by S Doyle
I laughed at his self-deprecation and pulled out another one. “A cottage.”
He sneered. “I’m looking for something a little more impressive than that.”
“Yeah, well, I was fresh out of McMansion ornaments,” I said. “And, finally, the rest are these.”
I took out four different ornaments and lined them up behind the bride, groom, and cottage.
“Cats. You think I want a lot of cats?”
I pursed my lips. “Since I couldn’t bring you my vagina ornaments I had to get a little creative.”
“Pussies,” he said, completely nonplussed. “You brought me pussies to put on my tree.”
I couldn’t help myself and started laughing. Cackling, really.
“You are unique, Joy.”
He said it so sincerely, I stopped laughing. And because it sounded like a compliment, I flushed and started to lift my hand to push my hair behind my ear, but he caught it in midflight. Holding my hand as I was standing over his desk.
“Don’t do that. Just accept what I’m telling you is true. You’re not like anyone I’ve ever known before. I’m glad to be able to work with you. And that’s amazing, considering where we started.”
I looked at our joined hands. “You thought you knew me,” I reminded him.
“I was wrong.”
I liked that. That he could say he was wrong. That he’d made a mistake and was owning it. Something someone with a perpetual stick up his ass wouldn’t do.
“You’re maybe not entirely who I thought you were, either,” I offered.
He sat straighter then and let go of my hand. “Excellent. Then we’ve reached détente.”
I nodded. We’d reached something. “I’ll let you get on with your day.”
He nodded, too, and shoved his hands in his pockets. Almost like he was uncertain what he might do with them otherwise.
I made it to the door but then turned around. “An Audi? Really?”
He quickly picked up my disdain for his conservative choice in vehicles. “Let me guess. You drive a Mini Cooper because it’s good for the environment.”
“Ha!” I shouted triumphantly. “That is my car for now, but when the lease is up I plan to trade it in for a hybrid. So you will be wrong in…a couple of months.”
“My bad. I was way off.”
I smiled. “See you around…White Black, like a color coded thing?”
“Never going to happen, Joy.”
“Don’t be so sure,” I warned him. “I have my ways.”
For some reason I had this instantaneous flash of tickling the truth out of him about his name. That was definitely not office appropriate, so on that thought I left his office more quickly than I otherwise might have.
6
Seven weeks ago
W.B.
I was in the middle of typing up an email when I heard a knock on my office door. I glanced up and was immediately disappointed to see it wasn’t Joy entering. That made me frown. I shouldn’t be hoping for her company; I should be staying away from her company.
Because she was confusing me. I was not a man who liked to be confused.
“That’s not an I’m-happy-to-see-my-boss face,” Wes pointed out. “That’s an I’ve-got-bad-news-to-tell-my-boss face.”
I stood, an old military habit when a member of higher rank entered my space. I had learned, however, to repress the salute.
“Wes,” I said. “I told you we could schedule a meeting in your office. You didn’t have to come down here immediately.”
I’d sent him an email letting him know that we needed to talk, but was intentionally vague about the topic. He’d clearly read that as a bad sign. Since it was, I couldn’t fault him for it.
“I have a sense for when I’m about to get gut punched. It comes from being gut punched on a regular basis when it comes to this company. I didn’t want to put it off.”
He walked toward my desk but stopped when he noticed my tree in the corner of the office. Yes, I’d decorated the ornaments Joy had given me. It’s not like I could leave them sitting on my desk.
Her pussies on my desk.
Do not go there.
“Didn’t take you for a tree in the office kind of guy,” Wes said, wandering over to study it.
“I’m told everyone has one in the executive level offices.”
“Nope,” Wes, said shaking his head. “Sure, there are trees in the lobby and the break rooms. We are a Christmas ornament company. Got to show off the wares. But no, none in any of the executive offices.”
“I’m going to kill her,” I muttered under my breath.
“What was that?”
“Nothing,” I said. “Or nothing that should concern you. I’ll take it down immediately.”
“I didn’t say you couldn’t have one.” Wes laughed. “It’s nice. Except for the brown turd with the sunglasses.”
I closed my eyes. “It’s a blind date.”
Wes laughed. “Okay. And why all the cats? You a cat guy? You know Joy brings her cat, Jake, to work sometimes. Apparently he’s got separation anxiety and she thinks it helps him. You could hang with him if you get lonely.”
“I’ve met Jake. Thanks.” I wasn’t about to explain the cats. Or any of the other ornaments, for that matter.
“Joy made these,” Wes said with a hint of reverence in his voice. “Look at the detail on these cats. They’re exquisite. It’s almost like you could pet them, the fur seems so real.”
“Yes, Joy’s…cats…are very lovely,” I said, trying to remove all thoughts of the word pussy from my brain. “But you probably shouldn’t touch them. What with how delicate they are.”
Because I did not want Wes petting Joy’s pussies. Not that he would.
He turned away from the tree and took a seat across from me, his knees splayed, hands on thighs. Almost like he was bracing for impact.
Which he probably should. I sighed.
“Give it to me straight.”
“Someone,” I hedged, “is stealing from you.”
He blinked. “What?”
