by Elle Woods
It took her awhile to open the door for him. Based on her wet hair and flushed face, it was clear that she had just hopped out of the shower. The fact that she was once again wearing the blue silk robe she had worn the night they had made love was not lost on him. Based on the way that she blushed, it wasn’t lost on her either.
“You’re early,” she said, suddenly shy around him.
“I was restless. I hope it’s okay.”
“Of course. Tonight is the big night. You must be on edge waiting for it all to be official. I just need to finish getting ready. Do you want to sit down here or do you want to keep me company while I do my hair and makeup?”
“You wouldn’t mind?”
“Not at all. Come on. I have work to do for your big event,” she said. For a second, it looked like she was about to reach out and take his hand but stopped herself. He walked down the hall and his eyes drifted to the door to her studio. He longed to carry her in there again.
Instead, he followed her down the hall and up the back stairs to her room. He wasn’t sure what to expect, but he wasn’t prepared for the wonderland. There were plants everywhere. It looked like a tropical paradise, though her furniture was all vintage. It was painted pale yellow. As she took her seat in front of her vanity, he scanned the room for a chair to sit in, but found none.
“You can just sit on the bed if you want,” she offered as she began to rummage through the drawers for her makeup. They didn’t talk. He simply watched her as she got ready. There was something so delightfully domestic about the experience that it made him long for more moments like these.
Her bed had a soft, fluffy comforter that was made of different kinds of lace. It was light and airy and covered in pillows of every jewel-tone color imaginable. He sat down, unsure how comfortable he should make himself. Sitting there and watching her get ready felt so natural and right that he decided to stop overthinking it. It might all hurt tomorrow, but he was going to savor what he could.
She wore very little makeup, so it didn’t take her long. Even her hair was kept simple. She pinned it up at the nape of her neck, a few loose strands escaping and giving her an easy beauty that made her face shine. Her delicate neck was bare until she clasped a braided silver chain around her neck.
He watched her rise to grab the white dress she had hanging on her closet door. He was shocked when she simply removed her robe to reveal her strapless bra and white lace panties beneath it. Without hesitation, she shimmied into her dress and reached around to zip it. It was the strangest sensation. She wasn’t undressing to entice him or to show off. Sara was simply letting him into the most intimate moment as she prepared for the party. Somehow it made it sweeter to know that she was so comfortable around him.
“Could you help me with this zipper?” she asked as she looked over her shoulder at him. “I can’t quite reach.”
“Certainly,” he said, rising and walking towards her. He did it slowly, letting his hand linger on her back as he did it.
“Thanks,” she said, leaning into his caress before stepping away to grab her purse.
“Ready to go?” he asked, not at all ready himself to leave the sanctuary of her bedroom.
“I think so.”
With that, they made their way downstairs and out to the car. Neither said much. Tonight was the end and they both knew it. As they pulled up to the club, she turned to him with a sad smile.
“I wish we had been able to come in your car tonight. The convertible is so much more fun than a car service.”
“I agree,” he told her. He wanted to tell her ‘The next time we’re together, we’ll take my car.’ But there wasn’t going to be a next time.
“Did I tell you that you look nice? I like your suit.”
“Thanks. I had it made for tonight.”
“You look perfect. They’re all going to applaud when you get the job offer.”
“I’ll be happy if they just don’t boo me,” he said with a laugh.
“Nobody would do that to you,” she said, placing her hand on his arm as she spoke. It was the simplest gesture, but it moved him deeply.
“Let’s go inside and see,” he said, hopping out first when the driver opened the door so that he could help her out.
With her on his arm, they strolled into the event. He was surprised he wasn’t nervous. The job was his. He could feel it. She was the one who had made it all possible. What he had done for her was nothing in comparison to what she had given him.
“Thank you again for doing all of this for me,” he whispered to her as they made their way across the room to the Ericksons.
“We had a deal. We make a good team.”
It was true. That was who they had both been when they had struck their deal. Now, he wondered if he was still the same man. Never had he imagined he would be on the brink of getting it all and still be craving more. The job no longer felt like enough.
He tried to shake it off. Sarah was right when she first told him they needed distance. They were both just confused and distracted by each other. He told himself it would all go back to normal once he was focused on the new job.
But he wasn’t sure that was the truth.
It was Grace Erickson who noticed them first. She stepped away from her group to greet them. He could see she had developed a genuine fondness for Sarah.
“There you two are! Welcome.”
“Mrs. Erickson, you look lovely. Thank you so much for hosting this evening,” Sarah said as she embraced her.
“Thank you both for being here. It’s such a special night. I can’t wait for Talb to retire. After decades of sharing him with the office, I finally get him all to myself.”
