“Hey, so Mike’s been pretty happy with whatever it is your doing up here. Told me I should see if you needed some coffee. And well, I know you, and the answer to that question is always yes.”
Aubrey could smell the wonderful aroma from across the room. As if it beckoned her, she stood and walked straight over. Taking the steaming mug from Bridgette’s hand, she took a sip. She closed her eyes and sighed. It was perfect.
“Yes. You are one hundred percent right. The answer is always yes,” she laughed and motioned with her head for Bridgette to follow her back to the table. “So Mike is happy?”
She was fishing for information, but she couldn’t say she was sorry. With the way Jenna had been acting, and the lies she was telling him, she wanted to make sure her job was secure.
“Yes, very. He thinks whatever you’re working on is going to save this company from losing some big players. So big he won’t tell anyone what it is, so it doesn’t get leaked. I don’t even know.”
Aubrey automatically felt a sense of pride, and a need to cover her work on the table. Almost as if Bridgette sensed the change, she laughed and shook her head.
“Don’t worry, I won’t look. I just wanted you to know how top secret he is keeping this. I know how badly you want to move up here. I get it. I just want to help you get there.”
“Don’t you want to move up?” Aubrey asked, almost shyly. She didn’t want to offend Bridgette, but she couldn’t imagine wanting to be an assistant forever.
“No, I like my job. Viola pays me well, I get to travel around with Mike three times a year, and my schedule lets me have both a professional life and a personal one. Mike isn’t like Jenna. I am his assistant, not his fallback for when he screws up. Jenna put a lot of her job on you. Mike doesn’t. Now, if Mike gets a promotion, that is if this company survives the Maximus-apocalypse, I hope he brings me with him.”
“Maximus-apocalypse?” Her heart sank. How could someone like Henry be at the top of so many people’s shit lists? She couldn’t imagine he wanted to put them out of work. She gnawed her lip in concentration before releasing it the minute it reminded her of Mackenna. Stupid girl. Carrying her niece or nephew. If she lost her job because Viola went under, what would happen with their apartment? Shaking her head to rid herself of the random thoughts, she looked back to Bridgette.
“What? You haven’t heard that one yet?” Bridgette asked with a laugh.
“No, I hadn’t.” Only, Aubrey didn’t laugh.
“What’s wrong? Did I say something?” Bridgette had lost her sense of humor and became very serious watching Aubrey. Should she tell her? Maybe she would have some actual dating advice.
“I sort of have a date in twenty minutes.”
“Oh, do you need me to get out of your hair?”
“No, it’s just...well...um...”
“Just spit it out already.”
“I kind of have a date with Henry Maximus.” Aubrey waited for Bridgette’s reaction, but the girl sat in front of her with a blank look, not saying a word. “Did you hear me?”
“Oh, my fucking god. Are you fucking serious?” Bridgette’s voice was high pitched and got louder by the second. “Henry fucking Maximus!”
Aubrey wasn’t sure if she was excited or angry, but either way she had to bring it down a level. “Hey, shhhhh!”
Bridgette immediately stopped talking but a smile lit her face, and she started bouncing in her seat. “That is freaking amazing!”
“So you aren’t mad?”
“Why would I be mad? Maybe a bit jealous, but not mad! How is he, ya know?” she wiggled her eyebrows and burst into giggles.
“Because he is the Maximus part of Maximus-appocalypse. I thought everyone here would think I was a traitor. Jenna sure does.”
“Oh, some might. But I don’t care. I know you wouldn’t sabotage Viola. You didn’t answer my question.”
A little ease settled into Aubrey, and she dished with Bridgette for a few minutes about the amazing Henry Maximus before excusing herself with a promise to call when she got home from her date. Maybe she did have an actual friend after all.
Chapter Fourteen
Aubrey stood in the lobby out of sight of the doorway with two minutes to spare. She had reapplied her lipstick and tried to comb through her hair with her fingers in the elevator on the way down. She was ready, but she didn’t want to be early. Bridgette said to not look too eager. Heading outside before six exactly sounded eager, so she stood and waited. And watched the clock click over. When it finally hit six, she strode out of her hiding spot and toward the glass doors.
