Christmas Cowboy

by Claire Adams

  “Hey, Gretchen, there you are!” Mina said, catching my elbow and saving me from myself.

  Finally. I pasted a smile on my face, but I could see the knowing look in her eyes; she knew exactly what she'd interrupted. She nodded at Lino. “Sorry, I need Gretchen's help with something over there,” she said, nodding off toward the crowd, not even bothering to come up with an excuse. She had never really liked Lino all that much.

  “Yeah, all right.” Lino tilted his head to the side as I took a few steps back with Mina. “Call me sometime and let’s get a drink. My treat?”

  “Sure.” I turned and ran my hand down my face. “That guy. I swear.”

  She tugged me away, and I breathed a sigh of relief. “Thanks,” I said.

  “What the hell was that?” Mina asked. “I thought you were done with him.”

  “I am,” I insisted. “We've been done for a year now. You know that. You'd be the first person to know if something was happening between the two of us again. But no, there's nothing happening. He just came up to say hi.”

  “It didn't look like you were just saying hi to one another,” Mina told me. “It looked like you were fucking one another with your eyes.”

  I sighed. “Yeah, well. There's always going to be feelings there, Mina. We dated for over a year. And we had really good sex.”

  Mina groaned. “I knew you just needed to get laid,” she said. “You need to get out more, girl. There are plenty of guys on this island who would love to sleep with you. Guys who aren't assholes.”

  “He's not an asshole,” I told her.

  “That's not what we agreed when he left you.”

  “Okay, he's kind of an asshole. But he's a good guy deep down. Anyway, it's not like he's trying to start up a relationship with me again or anything like that. He just wants to fuck me. I'm not going to do that again, so.”

  Mina shook her head. “I still don't think you should even bother talking to him,” she said. “The guy's a total jerk, and for all that you trust your willpower and your ability to withstand his advances…”

  “You think I'd just as happily bend over for him,” I said, feeling hurt by that.

  “Come on, Gretchen,” Mina said, clearly sensing that I was upset. “Look, let's steal a bottle of wine and go sit by the water, just the two of us.”

  I wanted to protest, but it would have been purely on principle. “Okay,” I agreed. A bottle of wine with my best friend was pretty much the only thing I'd wanted with that night anyway. I gave Lino once last fleeting look. His eyes were still trained on me, with a look that I couldn't decipher.

  Chapter Five

  Christian

  Monday morning came too soon. After Friday afternoon's comments, I honestly wasn't entirely ready to go back to the office and see the others, especially George. I was afraid I might say something I would regret. But there was no avoiding it. I would just have to do my best to keep myself busy with personal projects that day and use that as momentum to get back into the swing of things.

  I ducked into my normal place to get coffee and waited impatiently in line, bouncing a little on my toes and glancing at my watch. I looked over at the newsstand and started reading through the headlines, just for something to do. Then, I saw one that caught my eye.

  Oh fuck.

  I got out of line and went over to pick up the magazine, frowning at the picture there on the cover. It had been taken on Friday night, as I tumbled out of the club with that other woman. And worst of all, it had a bright yellow splash in the corner that claimed to have the full interview with me printed in it, as well as interviews with Kelly and the girl.

  I swallowed hard, wondering if I even wanted to know. But no doubt, everyone around the office was going to know all the contents of whatever it was. Best to prepare myself for the inevitable meeting.

  When I got to the office, Paul was the only other owner there already. I slipped into his office without even asking and shut the door behind me. Paul sighed and gestured me toward a seat.

  “This is a bad one,” Paul said, as though I didn't already know that.

  “So, what's going to happen?” I asked. “You guys aren't going to dissolve Sunshine Real Estate; you know that, and I know that. And you know it would be ridiculous for you to try to buy me out of the contract. Even if you did manage to get rid of me from the company, you need me. I'm the face of this company. Get rid of me and-”

  “Whoa, whoa, whoa,” Paul said, holding up both hands. “Slow down, man. No one's talking about getting rid of you. George might mention something like that, but he doesn't even really mean it. It's not just about the company needing you, either. We've been together for years now. Despite all the bad press that you've landed us and the fact that we're all in totally different points in our lives now, you're an integral part of this company. We wouldn't just abandon you.”

  I frowned and shook my head. “Then what are you guys talking about doing?”

  Paul sighed. “There does need to be some sort of action,” he said. “You know that.”

  “Yeah,” I admitted. “But-”

  Before we could talk more, there was a knock at the door, and George stuck his head in. He didn't seem surprised to find me in there with Paul. In fact, he probably didn't even bother going to my office first. “We're having a meeting,” he announced. Again, no one was surprised.

  Paul and I got up and followed him down to the same conference room that we'd used last Friday for the disastrous meeting that had forced my “bad conduct” in the first place. I sullenly took a seat, folding my arms across my chest and waiting for them to speak, because I knew that if I tried to speak first, they were just going to interrupt me.

  George tossed the magazine that I had already seen down on the table and followed it up with four or five similar productions. Probably the worst one was where they had caught a picture of me slapping the random girl's ass. I coughed a little, honestly a bit embarrassed by that one.

