by Lisa Fenwick
“He’s a baby!” Sam exclaimed, her heart racing. He was at least five years younger than she was.
“He’s only a few years younger than you! Besides, what’s the big deal? Maybe he’s looking to change reps or something. This could be business related. ”
“He’s with Rossi!” Sam exclaimed just as her phone rang.
Holly looked down at Sam’s phone and sprang up, pointing while at the same time knocking over the sweet-and-sour sauce.
“That’s him! He’s calling you!”
Sam bolted from her seat and ran across the room as if her phone was going to blow up.
“Answer it!” Holly screeched, taking the phone and tossing it to Sam.
“No! What do I say?!” Sam yelled, catching the phone and tossing it between her hands like a hot potato.
“JUST TAKE THE CALL, SAMANTHA!” Holly yelled.
“I’m going to get you back for this!” Sam said to her and then smoothed her hair, as if Jez could see her. She pressed the green button on her phone to answer the call.
“Hello?” she said as smoothly and calmly as possible. “Yes, hi. No, it isn’t too late.” Sam paced around as she talked to Jez, trying to ignore Holly, who was hanging on every word that Sam said.
When she hung up, Holly pounced on her, demanding to know what they had talked about.
“That was short.”
“Well, I couldn’t really talk with you breathing down my neck!”
“What did he want?” Holly asked.
“He asked me out,” Sam said.
The two of them said “Oh my God!” at the same time, jumping around like high school girls and collapsing on the couch.
“When? Where are you going?” Holly asked.
“A few days. To dinner,” Sam said. Her nerves were already kicking in. “But there’s one thing.”
“What?” Holly asked.
“I don’t know if he was asking me out on a date or if he wants to meet to talk about business.”
“What? How is that even possible?” Holly asked.
“Well, he asked if I wanted to go to dinner and then said his contract with Rossi was expiring. So I don’t know if this is a business date or not. I wasn’t about to ask him! I would sound stupid.”
“Uh, Sam, we agreed not to go after each other’s existing clients,” Holly said.
“I know,” Sam said. She had been caught off guard when Jez called. No one had asked her out in a really long time. More than a year, actually. She had been so flustered when he had called that all she could think of was ending the call, not whether it was about business or pleasure.
“What are you going to do if he just wants to talk business?” Holly asked as she started to clean up the mess from the sweet-and-sour sauce.
“I’ll figure that out when it happens.”
CHAPTER NINE
Addi’s frown summed up exactly how Sam felt. Sitting in the conference room in Lance’s office made her miserable, too. She knew that Addi was mad because she was taking notes, and Sam had hated to ask her to do it, but she didn’t trust that Randee would write things down accurately. She didn’t know why meeting like this was necessary anyhow. All that mattered was the revenue, and the two finance people could meet about that. Part of her thought that this was a subtle power play from Lance, and she didn’t like it. The two of them had been getting along well, and something like this was taking a step back in her mind.
“Okay, well, I guess we should start with the finances?” Lance asked cheerfully.
Sam looked at Mo and nodded.
“Well, it is a bit early on to be able to establish any type of consistency or trends, but in the first few weeks, we have made a profit. We are up almost thirty percent from last quarter,” Mo said, adjusting his bright-blue bow tie. “This is mostly due to the contract with Sydney, of course. Our percentage from her signing on with you.”
“Wow,” Lance said, looking over at Jonathan, his finance guy, who was already squirming in his seat. “How did we do?”
“Well, we still had a loss. Less than last quarter though. And less than last month. In fact, we were only a few thousand short of getting into the black.”
Sam watched as Lance and his team’s faces all bowed slightly down, ranging from looks of concern to fear. She felt bad; she had assumed that Sydney’s contract would help them even more than it had helped Horizon, since Rossi received a higher percentage.
“Well, I have several clients that are geared more for your area of expertise,” Holly piped up. “They want coverage by a larger firm. That might help.”
