A young girl with blonde hair carefully arranged in a bun on top of her head, wearing
a green skirt suit, comes around the reception desk, taking me away from the sweet
memories.
“Mrs. Edelman, welcome to the Peninsula at Beverly Hills.”
I smile at the way she’s addressed me, rather using my real last name, Doheny. My
assistant instructed her well, I think to myself. Although three years have passed
since Jack’s death, I refuse to change my marital status and still keep Jack’s last
name.
She continues with a well-practiced tone, “We’re very pleased you chose our hotel
for your company’s fifteenth anniversary celebrations. Everyone else has arrived and
is waiting for you in the Magnolia Suit. I’m here to accompany you to the suit.”
Your company.
Another thing I continue to keep after Jack’s death. His construction firm; Edelman
Constructions. I couldn’t tell granite from marble, but I promised myself, after Jack’s
funeral, that I’d continue his family’s legacy and run the company his father had
founded fifteen years ago. But more often than not, it’s the company that keeps me
going rather than the other way around.
“Thank you.” I nod and pace with her toward the elevators. She starts reciting the
menu to me as we enter the cab. I half-heartedly listen to her while checking my look
in the mirror beside the sliding doors, to make sure my Roberto Cavalli sits right.
One of the many ridiculously expensive dresses Jack bought for me. A purple, knee-length,
sheath dress with a boat neckline. It shows half of my left shoulder and covers the
other one fully. The shopping assistant at the store made me feel guilty about not
buying matching shoes and insisted on selling me the most eccentric pair of high-heeled
boots I’ve even seen. The cream boots reach a little above my ankles and are covered
with large green, blue, and purple stones.
I run a hand through my hair, which is resting loosely around my shoulders and suck
in the fresh floral aroma as we leave the elevator and head toward the suite door.
Although the people on the other side of the door in the suite have more reasons to
fear me, losing their income being the main, my knees shake as if I’m about to appear
in court. I’m sure they expect me to give a motivational speech for the bright future
of Edelman Constructions and make a few silly jokes along the line. However, I’ve
never been much of an extrovert and have gotten even worse since Jack’s death.
Jack must be watching me, otherwise, why do I feel so nervous?
The blonde, whose name I’ve already forgotten, opens the door for me and wishes me
a great evening before she leaves. I clear my throat and step inside the suite.
Among the crowd, my eyes look for the one and only person who can help me out in this
hairy situation; my good friend and HR manager, Macey Williams. With her hot-pink
dress and dark-red hair, she’s not difficult to spot.
I’ll need time to get used to those red curls of hers. I liked her better as a brunette.
For some reason unclear to me, she looked friendlier and more approachable with brown
hair. Rather than changing her hair color every six months or so, she’d do better
to get rid of that pair of thick, black frames hiding her almond-shaped, brown eyes.
As a caring friend, I told her so, and even bought a gift card for a complete laser
treatment for her eyes in the most regarded eye clinic in L.A. for her last birthday.
She’d easily meet a Hollywood celebrity or two on her way to her appointments.
But, no. The little miss red-hair will keep her glasses no matter what.
She stands only inches away from Adam Garnett, the project engineer. That’s his title,
at least, but he involves himself in every aspect of the company and the projects
we take over. He spends most of the time on the construction site to ensure that schedule
and quality requirements stay on track, while keeping a keen eye on what’s going on
with the staff, and still squeezing clients into his lunch breaks. He’s a one-man
show in every sense, and if it wasn’t for his brilliance and commitment, I’d be signing
for bankruptcy the minute I stepped outside of the hospital after the accident.
Adam lets out a hearty laugh at something Valerie says, and I remember Valerie’s rather
surprising revelation about her secret crush on Adam, the last time she and I went
out to get drunk. That was two months ago, and I wonder if she still has feelings
for him.
Actually, it’s not difficult to fall for Adam. Besides his tall, muscular figure,
thick black curls, and intimidating hazel eyes, Adam is a person-magnet. It never
ceases to amaze me how easily he can get along with different types of people, ranging
from construction workers to CEO’s of multi-million-dollar companies. He’s like a
movie star everyone wants to hang out with.
