Brother’s Best Friend

by Kaylee, Katy

  Amber labeled the two files and looked down at the third in front of him. He smiled and slid it over to her. “This one is a mock up, my idea. I would like a full analysis on that from cost to projections of profit. If there is information in there that you need, just let me know and I can get you answers. That one, of course, is the least urgent one, so it can wait until the other two are done. You will be doing a lot of those. We have ideas flying around constantly. Your analysis will determine whether we launch the new app into production or we scrap it.”

  Amber took a deep breath. “Got it. I can do this.”

  Logan smiled. “I know, I wouldn’t have hired you if you couldn’t.”

  Amber smirked. “Technically, your hiring manager hired me.”

  “Semantics,” Logan whispered.

  Amber looked around realizing that they were completely alone. People were stuck in their offices, working on projects, and no one was paying any attention to them. “I need to talk to you really fast. I just want to make sure everything is clear and concise.”

  Logan lifted an eyebrow, getting the feeling this wasn’t going to be about work. “Hit me.”

  Amber bit her lip. “I’m sorry about Friday. It wasn’t something on my radar that I wanted to let happen. I think I made that clear in my ranting the day before. It did, though, and we can’t just act like it never happened.”

  Logan leaned forward. “True. But what are you saying?”

  Amber shook her head. “Nothing that I haven’t already said before. I stand with that still. Nothing can happen between us. We need to keep our relationship completely professional. There will not be another time that we have sex. Sex is completely off the table. I had a weak moment, I let you in a bit, but that isn’t something that I want to happen. I have too many important things in my life.”

  Logan nodded his head, but she wasn’t done talking. “You know what it does to both of us every time we find ourselves in that situation. Then we have to have one of these talks. It takes away from the time we have for work, for family, for everything else. I’m not saying I didn’t enjoy myself. I did, very much. I am just saying that the cost outweighs the benefit, or at least I feel like it will if we continue. I can’t even believe I am sitting here saying this for the second time. I’m like a child that can’t follow the rules, and that is not how I got where I am now, which is a lot better than where I started.”

  Logan put up his hands. “I know, and I knew that you were going to say that today.”

  Logan put his hands in his lap and stared over at her, staring at the file’s cover. He agreed with her, but he knew that she was doing nothing but lying to herself. Her lust and want was just as strong, if not stronger, than his was. She was denying herself something that she wanted badly, he could tell. He could almost see her fighting with herself over it. She looked up and met his eyes, studying his face.

  She was grimacing and shaking her head. “I’m very serious about this Logan. We can’t do this anymore. Someone is going to get hurt again, if not both of us. And I have a little boy to think about as well as a career. We can’t just randomly fall into each other’s beds whenever we want. You know we could never have that casual of a relationship, not after everything that we have been through.”

  Logan let out a long breath and reached over the table, putting his hand over hers. She immediately calmed, like so many times in the past when he had done that for her. He tried not to notice it, though; it only brought back hard feelings. “You don’t have to worry about anything. Take a deep breath. I fully understand that you want this to be strictly professional from here on out. I get it. The other night was a fluke, neither night was planned out, and we lost control a bit. No big deal, we sweep it under the rug and move forward. Does that sound good?”

  Amber looked at him for a second, her eyes glistening before she shook her head and forced a smile. He knew it. He knew that wasn’t what she really wanted, but she was forcing herself to push back from him. He was so frustrated by the whole situation.

  Logan stood up and buttoned his jacket, clearing his throat. “Okay, so you’re setting up your office, correct?”

  Amber nodded.

  Logan reached and opened the conference door. “Excellent. If you have any questions on any of those, just dial my extension.”

  He walked out of the conference room and kept going straight into his office. He didn’t look back, he didn’t wait to walk her to her room, he just walked away. He could feel a lump in his throat from her reaction, knowing that if it weren’t for the logistics, they could actually have a shot at being happy together. She was so gun shy, not that he blamed her. It was an incredibly delicate situation and he had to be careful with his choices from then on out. He didn’t want to push her away forever, but that could easily happen with the wrong move. Amber was becoming more complex by the day, and Logan just wanted to know if she still loved him. That was all that really mattered.

  37

  Amber

  Amber looked down at the file on her desk, doing a couple of calculations in her spreadsheet. It had only been a day, but Amber felt at home there, despite the tension between her and Logan. Her first day flew by; she had organized her office, ordered a few books that she needed, and then got to work studying her cases in depth. Per Logan's request, she was starting with the App that was already fully developed. She hadn’t done the full calculations yet, but from looking at the numbers she had a feeling that they would actually come out better off than the original projections.

  Work was going well so far. It was everything that she had hoped she would find in a job, and she got to be in on the ground floor. On Tuesday more new people arrived, but she was the only one in her department for the time being. The projects that she was given were corporate level, just like they had said they would be, and it really excited her.

  “Knock, knock,” a voice said from her doorway.

  Amber looked up to see the head of HR standing there, smiling. “Hey. How are you?”

