by Mia Ford
“Shit, is it?” I leap up, my heart pounding with terror. “I’m supposed to meet Abbi in a moment.”
Abbi is the one friend I managed to maintain throughout high school and afterwards as well. I don’t know how that happened, she’s the opposite to me really. Confident, laid back, and fun loving, but I’m glad I have her. She is the Ying to my Yang and I need her. If I am late again because of work, she will kill me.
She works to live; I live to work. We clash on that a whole lot. She doesn’t understand that my business is my baby and that I’ll do anything for it. I just need to succeed, and I’m willing to sacrifice everything for that goal.
“Good job I reminded you then. Abbi is scary as hell. You wouldn’t want to get on her wrong side.”
I chuckle. “I’m always on her wrong side, it doesn’t matter too much to me.”
It does though. It matters so much and if I lose her, I will go crazy. But just like any good friendship, I do have a bit of confidence that she’ll always be there. No matter what I do.
I grab my bag and leave with Leon, locking the doors of the office behind me. I get a warm glow of pride as I say goodbye to yet another day as a business owner. I love this life, it’s perfect for me.
“Bye, Raelyn,” Leon calls out. “See ya tomorrow for another day of fun.”
“See ya then… if Abbi hasn’t killed me,” I laugh back. “Bye, Leon.”
As expected, Abbi is sitting in the bar already waiting for me. I’m barely five minutes late but the look she gives me shoots right through me. She isn’t impressed. Thank goodness for Leon alerting me to the time. If I was late any further, that dagger look would have been so much worse.
I order drinks for me and Abbi and take them to the table as an olive branch. “Sorry, work was…”
She rolls her eyes. “I know. I understand. Work was really busy. It always is, I get that.”
I take a seat and smile sheepishly. “I know, but it’s going really well. I’m so happy.”
“Happy with work, or has someone else put a smile on your face as well?”
It takes me a couple of moments to realize what she means. “Oh, Tom, of course.”
“Did you forget about your second date with Tom? I have been so excited to hear about it.” I screw up my nose, knowing that I’m about to disappoint her. She groans with disappointment. “Oh no, really?”
“He was weird on the second date. All arrogant. Any sweetness that got him passed date one was gone.”
“So, you think he pretended to be someone else at first? Then he let himself out.”
“It happens.” I shrug. “It’s annoying, but it happens. Remember Patrick?”
“Oh God, Patrick.” We both laugh at that one. “He was hell.”
“Not as bad as Liam though. He was the worst of the worst of the worst.”
I shudder, remembering his sweaty palms, the way he insisted on telling me about every single girl that he ever slept with in his life in quite graphic details, plus his insistence that I pay the bill… it was dreadful. The exact reason I don’t much like dates. If I wasn’t looking for love, then I wouldn’t bother at all.
“I don’t know.” I shake my head hard. “I think I might be done with dating.”
“No, you can’t be!” Abbi insists. “We need to go through all of this together.”
“I feel like you are more successful with the online dates than me.”
I have more of a sweet look. Short red hair, petite, sweet face. Abbi is sultry and sexy. Her raven long hair and pouty lips just scream out for guys to hit on her profile. Maybe not the right guys so far, but seemingly not as bad as me. I don’t know what it is, but I attract the weirdos.
“I’m still single too, babe. Still the same as you. You might think that I’m having more luck, but really, none of my dates have panned out either. So, I don’t know what you’re worried about.”
“I know, but I just don’t think it’s for me anymore. I’m too busy with work.” She glares at me again. “I know, I know, you don’t want to hear it, but I am. I don’t have time for these weirdos.”
“No, that isn’t the truth at all. What you want is the rom-com fantasy. You want the dream, the fantasy, to be swept off your feet and to have a guy give you flowers every day. That doesn’t exist in real life.” Abbi rolls her eyes. “Real life is nothing like that. Online dating is where it’s at. That’s it. Get used to it, babe.”