I’ve watched him enough at work to know that it isn’t just women who fall for his
smoldering, bad-boy looks, but he has an enigmatic personality that pulls men, too.
And strangely enough, other men don’t look threatened by the way women react to him.
I bet he’d make a good subject for a social psychology class, only if the female students
could manage to stop drooling and actually analyze him objectively.
Luckily for me, both Jack’s inner and outer beauty prevented me from having a crush
on Adam.
I close the door rather loudly, turning the heads toward me. Crap!
“Here she is, finally honoring us with her lovely presence.” Adam moves through the
crowd, holding two glasses of champagne. I’ll need both of them to calm my nerves.
He sports his usual bad-boy look through and through, despite the perfect and crisp,
navy-blue, two-button suit he’s wearing. His thick, long hair is unsuccessfully pulled
back with gel, silken dark curls rebelling around his face. His eyes are constantly
flaming, his lips curled at one corner hinting at the promiscuous thoughts that must
be running wild in his mind. He extends one of the champagne glasses for me, and I
take and swallow a large sip. “How are you?” he whispers, drilling his deep-set, intense
eyes into me.
I’ve a sufficient number of reasons for my legs to shake tonight; I can’t deal with
his not-so-subtle flirtations on top of them. I ignore his question and proceed toward
the middle of the crowd where Valerie stands. She winks at me but says nothing. A
few calming words would go a long way.
I guess the quicker I get the unavoidable opening speech over with, the better it’ll
be for all of us. “I’m glad we’re here celebrating yet another successful year with
higher profit margins and satisfied clients. And, let’s not forget our new employees.”
I raise my glass toward the two ladies in the legal team. I hope they’re already drunk
enough to overlook my shaking hands.
“When Jack died and I took over the company, I thought the right thing to do for the
survival of the company was to sell it. After all, as most of you know, I was majoring
in Sociology and had no idea about construction. However, you guys proved me wrong,
and together we made Edelman Constructions what it is today.” Some nod; some clap
hands. “Each of you has left a significant imprint in our company’s success; be it
Bree, who skillfully turns down some very persistent insurance agents; David, who
manages to deposit the Christmas bonuses exactly on Christmas day, never early enough
for us to really buy a Christmas present with it; and Valerie, who is so obsessively
fixed on providing training for work ethics and professionalism that I feel a strong
urge to download a porn video onto her computer.”
People laugh and nudge each other. Even the subjects of my little joke. I straighten
my face and take another sip, before continuing with my nervous talk. “Together we’ll
make Jack’s legacy last for many years and decades to come.”
The laughter dies into softer smiles at the mentioning of Jack. My eyes wander around
to find Jack’s picture that I requested my assistant, Bree, to bring to the party.
My beautiful man with the face of baby and heart of an angel.
“To Jack,” Adam says and toasts his glass with mine.
Even if no one gave a shit about Jack, Adam would, as Jack’s best friend since childhood.
And actually, it’s thanks to Adam that the company is more successful than it’s ever
been. Following Jack’s death, I had no one to turn to but Adam to continue where Jack
had left with the business. Graciously, he resigned from his highly-paid position
in a multi-million-dollar marketing company to work for me. Upon his resignation,
his employers convinced him to continue working part-time with the same amount of
salary he used to earn working full-time.
Same amount!
How impressed they must have been by Adam’s success that they wanted to keep him so
desperately. In the end, we made arrangements for him to work half of the week for
me and the other half for the other company. Even so, his accomplishments have been
more than I’d expected and helped us increase the company’s profit margins.
“Let the dinner begin,” I announce and motion everyone toward the spectacularly arranged
tables with some extraordinary French food. All Bree’s idea.
As the guests start moving toward the tables, my eyes scan the suite for Adam and
spot him by the door. He’s crooking his forefinger to me, gesturing me to go to him.
I want to thank him in person, anyway, so I move toward him under his intense stare,
which makes me extremely self-conscious, as if I’m naked. His eyes are roaming over
my body, lingering around my breasts. No amount of clothing will make me feel comfortable
around him. I fist a hand on my side and clutch the champagne glass with the other
to suppress the urge to cover my chest with my arms.