“Money is being embezzled from the company,” I said frankly. “I started to get suspicious when our orders were increasingly going up, but from a cash perspective we weren’t bouncing back like we should have. I had a lockdown on all expenses going out the door so I started looking harder. And I found it.”
Wes dropped his face into his hands. “Who would do…” He quickly stopped himself and looked at me.
Then he fell back into his chair as if resigned. “That son of a bitch. He’s determined to take us all down.”
“I don’t have proof,” I said to be clear. Even though he knew what conclusion I’d reached, as we’d had conversations in the past about what kind of man his father was. “To definitively declare it’s your father. I’m making conclusions based on who would have access to the accounts where the money is being embezzled from. In addition to who has motive. But I would have to do an audit of his financials to determine where he’s putting the money if you wanted to file charges.”
“Damn right I’m going to file charges,” Wes said, his hands clenched. “I’m tired of playing by his rules. Now he’s going to play by mine.”
“I’m sorry, Wes. I know this must be hard.”
“You have a crappy father too?” he asked me.
I shook my head. “No. I didn’t have a father at all. Crappy or otherwise. But I have a mother who I don’t have the best relationship with and it’s not easy. Not easy to not get along with a parent.”
He shook his head and looked out the window. “I don’t have any problem not getting along with my father. He is not a good man and his behavior doesn’t even surprise me anymore.”
“If it’s any consolation, he’s not hindering the company’s comeback. It’s slower than I would have liked, but we’re doing it. We’re digging out of the red and setting up for a very strong first quarter next year.”
Wes laughed. “High-end ornaments. Who knew?”
/>
“Not me,” I said with a huff. “I thought she was crazy when she pitched the idea, but really she’s got quite a head for business. Not at all who I thought she was.”
Wes gave me an assessing look. “Yeah, you seemed to peg her pretty early.”
I grimaced. How many times had Joy faulted me for the same thing? “She reminded me of someone. I think I tarred her with the same brush.”
“Ex-girlfriend?”
I shook my head. “No, my mother.”
“Ah, mommy issues. It’s all starting to make sense.”
I frowned. I didn’t have mommy issues. “My mother is, to this day, a very free spirit, which translates to never staying in any one place for very long. Or any belief that money is a necessary requirement in life. I grew up never really knowing where I was going to go to sleep that night. If I was going to go to school or not. If I was going to eat that day. I didn’t adjust well to it.”
“I’m sorry,” Wes said.
I shook off his pity. It hadn’t been easy but I’d overcome all of it. Her idea of homeschooling, which included my making hemp products for sale. Her idea of an adventure, which was running from cops because she didn’t have a license to sell her products. Her idea of stability, which could mean a motel room for a month, maybe two if I was lucky.
“Joy’s creative but she’s not a flake,” Wes stated, interrupting my memories.
I nodded. He was right. “I’ve come to learn that. She’s also very keen and has a mischievous sense of humor.”
Wes turned, looked back at the tree and laughed. “I get it. She bamboozled you into putting one up. Nice work. You know she’s also single.”
My eyebrows rose in surprise. “Should you be encouraging intracompany fraternization?”
“I’m not sure what that is, but I’ve known a lot of people who’ve worked here together who ended up dating. I’ve never done it myself, of course. And I’ve been engaged since last December. It’s just how it goes sometimes. You meet someone and it clicks.”
How it goes. Indeed. “I told you the type of woman I’m looking for. Joy matches none of my requirements. Other than intelligence, obviously.”
“You don’t want someone who is fun?” Wes asked.
“I want someone who wants the same things I want. I doubt that’s Joy.”
“How do you know until you ask?”
I laughed at that. “I can only imagine what she would say. Trust me, she has no interest in my type either. I’m far too rigid for her. No, we’re utterly incompatible.”
“So the search for Mrs. Darling continues,” Wes concluded.
“It does.” I sighed heavily. “I’ve got another date tonight.”
“Why do you sound like you’re going off to battle instead of going on a date?”
“Sometimes it feels like a battle,” I admitted. “We can’t all be as lucky as you. To fall in love so quickly.”
Wes smiled. “Yep, it was pretty simple. Done deal.”
“It’s not my place to intrude, Wes. But this is marriage. It should be forever. It all seems to have happened so fast. Are you sure you know what you’re doing?”
“Hell no.” Wes laughed. “But I’m sure it will work itself out. Right now we need to keep our eye focused on the real issues. I want you to make it so my father can’t take any more of my money, and I want to pursue every legal avenue we have to hold him accountable for it.”
“Got it.”
Wes stood then and took one last look at my tree.
“A shame,” he said under his breath, but didn’t offer any explanation for that.
Instead, he just let the office and I was left to think about that for the rest of the day.
LoDo’s Bar and Grill
Joy
“To our success,” I said, raising my margarita glass high. Sophie lifted her beer bottle and tapped the tip to my glass, which of course made it an official toast.
“What do you mean our success? They’re your goofy ornaments.”
I scowled at her. “Do not call my ornaments goofy. They’re brilliant, and if the orders stay on track they are going to save the company. That said, it’s been a team effort. I can make the design, but the artists need to execute. And we can build a product, but if we can’t figure out a way to ship them without breaking them, then that’s no good either.”