Only, she didn’t see Henry’s town car near the front of the building. Trying not to be disappointed, she opened the door and scanned the street. His town car was nowhere in site. Neither was his Mustang. Her heart sank into her gut. Had he stood her up? Of course, he did. She had nothing to offer him. She was right, she gave in to a date, and he lost interest.
Aubrey wiped away the single tear that escaped her eye and turned abruptly to walk home. How stupid could she have been? That’s what she gets for letting someone in. Screw that and his stupid offer. He would never actually hold up his end anyway. Why would he?
“Aubrey!” a voice called from behind her. She stopped and turned to see a very tall man with dark glasses and very broad shoulders approaching her. He was intimidating, and she considered turning around and running the opposite direction. “Thank you for waiting. I apologize for not seeing you sooner. Mr. Maximus is waiting in his vehicle around the corner. He sent me to get you. I am the driver for the evening.”
“Why didn’t he meet me himself?”
“He didn’t want to draw attention to you. He has been managing a rather large deal that will affect many corporations and reporters are everywhere. He also just got some other news, but I think that’s best for him to tell you.”
Aubrey took a deep breath and tried to decide if she should trust this man or not. Had Henry really sent him or was he some media person looking for an inside story? Had they been spotted together at some point?
“He said you weren’t very trusting and to tell you the place he is taking you will let you order black coffee and toast at any time of night, so take all the time you need to decide to trust me.”
She had to laugh. Yeah, Henry sent him. She just nodded and motioned for him to lead the way. The man walked back toward her building and across the street to a yellow SUV. She looked at it, then back to him, and back to the car. Why didn’t she just guess the behemoth of a car belonged to the giant man?
He opened the front seat and helped her in. The car was spotless. When he slid into the driver’s seat and started the car, he buckled his seat belt. Then he waited. And waited. And Aubrey looked around wondering why they hadn’t left yet.
“Um, are we waiting for some code word or something?”
“Nope, I just want to make sure I get you to Mr. Maximus in one piece, and to do that I need you to buckle up.”
“Oh,” she said as she grabbed the buckle, “why didn’t you say so?”
“I thought belt safety was common knowledge. I didn’t want to insult you.”
Irritated, Aubrey huffed. “Whatever, can we just go please?”
“Yes, Ma’am.”
“Oh god, please don’t call me Ma’am. I’m not old enough to be a Ma’am.”
“Sorry. Would Ms. Vincent be acceptable?”
“What do you call Henry?”
“Henry.”
“Why does he get such informal treatment while I’m Ma’am or Ms. Vincent?”
“He told me he would fire me if I called him sir one more time. Then he told me he would put my likeness into a video game if I called him Henry.”
Aubrey laughed. That was a good bribe. Henry seemed pretty good at those. “So what game are you in?”
“Some new one coming out later this year. A Greek god or some such.” Aubrey’s eyes narrowed. Greek God? Had Maximus Gaming landed the game from Becca Stine?
/> “Greek, huh? Any idea what it’s about?”
“No. Henry didn’t specify. Just asked if I wanted to be a Greek God or a basketball player. I mean, come on. That’s not even a question.” Then he laughed a full on belly laugh—the kind that makes all the muscles tense up and release, and is so contagious that Aubrey couldn’t help but laugh herself. Maybe this driver was okay after all.
“So, Mr. Driver, Where are we meeting Henry?”
“Mr. Driver?” he asked, shaking his head. “Henry is waiting over there, in his green pick up truck.” Mr. Driver pointed to a fairly decent pickup truck with an extended cab and tinted windows just a block up on their side of the street. “Ms. Vincent, you can call me either Bruce or Mr. Post, if you prefer.”
“Henry isn’t the only one good at deals. You call me Aubrey, and I’ll stop calling you Mr. Driver.”
Bruce looked at her and smiled, nodding his head, “Deal.”