  She walked into Amber’s office and looked around. “I’m well. It looks like you got settled in just fine.”

  “I did. And I am already well into my first projects. I am really excited about all of this.”

  Rachel put her hands together. “That’s so awesome. I won’t keep you, but I wanted to first check in on you to make sure you were good and then tell you that next week I will be fitting interviews in on your online schedule, so just be aware.”

  Amber was confused. “Interviews? For what?”

  Rachel sat down. “Well, since you were the first hired and are already diving in you will be given the head position in your department. I want you to do the second round of interviews for your team. You will have a team totaling ten, but you can take your time. Just because I send someone to you doesn’t mean you have to hire them.”

  Amber smiled. “Oh, wow. That’s amazing.”

  Rachel nodded. “Of course, we’ll draw up a new employment contract for you to reflect the changes in title and salary. I also need you to interview a couple of people for your secretary. That is a pretty specific job, so I figured you would want to pick them out.”

  Amber nodded enthusiastically. “Thank you. Yes, I would love to pick them out.”

  Rachel looked down at her watch. “Okay, it’s about time to get going. Just be on the lookout for those appointments.”

  “Will do. Thank you, Rachel.”

  Amber laughed to herself and looked over at the clock. “Oh, shit.”

  She jumped up from the chair and grabbed her raincoat, needing to go pick up Bradley from his daycare. She still wasn’t used to the days going by so quickly, but she was super excited to see her little boy, even more so than her promotion. She raced out of the building and jumped into her car, heading over to the daycare center. Ms. Brown was standing out front with Bradley and a couple of other children when she arrived.

  Amber hurried up and gave Bradley a big hug. Ms. Brown smiled. “He did so good to
day. He has been anxious to tell you all about it.”

  Amber looked at Bradley. “You did? Well, I was thinking that we would go have some pizza!”

  Bradley put his arms up in the air. “Yay!”

  They headed over to the local pizza shop and got a table, munching on some cheese bread while they waited for the pizza. Amber looked over at Bradley, thinking about how amazing of a day she had. “So, tell me all about your day.”

  Bradley wiped his face with the napkin that was as big as his head. “I got all of my ABC’s in the first try. Then I read the first three pages of a book to the class and I only messed up once. Everyone thought I was the best reader of the day. Ms. Brown gave me a special reading sticker for my board. I get to pick the book during next reading circle time.”

  Amber gasped, putting her hands together. “That is so wonderful, monster. I am so proud of you. I know you’ve been working hard on the reading every night before bed. Before you know it, you will be reading Tolstoy.”

  Bradley wrinkled his nose. “What’s Toystoy?”

  Amber laughed. “Tolstoy, and don’t you worry about that yet. Spot the Wonder Dog is probably better, anyway. Tolstoy doesn’t put awesome pictures in his book. To be honest, he is kind of boring even to us old adults.”

  Bradley giggled. “So, what about your day, Mommy? Did you do anything exciting at your new job?”

  Amber grinned. “Mommy got a promotion, and she gets to start interviewing her new team next week.”

  Bradley was wide eyed. “You got a promotion? What’s a promotion?”

  Amber threw her head back and bellowed. “Oh, little boy, you have so much to look forward to. I got a bigger title and more money. I will be in charge of people. Ten people. We will work as a team to get the job done, since there are so many parts to it. One person can do it, but it will take them a long time and they could make mistakes without having someone to check their work. I will also have a secretary.”

  “Like Pawpaw has?” he asked.

  Amber shook her head. “Yep, like Pawpaw has. She will answer my calls, set up meetings, and whatever else that I need. She will be a whole lot of help. Or he, maybe I’ll have a man secretary.”

  He looked at her with awe. “Wow, that’s really cool. You must be important, like Pawpaw. Everyone says he is the most important man in the building.”

  Amber tilted her head slightly. “Not yet, but one day I hope to be. And your Pawpaw has always been the most important person in the building, or so he thinks so.”

  The waitress walked up to the table and set the pizza down. Amber looked up at her and smiled. “Ms. Handley, don’t you own this place? What are you doing waitressing?”

  The older woman sighed. “Can’t keep waitresses on staff. They just want to go party with their boyfriends. So, I’ll just have to do it myself. How are you, dear? You guys look so great. And my goodness, Bradley is huge. I still remember when you came in here nine months pregnant, just craving some pizza. You had to sit three feet back from the table. You did a good job, Momma.”

  Amber grinned. “Thank you. And I think that’s where his love of pizza came from. I sure ate enough of it when I was pregnant.”

  Ms. Hadley patted her on the shoulder. “That’s how we keep the customers coming from generation to generation. You guys let me know if you need anything at all.”

  Amber reached up and put a slice of pizza on a plate and cut it up into pieces for Bradley. He took his fork out, determined to eat like a big boy. She sat back and watched him eating his pizza, her hand on her belly. Her thoughts moved to Friday night and the way that Logan had kissed her stretch marks and told her that she was beautiful.

