Chapter 20

I’m just getting out of my car across the street from my office building when I feel my phone buzz.

Before pulling it out to see who texted, I pull my coat closer to my face as I quickly run across the busy downtown street and into my building. I know it’s petty, but the fact that VPs have to park across the street, instead of in the actual building’s parking lot, annoys me every morning that it’s not sunny. Logically I get that there are a finite number of spots so they prioritize them for SVPs and above, but right now as I shake off rain from my clothes, I don’t care about logic. I guess I could buy an umbrella, but apparently nobody in Seattle actually owns one and I’ll just look like a tourist to my colleagues.

Once I’m in the lobby of the building, I pull out my phone as I head to the elevators in the middle of the room.

We need to talk, a text from Jackie reads.

“We need to talk” is never a good sign and given the fact that I left Jackie with Maddy last night, my stomach instantly tightens.

When? I text back.

Meet me at the office. Now.

I’m on my way up.

Jackie is sitting in my office when I come in and she doesn’t look like she slept much. In fact, she’s wearing the same shirt she had on yesterday.

“Hey,” I say as I move to my desk, set my things down and sit in my chair.

Jackie doesn’t reply and just plays with two of the buttons on her shirt, a nervous behavior I’ve seen her do since we met.

“Jackie,” I say when she continues to sit there.

Finally, she looks up like she just noticed that I was there.

“I slept with Maddy,” she says quickly.

My eyes move up her day-old clothes, which now that I’m really paying attention, look more than a little disheveled.

“I gathered that,” I reply tentatively. “Is that what you needed to talk to me about?”

For some reason I have a feeling in my gut that Jackie didn’t just come in here for a girl’s chat. She looks like a toddler who spilled milk and then ran away from the mess.

“And she knows about you and Lauren,” she adds.

I was half expecting some kind of revelation like this, and yet my stomach still drops at her words.

“How?” I ask and I can hear how unsteady my voice sounds already.

“I told her. Accidentally.”

“How did you accidentally tell her?”

Jackie lets out a long breath before rubbing her face with her hands. “We were drinking. A lot. And we went back to her hotel room. Somehow, we started talking about Lauren. She asked how it was working with her and I told her that I don’t really work with her since she can’t touch the Ellison account. Then she told me that all the women at Olivia’s consultancy firm had a crush on Lauren and asked me if I found her attractive.”

The more Jackie talks, the more my stomach tightens. How she couldn’t realize what Maddy was doing, drunk or not, is beyond me.

“I told her that it wouldn’t matter because I’m not blonde-haired and blue-eyed like you,” she continues. “Maddy made a comment about that being Olivia’s type as well and then I made a stupid joke that it would make all of our lives easier if you just took both of them to bed. It didn’t take much for her to figure out that ‘both of them’ meant Lauren and Olivia.”

I’m no longer looking at Jackie because my hands are covering my face. Nice or not, Maddy is on Team Olivia and I’m sure this information has already been given to the CEO.

“Why the hell would you say that? That’s not even a funny joke,” I say into my hands and I can feel my body heat up, but in a very different way than last night.

“I don’t know, Ems. I was drunk. So drunk. I was stupid.”

Sure, I’m angry at Jackie for being so careless, but a sense of fear is also settling itself into my mind. Everything feels like it’s about to come tumbling down around me with this one mistake. But somewhere in the back of my mind, it also doesn’t feel completely accidental.

Her use of my nickname again barely resisters as I try to process everything she just told me.

“You have to see how it’s hard for me to believe it was an accident considering your attitude towards me lately,” I say in a biting tone, letting my anger win out over any other emotion.

“Being heartbroken isn’t an attitude, Emma,” Jackie says back quietly, and in an instant, my anger dissipates a bit.

Jackie made a huge mistake last night. But she’s not responsible for us being in this situation— I am. And the fact is, she didn’t have to come here this morning and tell me all this.

“You know she was trying to get information out of you, right?” I ask in a much gentler tone.

“Not everyone is as duplicitous as Olivia. It didn’t feel like prying. We were just getting to know each other,” Jackie says.

Her defensive tone sets my annoyance off. She’s defending a woman who we know is loyal to Olivia Ellison.

“Coming from the same woman who’s been saying Lauren is only sleeping with me to get back at her ex, it’s not out of the question for me to accuse Maddy of sleeping with you to get information.”

Jackie leans back in the chair and lets out a puff of breath, but the guarded look she had on her face a moment before is gone.

“Look, I’m the one who made the mistake. I know how it sounds, but I really don’t think her goal was to get that out of me. And maybe there’s a chance she won’t tell Olivia or maybe she won’t even remember. We were really drunk.”

