Adam

by Foster, Lori

  They didn’t ask him anything he wasn’t expecting, which meant that in between the “Yes, Mr. Carson, I definitely think that the A/B testing warrants a re-evaluation of Sports Nation’s decision to rebrand,” and the “No, Mr. McLeod, the mock-ups for the Delaney account won’t be ready in time for the general meeting,” Ben had enough focus left over to monitor how things were going at the other end of the table.

  Which was not well.

  * * *

  “THE FOOD IS EXQUISITE, my dear,” Mrs. McLeod complimented, and Chloe was thankful that she was friends with someone as talented as Chad in the kitchen. Otherwise they’d be having pepperoni pizza or Chinese takeout.

  “I’d love to take credit for it, but who has time to cook?”

  It was a standard joke amongst ladies who lunched, and Martine smiled knowingly—the acceptable response—but it seemed Melanie wasn’t here to play nice.

  “What is it that you do again?”

  Chloe raised her eyebrows at the violation of manners. “I’m sorry?”

  “Well, you implied you don’t have time to cook. I was just wondering what it was that took up so much of your day,” Melanie asked.

  “Actually, I—”

  “Chloe is an incredible makeup artist,” Ben interrupted, and Chloe clenched her hands into fists in an attempt to keep calm. A lady did not show emotion in public. A fact for which Ben should be ever-freaking-grateful for right about now.

  “She’s got a growing following on YouTube and she’s poised to create a big splash in the industry.”

  “Makeup. How...fanciful.”

  As far as insults went, Melanie’s polite dismissal was pretty much the worst Chloe could think of.

  “I mean, I’m envious!” the other woman added. “I would love to play dress-up all the time. Maybe in my next life. For now, I guess being a lawyer will have to do.”

  The rest of the dinner guests had the grace to look uncomfortable at the breach of etiquette.

  “I’m also on the board of the Girls Have Power Foundation.”

  “Oh? How interesting. What’s that all about?” It galled Chloe to ask, to allow Melanie to preen in the spotlight. But tonight was about Ben, and she wasn’t going to screw it up for him, even if he’d been a self-righteous prick earlier.

  “Our goal is to improve the futures of girls by elevating their self-esteem, helping them get through school and encouraging them to take on the world as successful women. We do all sorts of networking events and workshops, and we also bring in speakers on a variety of issues that affect the girls.”

  “Chloe did an amazing set of makeup videos about self-esteem, calling out cosmetic companies for all the false advertising they do in their ads and commercials.”

  Chloe glared at Ben.

  “How lovely that your little makeup videos are so ambitious. But I hardly think teaching our young ladies how to apply bronzer is going to help them in the long run.”

  Me. Ow. Chloe’s resolve to play nice snapped. Oh, it’s on now.

  “With all due respect, Melanie, I disagree whole-heartedly. Makeup can be an incredibly powerful tool to help women raise their self-esteem.”

  Melanie’s “Oh?” was derisive.

  “I’m not claiming it’s magical. I agree that it’s a huge problem when companies trade on unrealistic beauty ideals to sell their products. But that’s why it’s so important to educate girls about the truth of advertising. It’s empowering, for example, to know that when your eyes don’t look like the models’ after you apply their ‘miracle’ product, that’s got nothing to do with you. You’re fine just the way you are.”

  “Surely you’re not suggesting that wearing makeup is equivalent to graduating high school or getting a good job.”

  “Of course not! But if you feel beautiful, it can be just the boost you need to walk into a job interview with confidence and nail it. And I know you’re not implying that physical appearance doesn’t matter because I can see that you are wearing makeup today. Why is that?”

  Melanie’s eyes narrowed, and Chloe took a sip of wine to keep from sticking her tongue out at the woman.

  “I think we’re veering away from the point,” Ben offered, obviously trying to get this dinner party back on the rails. He turned to Carson and McLeod. “This, right here, is the kind of cross-marketing and co-branding opportunity I’d recommend we take better advantage of if I’m chosen for the new position. Imagine the power of connecting our clients, instead of keeping everyone separate.”

