On Monday morning, the door to Zander’s office flew open. Zander looked up as Kent trudged ox-slow across the floor. He diverted his attention from his phone conversation with Effie, holding up one finger to Kent.
Effie continued talking.
“I hate this, Zander. All this attention. I hate it. All these hashtag mysterymaiden and hashtag bitchbanks comments sicken me.”
“I know, baby. But, it will all blow over.”
“I’m living this now, Zander, and I hate it.” She paused. “And you were right about Trisha. She’s nuts.”
You have no idea.
“We can talk about it later,” he said, eying Kent. “I’ll make it better. I promise. I need to go. Someone stepped into my office.”
They said their goodbyes and disconnected.
“What’s up?” Zander said. “Why the long face? And where did you escape to from the party Saturday night? You and Charlie disappeared.”
“Yeah.” Kent dragged his palm over his face. “We broke up. We had a big fucking fight at the party which I dragged her into Bryant’s study to finish, so we didn’t end up all over social media.” He dropped into the chair next to Zander’s desk. “She wanted more than what I gave her. Like the fantastic sex wasn’t enough.” He scoffed. “Women.”
Zander’s eyebrows lifted, but he said nothing. “So, you missed the whole climbing event?”
“Nah, I caught the tail end of it. I got there in time to see your sugar baby win and Trisha pull one of her gloriously stupid moves. Then, I left. Do you know if Trisha’s okay?” He stretched out his legs.
“I heard she’ll be out of action for a couple of weeks but no permanent injury. She sustained a mild concussion.” Zander swiveled his chair to face Kent.
“Well, that’s good, I guess.” Kent stared out the window as if distracted. “It’s better for you if she’s out of the way and can maintain your agreement.”
It made Zander ill to be glad she was in the hospital. But, at least she couldn’t touch him or Effie. For a while, at least. “You okay?” Zander asked.
“What? Me? Yeah. Bummed about Charlie, is all. Whatever. I’m over it.” He sat up taller, his lip curled in derision. “You ready for this board meeting? I’ve got news to share. Just got word of ArcTix One’s next move.”
Zander glanced at his watch. “Shit. I didn’t realize the time. Care to share it now?”
“We don’t have time,” Kent said.
Pushing away from the desk, Zander said, “Let’s go.”
He and Kent exited his office and strode down the hall to the conference room. He made his way to the front of the room, claiming his seat at the polished mahogany conference table.
A huge monitor occupied the wall behind him. Floor to ceiling windows flanked the left side of the room, revealing a blue-sky Seattle day.
Kent took his usual seat to Zander’s right.
Mia sat to his left.
“Hey, boss,” Mia said, smiling.
“Good morning, Mia.” He drummed his fingers against the table while waiting for the rest of the board to arrive. The hard plastic made hollow tippity-taps against the wood.
Within a few minutes, the board members shuffled in, assuming their seats around the table.
“Good morning, everyone,” Zander said.
A round of greetings ensued.
Zander turned to his right. “I think Kent wants to lead today. You have news to share, right, Kent?”
“Right.” Kent rose, straightened his pants, and leaned across the table to pick up the remote in the middle. He pressed a button, and a high-tech projector emerged from the middle of the table. Doing an about face, he flicked a button on the remote, displaying an architect schematic design on the monitor. Kent pointed the remote at the monitor, and a red dot appeared over one of the buildings in the schematic. “We just got news that ArcTix One has bought out this area at the new North Seattle mall. It’s the one we were looking at to expand our retail outlet into.”
“Bastards,” Zander said.
“That’s just the beginning. ArcTix One expanded their lines at other retailers, edging out our retail space.” Kent glanced at Zander.
A wave of murmurs spread around the table.
“Shit,” Zander said, pounding the table once with his fist.
“Which means edging out our profits,” Joseph Ward, one of Zander’s top financial executives, said.
“It’s got to be Bryant’s doing. His ego took a beating at the fundraiser Saturday night,” Mia said.
“I heard about that,” Tom Elliot, a graying Realtor, said. He had one of the neatest beards Zander had ever seen, like he measured every hair daily. “Care to elaborate?”
Kent gave Zander a side-eyed glare. “Zander’s current girl pissed off Trisha Banks, as well as stole the thunder out from under Bryant and Trisha all night. Then, Bryant suggested a competitive climb at Rock Nirvana, which Zander’s girl of the moment won against Trisha.”
“Ouch,” said Joseph. “That had to hurt Bryant.”
“Yeah, it gets worse,” Kent said. “Trisha made a stupid move on the wall, knocking herself out. And Zander’s girl helped her down the wall.”
“That sounds noble,” Tom said.
Zander said, “Effie was courageous. Not only did she defend herself from Trisha’s vicious insults, but she won the climb, and helped Trisha survive the fall and not do further damage.” His chest filled with pride.
“Who is this girl? Can I have dibs once you’re done with her?” Joseph said, smiling.