I finally let my hands fall from my face and lean back in my own chair as I look at Jackie. Even if Jackie is right and Maddy doesn’t remember, I can’t take the chance that Olivia won’t blow all this up around me. And if that happens, I can say goodbye to my Altitude career.

“I have to tell Michelle and Guy,” I finally say in a quiet voice.

“No. That’s a terrible idea. At best, you lose any chance of a promotion, and at worst, you lose your job and so does Lauren. There’s too much money on the line. Agencies are loyal to the bottom line and you know that as well as I do.”

“Jackie, they’re going to find out. I can’t even imagine what Olivia is going to do with this information. Especially after last night.”

My dread just increases as I think back to the events of last night and the way I turned Olivia down. If the next thing she finds out about me is that I’m fucking her ex-wife, we’re all doomed on this account.

“What do you mean?” Jackie asks.

“Olivia asked me to come up to her room last night and I told her no.”

Jackie’s eyes widen for a moment as she sits there and takes in what I just told her. “Jesus. That makes this more complicated,” she says as I just nod back. “Do I need to tell all these executive women that your pussy is nice but it’s not made out of gold?”

I let out an involuntary laugh at her inappropriate and incredibly ill-timed joke. Jackie has always had a way to bring levity to any situation, and apparently one as dire as this is no exception.

“I can’t believe you’re making jokes right now,” I reply.

“You know I can’t help myself. But I still don’t think you should tell them. Because I got my own information out of Maddy.”

“And you couldn’t have led with that?” I ask, leaning forward in my chair.

“Actually, the other information seemed more pertinent. But as I said, Maddy was drunk and is apparently pretty forthcoming. Turns out Lauren’s intel on the account was more than spot-on.”

“Did you just compliment Lauren?” I ask.

“Don’t push it,” she responds with an eye roll. “Anyway, Maddy implied that Olivia has a major uphill battle to fight with the board if she wants to change agencies. Simon’s name came up briefly and I guess he’s gaining influence with the other board members. It sounds like Olivia hasn’t made a lot of friends there yet.”

“But she’s so likable,” I say in a sarcastic tone that causes a smile to cross Jackie’s face. “That kind of sounds like what Lauren has described Richard Ellison’s relationship with the board to be like.”

“Exactly. She didn’t say much else, but it was pretty clear that Altitude is the front runner for everyone but Olivia.”

“So, we stay the course?” I ask.

“We stay the course,” she replies. “We focus on Alan and Simon Simpson and we showcase why they should stay the course and maintain Altitude.”

“Maybe you should do the pitch. You already have your closing line.”

“Hell no. I color. You present. We win.”

“We win,” I repeat.

Though my stomach is a mess with a sense of dread for what’s to come, it also feels nice to have Jackie back in my corner, even for just a moment. I won’t pretend we still don’t have things to work through, but at least this gives me a sliver of hope that one day we can be friends again.

“And if Olivia reveals the truth?” I ask.

“If she even knows the truth, and then reveals it, we’ll deal with it. But telling them now won’t help anything.”

“Okay,” I reply with a nod.

“I have to go. I have a design review in five,” she says as she glances at the clock on my wall. When she gets to my door, she turns around before opening it. “I know it probably seems like I did this on purpose. Because of what’s happened. But I didn’t. And I am really sorry.”

The look she’s giving me is the softest one I’ve seen on her face in a while and it makes my heart ache for our friendship. I wish Jackie would just come back to my office after her meeting so we can talk more about everything, but I know we’re not there yet.

"I know that. Thank you for telling me. You didn’t have to.”

Jackie nods. “And I don’t think Olivia and Lauren are cut from the same cloth anymore. In case that matters. Olivia sucks,” she adds.

Jackie has never been one to sparse her words, but her choice of verb makes me laugh.

“She does suck,” I reply back.

Jackie gives me one small smile before she turns and leaves the office. I need to take out my laptop and actually get a start on the day, but I know I’m too distracted so I simply lean back in my chair and close my eyes.

I still don’t know if I agree with Jackie’s assessment on not telling Michelle and Guy. Altitude has always pushed transparency as a key company attribute. But as Jackie pointed out, this is more than just an account to the agency. This is a game-changing retainer and I’m just a fleck of dust in the way. I could see them preemptively taking me off the account, or worse, just to appease Olivia.

I know it’s a long shot that Maddy doesn’t remember their conversation. Deep down, I know that’s unlikely considering Jackie’s own recollection. The only chance I have for my relationship with Lauren to remain hidden is if Maddy doesn’t tell Olivia anything—after all, I’m sure Olivia wouldn’t be happy to know that Maddy told Jackie the things she did.

