"Natalie, you ready to head back to the house?"
"Yes!" She stood, wrapped the towel around her waist and headed to the middle of the boat where her bag sat beneath the shade of the bimini. She slipped her clothes back over her still-damp suit and re-tied her hair back. Joe sat across from her and tugged his own tee shirt over his body. Frankly she was happy to be rid of the distraction of his ripped torso, though she would hardly admit to it.
"I'm thinking Mexican for dinner. Some margaritas. Maybe a bit of dancing?"
"You're going to have to get me very drunk to get me to dance in public," she laughed.
A devilish grin spread slowly across his face. "Challenge accepted."
"Excuse me, Miss Harlow?"
Natalie's eyelids felt like they each weighed five pounds, and she struggled to open them wide enough to take in the sight of Carly the house manager.
"Good morning. You asked me to wake you up at 9:00 with a cup of coffee."
Her olfactory senses picked up at the word
coffee
and inhaled the familiar scent laced with something else; something salty and surprisingly tree-like. She attempted to sit and was only impeded by a small ache in her head.
"Thank you, Carly." Her voice was scratchy, her throat hoarse. She took the offered cup and sipped generously, ignoring the hot temperature as it soothed down her throat.
"My pleasure. Good morning, Mr. Gallo. Can I bring you a cup of coffee?"
Natalie was sure her heart stopped beating for a moment. She followed Carly's line of vision to her right and found a bleary-eyed Joe Gallo emerging from sleep. All at once her surroundings became clear: it was morning in Lake Arrowhead, and she and Joe Gallo were sharing a two-person chaise lounge on the private beach of Audra Robertson's house, still dressed in their dinner-and-drinks clothes.
The last thing she could recall was drunkenly pointing out stars in the crystal clear mountain sky devoid of city light pollution. They must have fallen asleep. She traced back through the evening. Star watching. Being driven back to the house. Public dancing.
Oh my god
. She slapped a hand to her forehead and cringed inwardly. All those margaritas and shots of Patron...
not good, Red
.
Joe grumbled something in response to the offer for coffee and before she left, Carly handed Natalie her cell phone.
"This has been going off all morning," she said before retreating back up the stone lined pathway to the house. Natalie set the phone down on her stomach and turned to observe Joe, who, apart from being tired, exhibited no sign of hangover whatsoever.
"I didn't do anything..." she paused, an image of her dancing on top of a table wearing a sombrero came swiftly to mind, "
inappropriate
last night, did I?"
"No. Trust me, even when you're drunk you're still the picture of decorum. But you were having fun in your own way. Drinking definitely loosens a few buttons for you, Red. And don't forget to send me some of those photos you took."
"What photos?"
She picked up her phone just as Carly returned and handed Joe a steaming cup of coffee before disappearing again. When the house manager left, Natalie unlocked her phone and went slack-jawed at the screen.
"Jesus Christ, I have more than a dozen missed calls. And twice that in text messages! Was I drunk dialing people, or something?"
Before she could find an answer, Quinn's face popped up on the screen's incoming call notification.
"Hey. Are you-" she began, about to ask if Quinn was really up at nine on a Saturday in Vegas or if she was just going to bed, but was immediately interrupted.
"Natalie! I've been trying to get a hold of you all night! Did you talk to James? Is everything okay?"
Natalie was suddenly struck with the memory of once walking into a classroom full of students in the middle of a lecture, only to realize seconds later she'd mixed the classroom numbers up and was in the wrong place. The mixture of confusion and humiliation was the same then as it was in the present moment.
"I think I texted him a few times last night. Why wouldn't everything be okay?"
Joe tapped her on the shoulder and gestured up to the house. "I'm going to go get cleaned up. Will you be ready to leave by 10:30?"
"Yeah, of course," she said before turning her attention back to the phone. "Sorry, Quinn. Tell me why things wouldn't be okay with James?" There was an extended moment of silence on the other end of the line. "Quinn?"
"Natalie what is going on?"
Natalie blanched at the audible judgment in her friend's voice. It wasn't like Quinn to be anything other than cool and nonchalant, and so far her side of the conversation had been anything but.
"What do you mean?"
"I have been trying to reach you all night. Should I have called Joe's phone to get a hold of you? Because it sounds like you two just woke up together."