  The men launched back into shop talk. Melanie remained focused on her risotto, and Martine filled the conversational chasm with interesting facts about the Vivaldi piece that was playing in the background.

  The rest of the evening passed without incident, but she was relieved when their sham finally came to an end.

  “Chloe, it was a pleasure meeting you. Such a lovely dinner. You’ve done your husband proud.”

  Mr. McLeod’s old-fashioned compliment landed with a thud in Chloe’s gut. “Thank you, sir. And thank you so much for coming. Let me get your coats,” she offered.

  “Ben,” Carson boomed. “Very impressive dinner to go with your very impressive work this year. You didn’t hear it from me, but let me just say that you’re going to be a very happy man when you arrive at the office on Monday morning.” Carson slapped Ben on the back as he passed him.

  As the rest of their guests filed out, Chloe thought briefly of her mother, wondering how she’d handled so much bullshit on a regular basis during her twenty-eight years of marriage.

  Because she’d loved Daryl Masterson, she realized. But if tonight had taught Chloe anything, it was that she needed more than that. Pretending to be this person may have landed her the hot businessman and the parental acceptance, but if they weren’t true to themselves and each other, what did it matter if she loved him?

  * * *

  BEN CLOSED THE door behind his guests and leaned back against it. A slow smile dawned on his face. They’d done it. Despite the fighting and the chicken and Melanie, somehow Chloe had managed to throw the best damn dinner party he’d ever been to, and now all his hard work was paying off.

  “Did you hear that? I got the job!”

  “Congratulations.” The word came out cool.

  He didn’t blame Chloe for being mad at him. He’d said some awful things, and then she’d had to deal with Melanie. But he would never have been able to pull this night off alone. He owed a lot to the woman standing across from him.

  “You were incredible tonight, Chloe. Seriously. You totally saved my ass, and I really appreciate it. This promotion has been my whole world, and it never would have happened without you.”

  “Ben, I have to go.”

  “What? But you and I have some celebrating to do!”

  “I’m happy for you. If this is the life you want, then congratulations. Enjoy it. But it’s not the one I want. In fact, it’s exactly what I ran away from.”

  “What are you saying?”

  “You’re not the same guy I met on the plane. Or the guy I hung out with at Amy’s birthday party.”

  He frowned. “Sure I am.”

  She shook her head. “That guy would never have jumped into the middle of a conversation and told a bunch of complete strangers about my hopes and dreams just to save his own pride.”

  It felt like she’d slapped him. “Chloe, I didn’t—”

  “We don’t want the same things, Ben. If this was what I wanted, you and I would never have met. I would be Mrs. Patrick McQuaid and I’d be celebrating my fourth wedding anniversary. And what I was trying to say earlier is that it’s not really what you want, either. But you can’t see that beyond your grief and your ego. So I’m going to go pack my stuff now. ”

  Ben was numb. He couldn’t believe she was
going to walk out on him like this. Didn’t she understand that he’d just landed his big break? How good it would be for him? How good it could be for them?

  She reappeared a few minutes later, pulling her suitcase behind her, her purse slung over her shoulder. She stopped beside him.

  “Congratulations on the promotion. I’m really happy that things worked out for you.”

  “Don’t go.” It was all he could say. It made her pause, but just for a second.

  “I have to.” Tears welled in her eyes and it took everything he had not to grab her and hold onto her with everything he had. But she’d made her choice.

  She notched her chin up and strode away from him, right out the front door.

  And, for the second time, he let her go.

  CHAPTER 16

  HIS CHAIR FELT WEIRD.

  Ben bounced up and down on it a few times, spun it side to side.

  It was exactly like the chair in his old office, but something was off. He’d been fiddling with it all week to no avail.