I open my eyes and shake myself out of my jumbled thoughts. I have a presentation to finalize with only two weeks left before the pitch. Two weeks to figure out the best way to convince Alan and Simon Simpson that Altitude is the best agency for the job.

And two weeks to wait and hope Olivia Ellison doesn’t completely ruin my life.

Chapter 21

“Time check?” Michelle asks as we sit back down at the conference table after doing our final run-through of the day.

“Just over an hour,” Jackie says as she looks at the stopwatch that we have resting on the conference table. “Not bad.”

“That would give us the last thirty minutes for the question-and-answer period, which seems like a good breakdown. Let’s try to hit that pace again when we run through it tomorrow,” Michelle says.

I internally cringe at the mention of doing another run-through tomorrow. I know we need to, given the magnitude of this pitch, but just like with Interplay, and every other piece of business I’ve ever pitched, I hate rehearsing. I feel so wooden and forced until I have a real audience, and I wish it was Friday already so we could be done with it. For so many reasons.

Thankfully, Guy and Sarah are sitting in for tonight’s rehearsal so they can review and give us feedback. They are some of the only two people who have signed Ellison’s NDA— Guy because he’s the head of the office and Sarah because we needed to bring her in for the measurement pieces— and having other people to watch us helps me feel like it’s a little more real.

“Damn, guys. That was smooth,” Sarah says.

“Thank you, Sarah. Any real notes, though?” Michelle asks as she rubs her forehead.

Michelle has seemed tense ever since the meeting with Olivia, which I suppose I understand— mainly because I’ve felt the same tension myself. But in the two years she’s been my boss, I don’t think I’ve ever seen her so serious and rigid through a pitch process. Even during our last rehearsal, she wasn’t her confident, charming self and I wonder how much of Olivia’s antics in that meeting really got under her skin. Usually, a compliment like that from Sarah would at least elicit a smile.

“Right,” Sarah says, looking back down at her notepad with a more serious look on her face. “I really did think the opening and closing pieces were fantastic. The way you weaved the creative campaigns with the research was also really powerful. But I think the insight slides need to be pulled in sooner.”

“Says the researcher,” Jackie jokes.

“Hush now, my little coloring friend,” Sarah replies to Jackie with an eye roll. “As I was saying, you set up the situation well at the beginning. It’s clear we understand what they’re looking for, but we need to follow that up with our main insights. Right now, it goes from the opening statement into the history of Altitude and Ellison. They already know that history. If anything, I think that stuff could be held until the end.”

“I agree. Olivia won’t want to feel like she’s being talked at about things she already knows,” I say.

“Yes, but there are also new people in the room that we know we need to impress,” Michelle argues. “I agree we can move the slides down, but we will need them at some point to showcase to the board how deep our relationship history runs and the success we’ve had on their behalf.”

“Agreed,” Guy says as he finally chimes in. “To quote Sarah, that was truly fantastic. You three have put together a compelling case. I have no notes on the actual presentation itself. The deck is beautiful and Emma nailed it as always. Michelle, I’ve already mentioned it to you when I reviewed the slides earlier today, but I just don’t think the case study examples are right. Does San Francisco have any better sustainability samples besides the Port Authority campaign? We know Donnelly & Schneider will be strong on that front. We need to showcase that we’re not completely new to the space.”

“I’ll send you the samples San Francisco sent to me today. There’s one great one from their campaign with Blossom Ridge, but it’s very consumer-focused,” Michelle says.

“Given the fact that Ellison wants to go big with this, I think that’s OK,” he responds. “Send me the case study slide and I’ll review it. When’s your next rehearsal?”

“We’ll do two more run-throughs tomorrow,” Michelle says.

“I’ll be around if you need an audience again,” Guy replies. “I can put together some mock questions to help prepare for the Q&A section.”

“That would be great, actually. If you can join our noon rehearsal, that would give us time to rearrange some of the slides we just talked about,” Michelle says to him. “Jackie, can you work with Sarah on the research flow?”

“I certainly can,” Jackie responds and directs a playful smile at Sarah.

The two of them always have trouble being serious when in the same room and I often wonder how it is they ever get anything done, but somehow, they always do.

“Jackie and Emma, are you two prepared if Olivia decides to start the meeting early?” Michelle asks us.

Jackie seems to finally notice how stressed Michelle is, and she drops the smile that had spread across her face a moment before. It suddenly hits me just how much pressure Michelle must be under from leadership to win this account, and I’m grateful I decided not to tell her about my relationship with Lauren.

