Ready or Not

by Melissa Brayden

  “It’s fun to think about,” Sam said. “But starting a business in Manhattan is expensive. We’d need capital, and no bank is going to approve us for a loan without some kind of hard-core experience. I’m not saying it’s not a kick-ass idea or that I wouldn’t love to work with you guys—”

  “When I graduate, my trust fund reverts to me,” Mallory said, putting it all out there.

  Three pairs of eyes blinked back at her.

  Hunter set down her wineglass and met Mallory’s gaze. “You’d be willing to lay your trust fund on the line for us?”

  Mallory didn’t hesitate. “I would.”

  Brooklyn raised her hand. “And there’s enough in there to—”

  “Purchase a small country,” Mallory filled in.

  Sam’s eyebrows shot up. “I knew your family was wealthy, but I guess I’ve never really heard you mention it before.”

  Mallory shrugged. “It’s a small detail in the scheme of who I am. The important part is that money is about to fall into my hands and I want to do something that matters with it. Invest in a project I happen to believe in wholeheartedly.”

  “And that’s us?” Brooklyn asked, her big blue eyes carrying such reverence for the concept.

  “Then I’m in,” Hunter said.

  Samantha’s head swiveled. “Whoa. Just like that?”

  “Just like that,” Hunter said. “If Mal believes in us, so do I.”

  Sam balked. “But there’s something to be said for thinking things through. What about our future plans? I have two job interviews lined up next week alone, at big-ten accounting firms no less. Yes, this idea is fun to think about. Hell, it’s the most exciting thing anyone has asked me in a while, but we need to examine it from all the angles first. We need a business plan, a—”

  “I’m in too,” Brooklyn said. Mallory smiled at her as her heart soared. That was two of three.

  “Thank you, Brooklyn. We’re going to need your ideas like never before.”

  “Good, because I have a lot of ’em.” She and Brooklyn clinked glasses.

  All eyes were now on Samantha, who blew out a breath. “What if we put all of our eggs in this basket and it turns out to be one great big failure?”

  “Or,” Mallory said, leaning forward, her voice quiet. “What if it’s the best damn basket that ever happened to any of us?”

  “Come on, Sammie Sam,” Brooklyn said, wrapping an arm around Samantha. “Let’s weave New York City baskets together. Try something amazing with us.”

  Hunter tilted her head and regarded Sam. “The world needs cooler baskets.”

  “I knew I shouldn’t have used the basket analogy,” Sam muttered, covering her eyes. “I just don’t know. A business?” But she was smiling and had that faraway look in her eyes. “We’d have to kill ourselves to get it off the ground. Hustle, schmooze, burn the midnight oil like we’ve never done before.”

  “And we would,” Mallory answered in all seriousness, because if she was born to do one thing, it was succeed. And with the war she was about to incite when her parents caught wind of this plan, she had to be ready to prove them wrong. “You can think about it if you want,” Mallory offered.

  But something in Sam’s demeanor seemed to shift. She sat a little taller and met Mallory’s gaze squarely. “I can’t believe I’m saying this, but let’s give it a go for a year. See where we’re at.”

  “Yeah?” Mallory asked, the excitement gathering slowly in her chest.

  “Hell, yeah,” Hunter said and jumped to her feet. And they were up and hugging before Mallory even knew what hit her. Relief. That’s the feeling that rushed over her in powerful waves as she pulled Samantha into a celebratory embrace. It had been an idea out of left field, but an idea she fiercely believed in, and within an hour of asking them, all three of her friends were on board as well.

  Suddenly, it seemed like this thing was really going to happen, the four of them chasing their dreams together. And with a clean slate stretched luxuriously in front of them, the future could be anything they wanted it to be. The prospect was daunting and thrilling all at the same time.

  As they settled back into their comfy spots, Mallory took in the faces of her three most treasured friends on the planet and knew there was no one else she’d take such a huge leap with. Feeling like she should say something, she raised a glass. “This is a big decision for us, and as we embark upon this venture together, I want to say that I have faith in our ability, and in each and every one of you. Let’s go places together. To us.”

