by Layla Hagen
I spent the whole day glued to the laptop, double-checking every file before submitting it.
At seven o’clock, there was a light knock at the door. Mel poked her head in, then stepped inside with a plate with pizza.
“Don’t want to distract you. I wanted to bring you dinner.” She came to me, putting the plate on the desk next to the mouse. “Are you hungry?”
“Yes. For you.” I pulled her onto my lap the next second, kissing her hard and deep until she moaned. She smiled against my lips when she pulled back.
“Someone’s having naughty thoughts,” she teased.
“All day long. I can’t wait to finish this and sink inside you.”
“Oh my. Very naughty.”
“I’m taking tomorrow off, and I want you all for me.”
Her jaw dropped. “And you didn’t think about giving me a heads-up? I have sessions all day.”
“Rebook them. My head wasn’t in the game. But I bet I can convince you in record time.” I pulled her hips against mine.
She licked her lips, wiggling her ass. “I believe you have a robust case.” On a laugh, she added, “I’d better go before you lose your head for me.”
“That’s very likely to happen.”
Climbing off my lap, she headed to the door.
“Did you talk to the lawyer?” I asked.
“Yes. I’m giving her the report tomorrow.” She pointed at the laptop. “I’ll tell you everything later. Now, focus.”
With a smile, I trained my eyes back on the screen. I liked having Mel here with me, even if we weren’t in the same room. She rarely slept at her place these past few weeks, and honestly, I would prefer it if she didn’t leave at all. Her stuff was all over the condo—her book on the nightstand, her toiletries totally taking over my bathroom—but I didn’t mind one bit.
At eleven o’clock in the evening, I’d finally submitted everything. I was feeling euphoric but also exhausted. My eyes were blurry, and my plan to spend the night exploring Mel failed. She was in the shower when I went to the bedroom, and I lay down, intending to wait for her, but instead fell asleep.
The next morning, I woke up before Mel and headed straight to the living room, opening my laptop. I'd woken up with this conviction that I'd forgotten something, and I didn't like it one bit. I opened my email, checking for any unread emails from clients. There weren't any, but something was still nagging at me. I started to double-check the documents I’d uploaded yesterday on the competition’s portal.
The doorman announced that my brother was here two hours later, and I knew I’d screwed up somehow. Something had happened. I hadn’t just imagined it. He’d flown in last evening, and it wasn’t like him to show up at my place at eight o’clock in the morning.
My mind was racing as I opened the front door at the same time that I heard the elevator ping. My brother stepped out of it, and if I hadn't known before that something was off, now I had confirmation just by looking at him.
First, Ian never woke up so early, and second, he’d spent over thirty seconds in my presence and hadn't cracked one joke.
Stepping inside the apartment, he closed the door behind him.
"Spill it," I said. “I woke up thinking something's off, and I can’t figure out what.”
Ian leaned against the wall, crossing his arms over his chest. “I got a call from the jury. Our submission is missing the addendum explaining the KPIs for the first year after launch.”
"Fuck," I exclaimed. “Fuck, fuck, I completely forgot about the addendum.”
Ian didn't say anything. Yeah, it wasn't on any list either, so no one from the team could remind me about it. That was entirely my fault. I didn't always write down the things that were my responsibility because I remembered them from the top of my head.
"Fuck," I repeated. "They officially withdrew our application?" I asked. Ian nodded. I swore again. My brother wasn't saying it, but it was 100 percent my fault. This had been my responsibility. I was in charge of this.
"The question is how do we go about solving it?" Ian continued. I'd never seen my brother so beaten. I’d let him down, and I hated it.
"Honestly, I don't know," I admitted. Pacing my living room, I admitted something else. “I've been a bit distracted the past few weeks. Last night too.”
“Mel told me.”
I stopped pacing, staring at him. “She did?”
“Yeah. Me and Isabelle. She wanted to organize a celebratory dinner today. Shit. I wasn’t supposed to say that. It was a surprise. Anyway, what with everything going on yesterday? It’s understandable.”
"No it's not. We've been working on this for a year, and now because I screwed up, it's all been for nothing. I'm going to fix this as soon as I can think about a strategy."
Ian nodded. "We’ll think of something. I came to tell you because I assumed you didn't know. I didn't want you to go into the office and hear about it from the others. I'm going there now to tell them everything.”
“I’m coming with you. Give me five minutes to get ready.”
“I’ll wait downstairs and order an Uber here. Unless Jeffrey is here?”
“Nah, I told him I didn’t need him this morning. I was planning to take the day off.”
“Okay, Uber it is. See you in a bit,” he said before leaving.
I took in a deep breath, trying to gather my faculties. I was wearing jeans and a casual T-shirt, but I wasn’t in the mood to change into anything more formal. I put on shoes, doing every movement on autopilot. My mind was trying to come up with a solution for this clusterfuck.
A small noise caught my attention just as I was about to leave. Turning around, I saw Mel in the doorway of the living room.
"Hey, since when have you been up?" I asked.
"A while ago. I heard voices and didn't know what happened. Then I came out, and I didn't want to interrupt."