“Thanks,” Lance mumbled.
“Is one of them Jez Reklovick? “ Randee asked, glaring at Sam as she did so.
Sam almost fell out of her chair and looked at Holly, who had panic in her eyes. How could Randee possibly know that Sam and Jez had talked?
“What?” Lance asked. “Jez is my client already. Why would you be talking to him?” Lance asked Sam, his lips forming into a tight line.
Sam didn’t like Lance’s tone and was immediately irritated with him for even asking her the question.
“I’m not talking to him about becoming a client or anything business related,” she said nonchalantly, knowing that her tone would make him angrier.
“Well, what else would you be talking to him about? The weather?” Lance asked, his eyes challenging her.
“I don’t think that’s any of your business,” Holly chimed in.
“Ha!” Randee said, snickering. “Puhleeze, do not make it sound like Jez and Sam are a thing. She is hardly his type.”
The room grew silent as everyone looked over at Sam. She could feel her face getting warm. She didn’t know if she should just get up and leave. After all, she didn’t work for Lance. They were business partners. Although he certainly wasn’t treating her like one. This situation was giving her flashbacks to when she had worked at Rossi, and they weren’t good ones.
“Why are we even having this conversation? I thought we were here to go over financials. Is there an actual projection for this quarter? Does anyone want to go over the pipeline? Or are we going to play guessing games about my social life?” Sam asked. She sounded so unbothered that she even surprised herself.
Holly spoke up and started to go over the pipeline, but Sam couldn’t stop stewing over Lance asking about Jez and Randee’s rude comments. She hated being surrounded by negative jerks.
After what seemed like much too long, the meeting ended, and everyone got up to leave.
“Sam, can I talk to you for a minute?” Lance asked, running his hands through his short hair.
Sam and Holly exchanged quick glances before Holly walked out the door. Sam knew Holly’s facial expression meant for her to keep her cool.
“I really need to get back to my office, Lance.”
“Okay. I just wanted to remind you that we can’t go after each other’s clients,” Lance said matter-of-factly.
“Yes, I’m well aware of that, Lance.”
“Uh…okay. I just wasn’t sure with Jez….”
“What’s the big deal about Jez calling me? He asked me to go to dinner. I said yes. Maybe he’s interested in coming to Horizon when his contract is up, or maybe he’s just interested in eating a meal, but either way I am sick of hearing about it! He called me, okay?”
“Okay, well you should probably find out what he wants before you just meet him in person, don’t you think?”
Sam laughed. “Thanks for the advice, Lance, but I’m a big girl, and I can handle this on my own.”
“I hope so,” Lance replied.
“Watch me,” Sam said, turning on her heel and walking out the door.
********
Lance watched Sam leave his office, mad at himself for how he had spoken to her. But she couldn’t sign Jez on. If Jez left Rossi when his contract was up, they would be in serious financial trouble, but he couldn’t tell Sam that. He looked down at the profit-and-loss statement that Jonathan had given h
im before the meeting. All he could do was hope that Jez had wanted to meet Sam for dinner for personal reasons, regardless of how much he hated that idea.
CHAPTER TEN
“Ow!” Sam exclaimed as she pulled her hands quickly away from her hair, giving the flat iron a dirty look as if it were a person.
She grabbed some argan oil and squeezed a few drops into the palm of her hand, rubbing it in and then smoothing it into her hair. Her thick, wavy hair had a tendency to frizz up, and the argan oil helped keep it at bay. Standing, she went to her closet and stood there staring at it. What should she wear? All of her clothes were either dressy for work or really laid back for home. She couldn’t wear yoga pants and a T-shirt to this. Could she? She cursed Holly under her breath, wishing she was around so Sam could run some outfits by her.
She settled on a pair of black leggings and a white blouse. She would wear her long black duster and some clunky silver bracelets. She squeezed herself into the leggings and made a face at her reflection. Why did she have to have such thick thighs? It would be nice to be comfortable enough to not wear something that always covered her down to her knees.