  And with that, four glasses met in the middle of the circle. Amidst the fluttering in her stomach, Mallory smiled, because this was a moment. They had a lot of work ahead of them, and it would be a little terrifying, but she was ready for that and whatever else the world had in store.

  The future looked bright.

  And she, for one, couldn’t wait.

  Chapter One

  Nine years later

  Mallory brushed a triumphant strand of hair from her forehead as she crossed Sixty-eighth and Broadway, her own little victory song laying down a beat in her head. Moments before, she’d sealed the deal with an up-and-coming dog-food brand, a hard-to-land account. She’d done her research, nurtured the relationship, and had articulated her presentation exactly the way she’d rehearsed. It had taken weeks of long hours at the office in preparation, but her hard work and her team’s innovation had won them the account over one of the advertising giants in town.

  Her favorite kind of victory.

  Now it was time to celebrate. She texted the news back to the office, and her friends immediately flooded her screen, suggesting celebratory drinks at their favorite bar. Perfect. Because this kind of thing was worth celebrating, as it marked another amazing victory for Savvy.

  As she walked, still on the amazing high, Mallory considered switching from the heels on her feet to the comfy sneakers she kept in her attaché for traversing the streets of Manhattan. But actually, no, the heels felt like part of her mojo in the present moment. She’d leave them on.

  Strut a little.

  Toss her hair when she felt like it, because that was the kind of awesome day it had been. Her feet would deal with the fallout later, as nothing on Earth could topple the feeling she got after landing an account. It could only be described as the best drug around. Euphoria. Pride. Excitement—all wrapped up into one. If another kind of experience that could fill her up this way existed, she’d yet to encounter it.

  Mallory hopped the C train back to Soho, mentally high-fiving every person in her car, and made her way up the sidewalk on Spring Street to the bar. Showplace was their go-to spot to let off a little steam and unwind from the day. They served the best drinks and offered a laid-back vibe. Plus, it was their place, and that made it awesome in its own right.

  She located Brooklyn, Samantha, and Hunter at their standard table to the left of the long wooden bar at the center of the room. Purple lights backlit the bottles of alcohol in a rather grandiose display that Mallory couldn’t help but transfix on every once in a while. Something artistic about it drew her eye. The ceilings were tall, and the industrial rafters offered a gritty vibe reminiscent of old-school Soho that contrasted nicely with the trendier furniture.

  The place was already filling up with locals, mostly lesbians but some not, and it was only just now five o’clock. So much for their best-kept secret. In the past year, Showplace had seemed to double in popularity. It functioned as a bar during the week but transformed into an edgier nightspot on weekends, complete with a DJ and a very active dance floor.

  As Mallory approached the table, her three friends broke out in a round of applause. “I’d sing ‘For She’s a Jolly Good Fellow,’ but no one wants to hear me sing,” Brooklyn said, pulling Mallory into an embrace. “You’re an advertising rock star, you know that?”

  Mallory smiled widely. “Thanks for noticing, and no singing required. Plus, it was a total team effort. They loved your graphics,” she said to Hunter.
“As in, gonna-propose-and-have-their-children loved.”

  “Score,” Hunter said, smiling.

  “And the pitch? How’d that go? We need details.” Sam’s green eyes sparkled with excitement.

  “They ate it up,” Mallory told them, then shifted to meet Brooklyn’s gaze. “Your day-in-the-life-of-a-dog idea had the whole room buzzing. They laughed. They applauded. Lives were changed forever. Oh, and they signed the contract.” She pulled it from her attaché and held it up in victory for her friends to see.

  Sam snatched it and studied the fine print. “And they’re going with the recommended budget. Nice score, Ms. Spencer.”

  Mallory grinned proudly. “I thought you’d like that, money ninja that you are. I’m getting the drinks today. We all deserve it. Martinis?”

  “Yes,” chorused three happy faces.

  Mallory approached the bar, and despite the growing crowd vying for attention, she didn’t have to wait long for that blond bartender to approach. The woman, Hope something, had worked there about a year now and had every lesbian in a fifteen-block radius crushing on her. It was pretty obnoxious. Then again, maybe that accounted for all the new business.

