by Gina Henning
“Did you make him kiss me?”
Sherry laughs. “Oh no, honey, Trent’s feelings about you are real. And girl, he’s got it bad. Real bad. Poor guy has been plummeting at work because of you. He thinks he really messed things up.”
“So what you’re his confidante or something?”
“Something like that. Anyways, here’s the deal. I’ve got a ton of money and I want you to make something of it. Once you’ve made enough, I’ll pay back the loans and such from Vintage Estates and we can call it a day. You’ll have a happy client, a happy boss, and don’t forget a happy husband.”
“Why would Jack be happy with that arrangement?”
“Because, you’ll show him that you fixed everything and succeeded at work.”
“I don’t think he would want me to be working with or for you.”
“Oh, honey, you’d be surprised. I bet Jack would be thrilled to hear that you fixed this situation without causing me any trouble.”
I am going to vomit. There goes my body rallying against my thoughts. But seriously who wouldn’t be sick in this situation?
“If you will excuse me for a minute?”
“Sure, sugar.”
I rush past all the tables and find the ladies’ as fast as I could possibly hope and empty my stomach. This is awful. I have no idea what to do. Should I call the police? Should I call Jack? I’m so lost in this situation. And there is a tiny voice deep down that is saying, “What if she’s right? What if Jack would want me to fix things without causing any issues?”
This voice of doubt is killing me inside. I rinse out my mouth and return to the table. We order lunch like two women with only business to discuss.
As our orders arrive I glance at Sherry. “I’ll consider your proposition and send some investing options to you.”
“Great, I look forward to seeing them. But please understand by looking forward to seeing them I mean that I’ll be happy to know you’re on board. I couldn’t care less what you figure out. I know you know numbers and accounts. So just make it happen, Lauren.”
I smile my most patient grin and take a bite of my salad. As if I were eating crow, I swallow it down with a sip of water. It’s semi-refreshing. I wish life were like this glass of water. Clear and visible. If there were any possibilities of filth I could see them in the glass. But with this situation it’s as muddy and unclear as possible.
***
A knock on my door alerts me to the time. It’s ten to five. I never reached out to Elaine. I’m assuming it’s her on the other side of the varnished wood. But the door opens and it’s Javier.
“Hey, Javier.”
“So, how did it go?” He raises an eyebrow at me. Shiat…what do I say? Oh it went great. It’s a done deal. The biggest account of my life. There’s only one catch though. The client is a crook who robbed my fiancé. Other than that it couldn’t have been more perfect.
“It went well. I’m going to send over some account options.”
“All right, nice. Keep me posted.” Javier knocks twice on the door and heads back towards his office.
I shut my computer down. I need to get out of here. I now have to spend my special romantic dinner with Jack discussing Sherry and this shiaty situation. How’s that for alliteration. Ha!
“Lauren, wait up.”
I glance over my shoulder and it’s Elaine. I stop.
“Yes?”
“How did the meeting go? I was wondering how it was that you found that account?” Her brow is arched high.
“Why?”
“It just seems a little odd, you know? I just hope you weren’t cutting corners to find a top account like that.”
I let out a laugh because really this situation is beyond ridiculous. One, I can’t take on the account and two, I would never cut corners for an account.
“Definitely didn’t cut any corners. Night.” I rush away from Elaine. She really is a piece of work.
Jack pops up from near my car and a sense of relief rolls over me. I couldn’t be happier to see him. I rush up and give him a hug. Behind his back is a bouquet of flowers. I can’t help but smile.
“Wow, these are so pretty. Thank you.”
Jack glances over to me. “They pale in comparison to you.”
Jack leads us back to my car and his lips are on mine. His arms are wrapped around my back and I’m enclosed in his love. My insides warm and I pull back.
“Jack, I can’t do this here.”
