From This Day Foward: Switched at Marriage Part 4

by Gina Robinson

  "I've heard they're wild. People scrambling for treasures. Pawing through boxes. Like a huge garage sale on steroids." I couldn't keep my excitement at the thought of a sample sale out of my voice. Who didn't love a hotly contested race for the best bargains at a sample sale?

  Ophie gently lifted one eyebrow, clearly not pleased with my description of the delightful mayhem. Like I'd offended her.

  "Yes, well. Keeping the sales organized and under control is like trying to herd cats. We group items by category and size. But within minutes, everything's a mess." She went on to elaborate the trials of running a sample sale.

  It was clear the merch people, with their interest in fashion and style, with their foreign creative thought processes and right-brained activity, weren't her kind of people. She didn't relate to them. Nor they to her. I didn't anticipate having that kind of problem.

  We were winding down when my phone rang. Ophie waved at me impatiently, in that dismissive way. "Go ahead and take your call." She began clearing our plates and cups.

  I glanced at my phone and my heart flipped. "Lazer!"

  "Hey, princess."

  "Princess, indeed! Like you would know. You've been suspiciously absent online lately."

  "I've been online. Just not when you are, apparently. And sadly." He laughed. "I'll be on tonight. Around ten. If you're available, ask Jus to join us. We'll make it a threesome."

  I laughed. A threesome, indeed.

  Ophie pretended disinterest, but was eavesdropping, clearly.

  I turned my back to her as I scooped up my things. "To what do I owe the pleasure of this call?"

  "I'm calling with an offer of help. Jus tells me you're taking over his philanthropic arm, particularly that monster of a sample sale and the annual gala. I have a wonderful, efficient admin intern whose services I'd like to offer. Free of charge. Think of it as a charitable donation. She has a heart for charitable work and is looking to enter the non-profit sector when she finishes her MBA. Taking her on would be a favor to both of us.

  "She's so efficient, I'm having a hard time keeping her busy enough. She has experience with charities and fundraising. Can you use her for a few months until she heads back to school?"

  "You must have read my mind. I was just thinking I need an assistant."

  "Good. Let's arrange for you to meet her. If you like her, she's yours. For a while, at least."

  "Excellent." I hesitated. "Lazer, I wanted to tell you how much I love my character." And wished she wasn't such a damsel in distress. "Will she be part of the public release of the game?"

  "Absolutely!"

  Ha! I thought. Jus and his silly theories.

  When I glanced over my shoulder, I didn't like the way Ophie was looking at me. Like I was a specimen in a jar, one whose wings were about to be pinned.

  * * *

  I walked the three blocks back to the office with Ophie. She was amazingly chipper. Which put me on edge. Just what did she suddenly think she had up on me? At the office, she introduced me to the receptionist, got me a visitor's badge, and grudgingly dropped me off at Justin's door. Earlier, he'd insisted he be the one to show me around.

  "Website's up and running like it should be again. But I only have a few minutes." He looked harried, but beaming. "I'll have to give you the quick version of the tour on the way to Marla's office. Sorry, babe. I'll give you a more thorough tour another time."

  Look at the way he called me babe. Wasn't he adorable?

  I stared out at the view from his office in awe. "No wonder you don't want to come home. This view is better than the penthouse's!"

  He laughed. "If you like mountains." He was staring at me. "The view from in here is pretty damn good." He took my arm. "Come on. Let me introduce you to Riggins first. His office is next door."

  Unfortunately, Riggins was out.

  "You'll meet him at the happy hour tonight." Jus took me by the elbow and gave me the five-minute tour, showing me off with obvious husbandly pride to everyone we met. And equally, showing Flashionista off with the proud manner of a founding father.

  The Flash offices were a dream come true to someone like me. The photography department was full of backdrops, props, and cutting-edge fashion and clothes, clothes, clothes! Plus accessories galore. Complete and utter heaven.

  He introduced me to Barry, the head of facilities, Wylie, head of operations, and finally dropped me off at the office of the head buyer, Marla.

  We hit it off immediately. She was older than I was, but we quickly discovered common ground. We'd both graduated from the same university. We immediately broke into stories of the professors we'd had and the stunts we'd pulled.

  "We have quite a few alum here. I'll introduce you," she said.

  It turned out there were more than a few. I had nearly a dozen fellow former classmates working at Flash. I met at least a half-dozen more senior merch buyers who were in charge of categories. After the initial awkwardness over me being the boss' wife, the formality and standoffishness quickly wore off. We were soon laughing and joking. I was high on the feeling of being surrounded by so many like-minded people. It felt like being back in the sisterhood. These were my peeps.

  Ideas about the sample sale and event flew at the speed of sound. I had no idea why Ophie had so much trouble with the buyers. If she'd only not looked down her nose at them as her intellectual inferiors…

  The merch buyers explained the decision process used to determine what went into the sale, how they contacted the suppliers, and the reasons why some samples were in doubt until the last minute.

  Just before five, I got a text from Jus saying he was running late. What a shock. Ha! I was impressed that he was actually going to try to leave by five.

  The girls invited me to come along with them to the bar. I texted Jus that I'd meet him there.