  Sparks shot through her chest and she took a sip of her soda, trying to hide the feeling. It was the sweetest thing any man had done to her before. He had been so gentle and made her feel like the most beautiful creature ever to walk the planet. It made her heart skip a beat every time she thought about it.

  At the same time, though, she was terrified that he was going to find out about Bradley. She had found out she was pregnant, despite the birth control, just a month after Logan had left. She could still feel that fear pulsing through her chest as she sat in her bathroom, staring at the plus sign on the test. At the time, she had been so angry and bitter that Logan had deserted her that she had made a promise that she would never tell him or anyone else, except Taylor. She would never let anyone hurt her child like Logan had hurt her.

  Dealing with her parents had been a challenge at first. They wanted to know who the guy was, but Amber had insisted he didn’t even live there anymore, and he wasn’t interested in being a father. She was on her own, and she was okay with that. After a couple of weeks, though, they had let up and had begun to welcome the idea of their first grandchild. Of course, her dad was a bit less welcoming until the moment he held Bradley in his arms in the hospital. Amber could see his face go from fear to pure love and joy, and her father had never looked back after that.

  After some time passed and the bitterness left her, Amber thought about contacting Logan, but had been too afraid. So much time had passed that she didn’t think she could ever tell him the truth. She wasn’t sure if that was a good thing or a bad thing. She didn’t want to tell him and have him abandon them all over again, or worse, try to take him away from her. She had protected Bradley from everything in the world up to that point, she wasn’t going to stop just because Logan was being sweet to her. He wouldn’t be so sweet if he found out she had hidden his child from him for four years. She could only imagine just how livid he would be. No, she was going to stick to her guns on that one and keep the secret as far from him as she could.

  “Mommy, you got quiet,” Bradley said, kicking his feet, pizza sauce on his cheek.

  Amber reached over and wiped his cheek. “I sure did. I’m sorry. I was thinking about when you were just a baby in my belly. Ever since you came into my world, it’s been me and you. I love that I have my best boy by my side.”

  Bradley smiled. “Do you ever miss my daddy?’

  Amber choked a bit on her pizza. “What? Where did that come from?”

  Bradley shrugged. “Mikey asked me about my dad, ‘cause he went fishing with his last week. I told him I didn’t have one. At least not one that I ever met.”

  Amber immediately felt incredibly guilty. “The truth is, I do miss him from time to time. But in the end, we are both better off on our own. We have each other, we have Pawpaw, Grammy, Uncle Jordan, Aunt Melissa, and Aunt Taylor. What else do we need? You have so many people to love you, it’s crazy. I am jealous sometimes.”

  Bradley took another bite. “I love all of them but guess what?”

  Amber set her slice down. “What, monster?”

  “I love you the most, Mommy. You are my best friend.”

  A tear pulled at the corner of Amber’s eye and she held up her cup. “Let’s make a toast like we do at Pawpaw’s house.”

  Bradley held up his kid’s cup. “What to?”

  Amber thought about it for a second. “To you being the best reader ever, and to me and my new career.”

  Bradley held his cup back. “And to being the best team ever, me and you.”

  Amber smiled and clapped her cup against his. “Here, here.”

  Amber was going to do anything and everything she could to keep Logan from finding out the secret. She loved her son too much to risk either of their heartbreak.

  38

  Logan

  “If you changed the character in the beginning, though, it would change the entire feel of the app. Right now, it has a medieval feel, but if you go with this character, you get more of a Viking pub whore look,” Amber said, flipping through the sketches from the artist.

  “Hey, people like Viking pub whores,” Logan pointed out.

  Amber chuckled, not looking at him. “If you’re a guy. Do you want to cut out fifty percent of your audience because you like pub girl on the cover? I think that would be dumb.”

>   Logan laughed. “You’re right. I’m just joking about her, anyway. I was never a big fan of that character because of the way she looks. I think that cuts back on our age group, too. Mom is not going to swipe the card for her little boy when she sees her bouncing up and down on the screen.”

  Amber tilted her head back and forth. “Maybe, but at the same time your target shouldn’t be kids, it should be people with money. People with credit cards at the press of a button. Your goal is not just to sell downloads, it’s to sell products within the app. Timmy is gonna want a pack with three swords and a pint, but Timmy’s dad will buy it sitting in his man cave.”

  Logan shuffled through his papers. “And if Timmy’s dad is our target, we should create packs that go along with what adults want.”

  Amber nodded. “Which is their money’s worth, options, and the ability to create exactly what they are looking for.”

  Logan snapped his fingers. “Precisely. A mix and match pack. You can pick from three or four different price points, and with those you pick exactly what you want from each category.”

  Amber shook her head. “This is nuts.”

  Logan looked up at her. “What is?”

  Amber put down her pen. “That I am working on prize packs for virtual swords and chainmail. That people actually spend their hard-earned money to have a graffiti covered suit of armor in their app.”

  Logan scoffed. “I know, right? The first time I ever worked with an app designer I was blown away by the shit that people would buy for these things. People love the extras. They spend millions of dollars a year on things they will never hold in their hands. It’s crazy nuts.”