  In an attempt to ignore the vast piles of paperwork crowding his desk—account directors spent far more time with file folders than human beings—Ben glanced around his new corner office. But instead of admiring his beautiful view of downtown Seattle, his gaze focused on the picture he’d hung on the dull gray wall across from his desk. The frame was crooked again.

  Ben got up and walked over, nudging the bottom right corner higher so that he and his dad and the cabin were square.

  “So what do you think, Pop? Pretty fancy digs, huh?”

  The picture tilted listlessly to the right in response. Ben nodded. “I hear ya.”

  He pulled the frame off the wall just as a knock sounded on the door. He could tell by the timid rap that it was his new assistant. Lana had always burst right in.

  “Come on in, Nancy.”

  “Mr. Masterson—”

  “Just Ben,” he reminded her, walking back to his desk. The brunette smiled shyly before proceeding to call him nothing at all. “Mr. Carson and Mr. McLeod would like to see you in Mr. Carson’s office as soon as possible. Also, a Mr. Laroche from Allies Real Estate called about some lakefront property. He’s asked you to call him back at this number when you’re free.”

  Ben accepted the yellow message slip. “Thanks.”

  She dipped her head and disappeared out the door.

  Ben glanced at the paper and dropped it onto his desk.

  With the framed photo still clutched in his right hand, he headed to his boss’s office.

  Carson’s assistant, Doris, was on the phone, but she waved him in as soon as he’d exited the elevator. He smiled his thanks and stepped through the glass door.

  “There’s our new account director!” Rob Carson was as genial as ever. “Have a seat.”

  Ben sat in the leather visitor’s chair, placing the frame on his lap. “Mr. Carson. Mr. McLeod,” he greeted. “Before we begin, I just want to take this chance to thank you both for this amazing promotion and to let you know that I’m resigning, effective immediately.”

  “I’m sorry, what did you just say?”

  Ben exhaled and straightened his tie. “I said I quit.”

  Carson turned a shade of tomato that probably didn’t bode well for his blood pressure, and Hugh McLeod was so still that Ben couldn’t be certain he hadn’t calcified.

  “I really appreciate the opportunities you have given me, and I’ve learned a lot here, but creating ad campaigns isn’t what I want to do with my life. Chloe’s been trying to tell me that all along, but I was too blinded by pride to see that she was right. I don’t belong here.”

  “Your wife told you to quit?” Carson demanded.

  “Oh, she’s not my wife,” Ben corrected him. “We met on my business trip to Buffalo. But when Edward Burke came to my hotel room that morning, well, I did what I had to do to get his business.”

  “So you’ve been lying to us ever since you landed the Hotel Burke account?”

  Ben nodded. “Pretty much.”

  “That dedication is exactly what we like about you, Ben. You do whatever it takes to close a deal,” McLeod said matter-of-factly. “Which is why we offered you this job.”

  “And ironically, that’s why I’m turning it down. Because I don’t want to be a guy who lies, especially to myself. I want to help people grow their ideas into something special. I want to run a business built on integrity, one that I can be proud of. And that’s why I can’t accept this promotion.”

  Ben reached into the breast pocket of his gray suit—the one he’d worn the day he’d met Chloe—and pulled out an envelope. He slid it onto Rob Carson’s desk as he stood.

  “Now if you gentlemen will excuse me, I need to get to the mall.”

  “Not so fast,” Carson said, picking up his phone. “Yes, security? We’re going to need a walk-out on the tenth floor.”

  With a maniacal sigh, Ben sat back down.

  * * *

  “RECEIPT IN THE bag okay?” At the woman’s nod, Chloe handed over the purchase. “Here you go. Enjoy your new eye shadow palette and thank you for shopping at Titanium Beauty.”

  Chloe’s salesgirl smile faded the moment the woman turned away from the counter. Monday was dragging.

  “Josh, I’m going on my break,” she called, and he nodded. Chloe grabbed her purse from the back room and headed out into the mall, toward the food court.