Aubrey thanked him for the ride and hopped out of the SUV and tried to casually walk to the truck. Too bad every nerve ending in her body was alight with fire with every step closer to Henry she took. There was no way her strides were as cool and collected as she wanted them to be. She felt as if she were nearly running, her sights set on the truck that held Henry behind its dark glass. Surely, he was watching her, seeing her excited face, noticing how eager she was to reach him—watching her walk straight into a trash can.
The cool dirty metal of the can slammed into her thighs, causing her to jar forward, nearly falling into the receptacle. With a shudder of disgust and a soul-crushing feeling of embarrassment, she righted herself. Aubrey made eye contact with the truck, wondering if Henry sat inside in a fit of laughter.
Only, instead of having a moment to collect her thoughts and come up with an excuse as to why she walked into the damn thing to begin with, Henry’s door opened and he jumped out, running toward her with a look of worry crinkling his eyebrows.
“Aubrey! Are you okay?”
“Fine, just embarrassed and feeling a bit gross.” She held her hands up and looked down at her dress, which held a long line of something dark right where her legs hit the trash.
“Come on, let’s stop and get you some clothes, and you can shower and change at my place before we head out for dinner.”
“Your place?” she asked with a flirtatious smirk.
“Well, I would offer to take you to yours, but I don’t want reporters camped outside your apartment. At least at my house we can drive straight into the garage and go into the house from there. No one sees you, so no one knows to follow your moves as well as mine.” Henry led Aubrey to the truck and helped her in just as a flash of light went off.
“That would make sense then. And the clothes? Where will I get those? Do you also have a stock of women’s clothes at your place? Perhaps items that the many women I am sure you had strolling through there left behind in hopes for a phone call?” Aubrey tried to keep things going as smoothly as before even though she spotted two photographers jump out from around a corner as her door closed and take a few pictures of Henry before he got in.
“You do realize there are roughly fifty women’s clothing stores between here and my house?” He looked at her with worry, even if his words were light and playful. She knew he was wondering how she would react to the intruders.
“I don’t know where you live.” Aubrey decided to just ignore them. They didn’t matter. Henry did.
“Sure you do. I bought the house on the corner of Frankfurt.” His demeanor lightened up as he started the truck and drove down the street.
“Frankfurt? As in the street two blocks from my parent’s house?”
“That would be the one. I told you I moved back to town. I saw the house was for sale, and it’s perfect. Small and normal. Well, except for the fact that our little small town is now swarming with cameras. The coffee shop on main is pretty happy about it. I don’t think they’ve had so much business in years.”
“But you could buy any house you wanted, and you chose that little house on the corner of a small town with little going for it? Didn’t you want a penthouse or a mansion with a million rooms and your own theater? Isn’t that the thing for big shots like you?”
“I didn’t grow up with money. I never had dreams of making it rich. I wanted to make games. I got lucky and happen to have a knack for business and have an even better team working to make sure that the company runs when I get tired of showing up to meetings. I would much rather be in the development room working on coding. I don’t want what big shots want. I just want to work and be happy. Have you seen the tabloids? Money doesn’t make people happy. It usually just messes everything up. All of my assets are in the company. I take a monthly salary to live on, and the company pays for things like Bruce to make sure I’m not mobbed, but I don’t rely on it.”
Aubrey was in awe. Not many people would have billions at their disposal and not plan on using it. He could live in the lap of luxury, and Henry wanted a tiny house on a quiet street in a small town. He wanted to work and be happy.
“That’s pretty great.”
“Seriously?”
“Yeah, I mean, it makes sense. You never know how long your business will be the top dog, and if you blow through your money, what will happen if Maximus Gaming folds? All those other guys would be living off a fast food salary, and you will have plenty of back up funds to find something that makes you just as happy.”
“So what about you, what do you want out of life?” Henry asked her without looking away from the road. Henry checked the mirrors frequently, more often than most drivers would. After a few moments, his body relaxed. When Aubrey tried to slyly look in the side view mirror, she saw that no one was behind them. “They’re gone.”