Jack leans close. “Then let’s go.” He breathes into my ear and little goose bumps form along my arms. Jack opens up the passenger door and hands me the bouquet that is filled with yellow roses and coral-colored lilies. I inhale deeply. Amazing scents of the rose and lilies invade my nose and I’m falling into an exotic garden and away from thoughts about disappointment.
He slides into the driver seat of my car. “Keys?”
I laugh. “So you’ve got everything pre-planned but no keys?”
“Darling, I can’t make you feel like you don’t bring anything to the table.”
I roll my eyes. “I bring more to the table than keys.”
“Lauren, you bring way more to the table than keys and if you don’t hand them over, then I will forget your request to not do certain things to you here in your work’s parking garage.”
“Oh okay…” I dig in my purse and hand him my keys. He grasps my hand and leans forward and kisses each of my knuckles.
“Lauren, you hold the most important key…the key to my heart.”
My heart flutters and our lips meet. We kiss for longer than seems appropriate in my parking garage before Jack releases me and drives us out of the garage.
As we pull up to the valet, I glance over my outfit. A black frilly blouse and my beige skirt with flower print. Yes, this can cross over from office to dining attire. Almost as if Jack can read my mind.
“You look gorgeous. You always do. Even in your black comfy pants.”
I laugh. “I can’t believe you called them comfy.”
“Isn’t that how you refer to them?”
“Yes, but…never mind.” I let the valet help me out of the car and Jack is at my side before I can even adjust my skirt. He laces his fingers through mine and we enter the restaurant like royalty. And honestly I feel like royalty when I’m in Jack’s presence. He raises everything to the next level of importance. He seems to always be one step ahead of me.
I swallow. Does he know about Sherry? Either way I have to tell him. I’ll wait till after I’ve had a glass of wine. Lawd knows I need one.
As we sit down the waiter brings over a bottle of champagne. I raise my eyebrows at Jack and his icy blues sparkle back at me. There is something playful about them. The waiter pops the cork and pours the bubbles into the two flutes. Jack raises his glass to me.
“To the love of my life.”
“And to mine.” We clink glasses. I take a sip of the bubbles. They seem off. Sweeter. Not even a hint of dryness. I eye the bottle. It’s sparkling apple cider.
I drop my jaw slightly. “Are you serious?”
“About you, definitely.” Jack flashes me a seductive grin that Little Red Riding Hood might have received from the Big Bad Wolf. I shall not be so naïve.
“Jack, really? Why would you order this?”
“To celebrate our love.”
I roll my eyes. “Jack, come on. It’s non-alcoholic. This isn’t champagne.”
“Oh…I didn’t realize I was about to marry such a label-conscious person.” He runs his finger and thumb over his jaw.
“I’m not pregnant.”
“Oh did you take a test?”
“NO. I don’t need to. I told you that.” I press my lips together.
“Have you been sick today?” Jack raises an eyebrow at me. I had been fine today until Sherry reentered my life.
“I was fine.”
“What happened?”
I shake my head. “I need something stronger than sparking apple cider to talk about
it.”
The vein in Jack’s throat begins to flex on overtime. “Did Trent do something else?”
I jerk my head back. “No. I haven’t really seen him since that night at the restaurant. Well, I did see him the next day in the hall but he immediately turned and went in the opposite direction.”
Jack nods slowly. His eyes are running over my face, inspecting me and my answer. He’s trying to determine if there is more to what I’ve said.
I eye the waiter. “Hi, can we get two glasses of Cabernet?”
The waiter looks at me and then Jack. Are you kidding me? Am I not present here? Do I not have a say?
Jack nods at the waiter and I’m a second from bolting from this situation. I steady myself and my breathing. No, I’m not going to let my anxiety or anything else cause issues today. I will tell Jack once I’ve had one sip of my wine. Even if I were pregnant. Which I’m not. My period isn’t late or anything. I swallow hard and grab for my phone in my purse. I scan through my calendar. One, two, three, four, five, six, seven. Shiat.