“Your husband always held you above his job,” Dylan blurted out. He knew it was inappropriate but he couldn’t stop himself. Talbot was always so adamant that his family came before work that it was strange to hear her say something like that. Grace didn’t seem bothered by it, though. In fact, she gave him a playful smile and glanced towards the man in question, who was talking to one of the members of the Board of Directors a few feet away.
“Talbot loves me and, in his own way, he puts us first. But he loves his job and I love him. Part of loving him is respecting who he is and encouraging him to do what he is passionate about. I have shared him with this company so that he could be happy. And because of that, he has made me happy. Now, though, I get him all to myself.”
“I am glad that you are so pleased.”
“I think you, my boy, will be very happy as well before the night is over,” she teased. “But, that isn’t my news to share. Sarah, tell me all about your show. Are you feeling ready for it?”
“I don’t know. I put the finishing touches on the last piece today. Now I just need them all to dry enough to move them to the gallery in the next week. The hardest part is going to be keeping myself from trying to add more to each of them between now and then.”
“Have you achieved your vision?”
“I’m very happy with them. They feel like my best work yet. I hope the audience agrees.”
“It must be very hard to create something so personal and then put it in front of an audience to be judged.”
She looked so at ease in his world. It was easy to forget it was all a show. As the women chatted, he couldn’t help but think about Grace Erickson’s comments. It had never occurred to him that the audience would judge Sarah. In his mind, there was no reaction to her work but absolute adoration. It was stunning and vibrant, just like the woman who had created it.
“And what are we all talking about?” Talbot asked as he walked up to them, extending his hand to shake Dylan’s.
“Sarah was just telling me about her art show, dear,” Grace told him as she went to kiss him on the cheek.
“Excellent. We’ll have to go and see it while it’s up.”
“I would be happy to give you a tour anytime that you would like,” Sarah said as she shook Talbot’s hand.
“You are practically
family. We hug,” the older man told her as he embraced her. Dylan wasn’t sure how he was going to break it to them when he called off the engagement. His eyes lingered on the ring on Sarah’s hand and he couldn’t help but wonder what he would do with it once she gave it back. The original plan has been to sell it, but even the thought of it felt wrong.
“How are you Talbot?” Dylan asked.
“I’m having a wonderful night. Very soon, I will no longer have to go to events like this and kiss up to Board Members when I would rather be doting on my wife. After I make my big announcement, the succession process begins. The end is in sight.”
“Congratulations,” Sarah said.
“I hope you are both ready for what will happen once I make my remarks.”
“And what is that?” Sarah asked, with a conspiratorial grin.
“You will just have to be surprised with the rest of the crowd, my girl.”
“I will give you pointers on how to deal with it all,” Grace said to Sarah, acting as if her husband had already given the job to Dylan.
“Thank you,” Sarah said, looking a little sad. Grace didn’t seem to notice as Talbot took her by the hand and led her towards the podium at the front of the room.
“Is it all happening right now?” Sarah whispered to him.
“It seems that way,” he answered.
“So it begins,” she said, smiling up at him.
It didn’t feel like a beginning. It felt like an ending. He shook his head to try and push the thoughts away. He knew he needed to focus on what Talbot was saying. The man was about to start his speech.
“Ladies and gentlemen, thank you all for joining us this evening. As you know, this is an evening to celebrate my pending retirement. I have spent a lifetime at this company, working to build the business that we are all so proud to work for today. I couldn’t have done any of this without my wife Grace by my side. Now, it is time for another person to take the reins. Luckily, he also has a good woman by his side who will help him through the ups and downs that come with a job like this. I am proud to announce that Dylan St. James will be the next CEO. Dylan, come up here.”
The words washed over him like a wave. It was finally happening. The company was his. He finally had it all. Sarah embraced him and surprised him by kissing him in front of everyone. She was only doing it because that was what a fiancée should do, he reminded himself. Whatever her reason was, it felt real. He tried to hold on to that. Once she released him, he reluctantly left her side and made his way to Talbot.
He hugged the man, grateful for everything he was offering. Thanks to Talbot, Dylan had those moments with Sarah. He turned to the microphone.
“Thank you, Talbot. I appreciate this amazing opportunity. I promise you I will continue your legacy here. I would also like to take this moment to thank my fiancée, Sarah. Somehow, this beautiful and creative woman chose me to be her partner and I will always be grateful for that. Sarah, I know that with you by my side I can do anything. I love you more today than I did on the day I asked you to marry me and I know that I will love you more tomorrow. I cannot wait to share my life with you.”
The words just flowed from him. He wasn’t sure what was for show and what was true. It just felt good to say it. His eyes locked with hers and she was smiling at him across the room with tears in her eyes. Nothing was ever going to be the same, but his life was better for having had her in it. He wasn’t sure how he was going to let her go.
Hours later, they stood on her porch, a successful scam pulled off. They should have felt joyful but instead they were both silent, knowing the end had come.
“Congratulations on the job,” she told him as she gave him a quick hug.