“Who says I’m going to be done with her?” Zander snapped.
“I only meant…I figured you…Kent made it sound like it was no big deal. I’m sorry, boss,” Joseph said, his fair complexion turning the color of beets. He cast his gaze at his notepad.
Kent interrupted.
“What he means is…Zander knows his priorities. He knows the business comes first. He won’t make the same mistakes as before.” He skewered Zander with a biting gaze.
Zander glared back. Stay the fuck out of my business, Kent. “Move on, Manning. What else?”
“What’s our next move going to be?” Tom said. “I can check in some other retail outlets. There’s a new mall being built in Bellevue. Prime real estate.”
Zander stood and began pacing the perimeter of the table. He clasped his hands behind his back.
Everyone waited while he gathered his thoughts. Finally, he spoke. “I have an idea…but, what you’re suggesting is a possibility. Go ahead and check into it, Tom. And Joseph, you and Kent watch the stocks. They might take a hit, but we can bounce back quickly if we pursue an idea I had. Kent and I have been looking into creating subscription boxes and other revenue streams Bryant isn’t aware of.”
Mia looked up from her note-taking. “What kind of subscription boxes?”
“You know…purchasing regular boxes of things like clothing and such. I thought we could do seasonal outdoor attire or…” He waved his hand in front of him. “I don’t know, chic-chic outdoor products people don’t usually think to buy but make a difference in your sport, or…things like that. It’s currently trending right now, and the revenues are solid.”
“That sounds like a good idea,” Gresh, from creative, said. “We can hash out some ideas, then my team will show you some concepts.”
Zander’s phone buzzed. Maybe it’s Effie. He pulled it from his pants pocket and read the screen. My sister is Skyping me?
“One sec, I’ve got to take this. Kent, you can follow up.” He slid the connect button on and stepped from the conference room. “Hey, sis,” he said to her smiling face as he strode toward his office.
“Zander! You’ve been dating someone, and you haven’t filled me in? What kind of brother are you?” She grinned. Behind her stood a huge stainless-steel prep table, pots, pans, and a twelve-burner professional stove.
A guy and a woman in chef’s attire were busy chopping greens. The faint tap, tap, tap, of their knives rat-a-tatted through the phone.
A brother who’s keeping his sugar baby deal a secret, that’s who. And his paranoia over his ex. “Sorry, Chloe. We’ve only been dating a couple of months, and…”
“A couple of months?” Her eyebrows rose high. “And you never thought to tell me?”
“Look, I’ve been busy,” he said.
“I’ll say,” Chloe said, smirking. She held her phone in front of her face. “Hashtag Bitchbank TKOed by hashtag MysteryMaiden in hashtag ClimbingCompetition. Then, there’s a link which takes me to an article in Social MagRag and shows pictures of your new girl steadying Trisha down the wall, pictures of your new girl all glammed out at a party, and pictures of you and her macking on one another in the parking lot of Rock Nirvana.”
“Shit.” Zander pressed his fist to his forehead. He didn’t want to explain her sudden departure from his life in a few short weeks.
“Not shit, brother, it’s fantastic. You know I despised Trisha. She’s a user.” She looked away from the screen and said, “What?”
Some guy said, “Your pastry order from Andronico’s is here. We got caught in traffic.”
“You should have called me. You’re four hours late. We’re knee deep in dinner prep.” Chloe swished her hand behind her, in the direction of her prep team.
“Okay, okay, I’ll bring it in,” the man said.
She turned back to Zander. “I’ve got to run. But, the reason I called is this—Mom and Dad are going to be at the beach house next weekend. I’m going, too. I need a break. Why not bring your girl down and let us meet her?”
Zander froze. He shook his head, heart hammering. “I don’t think that’s a good idea. It’s too soon.”
“Don’t be ridiculous, Zan. It’s clear you’re in love. I can see it in your eyes when you talk about her. You never were the player type, so from the pictures and hearing you talk about her, she must be something special. Let us meet her.” She glanced to her right again. “What?”
“I need someone to sign for this.”
Chloe extended her arm offscreen to presumably sign the order sheet. Then, she turned toward Zander again. “I’ve really got to go. Say you’ll come this weekend.”
“Chloe, I…” Zander felt torn in half. He didn’t want to face his family with the fact he was falling in love with Effie. He’d fought against admitting it, what with his sugar baby contract. And, the heartbreak that would follow at the end of their term would wreck him.
Still, it would be good to get as far away as Trisha and Bryant as he could. And, it would be great to share Effie with my parents. Maybe I’m not such a loser in relationship choices after all.
“Okay,” he said, sighing.
“I promise we won’t bite. Gotta run.” She kissed her fingers and held them against the screen.
He did the same in their typical goodbye. He disconnected from Chloe and quickly typed a text to Effie. Want to come to Florida with me this weekend? Then, he deleted it.
This would have to be in person.