"I'm going to head to the office today. I know I said I’d take today off, but I screwed up, so I have to find a way to fix it."
"I'm sorry," she whispered.
"What do you have to be sorry about?" I was thoroughly confused.
"You've been bending over backward for me over the past few weeks, and then Elliot showed up. It was the last thing you needed.”
“It wouldn’t have happened if I’d documented every fucking step of the way, the way everyone else does, so I can be reminded I'm screwing up when I am. Everyone's worked on this for a year.” I wasn't too proud to admit that I felt defeated. I was failing myself, and I also felt like I was failing my parents, even though that was ridiculous. "I need to go to the office now. Ian is waiting downstairs, but I'll pick you up later, okay? So we can get together to see the lawyer."
"No. I think you should focus on your submission and your team. I’ll deal with everything else these next couple days.” Biting her lip, she looked around. “I’m going to get out of your hair too.”
“What?”
“I don’t think my being here is helping your focus. I should go home for a while.”
I looked at her, stunned. My chest tightened. A vein was pulsing in my temple. Was she serious? I was going through a crisis, and the first thing she wanted to do was bolt? I needed her. Couldn’t she see that? Didn’t she care?
I had no idea what to say back. Anger coursed through me, overpowering confusion. But I didn't have time for this now. Ian was waiting for me.
"We'll talk about this later," I said and then headed out of the apartment, taking the stairs. I had too much energy to wait for the elevator.
What the hell did that mean? As much as I thought and twisted her words in my mind, I didn't reach a conclusion by the time I joined my brother. We both got into the car. The second I closed the door, my brother started talking about the submission, but he stopped as abruptly as he began. I glanced at him. He was staring at me.
"What's wrong?" he asked.
I grunted.
"That's not an answer."
I didn't say anything for a fe
w seconds, then just prompted, "You were talking about the submission."
"Yes, but that was before I saw how you look."
"And how do I look?" I challenged.
"Like you're about to punch something."
"I screwed up. Of course I'm pissed."
"No, there's more to this than that. Did something happen with Mel?"
“Ian....”
“Holy shit, I’m right. Is Elliot being a jackass again? Just saying, he can meet my right hook too.”
“No. I don’t want to talk about it. Look, the competition is important here. Let's focus on that."
Ian looked at me for a few seconds, then shook his head.
"What are you doing?" I asked, watching him take out his phone.
"What I do every time I have no clue what’s going on. I'm asking Isabelle to investigate."
***
Mel
For the first time, I wasn't in the mood to be at Genesis. I’d planned to call them this morning to tell them I needed the day off after Dylan told me last night that he wanted to spend the day with me. After our fight, though, I figured it was best to keep myself occupied.
Wrong decision.
Facing clients and putting on a cheerful smile was impossible, especially when one of those clients was Isabelle.
Her session started right after lunch. I waited for her in our small training room.
"Hey, Isabelle," I greeted when she came in.
"Hey."
"Do you want to do the usual routine today, or want me to add up some more abs exercises?"
"Your call."
I looked at her very closely. Something was off. She seemed different, more subdued, and not as chatty as usual. And it dawned on me that maybe she knew something was wrong.
"Did you speak to Dylan?" I asked carefully while Isabelle rolled out her mat.
She immediately straightened up, pointing at me. "Aha. No, just with Ian. We're trying to figure out what’s happening. I first thought that maybe Ian was way off the mark, but he clearly wasn’t. Something did happen."
I felt miserable. I sat cross-legged on the mat, putting a hand on my chest. "I messed up. I wanted to help, but I think I made things worse."
Isabelle sat on her mat, looking at me intently. "Tell me everything."
I told her about the conversation with Dylan after Ian left. The more I spoke, the more skeptical she looked at me. Once I was done, I pressed my lips together, waiting for her answer.
“Wait a second. How did you think this was going to be helpful? In the middle of an emergency at work, you essentially told him that you’re leaving him to deal with it alone."
I started closing my eyes. "That was not what I meant. Shit. That's how it came across, didn't it?" I opened my eyes again, feeling even more miserable than before.
Isabelle was frowning and tugging at her lower lip with her teeth. "Yes, I think it did. As I said, I haven't spoken to Dylan yet, but I do know how my brother ticks." She trained her gaze on me, and I swear to God I felt as if she could see right through me. "There's something else on your mind, isn't it?"
"How can you tell?" I asked a bit nervously.
"I'm a counselor. It's my job to interpret nonverbal cues."
"I feel guilty that he's in this situation at all. That if it weren't for me—"
"Hold it right there," she said, holding her palm up. "If it weren't for you, my brother would still be closed off and unhappy. Listen to me. He cares about you. I have never seen him so happy, you understand? That's all that matters. Everything else can be fixed."
"Can it, though?" I asked. “Ian said their submission was withdrawn, and I know how important the project is to him.”
“Not more important than you. Can I give you my professional opinion?”
“Sure.”
“I think the encounter with Elliot brought up some stuff for you.”
“It pissed me off.” I bit my lip, realizing Isabelle was right. There was more to it than being annoyed. His words had hit a nerve.