“It would never have happened without you. If you decide art isn’t for you, you might consider becoming an actress.”
“It was easy to pretend to be your fiancée. Speaking of, I guess I should give you this back,” she said. She took the large diamond off of her finger.
“I can’t take that back.” Even seeing her take it off was difficult to handle. The ring belonged on her finger. Even if she wasn’t his true fiancée, the ring still belonged to her.
“I can’t keep it. Even if we had really been engaged, I wouldn’t have been able to keep the ring after calling off the engagement. It isn’t right. Besides, it’s a huge diamond. You should return it and get your money back.”
He wanted to fight her on it, but he could see she was determined to give it back. He didn’t want their last moments together to be a fight.
“Alright, I will return it,” he said as he took it from her hands and slipped it into his pocket. It felt heavy there as he walked towards the car. He wanted to say more to her, but there was nothing he could say that would ease the ache inside of him.
Chapter 9
The Closing
Dylan paced around the bar as he waited for Talbot to arrive. It was the evening of the dinner with the Board of Directors, a big part of the succession process. The job was already his, but they could still object if something went wrong or got the wrong impression of him. He knew he should be focused on showing them Talbot had made the right choice. But his thoughts were far away.
To be precise, they were across town. It was the night of Sarah’s big show and he felt the pull to be with her. It was ridiculous. She had only been his fake fiancée and she wasn’t even that anymore. He had tried to convince himself that time and distance would help things get back to normal. But with each passing day, he doubted it more and more.
“Where is your lovely better half?” Talbot asked as he approached from the front of the restaurant. They had reserved a private room for the dinner, but they had agreed to meet for a drink before to prepare.
“She gave me the ring back,” he blurted out. He had no idea why he had done it. It had been his plan to keep it under wraps until after he was fully settled in the job.
“What?” Talbot said, clearly shocked.
“I thought I could go back to the way I have always been. I didn’t even have her in my life for that long. It shouldn’t feel like this,” he vented, unable to keep the words inside. Somehow, saying it all out loud made him feel a bit better. He had been holding everything inside since he walked away from her the week before and it had been a weight on his soul.
“Then what on earth are you doing here? You should be at her door trying to win her back. I have seen you together. You love her and she loves you. Whatever you fought about, you have to get through it. All that matters is that you love her.”
“We didn’t even fight. She thinks that we can’t make room in our lives to put the other first. She’s afraid we can’t make it work. She doesn’t want either of us to end up hurt.”
“It looks like you are already hurt. I bet that she’s hurting right now too. Go to her house and do not leave until that woman admits she loves you as much as you love her.”
“It isn’t that easy. Neither of us was looking for a relationship when we got together. She thinks we should go back to the way things were before.”
“Do you want that?”
“No.”
It was true and he knew it. He didn’t want the life he had before he slipped that fake engagement ring on Sarah’s finger. What he wanted was what they had pretended to have. He wanted her by his side for the good and the bad. Dylan wanted to come home to her every night and he wanted to wake up beside her every day.
“Could you go back to how it was before?”
“No.”
And that was true too. He remembered sitting on her bed and watching her get ready for the party the other night. He wanted a lifetime of helping her zip up her dress and watching her pin up her hair. Never before had he seen the value in simple moments. Now, after just one taste, he craved it.
“Then get out of here and don’t stop until she lets you put the ring back on her finger.”
“It won’t work. She doesn’t want me. She wants her career.”
“Show her
that you can support her just like she supports you. You have to make her see that you’re better together than apart.”
Dylan couldn’t see a way to do that. She had made up her mind. It was how she had established herself as an artist. Sarah was a woman who put her career first. He couldn’t ask her to be someone else.
“I can’t ask her to consider putting our relationship before her career.”
“You assume you have to put one before the other. It’s not a ranking system. It’s about balance. Show her that you can both have successful careers and each other. Use my town car. Have them drive you to her house right now.”
“She isn’t there. She has her show opening tonight.”
Talbot Erickson looked at him like he was the biggest fool.
“If the most important night of her career is happening right now, what in the hell are you doing here? This isn’t a Board Meeting. It is just dinner. We could have done it anytime. What matters tonight is your lovely lady and the biggest night of her professional life.”
What the hell was he doing there? Why wasn’t he with Sarah? Even if she didn’t want to be his lover anymore, he could still stand by her side and celebrate her.
“I don’t know. She asked me for space and I was trying to give it to her.”
“Do you think that’s what she really wants?”
His mind snapped back to the last time they were together, when he had been given the job of his dreams. The thought of Talbot and his wife and the way Grace stood by him for decades. Suddenly, he pictured Sarah, her hair grey, standing by him as he one day handed the reins of the company over to his successor. It was an image that both warmed his heart and pained him. If he didn’t do something soon, then such a thing would never happen.
“I hope not.”
