“If that’s really what you think of me, why the hell am I even working there?”
“Because your name’s on the damn building!”
And that was the crux of it. Noah had never wanted to take the helm of the engineering firm, but after their father’s death, it was just expected of him. He’d barely managed to hold it together until Josh took over, even if he’d fooled everyone else into thinking management was easy for him. Of course, he could have left then, but instead he’d coasted along, reasoning that the business owed him for single-handedly running things for a while. But then again, he had no idea what else to do.
Maybe this was the push he needed.
“Then take my damn name off, because I quit!”
Before Josh could say something else in that condescending tone, Noah hung up.
Now what the hell was he going to do?
Since he’d remained in town—apparently for no reason—Donna came over to his apartment for dinner. And since he was leaving for Libby’s wedding the next day, she was bitchier than usual. To make matters worse, over the last couple of weeks she’d appointed herself his life coach. She’d started a freelance life coaching business and slowly began offering him unsolicited advice until it had increased to an annoying intensity. Tonight she dusted off her list of the areas of his life he needed to improve to find inner peace—his apartment was too small; his car was too old; his job too financially limiting. Her list was insulting, but her passive-aggressive approach made it easier for him to ignore. “Noah, don’t you think you’d be happier if you talked to Terry, my stockbroker friend, about applying for that opening in his firm? You’d make so much more money.”
The combination of losing the account, his fight with Josh, and the feeling of impending doom that surrounded him like a noxious cloud had him so utterly miserable he couldn’t help wondering if she was right. Maybe his life really did need an overhaul.
After dinner he was emotionally beat-up, but he couldn’t let the Abrahams deal go without a fight. Even if it was time to stop working with his brother, he wanted to just this once prove he was capable of something other than screwing up. He sat through as much of Donna’s lame rom-com as he could bear before he hid in the bathroom to call Cal, his friend from college who had stayed in contact with both Noah and Scott Abrahams.
“Sorry to bother you on a Friday night, Cal, but do you happen to know if Scott Abrahams still has that cute secretary? The one he’s sleeping with? Terry . . . Tobi . . .”
“Ahh . . . Tiffany.” Noah heard the smile in his voice. “Yeah, she’s still there, although I think she’s about to cut him loose. Scott says she’s been giving him grief about not leaving his wife.”
Perfect. “You don’t happen to have her number, do you? Or know her last name?”
Cal laughed. “You probably picked a good time to make a play for her. I don’t have her number, but I know her last name is Brown.”
“That’s nearly totally unhelpful.”
“She went to college at Oregon State.”
“She went to college?” Noah always assumed she’d landed her position on the basis of her physical appearance alone.
Cal laughed again. “She quit her sophomore year. She’s on Facebook. Look her up there.”
“Will do. Thanks.”
“Noah!” Donna shouted from the living room. “Did you fall in the toilet?”
“No, coming.” He flushed to corroborate his cover story and ran the water in the sink before returning to the living room. He considered searching for Tiffany on his phone, but how was he going to explain to Donna why he was looking up another woman on Facebook? That would likely get him strapped to a burning stake. He’d have to wait.
“Are you even listening to me?” Donna asked, sounding huffy, as he sat down next to her on the couch.
“What?”
“You’re busy thinking about her again. Did you go hide in the bathroom to call her?”
It took him a second to realize she was talking about Libby. Ironically enough, the last fifteen minutes had probably been the longest length of time in days that he’d gone without thinking about her. The realization only adding to his growing tempest of anxiety.
“You’re either with me or you’re not, Noah.”
This had also been a repeated topic of discussion between them. He wrapped an arm around her back and pulled her close. “Donna, you’re the one I want, sweetheart. I’m here, aren’t I?”
“Only because you had that stupid meeting with that stupid man.”
She knew how important the meeting had been, yet she’d never once asked about it. But this was how normal people functioned, right? He didn’t remember his dad going home and discussing the specifics of his job. Normal people had responsible jobs and significant others. But he couldn’t help thinking that if he and Libby were still close, it would have been the first thing she would have asked him. Noah suddenly had a craving for something more. He’d convinced himself that normal was what he wanted. What Josh had. But if this was it, was it really enough?
“I mean it, Noah,” she pouted. “It’s not normal for a guy to be friends with a girl.”
“Hey, all those people did it on Friends.”
Her eyebrows lowered into a scowl. “They all ended up sleeping with each other like some exotic swingers club.”
Noah wondered how he’d missed the X-rated version of the series—and where he could find it—but he suspected she wouldn’t appreciate the question. “Why does it have to be either or?” he asked in frustration as he jumped to his feet, his anxiety rising to an all-time high. He didn’t need this in addition to everything else. “Why can’t I be friends with her and have you too?”
“It doesn’t work that way.”
“If you met her, I’m sure you’d change your mind. Come to the wedding with me tomorrow. I’ll buy you a ticket.” He wasn’t sure where that had come from, but now that he’d said it, it seemed like a good next step in their relationship. It would show her that she had nothing to worry about, that he was in this for real.
She shook her head vehemently. “No. No way. In fact, if you go to that wedding, you and I are done.”
His eyes widened. “What?”
Rising from the couch, she planted her hands on her hips, her lips pursed like she was trying out for some lipstick commercial.
“Donna, I’m in the fucking wedding! I have to go!” But even as he said the words, he realized how much he really didn’t want to go.
“It’s her or me, Noah.” Then she stomped out of his apartment.
Noah was torn. He really wanted to be there for Libby, but he wasn’t sure he could bear to watch her exchange vows with the world’s biggest Arkansas Razorbacks fan. Not to mention the fact that he had no desire to see his brother. He was sick to death of people believing the worst of him, especially since he was trying so hard to change. Besides, if he broke up with Donna, he’d be drowned in a chorus of I told you so. He wasn’t sure he could handle that on top of the rawness he felt about Libby’s impending marriage.
So after a long sleepless night, he texted Josh the next morning and told him something with Donna had come up and he wasn’t coming. He worried about hurting Libby, but she was marrying Mitch, the man she claimed to love. Why would she care if he came or not? She’d made her choice; it was time for him to worry about his own love life.