“Ha! I can see you’re having an aha moment.” She twirled a finger in front of my face. I got a bit dizzy. “You know what would help? A long walk with a friend where you can talk it all out.”
I shook my head. “I have back-to-back sessions today.”
I didn’t even have time to meet with the lawyer. Luckily, Charlotte stopped by the gym to pick up the police report, and she was getting the necessary documents to the lawyer for me. I loved my friend to pieces.
Isabelle grinned, holding up a finger. “I have a solution. We can go during my session. We still have over an hour left. I volunteer to be the friend, obviously.”
Her grin was contagious. I smiled, despite still feeling like I had a rock on top of my shoulders. "You're really not in the mood for training, are you?"
Isabelle shrugged. "I never am, but today I have a legitimate reason to get out of it. So, what do you think?”
I laughed, getting up from the mat. “Let’s do it. If there was ever a good excuse to skip training, it’s this.”
“That’s my girl.”
Chapter Twenty-seven
Dylan
"I think a personal plea is going to work better," I told Ian. We’d spent all day on the phone with various members of the committee in Seattle, and it had been pointless. We’d been among the finalists, and they all heavily hinted that we would have won this thing. But now I’d screwed it up.
We were both in my office, sitting on the couch. He took out his phone, probably to check our flights.
"I agree. I think they want us to win. Two planes are going out today. There are no seats available for the last one, but there are still seats for the one leaving in two hours."
"Okay, that's good to know," I said, rolling my shoulders. They were stiff from holding a phone to my ear all day.
"Are you going to tell me what's going on with Mel?"
"No."
He rolled his eyes. "I know anyway."
"You talked to Mel?”
"No. Isabelle had a session with her today."
"What did she say?" I straightened up, looking at him intently.
He flashed me a shit-eating grin, lying back on the couch, crossing one leg on top of the other as if he had no care in the world.
"Oh, you think this is how it works, right? You reply with a grunt, or if I'm lucky, you give me a one-word answer, but I’m supposed to tell you everything?"
"Ian," I cautioned.
He cocked a brow, clearly not impressed.
"You know what? Talk to Isabelle. She went on and on, and I kind of tuned out."
I froze. "She went on and on?” What exactly did she have to go on and on about? What did Mel tell her? "You're no help."
"Hell yes I am. I got Isabelle on the case, didn't I?"
Ian rose from the couch, straightening the collar of his shirt. "I'll be next door in my office. Let me know about the plane tickets. We don't have much time. We have to go out ASAP if we want to make it."
"I know," I said, rubbing my jaw. As soon as I was alone, I called Isabelle. She answered before the first ring was even over.
"I’m impressed. It took you less than a minute to call me after Ian left your office."
I shook my head, even though she couldn't see me. "You two are still on my case."
"Obviously. What are siblings for?"
I laughed. "Right now, I don't know the answer to that.”
"I know it, brother dearest! We dote on you, and you love it. You just don’t always admit it. How is it going with the appeal?"
"Let me get this straight. You and Ian gossiped all day, but you didn't ask him about it?"
"Hey, we had other priorities. Besides, you don't have to answer. I was using it as a warm-up to get you in in the mood for talking."
I laughed. My siblings were something else. "Isabelle, what did you and Mel talk about today?"
"Well, she told me about your fight.”
"I have no idea what happe
ned this morning," I admitted. “She just said those things, and I was too stunned to reply."
"And let me guess, then you got angry."
"How do you know that?" I stopped pacing, listening intently, not wanting to miss one word.
“Because you're my brother. And you've got your issues too. Look, both of you do. Her last relationship broke up because the guy considered her a burden. Your last relationship broke up because she wasn't ready for the next step with you.”
"This morning, her reaction didn’t make sense, but now it does.”
“So... do you have a plan? Need my help?”
“I’m working on one, but I have to fly out to Seattle to sort out this mess.”
“I know. Ian told me. The plane leaves in two hours.”
I laughed, clasping the phone tighter. These two were taking gossiping to a whole new level.
“I can help.” Her tone was conspiratorial like when we were kids and she offered to play peacemaker between Ian, me, and our parents when we got in trouble. She was terrible at it then, but she’d sharpened her skills over the years.
“Good. I was hoping you’d say that.”
“Yes! Fire away, brother. I’m up for anything.”
***
Mel
“This was delicious,” I said as I threw the empty food containers in the bin. I’d stopped by Dad’s with curry. “It’s super late. I think I’m going to go.”
“Is there something on your mind, Mel?” Dad asked.
I wasn’t surprised that he picked up on my worries. After the walk with Isabelle, I didn’t even have time to breathe for the rest of the day. I had back-to-back sessions, but my thoughts turned into a dark cloud as soon as I left Genesis. I didn't want to worry him, but I didn't want to keep everything inside either, not just because I felt I might explode but because I wanted to hear Dad's opinion.
I sat down at the table, telling him everything. It poured out of me.
"I screwed up, Dad, and I want to make it up to him."
"Good girl. You do that. Don't stay upset with each other too long. It's not good. Be honest. Tell him everything."
"Thanks, Dad."
"Now, come on, off you go. You've coddled me enough."