I can’t let Jack know. I’ll take a test on my own. I need to handle this Sherry situation first. I need to know where he stands with it and me. The waiter returns with the Cabernet but I have no stomach or desire to drink at this point. I pretend to take a sip and place it down on the table. Time to be strong.
“The client lunch that I had today…”
“Yes?”
“It was with Sherry.”
Jack cocks his head to the right and his blues mixed with green darken. “Sherry?”
“Yes, Sherry. Lewis’s wife.”
Jack runs his hand through his hair. “How long have you had contact with her?”
“Well we spoke for the first time the other day to set up the lunch meeting.”
Jack scoots his chair back like he is trying to make physical distance between the two of us.
“Why didn’t you tell me?” His shoulders rise up and he fingers the tablecloth.
“I am telling you about it. Right now. Here.”
Jack shakes his head. “Did you know it was her when you set the appointment?”
I swallow hard. I can’t believe Jack would think that if I knew it was Sherry prior to the meeting that I wouldn’t have told him. “No. I didn’t.” I scoot my own chair back. This is awful. This was supposed to be a romantic moment aside from wedding planning for us and now because of Sherry this huge divide of distrust is happening. “Jack, I didn’t know it was her. I was shocked to see her at lunch today. That’s why I was sick.”
“What did she want?”
“She wants me to invest her—the money she stole from Vintage Estates and make more money on it so that she can repay what she stole.” I reach for my water glass and take a long cold swallow. Like a cold shower it chills my bones. I’m sad and alone in this moment. I have no idea what Jack is thinking about the situation or me.
Jack grips his mouth and then lets his fingers drop over his chin. He shakes his head. “No, you can’t have anything to do with her.”
“Are you going to file criminal charges?”
Jack cocks his head to the right. “I don’t know.”
“What do you mean you don’t know? She stole from Vintage Estates and if it weren’t for your Aunt Minnie it would have gone under.” I bite my tongue. I shouldn’t have said that. I know Jack had other plans in order to save Vintage Estates from going in the red. But it just so happened that Jack’s Aunt Minnie swooped in and deposited a seven-figure amount into the accounts to stop Jack from selling his own businesses and investments.
Jack swallows hard. “Right. But that doesn’t mean that I want to file charges against her.”
“Why not?”
“Lauren, Sherry might not be the best person, but she was Lewis’s wife. I can’t file charges against her.”
“She’s a criminal.”
“Right, but I don’t need the money and she didn’t cause any pain to anyone I love…so I can’t cause pain to the one person that Lewis ever loved.”
I shake my head. “Do you really think that Lewis would be okay with you not doing what’s right?”
Jack jerks his head back and the pain and anger in his eyes is something I’ve never seen before from him. He glares back at me. “You never met Lewis, so you can’t even begin to know or think what he would or wouldn’t want.”
“I’m sorry. You’re right. But what Sherry did was wrong—don’t you think she should pay for that?”
“Honestly, Lauren, I don’t care about what Sherry pays for or doesn’t. She lost the one person she loved the most and whatever she did as a fallout because of that…I’m not going to judge her for. Would I invest with her or do business again? No. But I certainly won’t try and put her behind bars.”
“Why not?”
“Because she was Lewis’s wife and I would never do that to him. Just like I wouldn’t even consider the idea that he would do that to you.”
“But I wouldn’t steal.”
“You’re right, Lauren, you wouldn’t and you can’t do any business with her either. You know that.”
He was right. I did know that I couldn’t do business with Sherry. But now what was I going to do about my career?
Chapter Thirteen
The refrigerator door closes hard. Is Jack mad? I just got back from dress shopping with Brianna.
“Hey, Jack, are you okay?”
“No, I’m not.” He strides into the living room and gives my body the once-over. He grabs my hand and my purse and locks the door.
“What are you doing?”
“We’re going grocery shopping.”
