wipes his mouth. “But we have to sit down and build out a business expansion plan.”
My stomach jumps in excitement, and the corners of Aaron’s lips pull into a small smile. I feel like maybe the cloud has lifted, but Drew puts up a hand.
“Before you move across the country, let’s figure out what our business needs are and see if it makes sense.”
“That’s fair,” Aaron responds, picking up his own spoon and digging into his banana split.
My stomach settles and I reach for my frozen hot chocolate, finally taking a drink. Drew catches my eye, winks at me, and my heart swells with happiness. This weekend feels a whole lot like new beginnings for all of us at this table and I couldn’t be happier.
Nineteen
It’s unreal how easily Gracie and I have fallen into a routine. We spent the rest of the weekend getting acquainted with the condo, exploring our new neighborhood, and even spending time with Aaron. He now refers to himself as “the third wheel” because he’s been out with us twice, once while we ran errands. He made a joke about us being a “threesome,” and I almost lost my fucking mind. Almost. I was able to laugh it off and that’s when I knew I was making progress, beginning to let go of some of the rage and betrayal I feel toward him. Baby steps.
The beginning of this week has been hectic. The last three days, Gracie has been in and out of the office with client meetings and is now pitching to two new prospective clients. She’s stressed, but I’ve seen what she’s doing with her pitches, and with the support of her team, they are phenomenal. She’s truly one of the most talented account managers I’ve ever worked with. She’s wise beyond her years.
I haven’t told her my plans to take her to California for the weekend, although I’ve asked Sue to clear her calendar for Friday—which she’s graciously done—and Gracie either hasn’t noticed or hasn’t said anything yet.
At three o’clock, after a full day of conference calls and meetings, I send an email to Grace asking her to please come to my office. She doesn’t respond, per usual, but about five minutes later, there’s a light knock on my office door.
“Come in,” I say.
Grace enters the office and cocks an eyebrow at me. “Mr. McPherson,” she says, glancing over her shoulder to see Sue typing away at her desk. “You requested a meeting with me?” A playful smile tugs at her lips.
I grin. I love when she tries to be all professional in the office. “I did. Come in.” I gesture to the chair across my desk. She narrows her eyes at me in question, but she obeys and closes the office door before taking a seat.
“Does this have anything to do with the vacation request for Friday that Eddie approved, and I didn’t submit?” She purses her lips and taps the arm of the chair with her hand in mock annoyance.
“Maybe.”
“Don’t you think you should talk to me before using my vacation days? Maybe I was saving them for something—”
“Like what? It was one day,” I point out, genuinely curious what she’d use her days for. In the human resources system, it shows she still has twenty days to schedule out and she’s allowed twenty-five days per year. It’s mid-September and she’s only used five days this year.
She shrugs. “Maybe I was going to go home for Christmas.”