  There was a gaggle of teenage girls chatting by one of the fountains, and Chloe slurped at the cardboard keg of cola she’d just purchased, trying her best not to give in to self-pity. But being on lunch break at her mall job, her name tag pinned above her left boob, didn’t make her feel like she’d reached the pinnacle of achievement, that was for sure.

  Her makeup application with Joanna, though—now that had felt like a real accomplishment. Joanna had been really happy with the results, and just the memory of the consultation made her sit a bit taller. But one paying gig wasn’t going to keep a roof over her head, so until she could grow her business, Chloe had decided Titanium Beauty was preferable to unemployment. And the makeup discount was nice.

  Chloe sighed. A big unapologetic one. Because Ben would have hated it. And because he was right. She had been taking the easy way out. Chloe grabbed her phone out of her purse and dialed.

  “Hello?”

  “Hi, Mom.”

  “What’s wrong? Why are you calling me? You never call me.”

  Chloe resisted the urge to say something snarky. This was about the truth. “Nothing’s wrong, Mom. I just felt like calling.” As much as she’d hated that business dinner and the persona she’d so easily slipped into, the experience had also given her some insight into her mother. So she supposed some good had come out of the bad.

  “Chloe Marie, I’m your mother. I know it pains you to admit that, but I am. And I can tell when you’re not okay.”

  “It’s just...” Chloe gazed down at her left hand. The stupid ring had been haunting her all week. She hated wearing it, but she couldn’t take it off. “It’s Ben.”

  “Did you two have a fight? I know that can be upsetting, but all couples have their spats.”

  Now or never. “We’re not engaged.”

  “You broke up?”

  “No, Mom. We were never dating. It was a lie. I lied to you. I was helping him out because his bosses heard he was married, and then Caroline saw the ring and, well, you two were so happy with me, and I just...let you go on believing it.”

  “You’re not engaged? But, Chloe, he was so good for you!”

  Chloe’s laugh sounded bitter, even to her. “Yes, he was good for me. Gainfully employed and well-mannered with a closet full of designer suits. In short, the perfect son-in-law. Everything I’m looking for in a man.”

 
A tense silence descended, so thick it seemed to Chloe that even the ambient food court noise had been muted. Then, in a soft voice she barely recognized as her mother’s, “You always think the worst of me, don’t you?”

  The question took Chloe aback.

  “I find Benjamin,” there was a deep breath on the other end of the line, “Ben,” she said pointedly, “to be personable and quite in love with my daughter. So yes. He has my approval. Not that you care a whit about that. But when I said he was good for you, I meant that he’s good for you. You’re happy when you’re with him. Vibrant. Not my complicated little girl anymore. A woman.”

  Chloe ran her index finger along her cup, tracing a line in the condensation.

  “Despite what you believe, Chloe, despite the clashes in our ideologies and the differences in our priorities, you’re my daughter and I just want the best for you. And I know that means I have to stay out of your life and let you make your own choices. Which is very difficult for me. But I’m trying. Because I want you to be happy.”

  Chloe went still for a moment and she had to try twice to get any words to come out. “Thank you, Mom. That means a lot.”

  “Now, all that being said, do not ruin this relationship. Ben is the most appropriate man who’s been interested in you since I set you up with Bryce Willington Jr. just before you moved to Seattle. Now he was quite the catch. Muriel’s daughter scooped him right up after you left. I told you someone would! And I—”

  “Gotta get back to work, Mom. Thanks for the chat.” Chloe ended the call, a million thoughts whirling through her head.

  She looked down at her left hand. At the ring she couldn’t bring herself to take off. And why? Because her fake engagement to Ben was the best relationship she’d ever been in. If Ben had taught her anything, it was that sometimes you just had to seize the opportunity that was in front of you.

  Because, as it turned out, her mother was right. Ben was good for her.

  She’d known it from the start. She’d just been too scared to believe it.

  But she wasn’t scared anymore.