Sophie grinned. “I am a first-rate packer and shipper.”
“You are. Together we’re a team.”
“And if we didn’t have the finance guys to count up all the money…” Sophie said, trailing off.
“Also true. Without W.B. how would we know how successful we are?”
“Speak of the devil,” Sophie said. “I seem to say that a lot around this guy. It’s like wherever you are, he is.”
It took a second for those words to penetrate. Why would she say that unless he was…
Here. Now. This very second.
Walking through the bar doors. He wore a wool overcoat that I watched him shuck out of as soon as he was inside. He still wore his tie, but his white shirtsleeves were rolled up to his elbows. It was only then I noticed the woman who must have stepped inside just before him. He was now helping her remove her coat and she turned to thank him with a smile.
Oh shit. He was here on another date. Another blind date, most likely, as I knew his last date hadn’t ended well enough for there to be a second date.
She was pretty. A little buttoned up in her formfitting pantsuit with her dark hair severely pulled back into a tight ponytail. Not a thread or a hair out of order. Exactly his type.
This was awkward. There was no way I could sit and watch W.B. date someone. It was crossing too many boundaries. He wouldn’t want that either. Not having someone he worked with be at the same place where he was doing something as personal as getting to know a woman.
A woman he was auditioning to be the next Mrs. Darling.
“We should go,” I announced, picking up my drink with the intent to finish it off in a few big gulps. There was no reason to leave margarita behind.
I glanced over at them, gauging their distance from where we were at the bar. He hadn’t spotted me yet, which was good. The bar was busy, but it wasn’t packed on a Tuesday night. He would probably want a table or booth where they could order dinner. Frankly, I was surprised LoDo’s would be his choice for a first date. It seemed way too casual for him. Louder with more raucous conversation. He was a linen tablecloth guy, with napkins and soft classical background music.
So what was he doing here with her? I watched as he approached the hostess stand. While she looked around the place, her chin up in the air a bit, her nose wrinkled as if she was smelling something unappealing. Like fried food.
“You’re kidding, right?” Sophie asked. “He shows and we’ve got to go?”
“It would be awkward for him if he knew we were here. He’d feel self-conscious. A blind date is hard enough without knowing your coworkers are watching you.”
“And why would we be watching him?” Sophie asked, although there was a note of teasing in her voice.
I blinked at that. Because there was no way in hell I was going to be able to look away. To see how W.B. acted, how his date responded. I would watch them so intently, it would be fair if W.B. wanted to sell me a ticket.
“Just humor me. Finish your beer quickly and we’ll find another bar.”
She snorted. “You’ve totally got a thing for him.”
“I don’t!” I protested. “If anything I’m doing this to improve his chances with her. Oh no, they’re coming to the bar. Hurry!”
Except Sophie wasn’t rushing, and the only thing that happened was that W.B. and his date approached us as I was mid-guzzle of my margarita.
“Hey Joy,” W.B. offered.
I set the now-empty glass aside on the bar and could feel traces of salt around my lips.
Do not lick. Do not lick!
“You’ve got a little salt,” he said, pointing to the corner of his o
wn mouth.
Sophie snatched a napkin off the bar and passed it to me. I wiped my mouth and offered a lame wave.
“Hey, W.B.”
“Alexandria, this is Sophie and Joy. I work with them at Kane Co. Sophie, Joy, this is Alexandria. She’s an attorney at the firm Warner and Warner.”
Of course she is, I thought. Rather unkindly and with no real cause.
“We were just going,” I told him.
“Not quite yet,” Sophie said and lifted her half-full beer.
“We’re waiting for a table,” W.B. said. Then he turned to Alexandria. “Can I order you something to drink while we wait?”
“No, thank you. I don’t like to drink on first dates as I feel I should be using this time to make a detailed, intelligent assessment. Alcohol can lower inhibitions and dull the wits.”
“Ha.” Sophie laughed. “If we don’t lower our inhibitions and dull our wits, how are we ever going to find men worth the effort? Am I right, sister?”
I cringed and looked to W.B. as if to apologize for Sophie. He gave me a brief, don’t-worry-about-it smile.
Alexandria didn’t comment on Sophie’s statement. “Your business is close to here? Our time is limited, so W.B. suggested something close to his office.”
“Yes.” I smiled. “Our building is just a few blocks down. Sophie and I come here after work when we get a chance. Tonight we are celebrating. Our one thousandth order.”
W.B. beamed. “You heard. I wanted to tell you, but…”
He stopped. But he’d had to leave to go on his date. That was okay. It was totally fine.
I shrugged. “You know how it goes. Good news travels fast and bad news travels faster. I was happy this time it was good news.”
“So you work in a casual environment?” Alexandria asked this of W.B., but she was using her hand to reference my attire as she did it. I was in jeans, boots, and a super-oversized sweater that probably made me look like I was being swallowed by it.
“Yes. It can be,” he answered.
“But you do wear a tie?”
Sophie and I shared a quick look. Weird question, I thought. It was like whether or not he wore a tie to work mattered to her.