"
No, no, no
!" Natalie immediately defended. "I mean,
yes
, technically we woke up together but that is because we
literally
fell asleep outside on the beach looking at the stars."
"Aw, doesn't that sound romantic?" Her words dripped with sarcasm.
"Oh, come on!" Natalie pleaded. "You know me better than that." Natalie grabbed her mug of coffee and stood, grimacing as her aching muscles protested the sudden movement. She began the trek up to the house and her temporary bedroom. "Now tell me about James."
"I ran into him last night. Actually I think it's more accurate to say he
tracked me down."
"Okay?" It didn't exactly sound like an
un
-James thing to do. Quinn was staying in his hotel after all. But it still surprised her. "Why would he track you down?"
"Apparently he was under the impression that I was the co-worker you had gone to Arrowhead with, and something you said when you were drunk texting him last night set him off."
"
What
?" Natalie scoffed.
"Yeah! So he found me and basically demanded I tell him who you were with like it was some big secret or something.
Was
it a big secret?"
"No! Oh my god, of course not. It shouldn't matter if I had gone with you or Joe or anyone else!"
"Well apparently it did matter, because as soon as I mentioned Joe's name he got really angry."
Natalie stopped walking just footsteps from the lake-facing entrance. "Wait, he got angry at Joe's name specifically?"
"Yes," Quinn sighed. A cold chill slivered down Natalie's back despite the warm morning air. "Do you know why?"
"I- It's a long story. Did he say anything else?" Natalie opened the door and continued making her way to the master bedroom.
"Not really. Didn't he call you?"
"I haven't checked my phone yet. I need to get ready for the presentation. Thanks for telling me. Sorry you got caught in the middle. I can't believe he did that."
"No problem. Good luck today. Text me later?"
"Okay. Bye."
"Bye."
Ugh!
She didn't want to check her phone to see what she had drunk texted to James. Nor did she want to see if he had tried calling her. As soon as she entered her bedroom she plugged in the device to a wall charger and headed straight for the shower. There were more important things to worry about than why James was angry about her being in Arrowhead with Joe Gallo.
Except even as she showered her mind was stuck on a loop about why James was upset. He and Joe knew each other, at least in passing. But what reason did he have for being angry that she was there with him? And was it really necessary for him to track down Quinn and force her to give him information about Natalie like some common stalker?
Sure they were having problems - problems that exchanging
I love you
s couldn't just fix by merely existing - but she didn't think jealousy was one of them, if jealousy was indeed the source of his anger.
She dressed quickly in a simple white long sleeved blouse tucked into a tan faux leather pencil skirt, and checked the display of her her gold watch. There was still some time before they had to leave. Maybe she could quickly call James and try to sort out any misunderstanding. She picked up her nearly fully charged phone and tapped on James' name in the contacts screen. After one ring the call transferred to voicemail.
"Hey, it's me. I'm just getting ready to head out to make our presentation." She sat down on the bed and took a moment to breathe. "I'm sorry if there was any misunderstanding about who I am in Arrowhead with. I never said it was with Quinn, nor did I hide that it was with Joe Gallo. I didn't know that you two know each other, or
did
know each other. I haven't checked any of my messages from last night and frankly I barely remember texting you. Yes, I was drunk, and I'm sorry if I said anything that made you angry." She leaned forward, elbows digging into her knees. "I guess we'll just add this to the list of things we need to sort out? Okay. Talk to you later. Bye."
"Boyfriend problems?" Natalie nearly jumped at the sound of Joe's voice coming from her doorway. "Sorry. Didn't mean to startle you. Or eavesdrop for that matter."
"It's fine." Natalie picked up a pair of black stilettos and inched them onto her feet. "Just a miscommunication."
Joe crossed into the room and stood a few feet away from her, hands stuffed into the pockets of his black trousers. "Let me guess. He found out you went on your trip with a
male
co-worker and now he's feeling a bit jealous. Or territorial?"
"I don’t know. Maybe. It's not like I hid it from him." A voice in the back of Natalie's mind reminded her to choose her words carefully. It was one thing to hide her relationship with James Fitzgerald at work; he was a client and she merely pretended that she was a very private person. With Joe, however, all she could think was, '
By the way I happen to be dating the guy you caught your girlfriend making out with and who later dumped you for'.