  “What can I get for you?” Hope asked.

  “Four cucumber martinis and a side of olives.”

  “Coming up.” Hope smiled that easy smile she always seemed to smile, and Mallory nodded back politely instead. Flirtatious bartenders were so not her thing, regardless of how good-looking they might be. The whole concept was clichéd at best. Hope returned with a tray of four drinks and slid them expertly in Mallory’s direction.

  “Enjoy.” And there was that smile again. Annoying.

  “What do I owe you?” she asked.

  “On the house.”

  This wasn’t the first time either. “I don’t mind paying for the drinks,” Mallory said curtly.

  “And I don’t mind letting the house do that.”

  Mallory raised a questioning eyebrow. “Won’t you get in trouble with your boss?”

  Hope smiled again. “Doubtful. But thank you for looking out for me.”

  “Oh, I wouldn’t go that far,” Mallory said sweetly. “But thanks for the drinks.” And with that, she was on her way back to her table.

  “She was sooo flirting with you,” Samantha said, reaching for a martini.

  “So what else is new?” Brooklyn asked. “I think it’s apparent that our friendly bartender has a thing for Little Miss Mallory.”

  Mallory suppressed an eye roll. “She does not. She’s just flirtatious. Bartenders do that sort of thing for tips.”

  “Correction,” Hunter said. “She’s flirtatious with you. Have you seen the throngs of hopeful young lesbians lining the bar, making eyes at her? Nothing. She ignores them all.”

  Mallory shrugged. “Well, I haven’t done anything to encourage that kind of attention.”

  “Except flaunt your ultra hotness in her bar several times a week,” Brooklyn pointed out and sipped her martini. “Someone’s got a crush. And by someone, I mean the woman who makes the best martinis I’ve ever tasted.”

  Samantha sat back in her chair. “I have to say, she’s pretty easy on the eyes, that one.”

  Hunter followed her gaze to the bar and stared back at Samantha. “I’m sitting right here.”

  “Don’t worry. I prefer brunettes,” Sam said, leaning into Hunter and placing a kiss under her jaw. They’d been together for six months now, and while adorable, it was still a dynamic Mallory and Brooklyn were getting used to. Their best friends were now shacking up, and that required a tiny adjustment period.

  Right on cue, Brooklyn met her eyes and smiled in solidarity. But it wasn’t like Brooklyn came without love-life complications of her own. Only a year ago she’d fallen in love with their sworn corporate rival, Jessica Lennox. At that point, things had turned a little tricky. But in the end, Mallory had found that with a little extra added maturity, they could all find a way to make it work. And they had. Brooklyn was enormously happy with Jessica, and Savvy was doing better than ever. A win-win.

  “I bet you could score her number if you were interested,” Brooklyn whispered to Mallory.

  Mallory leaned in and whispered back. “Except I’m not.”

  Brooklyn stared at her like she just couldn’t quite believe that, which only irritated Mallory further. She glanced over her shoulder at the bar only to lock eyes with Hope, who, once again, smiled.

  Damn it.

  *

  Mallory was the first one into the Savvy office that Friday morning. While the acquisition of the new dog-food client was a major coup, it didn’t mean they could let up. She had a new account on the horizon, an independent chain of movie theaters gaining ground in the Northeast, and as such, she needed to get a jump on the day. With a consultation set up with their CEO the following week, intense preparation would be part of her secret arsenal. Her competitors were spread too thin; therefore, hard work put Savvy ahead of the game.

  She stifled a yawn. Given the early hour, it was lucky her commute was so short—an elevator ride from the fifteenth to the sixth floor, to be specific. One of the benefits of working in an artist’s loft was that zoning laws allowed her to live in the same building in which she worked. Samantha and Hunter, who lived on the eleventh floor, enjoyed the same convenience.