So far, Olivia has been quiet from Austin and I’m still holding out hope that Maddy didn’t say anything. Though, Olivia could just be waiting until she gets back to Seattle to make a move.

“Yes, our calendars are cleared in case she does that again,” I reply.

Something tells me Olivia never plays the same trick twice so that, mixed with the fact that key board members will be in the office with her, makes me think we will start at three, just as scheduled. And that alone already feels like a cruel trick— nobody wants to pitch at the end of the day on a Friday. It isn’t even Thursday yet and I’m already exhausted.

“Then I think we can break until tomorrow,” Michelle says and begins to gather her things.

An awkward silence settles on the room with Michelle’s abrupt conclusion and even Guy has a slightly concerned look on his face as he watches her put her laptop in her bag.

“Perfect timing, too,” Guy says with exaggerated exuberance, apparently trying to smooth over the tension in the room. “I told Paul I’d try to start getting home before ten o’clock at least once this week.”

But Michelle just gives us all a tight smile before she’s standing and moving towards the door. “Tell Paul hello for me. Jackie and Emma, I’ll see you in here tomorrow at nine,” she says before she’s out the door.

Guy and Sarah are both looking at the door behind me where Michelle just left, but I can see Jackie’s eyes trained on Guy with a confused look on her face.

“Who’s Paul?” she asks.

“My boyfriend,” Guy says as if it was obvious.

I have to look away so I don’t react to Jackie’s comically wide eyes.

“Is there a problem, Jackie?” Guy asks, probably confused by Jackie’s surprised face.

“No, not at all. None at all. Zero. I just didn’t know…you had a boyfriend. You’ve never brought him to the holiday party.”

“We started dating just after last year’s,” Guy replies with a slightly confused look on this face.

Sometimes when Jackie gets going, there’s nothing that can stop the train wreck that comes out of her mouth if she’s left unchecked. And right now, right before the biggest pitch of our life, is probably not the best time to tell Guy that she thought he was sleeping with Michelle. So, before things get worse, I decide to cut in.

“Anyway, thank you, Guy. We won’t keep you any longer. It’s getting close to your curfew,” I say to him with as much charm as I can muster.

“No, thank you. I know how much work you’ve put into this, and it shows. I’ll see you all tomorrow,” Guy says before getting up and leaving the room.

Once the door is closed, Jackie lets out a loud noise that sounds like a mix of a sigh and a laugh. “Well, who would have guessed?” she says.

“Guess what?” Sarah asks.

“Guy’s gay,” Jackie replies.

“Obviously,” Sarah says. “He has a rainbow flag on his desk and his hair is coiffed.”

“You two need to stop stereotyping,” Jackie responds, pointing at Sarah and me. “That would be like me saying you’re gay just because your hair is short or you drive a motorcycle,” she says to Sarah before turning her eyes on me. “Or that you’re gay because—”

For a moment her eyes roam over my dress and long hair, seemingly looking for something she can call out.

“You have short fingernails,” she finally says.

“Well, you’d be right in all of those examples. Even if Emma’s was a terrible example,” Sarah replies. “Oh, and you ride a motorcycle, you don’t drive one.”

As I watch Jackie roll her eyes at Sarah, I can’t help but laugh. After all the late nights, last-minute changes to the pitch presentation and rehearsal after rehearsal this week brought, it feels good to be bantering with the two of them again. And it’s not lost on me how much friendlier Jackie has been since her night with Maddy. But thinking about Maddy and what she’s most likely told Olivia only makes my stomach tighten, so I push that from my brain for now.

“Anyway, what did you guys do to Michelle?” Sarah asks.

“The meeting with Olivia Ellison was a bit tense and I think she’s just stressed about this whole thing,” I say.

“It is a lot of money. I’d be stressed too,” Sarah replies. “But if she needs a handler for Olivia Ellison, I’d be happy to step in. I’m a savant when it comes to dealing with hot, difficult women,” she adds as she waggles her eyebrows. “Feel free to pass along my personal cell phone number.”

I smile at Sarah, but the direction of the conversation is also making me feel slightly uncomfortable— as any mention of Lauren’s ex does. I especially don’t want to hear about how hot she is.

“Sorry to tell you, but I think Emma is more her type than you are,” Jackie says, causing me to shift uneasily in my chair. Now we are definitely in uncomfortable territory.

“I’d argue that I’m everyone’s type, but I have seen Olivia’s ex-wife, so I’m guessing you’re right,” Sarah responds.

I feel like my heart skips a beat at the mention of Lauren and I just hope it didn’t show on my face. Sarah is a good friend, but the Ellison pitch is messy enough without one more person knowing the truth behind it all.

“You guys knew she was married to Lauren, right?” Sarah asks when Jackie and I just stare at her.