If he knew she would have to answer questions about why she was dating a married man whose wife was pregnant, and she certainly was not prepared to go into The History of Natalie and James.
"I'm sure you'll work things out." Without missing a beat he added, "Carly wanted me to tell you that there is breakfast in the kitchen. Let's eat and go over the presentation one last time."
The thought of focusing her mind on work and off of her relationship issues was a welcome one. "Great, let's do it!"
Natalie's stomach twisted into knots as soon as Joe pulled up the parking break in the valet service area outside the entrance to the Lake Arrowhead Resort. A young valet attendant opened her door and ushered her into the lobby, where she was immediately awestruck by the presence of a large chandelier that looked like floating golden petals of light. It illuminated over an expansive seating area in front of the check-in, and on the far side of the enormous room was a fireplace she could easily fit inside of. A staircase broke the space and led downstairs to access the pool and spa facilities, and on the other side was a double-door entrance to a grand ballroom where a team of professional looking women were surrounding a young couple whom Natalie surmised were taking a tour for their wedding.
"Beautiful, isn't it?" Joe spoke softly beside her.
"Stunning. Look-" she said while pointing to a curved glass wall that housed hundreds of bottles of wine and peaked through to a private dining room.
"I think that's where we want to check in."
Natalie silently followed his lead, sneaking in glances at the richly appointed fabrics, deep stained wood and beautifully colored glass accents. They entered the restaurant and made a sharp left for the wine-glass-walled room where a few nondescript attendants were attending a sign-in table.
"Joe Gallo and Natalie Harlow, Brighton New Media," Joe provided. The attendant handed them each a nametag on a lanyard necklace and a white paper shopping bag filled to the brim with swag from various companies, and then pointed them in the direction of the conference meeting room.
"Feeling nervous?" Joe asked as they cut across the lobby to the designated meeting room.
"Very. I'm tempted to check this swag bag for something I can ralph into."
Joe cast a sideways glance and smiled as though he couldn't tell if she was entirely serious or completely joking. "Relax. This account is ours. All we need to do is wow them with our sparkling personalities and smiles. The work will speak for itself."
Natalie was saved from having to think of something clever to say when a woman called out Joe's name from halfway across the room. She was about to check her phone when she did a double take and realized that the woman was none other than Ivy Whitcomb.
"I had heard you might be here today!" Ivy swooned before instigating an airy
kiss-kiss
on either one of his cheeks. Her light seemed to dim somewhat when she noticed Natalie. "And you brought Natalie!"
"Hello, Ivy," Natalie offered coolly with pursed lips. What was she doing there? How could she make just four words sound even more condescending and snobbish than when she was throwing Natalie and her work under the bus at their first and only meeting together at Fitson?
"Hello. So did you two arrive together this morning?" Ivy asked, her finger pointing alternately between them, suspicion in her eyes.
"Actually we came up yesterday," Natalie answered before Joe had the chance. She thought she caught a glimpse of a smile on his face from the corner of her eye.
"Oh?" Ivy nodded, her lips tightening against her own smile. "Are you staying here in the resort?"
"No," Natalie pouted, mock sincerity in every syllable of the word. "Unfortunately we were unable to book a room. What a shame; this is such a beautiful hotel."
"Gosh that's too bad. Had I known I might have been able to pull a few strings for you."
"Aren't you so sweet?" Natalie cooed.
I'm sure you would have just been so helpful you account stealing kiss ass
. "Fortunately Audra Robertson offered us her house." She watched Ivy's face quite literally blanche before her very eyes. "Hmm, maybe 'house' is a bit of an understatement. It's more like an estate, wouldn't you say so, Joe?"
"It is a stunning home," he concurred. "Why don’t we take our seats? I think they're about to start." Ivy merely offered them an uncomfortable smile before retreating back to her side of the room. Joe leaned down to Natalie and whispered, "There something going on between the two of you?"
"Just friendly conversation between co-workers," Natalie chirped as she took a seat. She retrieved a pen and a Moleskin notebook from her purse and relaxed into her seat, trying to hold on to the small nugget of triumph she felt over Ivy. It was enough to make her temporarily forget her nervous butterflies.