  Mallory slid open the heavy door to the loft and flipped on the lights, surveying the empty office. High industrial ceilings topped an open floor plan populated with four desks, a less-than-comfortable (but gorgeous) sculpted couch, a fully functioning kitchen, and a heavy oak conference-room table for staff meetings. Everything they could possibly need to go to advertising war and win, and over the last nine years, they’d done a pretty awesome job of it. Soho Savvy was gaining momentum in the advertising industry and was now considered one of the go-to firms in New York City. Mallory couldn’t have hoped for more when they’d first agreed to go into business together that night so many years ago, sitting on the floor of her apartment. It had taken a lot of work over a number of years, but their boutique size allowed the agency to provide their clients personalized service, and their innovative campaign ideas had more than one marketing exec raising an interested eyebrow. She and her friends had built the business one client at a time, and there was nothing in life Mallory was more proud of.

  “You headed inside?” Mallory jumped at the sound of Hunter’s voice behind her. “Or would you rather, you know, stare off into space a little while longer? Because we can do that.”

  “Whoa. So did not see you walk up,” Mallory said to Hunter, her hand over her rapidly beating heart. “What are you doing here this early? You’re not an early riser. This is odd.”

  “It’s Hamptons day,” Hunter said. “Since we’re heading out at noon, I thought I should get an early jump on things. I have an ad layout to get to Foster Foods before we close up shop.”

  “Gotcha. Me too. Not the ad, but the jump on things.”

  Hunter grinned at her and Mallory moved into the office. With spring newly upon them, she’d invited her friends to her family’s summer home on the beach in East Hampton. The place would go empty that weekend, and with the warmer temperatures, it would be fun to take advantage of a little fun in the sun, blow off some of the stress from the week.

  “Good morning, everyone,” Sam said, entering the loft behind them. “You’re here early,” she said to Mallory.

  “I didn’t know you were coming in early too,” Hunter said to Sam, who leaned in and placed a kiss on Hunter’s lips. “I’d have waited for you before coming down.”

  “Last-minute decision,” Sam said, moving to her desk and switching on her computer. “I want to price out some of the location stuff for the Serenity shoot so Mal can send it over to them for approval before we leave for,” she put both hands in the air and looked skyward in reverence, “the Hamptons. We’re going to the Hamptons today, you guys!”

  “Someone’s ready for a vacation,” Mallory said grinning. Sa
m’s happiness was contagious.

  Samantha shook her head, her medium-length auburn hair bouncing. “You have no idea. I plan to eat cheeseburgers and stare at the water and sleep in and maybe do some stretching, which I never get to do in real life. Stretching, you guys. It’s going to be a time. Do you hear me? A time.”

  Hunter passed Mallory a look. “No pressure or anything.”

  “None at all,” Mallory said back in amusement.

  “How is it everyone is here already?” Brooklyn asked from the loft’s door. “I was supposed to have been the early bird today. Why am I never the early bird?”

  “Because you’re Brooklyn, and that’s cosmically impossible,” Mallory offered calmly. “Let me guess. Half day at the office so you wanted to make sure you hit your deadlines before we head out?”

  “It’s like you read my thoughts,” Brooklyn whispered reverently. “Since we’re all here, should I make a Starbucks run? Please say yes.”

  “It would make you queen of the office,” Sam said promptly from behind her computer monitor.

  “Perfect, because I need to be queen of the office.” Brooklyn turned on her heel. “Her Corporate Majesty will be back shortly with java.”

  “Do we have to call her that?” Hunter asked Sam as the door slid closed behind Brooklyn.

  Samantha shrugged. “Just for an hour or so.”

  Hunter nodded and hopped up on the counter with her laptop the way Hunter often did. “I can do this. And after five hours of making this layout my bitch, we hit the road and I stare at the water from Mallory’s fancy beach house.”

  “I love Mal’s fancy beach house,” Sam said dreamily.

  “Then we should hurry up and get there. Five hours and counting.” Mallory stared at her watch, marking the time. “And, go!”

  With that, the Savvy office fell into silence and the team went to work. Mallory lost herself in press clippings and background research on what Big Top Theatres was all about as she sipped the latte Brooklyn had brought her. What she found was that the Big Top brand had garnered attention for being an unapologetic, edgy movie-theater chain that catered to younger audiences, selling alcohol and food, and taking the polite out of all customer-service announcements. Their cell-phone-policy videos were going viral on the Internet and garnering them a ton of buzz.