Jack places me in the passenger side like I’m an infant who needs to be buckled in. I can’t help but frown.
“Okay, so the point of this trip is?”
“The point of the trip is that you don’t keep any food in your house. It’s only popcorn, coffee, and wine. And that is not going to cut it.”
“Au contraire, it’s our house and I think popcorn and wine make a meal of great substance, and then of course there is our love. With that we’re good, right?” I let out a little laugh and give his shoulder a playful nudge but he doesn’t budge.
“Lauren, you’re no longer a single person. Eating out is great but having food in the house is a typical thing that most people do.”
I squish my eyebrows together. I don’t cook. I don’t bake. Having no food in the house makes sense for someone like me. Why do I need to change now? Is this really what his huff is about?
“Jack, is this really about groceries or are you still annoyed about Sherry?”
Jack glances at me then smiles ruefully. “Okay, maybe I’m taking my frustration about Sherry out on your kitchen.” I nod and give him an encouraging smile. “It’s fine, I know you’ll do the right thing.”
“I will, Jack. It’ll all work out okay.” I hope.
Jack parks the car and grabs a large shopping cart. I consider any cart large given I hardly ever use a basket. Unless there is a sale on wine. Then I might even opt for the bigger cart.
“Do you want to sit in the front?”
I roll my eyes and laugh. “I don’t know—is that something that non-single people do? Because if so then sign me up. However, you’re going to have to hoist me in. There is no way I can climb in without toppling over.”
Jack grins. “I would never let you fall.”
We enter the store and Jack is in the produce section sizing up the apples. I’m wondering what our first harvest at the house will be like. Full of juicy fruit—or will our trees be barren? Jack catches my eye. “Ours will be better.” He winks at me and tosses some cartons of strawberries into the cart along with some carrots, cucumbers, a bag of lettuce, and a stalk of celery.
“What are you planning on making?” I inspect the items in our cart that is filling up.
Jack pinches my side. “We will be making a chopped salad, eggplant parmigiana, and for dessert strawberries a la Lauren.”
&
nbsp; I let out a giggle. “How is it that all of your recipes have Lauren in the name?”
“Better question, how could they not?” He taps my nose and drives the cart down the pasta aisle. I follow behind him, this man who is driving me crazy with his amazing love.
Back in the kitchen, I’m surprised to find that Jack has not only added to my non-existent bakeware but has also purchased quite a line of cookware and knives. I’m so clueless in the kitchen that I hadn’t even noticed this. Here he is making my—our—house more of a home and I’m so self-involved that I didn’t even notice. I gulp and take in a deep swallow of sadness. I’ve got to up my game and what I’m bringing to the table in this relationship and not just what I’m supposed to prepare for the table tonight.
“Now, if my memory serves me well, over Thanksgiving you were pretty handy with a knife. So you slice up the eggplant. Here they are, washed and ready.” Jack places a bowl in front of me. Yes, over Thanksgiving I sliced butter and even then I was uncertain as to which way to cut it. I watch cooking shows for fun but I really don’t pay enough attention to what is being taught to actually apply any particular method in the kitchen. I flex the muscles in my neck. Get it together, Lauren. You can do this.
I take the knife and slice the eggplant in long flat lengths and take a peek at Jack. He is mixing up a fresh marinara sauce on the stove. He is even hotter in the kitchen. His large rounded shoulders, the way they move as he works. As he stirs. He has stirred more heat into this relationship than I would have thought was possible. He’s right, cooking at home is something we should be doing more often and together. I’m overcome with how nice this is and we haven’t even taken a bite yet. I wrap my hands around his waist and squeeze him.
“Is my little sous chef getting distracted?”
“How can I not?”
Jack turns around and takes my chin into his hands. “Lauren, I love you. Cooking with you is so much more than simply mixing ingredients into a bowl. We are making a life together.” His lips meet mine and the timer of my heart is ringing. Lauren, you’re done…you’re done.