“Of course, we knew. She’s basically our boss. But how did you know?” Jackie asks.

“I’ve heard it from like five different people here. It’s an agency. Worse than a high school. Why, is it supposed to be a secret?”

“No,” Jackie says casually and looks at me, but doesn’t say anything else.

Sarah and Jackie are even closer than Sarah and myself, so I’m grateful Jackie’s not saying anything more even though she could.

“Well, it’s too bad they broke up because that might be the hottest couple in the entire world.”

Usually, Sarah’s brazen attitude about women amuses me, but right now her comment just causes my hand to dig into the armrest of my chair. I will myself not to say something snarky about Olivia, but it doesn’t help that Jackie’s eyebrows are raised and she’s staring right at me, as if waiting for me to respond with some jealous comment.

“Should you even be looking? I thought you were still seeing the barista,” I respond when Jackie just continues to sit there looking at me.

I know my voice sounds more strained than it would in any normal conversation about women, but Sarah doesn’t seem to notice.

“That one is over. Whenever her cat would fall asleep on the bed, she would make me sleep on the loveseat in her bedroom while she slept with the cat.”

“An animal lover. How terrible,” Jackie says, laughing.

“Do you know how small a loveseat is?” Sarah asks. “I think it gave me permanent back damage.”

As the conversation moves off Lauren and Olivia, and Sarah begins relaying a story about her latest round of unsuccessful dates, I begin to relax a little. I’m also reminded how much I miss hanging out with the two of them and how much has changed since Lauren came to town.

“Speaking of which, I have date number two with the DJ tonight, so I need to go. Let’s tackle the slides in the morning,” Sarah says to Jackie.

“Fine with me. I’m about to fall asleep in this chair,” Jackie says as we all stand up and begin to gather our things. “Good luck with the DJ. We expect details tomorrow,” Jackie says, and I can’t help but smile a little at her use of “we”.

“Sure thing. Great job on the presentation, guys. I’d hire you,” Sarah replies as she gives us a final wave and heads down the hallway towards her desk, which is on the other side of the office.

“Heading to your office?” Jackie asks, and when I nod, she motions for us to walk down the hallway.

“Do you think Michelle is OK?” I ask as we walk.

“I think she’ll be fine. She’s probably just feeling like the win is her responsibility,” Jackie replies.

“That’s not exactly fair.”

“No. If leadership had just addressed the real issue from the start, maybe we wouldn’t be in this situation.”

“What do you mean?”

“If they were just transparent about why this is a longshot, instead of brushing Olivia’s marriage vendetta under the rug, we’d be in a much more realistic frame of mind on whether or not we can actually win this. Maybe they could have even addressed it directly with Olivia. Now we’re in some weird pretend world where Olivia is just another client.”

I’m lost in my own thoughts as we get closer to my office, so I just nod in response. I agree with Jackie’s assessment of the situation, but I’m also torn because I don’t know what would happen to Lauren if it was all addressed with Olivia directly and now, I can’t imagine her not being in my life.

“How are you feeling about Friday and seeing Olivia again?” she asks me.

“I feel like I’m in a haunted house and I know some scary dead lady is going to jump out at me at any minute and I’m just sitting here, waiting for it to happen.”

Jackie slows and turns to me with a confused look on her face. “Um, what? What haunted house? Who’s the dead lady?”

“It’s a metaphor.”

“An oddly specific one.”

“I’m just waiting for Olivia to do something, I guess. There’s no way she finds out that the woman who rejected her in Seattle is in love with her ex-wife and just lets it go. Something tells me that’s not her style.”

But now Jackie hasn’t just slowed, she’s completely stopped walking. When I turn to look at her, she has an unreadable expression on her face.

“You love her?” she asks.

It’s not until she asks the question that I even realize what I said. I knew how I felt before, but this was the first time I have ever vocalized it and despite her thawed attitude towards me, Jackie is probably the last person I should have made that confession to.

“Yes,” I reply in a quiet voice and look around at the framed awards lining the hall wall so I don’t have to look in her eye as I respond.

Jackie doesn’t say anything for a full minute, which causes me to finally bring my eyes back to her face. But when I look at her, she doesn’t look as upset as I thought she would.

“I’m happy for you, Ems,” she finally says.

“You are?”

She gives a short laugh and a sigh. “I mean, I want to be? I think maybe I can be, in time. I don’t think I’ll ever be President of the Lauren Callahan Fan Club. I wouldn’t even be the treasurer of that shit. But I’m doing my best to move on.”

“That makes me really happy, Jack,” I respond, smiling widely at her.