She rummaged around in her closet for a pair of shoes. Boots. Black ankle boots would look good. She yanked a pair out from under a box in her closet and pulled them on. Standing up, she fiddled with her hair a bit more before deciding to wear it half up, letting some of the long strands frame her face and trickle halfway down her back. Satisfied with what she saw looking back at her, she grabbed her purse and headed out to meet Jez.
As she approached the restaurant, her nerves kicked in. It was a cool, rainy night outside. The wind was blowing and stirring up the fallen leaves. Winter was right around the corner. The Uber driver stopped the car, and she thanked him and got out, grateful that he hadn’t been a chatterbox like some of them could be. She was too nervous to talk.
She walked briskly toward the restaurant, which was located a bit down the pier on the waterfront. She was half an hour early on purpose. She didn’t want to have to make her entrance in front of him. She would rather already be seated and have a drink in her to help calm her anxiety. She opened the large glass door and stepped inside, shaking off the cold as she did so.
The interior of the restaurant was very pretty. Warm white lights glowed, strung on the plentiful tall plants that were sprinkled throughout the large space, most likely for the holidays. The floors were wide-planked wood, similar to most of the places that were on the waterfront. A fireplace stood in the middle of the space, the flames dancing around inside the massive brick structure like there was a constant wind blowing at them. She walked up to the hostess and announced herself. A wall of windows ran the length of the restaurant overlooking the water. She had requested a booth there and hoped that’s what she would get with last-minute reservations. It was a Wednesday night and didn’t seem too busy.
“Reservation for two for a booth by the window, right?” the hostess asked her as she grabbed two of the large leather-bound menus. Sam nodded. “Follow me.”
Sam followed her as they weaved their way around tables to the booth. She slid into it and immediately looked around for the waitress. She needed a drink. She took a sip of her water and opened the menu, even though the last thing on her mind was eating. She was too nervous to eat. Why had she agreed to do this? She didn’t date. She hadn’t even been on a date in so long she didn’t really know what to do. What if this wasn’t a date though, and Jez wanted to talk business? She sighed heavily, wishing her anxiety would give her a break for once.
The waitress showed up, and she ordered a vodka tonic with lemon. Thankfully, it was only a few minutes before she returned with Sam’s drink. Sam settled back into the high-backed leather seat and took a sip of the drink and told herself to relax.
She was just starting to calm down when she turned her head toward the door and saw Jez approaching. At six foot five, he was hard to miss. He looked great in a black sweater and black pants with a tan scarf casually draped around his neck. Most men couldn’t pull a scarf off, but he sure could. She watched as he grinned to the hostess and followed her to the booth, people turning their heads to follow him after he walked by.
Sam didn’t know if she should stand up or stay seated. Should she shake his hand? Oh God, this was awkward! Before she could overanalyze the situation any more, Jez was standing in front of her.
“Hi.”
She stood, and he opened his arms, so she gave him a hug. He was so big. And he smelled good. Really good. He was so tall. And he had dimples when he smiled. They made the whole room disappear, as they were all she could focus on.
“Sorry for being late,” he said as he pulled his scarf off and tossed it onto the booth seat and slid in next to it.
“You’re right on time actually. I came a bit early,” Sam said and then nervously took a sip of her drink.
“Can I get you a drink?” the waitress asked Jez. Sam couldn’t help but notice that she seemed to be standing really close to him.
“I’ll have what she’s having,” he said, pointing to Sam’s drink. “And also, can we have the chef’s appetizer platter?”
Sam was a bit taken aback when Jez ordered for the two of them. What if she didn’t like what was in the appetizer platter? At the same time, she liked that he just went ahead and did it. It was kind of a bold move.
“I hope it’s okay that I ordered the app platter. I eat here a lot, and it’s really good.”
“That’s fine. You eat here a lot? Do you live nearby?” Sam asked.