“That isn’t it at all.” It is, but only a little bit. “I just don’t think the Internet is for me.”
Abbi rolls her eyes and pulls out her cell phone. She immediately logs on to her dating app and tries to lure me back into it with all the hot guys. I appreciate what she’s doing but I really don’t think I want it anymore.
“I don’t know, Abbi. I think I’m just going to take a break from dating.”
“Uh oh.” Her eyes widen in surprise. “If this was a romantic movie, it would be the moment just before you meet the love of your life. The girl always meets the guy right after she says that she doesn’t want to.”
I roll my eyes and snort with laughter. “You are absolutely crazy, Abbi. Honestly.”
“It’s true! You just wait and see. You’ll be wifed up in a year.”
I would like to be. There is a romantic side to me, but I don’t feel the same competitiveness that I do with everything else. It’s an area in which I’m willing to take a back seat to just let things happen. What will be, will be. I’m only twenty-six years old right now. Maybe once I hit thirty, I will change, if my biological clock starts going haywire, but for now I’m all good. I’m happy to just let it go.
Although now that she’s said it, I’m thinking of the big white wedding and me walking down the aisle towards the love of my life. A man who is sweet and will treat me right. Nothing like the guys I have been on dates with.
“In that case, I need to stop online dating. I will never meet a husband that way.”
Abbi laughs and nods. “I know what you mean, but some people do.”
I raise my glass to cheers, mainly to put an end to this conversation. I don’t think this is something that we will ever agree on and Abbi has somewhat of a forceful nature. She might well lead me along to where she wants me to go, and I really don’t want to.
“Anyway, tell me more about you,” I say as we have a drink. “How are things going?”
As she fills me in on her life, I let the weight fly off my shoulders. I didn’t plan to be done with online dating, but I’m glad that I am. It feels much better to know that now my time is my own. I can concentrate on work which is where I’m happiest anyway.
3
Carter
I stare around everyone sitting at the conference table, noting the confused look on each of their faces. This is a tough one, I know that, but I want a little more from them. I want the innovation and intuition that has got us this far. We need it now more than ever. I don’t think we can’t survive if this issue gets any better, but I still don’t like it. I’m a lion, I need to be in control at all times. I don’t like giving any of that up.
“Come on guys, someone needs to work out what to do about R. Owens Parts. We can’t continue to let them undercut us like this. At first, I ignored it because I thought that they were just a nothing company, completely worthless to us. I assumed that they would come and go, just like all the other competition has before it. But it’s still here, and it’s still making waves. I need it gone, we need to crush that business.”
“The owner is smart though, isn’t he? He’s producing good quality stuff at a cheaper price. Plus, the marketing they do is amazing, they must have a really good creative team working for them…”
I bang my fist down on the table and stare at Gary. He’s the production manager, so I should listen to him, but right now he’s annoying me. He is just giving me reasons for why they are doing so well, reasons that I can work out for myself thank you very much, and not answers. I need answers. And not a criticism that
the marketing team that I have isn’t up to scratch because it couldn’t be further from the truth. They are amazing. I don’t give a fuck about what R. Owens has. They might be good, but I won’t be taken down.
“Yes, so how are we going to get rid of them?” I demand. “I know the market share that they have at the moment isn’t massive, but they are steadily growing and it’s becoming an issue. I don’t like it. If we don’t take action soon, then there’s no telling how big they will become. We could really suffer at their hands.”
I dominate, that’s what I do. I have fallen apart at the seams when it comes to my love life, I’ve failed there, but I’m still all powerful in business and I won’t let that go. I refuse. I squeeze my fists together in temper, anger coursing hotly through my veins. If I’m not careful, I’m going to lose my shit, as it’s been a real good day for it.
“I need you all to go away,” I bite out. “And think about it. Come back to me with some answers.”