I knew I missed Jackie, but I don’t think I truly realized how much until tonight. Something about our exchange with Sarah felt so familiar and natural and I’m finally understanding how much I need her in my life.

“OK, enough of that for one night,” Jackie says, waving off our emotional moment and walks the final few paces to my office door. “You know, if you’re worried, I could always ask Maddy if Olivia knows anything.”

“You’re still talking?” I ask.

“Talking is a very strong word for what we’re doing,” she says with a raised eyebrow.

I feel a sudden mix of emotions at Jackie’s revelation. On one hand, I’m happy she’s met someone she likes. But it also makes me nervous to have someone so close to Olivia at arm’s length. Though, given my own ill-advised relationship with a client’s ex-wife, I know I can’t really criticize her.

And while it is tempting to ask her to find out what she can, if Maddy didn’t realize what Jackie had told her a couple of weeks ago, or if she was too drunk to remember, it’s better not to just offer up the information again.

“Better not bring it up,” I reply.

“You’re probably right,” she says.

Over the past few weeks, I’ve gotten so used to Jackie steering clear of my office that I’m surprised when I open my door and I can feel her follow me in. But when I enter and see Lauren sitting in one of the chairs across from my desk, scrolling through her phone, I stop in my tracks, causing Jackie to run into me.

“Jesus, Ems. It’s called walking. You usually do it in a forward progression,” she says as she steadies herself. “Oh hey, Lauren. Must have been you that made Emma trip.”

Lauren’s face looks tentative as she stares up at Jackie, but she smiles regardless. “Hello, Jackie. How was rehearsal?”

“Good. Emma killed it as usual,” Jackie responds, but for once there isn’t any bite in her tone. She isn’t as friendly as I’ve seen her be with others, but I’d still call this an improvement.

Lauren stands up from the chair she was in and takes a step closer to us at the door. “Listen, Jackie. I wanted to thank you. For telling Emma what Maddy said. I know you didn’t do it for me, or even us, but thank you anyway.”

Jackie gives Lauren a serious nod before a small smile creeps onto her face. “Just take care of this one,” she says, motioning towards me. “She’s scared of some dead lady jumping out at her.”

Lauren looks at me with a furrowed brow and I just shake my head with a slight eye roll.

“Well, I’ve given this place enough of my life. I mean, night. Did I say life? Whoops. I think I’ll be off,” Jackie says as she turns back towards the door. “See you tomorrow morning, Ems.”

Lauren stares at the hallway that Jackie just went down with an amused expression on her face before moving over to the door and closing it. I need to answer a couple of emails before I can leave, so I move over to my desk and pull out my laptop.

“What’s this about a dead lady?” Lauren asks, coming over so she can sit on the corner of my desk.

As Lauren crosses her bare legs in front of her, all I can do is stare at her for a moment. The entire position is so reminiscent of our first time together that I’m too distracted to answer the question.

“Ems?” she asks when my eyes continue to just roam her body.

“Sorry. Forget about the dead lady. There is no dead lady.”

“OK, then,” she says with a small smirk. Apparently, she knows exactly what dirty thoughts had been going through my mind only a second before. “It seems like you two are doing better,” she adds, nodding her head towards the door.

“Things are definitely moving in the right direction.”

“I’m glad. I know you miss her.”

I feel my body heat up at her words, but not in the same way it did when I was looking at her legs. Lauren’s understanding and her own lack of bite when it comes to Jackie is new and gives me a sense of hope for the future. Two weeks ago, I would have never guessed Lauren and Jackie might thaw towards each other.

“I do. I miss her a lot,” I say and turn my chair towards her. The fact is, I can’t get emails written when Lauren’s perfume is hitting my senses and her bare legs are just asking to be touched, so I figure that Jackie is right— I’ve given enough of myself to this place for one night. “You’re here late.”

Lauren must see the glint in my eye because she stands up and puts her hands on either side of my chair. She leans in and places her lips softly on my cheek before moving them closer to my ear. My body reacts as if she licked my pussy and my eyes slam shut at the sudden arousal vibrating through me. Flashbacks to that first night together are racing through my mind like a movie on repeat. A really, really hot movie.

“I came to seduce you in this chair again, but—” she says and brings her mouth down from my ear so she can lightly lick her way across my lips.

My tongue darts out on its own accord in an attempt to swipe at hers, but she’s already brought her mouth away from mine. I can’t help but let out a low moan at the way she’s teasing me.

“But what?” I ask in a breathy voice.

“Michelle is still in her office and by the look on her face, she isn’t leaving any time soon.”

“How tame we’ve become,” I reply with a teasing smile.