“Sorry, I was trying not to mention it.”
“I know. Does it bother you? It shouldn’t be for much longer. The news will hit tomorrow, and then it will be insane for about a week, but I’m small potatoes compared to the actors in whatever new hot movie is coming out.”
“If I’m being honest, it’s a little strange. But I can handle a little strange. Oh, and to be a great Auntie. You know the type that the little bugger will love more than anyone else, someone she can look up to and talk to.”
“Huh?”
“You asked what I wanted out of life. I want my life to be something that my little niece will be able to look up to. I want her to love me most of all and know that I will always be there for her.”
“Did Mackenna have an ultrasound already? It’s a girl?”
“No, but I just have a feeling. This sounds horrible to say, but that little girl is going to need some kind of female role model because Mackenna is just not gonna cut it unless she grows up.”
“But what do you want for you?”
That was a really good question. Aubrey wanted the promotion at Viola. It was a job that paid well that she was good at. She wanted to be happy. But that seemed so generic. She couldn’t say exactly what she wanted for her future beyond the promotion. Did she have no ambitions? Her life had always been about the now. She figured she would worry about the later...later.
“What everyone wants, I guess. Health, wealth, and happiness?” She knew it was a stupid answer. But saying she had no goals in life felt wrong. Embarrassing. Not good enough. Would she ever get to a point that she was good enough? She was even a failure at her own dreams and goals. She had none.
“That’s a cop-out.”
“I don’t know what you want to hear, Henry. Not all of us have our lives as put together as you do.”
“I didn’t say you had to. But there has to be something you want out of life.”
Aubrey sat silent for a few minutes as she watched the city slowly dwindle into suburbs then into the blank expanse that would lead to their tiny hometown.
“I thought we were stopping so I could buy something to wear. You plan on telling me where we’re eating yet?” She thought a change of subject was a good idea. She hated
that she was a failure at even knowing what she wanted. She couldn’t do anything right.
“We are. There’s a tiny shop that just opened on Brook Street, next to the bank. Real trendy stuff, or so I’m told. I have no clue about women’s fashion. I’m lucky the comic shop has a stock of killer shirts.” Henry motioned to his tee that had a giant green muscular man on it making a rather scary face. The words around it said ‘You won’t like me when I’m Mad’. Aubrey laughed. She couldn’t picture Henry being mad. “And I may have also employed a personal shopper for work stuff.”
Aubrey laughed and smiled, the sullen mood she was in forgotten. As the fields and trees began to thin, and buildings other than barn or farm houses came into view, Aubrey knew the craziness was about to begin.
~*~
To anyone else, the cars parked along the streets, and the ten cars waiting behind the only traffic light in their tiny town, would mean nothing. After all, that’s typical for most towns. Just not small town. Small towns with one light and only a handful of streets with houses and school grounds that actually held all three schools behind a single fence didn’t typically see any sort of traffic, unless it was game night at the high school or Sunday morning heading to or from church.
Aubrey watched as stranger after stranger climbed out of their cars with cameras and other electronics in hand. As the truck rolled down the street, and heads and cameras followed, she was glad that Henry had thought to get the tinted windows put in.
“Do you think you have a shirt and belt I could borrow? I don’t think I want to get out with all of them to go buy a new outfit. You said we weren’t going anywhere fancy, right?”
“Right. Yeah, you can borrow whatever you want. I am sorry about all this.”
“It’s pretty insane,” Aubrey said as she watched one camera man running alongside the street holding his camera out and snapping pictures without actually looking at what he was taking.
Henry stayed quiet the rest of the way to his house. He pushed a button on the sun visor above him and the garage door opened. If he thought pulling in was going to be easy, he was wrong. The crowd of reporters stood in his driveway and refused to move. They began shouting questions at the truck, not that it was easy to understand with everyone shouting at once. Not to mention being inside the truck and not daring to roll down a window.
The Billionaire & The Barfly (Coming Home) Page 13