They all rise to their feet and shuffle out of the meeting room with their eyes hanging low. None of them want to look at me because they know they’re not acting like I want them to. Maybe I am fiery when it comes to my company, but that’s passion. This is my baby, it’s all I have. It’s also the closest thing that my mom will get to a grandchild, so she probably should give it a bit more respect than she does.
“Fucking hell,” I bang my fists down again. “What the fuck am I going to do?”
I won’t let R. Owens step on me, any more than I have done. I’ve let it slide until now because I treated him like a fly that just needed swatting, but now I’m going to trample him hard.
I grab out my cell phone to call the only person I can trust to sort me out when times are hard. He’s the only one who can get me out of the trickiest of situations. I wouldn’t be where I am without him.
“Lee,” I call out gleefully to my private investigator. “How are you, mate?”
“Good, good. What’s going on?”
At first, his brisk tone used to put me off. I thought that he hated me, but now I just understand that he doesn’t do small talk. He’s all business, and actually, I appreciate that a lot. It makes things so much easier.
“I need some help. I have some competition that I want to take down. But I don’t know how.”
“What’s the name of the person?”
“I don’t know,” I admit. “The owner of R. Owens Parts. A smaller outfit that’s becoming a pain.”
“Right. I’m on it. I’ll speak to you soon.”
He hangs up the phone then without saying goodbye, like he always does, leaving me with only time stretched ahead of me to wait. The waiting game is a real pain in the ass, but it isn’t long. Lee is efficient. He does things as quickly as he possibly can. I can just distract myself. I have paper work to do anyway…
An hour later, just as I’m really losing myself in what I need to do, my phone rings again. It’s Lee.
“Hello, Lee, that was really quick. I have to say that I’m impressed…”
“R. Owens is a powerful enemy of yours. More than I think you realize,” he tells me in a clipped tone. “However, there is something that you can do about it, and I would strongly advise that you do.”
“Well, your advice has never steered me wrong before, so let’s hear it.”
“R. Owens wants to expand, but right now, they are just too small. They have a tiny infrastructure that will hold them back. The owner wants to get bigger though, and has sights set on massive things.”
“That will be his down fall then, right? He’ll try to get too big too soon.”
“Oh no, that’s not what I’m trying to tell you at all. I actually think that R. Owens will find a lot of success.”
“So, what do you think that I should do then?”
“I think you should propose a deal. Create a partnership. I know that you won’t want to hear it, but I truly believe that you should offer to work with them. Bring them into your infrastructure. You have the ability to grow, they have a lot of ideas and knowledge that you don’t. The parts they produce are cheaper and good quality. There is a lot that you can do with that.” He sighs loudly. “Of course, that’s just my opinion.”
“Thanks, Lee, I appreciate it a lot. I will certainly have a think about it.”
And then he’s gone, leaving me with thoughts racing around my brain at the speed of light. This certainly isn’t the sort of thing that I would normally do, but I am very interested in R. Owens and what he does. He has secrets in production that I haven’t yet managed to crack and I would love to know. I wouldn’t ever admit it to anyone else, but I’m actually a little bit in awe of him. He must seriously kick ass.
A partnership deal is crazy, it’s a huge risk, but sometimes that pays off. Am I willing to give it a go?
I grab out a piece of paper and scribble everything down relating to this deal that I would like to get out of it. Once this is done, I can speak to my legal team about it and get it all drafted up. If R. Owens is half the man that I think he is, then he will be pretty ruthless too, and he’ll want a lot out of the deal as well. But I can give that to him and make sure that I get what I need as well. I have to make sure of that over everything else.
“A meeting?” My eyes light up with excitement. “R. Owens wants to set up a meeting.”
“The deal is pretty much done,” my lawyer, Harley, tells me. “This is just to sign the paper work.”
“Should it be this easy?” I muse, wondering if I have missed something?
Harley shrugs. “You proposed a good deal. I would have accepted it myself.”