“Yes, so boring, I know. Instead, I thought I’d take you home and help you forget about the stress of this week,” she says as she dips her head and swipes her tongue across my lips in one fast motion. “Would you like to know how?” she says when she’s pulled her face away again.

I’m so turned on now that I don’t think I can speak without sounding strangled, so I just nod in response. Lauren moves her lips back to my ear and whispers into it, allowing her lips to hit my lobe as she does.

“First, I want to run a bath for you,” she says and then runs her tongue down my neck. “Then I’ll rub lotion all over your body and give you the best massage you’ve ever had.”

“That sounds nice,” I’m finally able to pant out when she moves her head so she can kiss up the other side of my neck.

“Oh, that’s not all, baby,” she says, lapping her tongue against my ear again.

“No?”

“I’m going to finish the night by tying you up and making you mine. Would you like that?”

Her mouth is back on my own and she wastes no time slipping her tongue into my mouth. And for a few minutes, I’m lost in the kiss. It’s passionate and powerful and it’s as if our tongues have become so familiar with each other that they have a language of their own. They don’t need silly words or proclamations. Our tongues are acquainted in a way I’ve never experienced with another woman.

When her hands come up and grab onto my hair, I let out a moan that I know is too loud for our current predicament. Michelle’s office may be on the other side of the building, but it’s not that far away.

Lauren seems to agree because it’s at that moment that she breaks her mouth away from my own. Her green eyes are dark and I can see a slight rise and fall to her chest that I know my own body is mirroring.

“God, yes,” I reply when I can finally form words.

Lauren gently tugs on the hair that’s still in her hand before giving me a stern look.

“Manners, Ems.”

“God, yes. Please, Miss?”

“Much better. Let’s go.”

Chapter 22

Now is not the time to be distracted, but as I watch Michelle rehearse her opening statement for what feels like the hundredth time, all I can do is think back on the night before.

Somehow even with the impending pitch happening tomorrow, Lauren was able to take my mind off things. Like so many other times, she was the perfect mix of sweet and sexy, and the slight sting I can still feel on my ass from our play session only makes it harder to care about what Michelle is saying. Or maybe it’s that I’ve heard this speech one too many times.

Last night just made me want this week to be over even more than I already did. I know once it’s over we’ll still need to deal with the issue of HR and the difference in our roles, but with the pitch so close, it also feels like Lauren and I can finally be free of some of the underlying anxiety surrounding our relationship.

Jackie is sitting across the table and she seems to be about as focused as I am. To be fair, this is our third run-through today and I think it’s fair to say we’re both ready to go home.

I already told Lauren I was going home to my own apartment tonight so I could focus before the pitch, which was partly the truth, but not the whole truth.

Despite how relaxed she made me feel last night, the moment I stepped back into the Altitude office this morning, I could feel the tension seep back into my body and I’m at the height of anxiety at this point. Once we’re done rehearsing, I just need the sanctity of my own apartment to re-center myself before tomorrow.

It doesn’t help that I’ve now met Olivia and know exactly what she can be like, and every moment that passes brings me closer to facing her again.

I’ve rehearsed my part of the pitch so many times that I could sleepwalk through it, so when Michelle steps aside and it’s my turn to go, I move through my slides with ease before passing the torch on to Jackie.

“Do I really need to do this again, Michelle? I feel like I could rehearse this in Portuguese at this point,” Jackie says.

“Your mom told me your Portuguese is terrible,” I reply from my side of the room.

“My mom is known to lie,” she quips back.

“I’ll be sure to tell her that next time I see her,” I reply. It feels so good to be joking around with Jackie again that I almost miss the seething look on Michelle’s face. “Sorry, we’ll stop,” I say to her.

“Oh, no, please continue since this pitch seems like a joke to you both,” Michelle snaps back, and it’s the first time I’ve ever heard her speak like that.

She’s often firm with us, but there’s always an underlying warmth and usually she seems amused by us even if she acts like she’s not. It’s normal for teammates to try to bring some levity to a stressful room, but by the look on her face, this isn’t one of those times.

“It’s not a joke to us, Michelle. We’re just tired. It’s been a long week,” I respond in an attempt to ease some of the sudden tension.

“Next week will be even longer if we don’t nail this tomorrow. Every single person on the leadership team has their eyes on this. If we lose, we’re all in a difficult spot,” Michelle responds.

“As in, we’ll be fired if we lose a no-win pitch?” Jackie asks.

“Enough, Jackie. If we go into this thinking we’re going to lose, we will. We know what we need to do to win this and not all roads lead through Olivia Ellison. But the stakes have never been higher and it would help things if I knew you both understood that. Fair or not, how we do in this pitch will be seen by everyone.”

