Owning my own place might not be something I could hope to do for a long time.
And as for love . . .
The more my past blocked me from moving forward, the fewer the chances of Becca and me working out. I wouldn’t allow her to give up her dreams because of me. In the end, she would hate me for it, and I couldn’t stand the idea of that happening. Travel, a home, kids, and marriage—I knew those were all part of her hopes and dreams.
The bottom line was I wasn’t good enough for her.
A small part of my heart broke as I realized that perhaps I wasn’t the one who was going to share in those dreams.
Locking my feelings and thoughts aside, I turned back to my computer. At least there, I was in control and could do exactly what they expected of me.
It was the only place I knew well and wasn’t a failure.
We didn’t get dinner out or to see each other privately that night, or any other night that week. The office was chaos, all geared toward the campaign kick-off and the reveal of Ridge Towers.
In another stroke of genius, Bentley went with an unconventional real estate company for the Ridge Towers project. He opted for a family-oriented business rather than one of the larger, well-known groups. The older parents brought a wealth of knowledge of the city and the real estate market, while their two adult children expounded on the technical merits and unique design, which appealed to the younger buyers, both single and family-driven. They covered the bases of all generations, making them the right choice for the project. They had impressed him with their enthusiasm and the family aspect. Families selling to families.
I worked late every night, often deep into the morning hours. The office hummed all day and night, and I wasn’t the only one crashing on the sofa to grab a few hours of sleep before starting over again. Becca and I spoke about business, passed in the hall, smiled blearily at each other at meetings, but aside from the occasional brush of our hands, fast text, or meaningful glance, that was our meager interaction. Richard was with her almost constantly, and they worked with the partners directly. My office felt as if it had a revolving door with the number of people in and out of it all day.
Thursday, they launched the campaign. The market was flooded with print, radio, TV, and social media spots. Ridge Towers was everywhere. Bentley was interviewed on-site, where he talked about the venture and his vision. Both Aiden and Maddox accompanied him, but preferred to stay in the background. He was eloquent and passionate; using all the keywords Richard and Becca provided him, hitting all the right notes between the features of the concept and the family angle.
They nailed it.
When the expansive sales office opened on the weekend, complete with 3D videos, computer-generated models, and a full complement of staff to answer questions, the line-ups were out the door. By the end of the weekend, over half the units had sold, with no sign of sales slowing down. Interest was already buzzing for phase two of the project.
Later Sunday night, I brought up the report I had created that linked all sales to the inventory of the building. I was alone in the office. My job was behind the scenes, making sure everything technical ran without a glitch in the sales office, our online presence, and website. Everyone in the IT department had been on hand all weekend, and it had gone well. Any small errors were controlled, fixed, and not seen by the end user to any significant degree. The people at the sales office had nothing but praise for everything we had put in for their use. Overall, I’d done my job well, and because I was grateful to my staff, I had sent them all home for a well-deserved rest.
I scanned the sales, trying not to gape at the substantial dollar figures. They were staggering, and while BAM was used to dealing in large sums, I wasn’t sure I would ever get used to them. The penthouses and end units—all the most expensive—were spoken for, including the one I had secretly wanted. Maddox’s huge condo, which took up the entire top floor of the third tower, aptly named “M,” was the largest of them all. He would live there with Dee and, I assumed, their family. I felt an odd swell of jealousy toward him, but it wasn’t for the expensive condo, or his ability to afford it. It was the fact that he was able to do so without his past interfering. He had been able to move on from his mistakes, whereas mine kept haunting me.
I had been grateful to be so busy the past week. It distracted me from the dark thoughts in my head. The trip I might not be able to take. The condo I might not be able to purchase. The life I might not be able to have with Becca. Normally not one to dwell on the negative, I couldn’t seem to get past the defeat I was feeling.
Footsteps in the hall distracted my dark thoughts. Aiden sauntered in, sitting down heavily in the chair.
“Hey.” Despite his smile, his voice was deep with weariness.
“Hi.”
“I was looking for you earlier. We all were.”
I frowned. “I was here, working in the server room.”
“I sent you a message. Two in fact.”
“Sorry.” I glanced at my phone. “Shit. I put it on silent somehow. I missed a few messages. Was it important?”
He was fast to reassure me. “No. I wanted to invite you for dinner. When you didn’t respond, I was checking to make sure you were okay since it was out of character for you. I saw the lights as I was heading home and came in to see if you were still really working or had crashed on the sofa again. I was going to drive you home if that were the case.”
“I’ll be crashing soon enough. I wanted to make sure everything was good with the reports and systems before I left. I think I’m more tired than I thought, and I missed the fact that I had the phone off and that there were messages. Sorry about that. Once I’m done, I’ll head out and get some sleep.”
He waved off my apologies. “You did a great job this week. I know it’s been crazy, and I appreciate the effort you put in to make sure everything went smoothly. You’ve clocked a lot of long hours.”
I shrugged. “It’s what you pay me for. I’m glad the launch was successful.”
He snorted. “Successful? We blew past Maddox’s projected numbers. We sold more units in a day than we estimated to sell in a week. Even Richard was blown away. If we keep going, phase one will be sold out in a matter of weeks, not months.”
“When will you open phase two?” Although still amazing, the second building wasn’t as unique as the first one, and the price would reflect that. Given it wouldn’t be available for a few years, I might be able to get a place in that building.
“We’re going to hash that out this week. The plans are complete, and the interest is already there. The building will go up fast since the units are more standard, aside from a few on the top floor.” He rubbed his face. “To be honest, we didn’t think we’d move ahead with phase two so fast. Richard and Becca are on it, though. She came up with some great concepts. Have you seen them?”
“No.”
He frowned. “I would have thought she’d have shown you.”
“We’ve been so crazy this week, Aiden, I’ve barely seen her. I haven’t had a real conversation with her since Monday.”
“It has been wild, hasn’t it?” He grinned. “Things will settle down this week. The sales team will handle it now, Becca will do her thing, and we’ll get back to planning.”