It was almost half past noon. My lunch time was already halfway over, but it didn't really matter. My appetite was nowhere to be found. The way that Carter had shrugged me off made me sick to my stomach. His reaction to me wasn't at all what I had expected it would be. I had imagined him giving me a deep and passionate kiss, telling me how much he'd missed me during the weekend. Instead, I got the complete opposite.
I drew in a deep breath and sunk back into my chair. The papers that Carter had handed me a few minutes before were spread all over the floor in front of my door. At least I had work to do. I figured that might help me take my mind off of things for a while. I sat forward to check over the stocks but was immediately interrupted by someone knocking on my office door.
My eyes widened and I glanced up, hoping to see Carter. My expression fell slightly when I saw a stout and curly-haired silhouette behind the glass. But, then I smiled for my friend.
“
It was an hour after Maddy left my office before I could finally focus enough to get some actual work done. I still hadn't seen Carter the rest of the day, but I did my best to keep him off of my mind by throwing myself at my job. With coffee in hand, I dove into the stock ledgers that he'd handed me that morning. These were big investments. Not to say the others ones hadn't been, but these, were in the tens of millions. Larger than anything he'd ever had me look at before. One of them in particular had caught my eye, because I recognized the name immediately. It was for the New York Solar Company, the same investment that had made Winthrow over a million dollars not even a week before. What is this?I thought.Holy shit, that's a lot of money. And not in the right direction. It looked as though Carter wanted to buy up six million dollars worth of stock in the same company that we'd just recently betagainst. I wasn't
The unopened bottle of red wine on my kitchen counter looked more tempting than ever. It had been a long day, despite the fact that I'd hardly gotten any actual work completed. All I wanted to do was to sit back, watch some television and drink some wine. I left it on the counter. “No wine today, friend. I'm saving you for something special,” I said to the empty room. I wondered if talking to a bottle of wine meant I was crazy. “I suppose it's not any crazier than trying to talk to a man who doesn't seem to want anything to do with you,” I whispered, stepping over to the freezer. My choices for dinner were frozen macaroni and cheese, pizza, or burritos. That was, unless, I actually wanted tocooksomething. However, that would have required motivation and a little hard work, neither of which I was willing to try to muster up in that moment. So I grabbed a frozen pizza and started up the oven so that it could preheat. I was s
Early the next morning, Maddy and I ordered our coffees from the corner shop and then took a seat out on the patio. We were the only ones out there, which was perfect, because I didn't want anybody listening in on our conversation.Maddy let out a long yawn and wiped the sleep from her eyes. “Jane, I appreciate you wanting to take the time to get together with me. I really do. Jesus, though, it's freaking early.”I took a sip from my coffee in the hopes of keeping my eyes open. She wasn't lying. It was way too early to be up and moving around. I just wanted to get her advice as soon as possible and waiting until lunch didn't feel like an option. I didn't have that kind of patience.“Sorry, Mads,” I said. “I take it you aren't an early bird.”She looked at me like I was crazy. “Early bird? Are you kidding me? Do you realize the struggle it is for me to drag my ass out of bed every morning and crawl into Winthrow Fi
Maddy and I rode the elevator up. It stopped at the third floor and when the doors opened, we exchanged a hug. “Have a good day,” I said. “You too.” Maddy walked out of the doors and turned around. “I hope you don't pass out from lack of oxygen all the way up there on the very top floor.” I laughed and shook my head. “I'll try not to. Talk to you soon.” The elevator doors closed and I leaned against the wall as it rode upward. The talk with Maddy that morning had been motivating and inspiring. Enough bullshit,I thought.I'm done dancing around the issue with Carter. I'm going to tell him how I feel and demand that he do the same. Once at the top floor, I stepped out and made my way toward the offices. Cindy was already there at the front desk. She looked up when she saw me and gave me a half-assed nod and a mumbled “good morning”. “Morning,” I said confidently. That was the extent of our con
Everything was in order. I'd gotten all of my work done, my desk was organized and I'd already shut my computer down. I tossed my cell phone in my purse and headed out of the office doors. Cindy rolled her eyes as I walked by. “A little early to be calling it a day, isn't it?” she asked, looking at her watch. It was only fifteen minutes before I was technically off of work, but I needed to cut out early. “I've got a meeting,” I said. “Right,” she replied, rolling her eyes so hard I thought she might knock herself out of her chair. I just laughed to myself as I walked by. I didn't actually have a meeting. The real reason I needed to leave a bit sooner was because I had a date to get ready for and I had to go shopping beforehand. Of all of the clothes that I had in my closet, I didn't feel that I had a dress worthy of the event. Carter had already seen me in my black dress and I wasn't about to wear the same outfit for the second time with him.
In my new dress, I felt like a different woman. When I got parked my car and saw myself in the reflection of the restaurant's window, I didn't see the Plain Jane that I'd seen my entire life. What I saw, was a reflection of someone with confidence. Maybe it was the dress, or maybe it was the fact that I was about to walk into the most expensive and fancy restaurant in the entire city. A place where a meal cost a minimum of five hundred bucks. Regardless, it was clear that I'd come a long way from the girl I used to be. When I stepped inside, I was immediately greeted by the host. “Good evening, ma'am,” he said. “What name are your reservations under?” “Carter,” I said. “Carter Winthrow.” He nodded. “Ah, yes, Mr. Winthrow. Please, come this way.” I followed him and it felt like I was walking into a movie. The restaurant was filled with elegant-looking people. The women were dressed to perfection and the men were adorned in expensive suits. Clas
Within a few minutes, the waiter came back with our food. The lobster frittata looked delicious, but the caviar looked like a small bowl of bubbly black tar. “You want me to eatthat?” I asked, pointing toward the fish eggs and trying not to gag. “Just try it,” he said. “If you try it and you hate it, then I'll never make you eat it ever again when we go out.” “When we go out? Does that mean that this dinner isn't just a one time thing?” I asked. My heart started to speed up despite my best efforts to stay in control. “It's a celebration dinner, right?” he said. “We're here because you made Winthrow Financial over a million dollars. I truly hope that we have lots more things like that to celebrate in the future.” “Me too,” I said. His answer was noncommittal, but acceptable. “Alright, so how do I eat it?” “I like it by itself, but you might enjoy it more on a cracker,” he said, using a small silver spoon to lift some eggs
Carter led me across the restaurant. His pace was quick, but I managed to keep up, regardless of the fact that I wasn't used to walking in heels. A few of the restaurant's patrons glanced up as we walked by, but I kind of liked it. I enjoyed the fact that Carter had his hand in mind and that people could see it. It made me feel like I was actually his girlfriend. Whether or not that was the case might have been a different story, though. “Where are we going?” I asked when we didn't go near the front door. “You said you couldn't wait,” he said. “Neither can I.” We walked into an area near the restrooms. On either side were overstuffed leather couches and tables. It appeared to be a lounging area. I'd never seen anything like that next to a restroom before. I assumed it was there so that the men could sit and chat, while their women took their sweet time in the bathroom. Luckily, that room was empty so we didn't get any strange looks as Carter pulled me into th