  “Yeah,” George said, frowning at me. He had his arms folded across his chest and was still standing, clearly trying to intimidate me.

  I shrugged as the silence stretched on. “Look, I don't know what you want me to say,” I said.

  Alex snorted. Paul grimaced. George slammed a hand on the table. “Maybe we'd like you to apologize for being so arrogant and immature,” he snarled. “Maybe we'd like you to quit being so stupid. You always remind us that you're the face of this company. How can you not realize that that goes beyond the promo shoots and the TV appearances and everything else? Anything that you do, at this point, seems to be in the public eye.”

  “But it shouldn't be,” I said.

  Alex laughed. “There you go again with that incredible immaturity,” he scoffed. He mimicked me in a high whine, “But it shouldn't be.” He shook his head. “It is, though, Christian. You know that it is. Whether you think it's your private business or not, you have to realize how much you're tarnishing the company image with these stupid shenanigans of yours.”

  “Oh, for the last time!” I snapped. “I'm not tarnishing the company's image.”

  “Aren't you?” George retorted. “Then do you want to explain to me why our stock declines every time you end up on the news?” I blinked at him, and he rolled his eyes. “You didn't even know that, did you? You never pay attention to anything that has to do with the actual company side of things. You shouldn't even be an owner in the company. You've got no head for any of this, and-”

  “What are you going to do?” I snarled, getting to my feet as well because I'd had it with him trying to assert his dominance. “I am an owner of the company. Unless you want to dissolve the company or-”

  “We're not getting rid of you,” Paul interrupted soothingly, about time that he spoke up! “George, come on. You know Christian belongs in this company. He's been brilliant at marketing us and at making us what we are today. Maybe he hasn't always acted in the best interests of the company, but that doesn't mean he doesn't deserve to be at this
table just as much as the rest of us. We've all made sacrifices over the years, and we've all worked hard.”

  “What are you going to do then?” I asked, whirling toward Paul, my hands on my hips.

  “First, we're going to ask you to step into the hall,” Paul said, and even though his eyes remained gentle, there was a hint of steel in his voice that told me I should do what he said.

  I laughed and shook my head. “So much for not getting rid of me!” I snapped.

  “We're not getting rid of you,” Paul repeated. “However, I don't think we're going to have a very productive discussion like this. Why don't you go wait in your office, and I'll come let you know when we've reached a decision?”

  It wasn't a suggestion, and as much as I didn't like the idea, I knew that I needed to go along with it. I was lucky enough to still have Paul on my side. I nodded sharply and headed for the door.

  Back in my office, it seemed to take them an eternity to come up with my sentencing. I knew that I should be getting work done, reminding them of what a valuable resource I was there at the office, but instead, it was all I could do to make another coffee and sit there at my desk, staring down at my photo on the front of that stupid magazine. I didn't even dare read the interviews, but it was enough to imagine what the two women might have said.

  Paul finally knocked on the door and cleared his throat, and I looked up at him. He came inside, alone, thankfully, and shut the door firmly behind him. “We're not getting rid of you,” he repeated.

  “Yeah, yeah, okay,” I said, waving a hand. “What are you going to do?”

  “Unfortunately, there's not much that we can do, short of buying you out of the company. We've agreed that it would be best for you to take the next three or four months off. Get it all out of your system, and come back to us when you're ready to work and be a professional.”

  I stared at him, hardly able to believe the words coming out of his mouth. “Paul-” I said.

  “Wait,” Paul said, holding up a hand. “Just think about it, Christian. You could do a ski vacation. You could go someplace warm. You wouldn't be getting paid, but we both know you're not in any danger of going broke, no matter how crazy you go for the next few months. Just get out of the country. Go someplace where the gossip columns won't bother you and have a good time.”

  “But the company-”

  “We'll suffer through it,” Paul said, giving me a wry smile. “We'll be happy to have you come back. You know how much I hate having to go to conferences and things like that.”

  “So-”

  “It's not really up for discussion,” Paul interrupted. He grimaced. “I'm sorry, Christian. You know how much I hate for things to come to this, how much I've been fighting this for years now. But there's nothing that I can do.”

  I grimaced. A week later, I found myself standing behind a podium, giving a formal apology for all the things that I had supposedly done.

  “To all of our shareholders, and our consumers, and our supporters,” I said, “I thank you for your patience. I know that my conduct over the past few years hasn't been exactly what you've desired. I know that there have been many times that you've…” I trailed off, staring down at the script that had been placed in front of me. Then, I threw the note cards off to the side.

  “Let me be real here,” I said. “I know that when you're looking for a real estate company, you're looking for someone who you can trust. You're looking for someone who can see the vision of you growing old there with your wife, of you spending time there with your kids. And I haven't delivered on that promise lately.”

  I spotted Paul in the audience; I could see the way his eyebrows rose. “I haven't respected you the way that you deserved,” I told them. “And we all know it. And I'd like to fix that. I'll be taking some time off, at least from now until the end of the year, probably longer,” I told everyone. “And don't worry, I'm leaving you in incredibly capable hands. I'm sure you've all heard of these guys before. And-”

  “All right,” Paul said, suddenly catching my elbow and leading me off the stage. “That's enough,” he said under his breath. “We do still want you to come back next year.”