  At the bar, I settled into a large booth with three of my former classmates and two new girls. I ordered a lemon drop, because what was better on a hot summer day than a cool lemon drink rimmed with sugar?

  Now that we were out of the office, the conversation turned personal.

  "I can't believe you married Justin Green!" my former classmate Sarah said.

  Yes, I'd expected this line of conversation. I opened my mouth to respond with the usual But he's changed so much—

  "He's absolutely the most completely adorable billionaire anywhere! I dare you to find another one like him in the whole wide world. You're so incredibly lucky." Sarah leaned forward on her elbows toward me. "Any of us would have loved to bed that boy! And marry him? Wow! That was the ultimate fantasy. How did you do it?"

  I shrugged, dumbfounded. Had Sarah not known Jus in college? Had his growth spurt and bearded transformation happened before he started Flash? Had he banished that awkward, nerdy behavior and nervousness around girls so quickly after college?

  The rest of the girls leaned forward with her, cooing their agreement.

  "He was sweetly scruffy before," one of the girls said. "Now that you've obviously fixed him up, he's absolutely delectable. Totally hot in that hip Seattle way. He has the vibe."

  "Tell us your secret!" the girl on my right said.

  The conversation flew, bouncing around the table so rapidly it was hard to keep track of the speakers.

  "One of us can still land a billionaire. Riggins is single. The dream remains alive until the last billionaire is wed."

  "Or dead."

  The girls laughed.

  "I don't know," another said. "He's so much less approachable than Justin."

  "Way more GQ, you mean."

  "And sophisticated."

  "Justin was the catch, I admit it. There's something sweet and attainable about him."

  "And yet killer," the blond new girl said. "He can definitely take out the competition. In fact, he has. Remember how he shut down that competing startup? His algorithms blew them out of the water."

  "There's also something sexy about a brainy guy." The other new girl sighed. "Especially
when he's hot and he doesn't know it."

  "Justin is always so nice to us. Remember when he invented buyer's day and took us all out to lunch and gave us each a bouquet of flowers he picked up at the market?"

  Another girl nodded. "Yes, but that was back when Flash was so much smaller. A fourth its current size. Still, what boss does that? And that was before the IPO, which is really what made him rich."

  "Used his own money, too, not company money."

  "And he started the sample sales just for us," the buyer whose name I kept getting mixed up said. Courtney? "Just before Christmas so we could all buy fabulous presents for everyone. Our salaries were crap at the time. I got my mom a necklace and sweater worth hundreds for under ten dollars. That was three years ago. She still wears them and brags about the compliments she gets on them."

  "And he always comes to happy hour when he can. And buys a round of drinks."

  "And sings karaoke like a good sport."

  Five heads nodded.

  Sarah took charge again. "So? How'd you do it, Kayla? What's your secret?"

  Five pairs of eyes stared at me with admiration and the hope that I would impart the secret formula for bedding a billionaire.

  I was dizzy from the bouncing conversation. "Get them drunk?" I made a face and shrugged.

  The girls all laughed like I was kidding.

  "Well, that's easy enough," Sarah said. "Especially here! But it can't be the whole truth. We've tried to ply Justin with booze before and come up empty-handed. Give us the details. Spill your love story!"

  I fed them the approved story, trying to make it sound as romantic as possible. Which it wasn't, of course. How do you make the romance of the century out of two college acquaintances meeting up again, getting hammered, and tying the knot?

  "Hmmmm…" Sarah pulled her mouth to one side. "The secret seems to be getting sent on business to the Reno fulfillment center. A city where quickie weddings can easily be performed twenty-four seven. And then getting them drunk. And wed."

  "Exactly," I said, feeling mellow from my lemon drop.

  Everyone laughed.

  "So now we just have to get Riggins to take one of us to Reno on business. Easy, right? Should we draw straws to see who gets the honor?"

  "Yeah, but Riggins isn't an easy mark. He holds his alcohol too well."

  "And he likes the expensive stuff. The stuff out of range of our budgets."

  "Unless he's buying!"

  They nodded in unison, like a dance troupe or a group of Sea Gals. Just then Jus walked in the door next to a tall, immaculately groomed guy with a delicious head of hair, who was wearing the latest, trendiest in men's summer fashion. I knew in an instant I must be looking at Riggins in the flesh. His pictures didn't do him justice. He oozed charisma, if that was possible. Next to him, Jus just looked…young.

  When Jus spotted me, his face lit up, transforming him. He waved and came toward us with Riggins in tow.

  "Well, aren't we lucky?" Sarah whispered. "Here they come." She sighed as she eyed Riggins. "We'll all be hanging with you from now on, Kayla. You're our new bestie."

  The men stopped in front of our booth. I was on the end. I slid out and kissed Jus, to mark him as mine as much as for show.

  I hadn't realized just quite how well loved and loved to be loved he was. Once he ditched me, he would have no problem finding a new mate among his staff. Maybe I should even pick her out and throw him her direction. Anything to keep him from Ophie. My stomach tightened at the thought. There was that little green monster again. Selfish, selfish.