Lee told me that R. Owens wanted to expand, but I guess I still didn’t expect this to all go as smoothly as it has. I don’t know why, after all I’m a legend in this industry. He is just smart, and he knows what’s best for him I suppose, I just need to accept that and keep pushing forward. I shouldn’t be negative when I’m getting what I want. This is a good thing! I should be happy; the deal is almost done.
“You don’t think that there are going to be any last minute changes, do you?”
Harley shrugs again. “No, I don’t think so. It all looks good to me. There hasn’t been any complaint about any of the terms of the deal. I guess you were right. They wanted something like this and you swooped in at exactly the right moment. You should congratulate yourself on that.”
I will have to thank Lee. Yet again, he has saved my ass. This is why I trust him; his intuition is somewhat incredible. Something to really rely on, as much as I do myself.
“Great, well set up the meeting then. I want to get this all done as soon as possible.”
Then once this is done, I can focus on moving forward, where I need to be. Carrying on with my business, just like I always do. I will be comfortable and happy to be back to normal once more.
I head out, leaving earlier than everyone else today because I have done my part and I head to the nearest bar, right outside my office. I don’t exactly have the playboy life style anymore, I gave that up when I got married to Anna and I have no desire to go back there, but I’m still partial to a good drink and this bar is perfect for it. It’s right outside the office, not far from my home, and I know all of the staff.
“Hey there, Carter,” Ryan, the bartender calls out to me. “How’s it going?”
“Really good.” I point to the expensive bottle of whiskey on the top shelf, my usual. “I think I might be about to sign a deal that changes everything, putting me right back on top.”
“Well, I still don’t know much about what you do, but I imagine that you’re always on top.”
I smile widely. “Yeah, you’re right about that. I will just be even higher up.”
“Well, that sounds like a celebration to me.”
“It is actually, yes. A celebration of my business kicking ass all over again. As usual.”
“Well, that is just fantastic to hear. I’m really happy for you. You definitely deserve this. You work so hard.”
I raise my glass. “Thank you for noticing.”
Neither of us comment on it, but I’m sure that we’re both thinking the same thing. It’s a bit sad that I’m celebrating in my usual bar outside my office, all by myself, like I don’t have anyone in my life. In a way, that’s quite accurate. I don’t. I block off any attention from women because of Anna, and I find it hard to really trust friends again because of Daniel. They both really screwed me over.
But it’s fine. It isn’t like I’m lonely or anything, I’m just fine. I don’t need anyone. I don’t have time to be lonely. Plus, I’m here with Ryan now anyway. If I buy him a drink, he’ll have one with me…
Urgh, that even sounds tragic. I need to get out of here. I’m better off alone. I sink the rest of my drink back quickly and get the hell out of the bar because I can’t stand how sad it is anymore. At least when I’m at home, no one can judge me for being by myself. It’s just me, and that’s okay.
4
Raelyn
“I don’t know about this,” I say to Leon for what feels like the millionth time. “Are you sure we should do this? I mean, partnering up with our rivals is just stupid, isn’t it? A foolish mistake.”
“The legal team said that it was the best way that you could expand.”
“But an investor…” I still can’t let go of that idea. “Surely, we should look into that.”
“You know that won’t work quick enough.” Leon gives me a meaningful look. “You are hungry, Raelyn. You want to expand at the speed of light. This is the best way for you to do that.”
I nod and try to catch my breath, while examining the sleek, powerful looking Lace Enterprises building. I told myself over and over again that I wouldn’t get intimidated, but I can’t seem to help it. My mouth is dry, my stomach is flip flopping and my heart is pounding hard against my rib cage. I’m probably even shaking like a fool. Thank goodness Leon is here with me. He’s really here to see the production side of things, to make sure that it will benefit us because I’m not going into this without making sure that we will benefit a lot, but he’s also here to support me. Just in case I lose the power that has got me to where I am today. And to be honest, while looking at this building, I can feel it slipping off me like a wet dream, leaving me naked and exposed.