“I live right there,” Jez replied, pointing to the Towers, a cluster of buildings on the waterfront. They were all luxury condos, very pricey, with stunning views. Sam had looked at buying one when her company had first taken off, but when she had seen the prices, she’d opted to stay right where she was.
“Oh, nice. You must have great views from there.”
“Yeah. I’m not home much during the season, but it’s pretty cool when I am. I grew up by the water, so I wanted a good view.”
“Oh, that’s right. You must travel a lot. Uhh…actually, don’t you have a game soon?” Sam wasn’t a sports fan, but she knew there was a home game soon because of all the ticket scalpers that walked around screaming how many tickets they had for the upcoming home games.
“Tomorrow and Saturday we’re home. Then off to Michigan.”
Sam listened as he talked about travelling and being on the road. For whatever reason, it was mesmerizing. He was one of the top players but was so down to Earth one would never know it. Holly had been right: he was sweet and a funny guy.
“So, anyway, thanks for agreeing to go out with me. It was kind of random, I know. Me asking, I mean.”
“It was definitely out of the blue,” Sam said and then laughed nervously.
“I was at the awards show and just thought you seemed…I dunno…cool. I asked around about you, and when I found out you were from Boston, I figured it couldn’t hurt to ask you out. I mean, it’s always good to have friends.”
Sam nodded. What did that mean, “friends”? So this wasn’t a date? Good grief. Why wasn’t anything ever easy?
The waitress showed up with the appetizer, a giant three-tier silver piece filled with lobster meat, shrimp, oysters, chicken skewers, and a dozen other things.
Sam’s eyes widened as she looked at all the food on it, and Jez laughed.
“I like to eat a lot. I hope you do too.”
Sam shifted uncomfortably in her seat. She was obviously a larger girl; of course she liked to eat. She grabbed a piece of shrimp and plopped it down on her plate.
“So, tell me about yourself,” Jez said to her as he scooped up some oysters.
Several hours later, Sam was still laughing and talking, having the time of her life. The night had flown by, and the two had discussed so many different things, from school to work to which local beaches were the best. The restaurant was empty, and the wait staff was hovering around. Sam and Jez had moved to the
bar after eating, and it was now closing up.
Jez paid the bill and took a few selfies with the wait staff then grabbed Sam’s hand as they exited the building.
“Can I walk you home?” He asked. Sam said yes even though it was a long, walk to her place. She didn’t want the night to end. As the two walked along the old cobblestone sidewalks they laughed, with Jez grabbing her hand more than once. She knew that she would be a zombie tomorrow, but she didn’t care how late she was out. She was having too much fun.
********
Sam shielded her eyes from the sunlight that was streaming in her window through the blinds. Rolling over, she looked at the clock and abruptly sat up in bed. It was eight thirty, and she had slept right through her alarm! Jumping out of bed, she made a beeline for the shower, smiling. She’d had an amazing night with Jez. The date had been perfect. After he had walked her home, they had kissed. But he hadn’t pressured her to invite him inside, and that had been a welcome surprise. She hummed as she took a quick shower, feeling truly happy about where this could go with him.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
“Well? You got home late. I mean real late. I was up until one thirty, and your lights were still on. Spill the beans.”
Sam smirked as Holly appeared in her office doorway, demanding to know what had happened on her date with Jez.
“I got home around two. It was fun,” Sam said nonchalantly, knowing that answer wouldn’t suffice.
“Delivery for Samantha Reynolds.” Addi came into Sam’s office carrying a giant bouquet of mixed flowers. She put the arrangement down on Sam’s desk and grabbed the card away from Holly, who had plucked it off of the flowers as Addi had walked past her. She handed it to Sam and stood next to Holly.
“What?” Sam asked, trying to sound casual. Inside, she was giddy with joy. Flowers! It had been years since she had been sent flowers! And they were absolutely gorgeous. She opened the card slowly.