“You look particularly delicious in that dress,” he points out, as soon as I stand
in front of him.
Delicious, mouthwatering, mind-blowing, tempting, and so many other inappropriate
words of his preference to describe my looks. Where is the good, old pretty?
Nevertheless, his words burn into my skin and make the hair on my arms and neck stand
up. I can barely escape his deep, penetrating eyes that are practically undressing
me with each passing second. Were it not for several years of exposure to his blatant
advances, and the sacrifices he’s made for the company, I’d have already emptied the
contents of my glass onto his face.
“Thank you,” I say with my voice low. “I wanted to personally thank you for being
a part of Edelman Constructions. Don’t tell anyone, but it’s actually because of your
hard work that the company is what it is today. You practically saved my life by saving
the company, and I owe you a big one for that.” Trying to crack a shy smile, I let
my eyes follow the curves of his full lips, then move up to the hazel-fire of his
eyes. A big mistake. My stomach twists and turns at the sight of lust brewing in his
irises. He stares at me as if he’s restraining himself from smashing his lips onto
mine.
“Is that so?” He leans in, invading my personal space, and whispers to my ear, “Then,
why don’t you pay back the favor and go out on a date with me tomorrow night?” His
breath is warm and penetrating on my skin, and I shiver at the close proximity of
his lips to my ear.
“Adam, please. Not tonight.” I raise my left hand, my palm close to his chest. I can’t
believe how he can be so dead set on getting me into his bed, under the false pretense
of wanting to have just a dinner date with me.
“If not tonight, then when? When will you finally agree to have a simple dinner with
me? I won’t initiate anything you aren’t comfortable with. I just want a few hours
alone with you outside of work hours. We can order a pizza or go eat at a nice restaurant.
Whatever you want.” The rawness in his voice, however, hints at everything but a simple
dinner.
“It... it feels wrong.” I nervously twist my wedding band around my finger. Yeah,
I’m still wearing my wedding band. How pathetic of me, and how much more pathetic
of Adam to want to have a date with me. This only goes to show he just wants to screw
me. “I’m not ready for this.” And I never will be. But, if I tell him that, it might
be the end of his commitment to the company.
He rolls his eyes in a well-practiced manner, as if he was expecting my answer. “Three
goddamn years have passed since the accident.”
As if I’m not aware of that. I drop my head and glare at the stones on my boots. I
wish I could take them out and plug them into his mouth to shut him up, because he
seems to have a long speech prepared.
“I want you, Taylor. I’ve never wanted another woman like I want you, and I’m ready
to take it as slowly as you want to. But you don’t even let me be a friend; you shut
me out completely. What will you lose if you have dinner with me? What you’re doing
to yourself isn’t healthy.”
Healthy? “What do you know about healthy?” I’m so annoyed, I’m ready to leave the
celebration and head directly home.
“A great deal. A lot of people lose their loved ones, but life goes on. Do you think
Jack would want you to stay single and lonely for the rest of your life? Look, I don’t
want to fight. I just want to take you out tomorrow night. Please, give me that much.
I know you don’t feel the same way for me as I feel for you, but let me at least try
and show you what may become of us.”
Us? This is too much. My stomach is so tight with knots, I’ll have to rush to the
bathroom to puke if he goes on. Sucking in a desperate breath of air, I take a step
back and pull my eyes away from him toward the stage and see Valerie’s brown eyes,
wide with shock, staring at me. As soon as our eyes meet, she scoots out of the suite
and shuts the door behind her. Oh, shit. The last thing I wanted was her finding out
about Adam’s interest in me.
“Excuse me,” I say and pace toward the table Bree’s sitting. “Bree, can you go and
check up on Valerie, please?”
She pulls her eyebrows together in confusion, but without asking a question, stands
up and heads to the door.
I throw myself at the chair and start massaging my forehead to rub away the looming
headache. The party was supposed to honor Jack and celebrate the growth of the company,
not to host a cheap soap opera. I vaguely notice the chair beside me is pulled out
and look up to see Adam holding it.