Michelle’s speech manages to quiet even Jackie down and a much more serious mood settles itself over the room. When Michelle looks back to her laptop to move the presentation slides forward, Jackie catches my eye with a raised eyebrow.

We both know that the stakes are high for this pitch, considering the historical relationship with the client as well as how large the retainer is for it, but this was the first time Michelle has ever implied that there would be some kind of repercussion if we don’t manage to win it.

“Now, let’s run it again,” Michelle says when she takes her place in the front of the room.

Jackie stands up straight as she dives into her section again, this time without any pushback or teasing. And once again, I’m counting down the hours until this is all over.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

I can feel my eyes start to droop as I go through the Ellison board member profiles, but luckily, I’m on the last one. I already read through them when the research team first delivered them to my inbox a week ago, but I like to refresh my memory on who will be in the room and what their role and history have been with the client.

When I’m finally done and close the document, I notice that it’s only five o’clock. Usually, I stay at the office until at least six, and often later than that if it’s the night before a pitch, but Michelle isn’t making us do another run-through and all I want to do is go home, have some wine and go to bed early. Not that I’ll sleep much— I rarely do before a pitch.

Just as I’m contemplating gathering my things so I can go, my desk phone rings. I recognize the Austin area code immediately, but I also can see that it’s not Lauren’s number. My stomach immediately drops to the floor, because somehow, I know exactly who is calling me.

“Emma King,” I say in a professional voice as I pick up the phone and brace myself for the low, sultry voice I know will be on the other end.

“Hello, Emma King. Do you know who this is?”

“Olivia Ellison.”

“Should I be flattered you already recognize my voice?”

We’ve only been on the phone for five seconds and I’m already rolling my eyes.

“Or you can just be impressed with my powers of deduction. You have an Austin area code,” I respond.

“Very resourceful.”

There’s a pause and Olivia doesn’t say anything else.

“Did you need something?” I finally ask, not able to handle the silence.

“You didn’t tell me last time I was in town just how much we have in common,” she says.

If my stomach dropped to the floor earlier upon seeing her number on my phone, now it’s in the parking garage. The thing I had most feared for the past two weeks has come true— Olivia knows about my relationship with Lauren. She doesn’t sound mad, but I also know that showing any kind of anger or jealousy wouldn’t be her style.

“I don’t know what you mean,” I reply, deciding not to give in to her vague phrasing.

If she wants to say something about Lauren, she can just come out and say it. But instead, Olivia just lets out a low laugh into the phone that I’m sure works to make other women’s knees weak, but only grates on my senses.

“Oh, I think you do, Emma.”

She doesn’t say anything else, which makes me shift in my seat uncomfortably. Olivia knows very well that I can’t just hang up on her— not with the pitch only a day away. But no part of me wants to play whatever game she’s trying to set up here.

“What do you want, Olivia?”

“Come have a drink with me. Alone.”

“And why would I do that?”

“Because it’s in your best interest to do so.”

“Is it?”

“There are things we need to discuss before tomorrow. If you care about her or her job, I suggest you come. Or I can just call over to Michelle’s desk and see if she’s free. I’m sure the extracurricular activities of Altitude’s staff would fascinate her.”

“So, you’re blackmailing me then?”

“I like to think of it as transactional encouragement. But I promise you, meeting with me will only help you.”

I know I should probably say no since no good can ever come from interacting with someone as manipulative as Olivia. But I also can’t help but recall Michelle’s words from earlier about the stakes of this pitch. Now that Maddy told her the truth, seeing Olivia now may be my only chance to stop her from doing something drastic to Lauren or even me. I’m also hyper-aware that Olivia won’t appreciate a second rejection from me now that she knows I’m sleeping with her ex.

“One drink. That’s all,” I hear myself say, despite the warnings going off in my head.

“Perfect, it’s a date.”

“It’s not a date.”

She lets out another low laugh before answering. “Same hotel. I’ll see you in the bar area in 30.”

I stare at the phone after we hang up and I don’t know what I should do. My gut is telling me I need to tell Lauren, but I also know she’ll tell me not to go and that just doesn’t seem like a viable option at this point. I just want to be able to fix this for both of us, and her knowing won’t help. If anything, she’ll just march down to Olivia’s hotel herself.

I open up our office’s internal communications system and see a red dot next to Lauren’s name, indicating she’s in a meeting. I allow that to make my decision and without letting myself second guess it anymore, I quickly put my laptop in my bag and head out of the office and towards the elevators.

I meant what I said and Olivia isn’t going to get much of my time. But I need to do this— if there’s any chance for me to end this charade, it’s now.