  Jus introduced me to Riggins, who was polite and pleasant, but slightly aloof. Maybe he was just hard to get to know. I remembered the girls saying he was less approachable than Jus. But I thought it was more than that. He was evaluating me. Taking my stock as if his stock in Flash depended on it. Which it did. But he couldn't know how much.

  Still, I supposed he wasn't wild about Jus marrying on the spur of a drunken moment. With presumably no prenup. To someone who could be a gold-digging woman who ended up with half of Justin's part of the company in a nasty divorce. And accompanying media blitz. When I put it like that, no wonder he was leery.

  Riggins didn't know about the ironclad postnup, obviously. And I couldn't reassure him. We'd just have to tiptoe around each other until he grew to trust me. Or maybe until I left in a year with "only" ten million of Justin's pocket change.

  The bar quickly filled with Flash employees getting off shift. Riggins, flashing his enigmatic GQ smile, ordered a round of drinks for everyone on him. And made an elegant, thoughtful toast to us.

  Jus introduced me to more and more staffers until I was completely overwhelmed with names and titles and job descriptions and personal details. The way Jus knew every employee's name was impressive. And so personal. He treated each employee, no matter how new and lowly, as if they mattered to him and were an old friend.

  He asked them about their assignments and whether they were happy. He asked about their families and their pets. He remembered intricate details of their lives, as if each one was one of his closest friends. I realized then it wasn't at all surprising he knew, and remembered, so much about my parents and their home. I shouldn't have been either creeped out or flattered. That was just Jus being Jus. And so were the flowers he'd sent ahead. And the champagne.

  I was swept away from my merch buyer friends and ended up at a bar-height table near the karaoke stage, sitting between Riggins and Jus. Jus held my hand in one hand and a beer in the other. The bar was noisy and loud. I was trying to hear something Riggins was saying when a chant went up for karaoke to commence.

  And then, like two good sports, Riggins and Jus excused themselves to take the stage.

  Riggins took the mic. "My buddy Jus and I usually kick the night off with one of our classic duets."

  "I don't know if classic quite describes them!" someone heckled.

  Riggins ignored it. "But tonight Jus has asked to open the night with a solo. So, Jus, my man, take it away." He slapped Jus on the back and took his seat next to me.

  Jus cleared his throat. "This one's for my bride. She hasn't been to one of these before—"

  "She's in for a treat," one of the guys called out.

  "So go easy on her," Jus said with a grin. "And me. And if you don't like the music selection, don't blame me. It's eighties night tonight." He turned to the DJ. "Maestro?"

  And then he broke into a round of "You Make My Dreams Come True" by Hall and Oates, singing just to me. Although the song had come out before I was born, I knew it from the oldies station Mom listened to. And that movie 500 Days of Summer. Which was the best breakup movie, ever. I should know. I'd watched it after every breakup with Eric. Including the last one.

  Thinking about my inevitable breakup with Jus, I got a lump in my throat. But this song was from the scene where the hero, Tom, is madly in love with Summer. It was so upbeat, you couldn't help dancing along to it in your seat. At least tap your feet.

  Justin jumped around, mimicking the dancing in the movie, badly. But he was still cute. Even though his moves needed work and would scare off the bluebird of happiness before it landed on his finger, like it did on Tom's.

  But Justin's voice! His voice. Deep and true and beautiful. Toe-curling sexy. Penetrating to the soul. Fun and filled with joy and good humor. His eyes sparkled. His smile was brilliant. He was having the time of his life up there. I didn't know why I should have been so surprised. His speaking voice was to die for. And his humming voice pleasant and on key.

  I caught a glimpse of Ophie in the crowd. She was sitting at a table on the perimeter of the stage. She had a look of rapture on her face while Jus sang. I could only imagine how much she roiled inside knowing he was singing to me.

  He pointed to me as he sang and danced, if you could call it that, to the table. He took my hand and pulled me onto the stage with him so he could look deep into my eyes as he sang. The crowd of his employees ate it up. There's nothing like seeing the
boss make a fool of himself on stage and in love.

  I loved dancing. I'd taken years of lessons. So I played along, moving with the song while he sang. Even wrapping myself around him when the lyrics called for it.

  His employees loved it, clapping and bouncing to the upbeat song about, well, a girl making a guy's dreams come true. Duh.

  When the song ended, Jus pulled me into a kiss. The crowd erupted in applause. Riggins, Wylie, and four other guys came up on stage. And then, in another movie moment, the seven guys broke into an a cappella version of the theme song from the eighties movie The Breakfast Club, "Don't You (Forget About Me)," with me at the center like they were all wooing me.

  They were wonderful. The moment was perfect. I was breathless and happier than I could have imagined.

  The door to the bar opened. A noisy group of guys tumbled in. I looked over at them just as the tall, good-looking jock of the group locked gazes with me.

  Eric.

  Crap. There went my perfect moment.

  What’s Next and a Free Offer

  The story continues…

  If you liked From This Day Forward, you’ll want to read For Richer, For Richest, Episode 5 of Switched at Marriage, right away!

  For Richer, For Richest

  Switched at Marriage 5

  Jet City Billionaires

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  Thank You!

  Thanks for reading From This Day Forward. I hope you enjoyed it!

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