  I took a deep breath and smiled bitterly at him. “But over the next few months, you're going to realize that you don't need me,” I told him.

  “Bullshit,” Paul said succinctly, and it was very rare that I heard him swear.

  I couldn't help smiling a little. “If you say so.”

  “I do,” Paul said. He shook his head. “Don't spend your whole trip worrying about what's happening around the office. Have fun. Come back when you're good and ready.”

  Chapter Six

  Gretchen

  I sighed and stretched, still feeling a bit sleepy but knowing that I had to get out of bed before it got too late in the day. I had never been the type of person to laze away the entire day in bed. That was just a waste, as far as I was concerned. Anyway, it wasn't as though there was anything worth staying in bed for.

  Even though it was Tuesday, I didn't have any appointments on the schedule that day. I still wasn't entirely sure how that had worked out, but hey, I wasn't complaining! Instead, I grabbed a book and went out to my front porch, lying down in the hammock that I had strung up out there. For a moment, I just swung there, enjoying the warm breeze and smiling at the palm trees, at my tropical life. Then, I opened the book to where my bookmark was and began to read.

  I was getting into it when Mina hopped up the steps onto my porch. “What a beautiful day, huh?” she said.

  I smiled and put the bookmark back into my book. I was right in the middle of a juicy scene, but I knew that Mina wasn't going to give me time to finish it. Sure enough…

  “Why do you read those things anyway?” Mina asked, getting a glimpse of the cover of the book. “You'd be better off keeping up with world news. Those silly romance novels are just filler.”

  I raised an eyebrow at her. “Because you do such a good job keeping up with world news?”

  “Yeah. I watch The Latest religiously, and I read a bunch of different magazines, and-”

  I burst out laughing, unable to help myself. “Mina, entertainment news hardly counts as world news,” I told her.

  Mina shrugged. “It's news, and it happens in the world. It's world news. And you never bother to keep up with any of it. You can't imagine how much drama has gone down just this week.”

  I shook my head. “Yeah, I don't care about any of that stuff,” I told her. “Who kisses whom and who wore what. I just don't see why any of that matters.”

  “Well, how are you ever going to meet a hot millionaire if you don't even know who the hot millionaires are?” she asked, a twinkle in her eye.

  I laughed again. “You're ridiculous,” I told her succinctly. “Sure, there are plenty of millionaires who come to Hawaii probably, but they don't hang out in the places that we go. They'll be at the fanciest restaurants and the fanciest clubs and the fanciest, well, everything!”

  Mina shook her head. “But seriously, if you're going to read anything, why romance novels?”

  I bit my lower lip and shrugged. “I guess I just like to have hope,” I told her. “It's a nice escape from reality, and it's nice to think that maybe, just maybe, there's-”

  “Some Prince Charming who's perfect for you, who holds the door for you and brings you breakfast in bed and is 100% perfect? You really believe in that stuff?”

  I blushed a little. “I don't believe in that,” I said. “I don't think there's a perfect guy or anything like that. But it's nice to think that there's someone out there, that there is true love. Can you imagine having a feeling like that? I was talking to a woman in my shop a while back, and she was telling me that if she had to go back and do her whole life over again, she'd still pick the same guy and would still do everything exactly the same. Don't you want to have that feeling?”

  “I don't want to think about living life all over again,” Mina said, shaking her head. “I'd rather just
focus on the life that I'm already living and do the things that I want to do now. And right now, I'd like you to go get changed so we can go surfing!”

  I laughed but rolled out of the hammock, knowing that she wasn't going to take no for an answer. Anyway, it would be nice to go surf; the waves had been great the last time I'd gone, and I wanted to get as much of that into the season as I could.

  “Do you believe in true love?” I asked Mina as we paddled out onto the water. I just couldn't seem to let go of the conversation that we'd had that morning.

  Mina snorted. “Not even in the slightest,” she said, shaking her head.

  “Really?” I asked, surprised. “But your parents-”

  “Love each other very much,” Mina agreed. “But that doesn't mean that they were destined to be together or any of that stuff. They just ended up together, in the end. It's as simple as that. If they had ended up with other people, they could have been just as happy, or not, but it wouldn't have been because there was something better out there. There are people who we're more compatible with than others; take you and me, for example: we make great friends. But that doesn't mean it's impossible for us to have different friends who we're just as happy with.”

  I frowned, watching the waves. “But have you ever even been in love?”

  Mina laughed and shook her head. “Nope,” she said. “I haven't even been in a steady relationship unless you want to count whatever that was with Nicky.”

  “That wasn't a relationship,” I said, rolling my eyes as I remembered her on-and-off fling from the previous year. He'd come to a bunch of events and things like that with us, but he'd wanted that to be a relationship more than she had. And as soon as he had started hinting toward something more, Mina had cut him loose.

  “I kind of admire your ability. So, tell me, what do you need out of a relationship?” Mina asked. “Sex, right? You can get sex without being in a relationship.”