A Night to Forget (12 page)

“Ahh, gotcha,” he said as he sidled slightly closer to me, “So how’s everything going?” he said as he looked down at me.

I looked at him and his gorgeous face was about eight inches away from mine and my heart skipped a beat.
An afternoon stubble dotted his face, making him sexier than all my memories of him. The light breeze brew in from the patio and I got a waft of his intoxicating cologne, causing me to inhale deeper.

“Everything’s been going smoothly,” I finally said. “I’ve been wanting to talk to you about the
Imperial Hotel Project.”

“Yes, me too. They called me this afternoon. They want us to make the pitch,” he said.

“Ohmygod, that’s great!” I exclaimed. Without thinking, I threw my arms around him and gave him a hug. Then I froze and immediately let go of him.

“Sorry, I—I just got a little excited,” I said, feeling myself blush with embarrassment.

“Not a problem. I’m glad to see that you’re excited about this project because I’d like you to come with me,” he said as he met my eyes.

“Oh. Yes, of course. I’d—I’d love to,” I said. It took all my control to keep a calm composure as I screamed and jumped with excitement inside.
Brandon and I are going on a trip together—just the two of us!
I thought about all the opportunities this would give us to get to know one another.

“Well, let’s try not to get so excited, okay?” Brandon said wryly.

“Oh,” I giggled, “Sorry. Actually, I
am
really excited about it,” I said with more enthusiasm in my voice.

“Well, now you’re just making me feel better,” he jested.

“I—” I began.

“Don’t worry, Emma. I know you are. I’m just messing with you.”

I beamed at him. “So, how have you been lately?”

“Not bad, just busy with these new projects and dealing with some personal things,” he said.

What personal things?
I wanted to ask, but I didn’t.

“Well, I hope everything’s working out the way you want,” I said cautiously.

“Oh, yes, better than I had thought, actually,” he said. “So have you been hanging out with your co-workers outside of work,” he continued, and his question caught me off guard.

“Well, yeah, we’ve been going out for happy hours every Friday,” I said.

“That’s it?” he said, inviting me to continue.

“Yeah, pretty much,” I said, unsure of what he was expecting to hear.

“So you haven’t been hanging out with Josh?” he asked.

The directness of his question surprised me. “No, I haven’t.”
Can it be possible that he was jealous of Josh?
I thought. “Do you think something’s going on between us?” I asked, trying to counter his question with an equally-direct one.

“I d
idn’t say that,” he began, “but I was just curious since you’re both in my group, so I just want to make sure that you’re careful.”

“Thanks,” I said. I quickly took a long sip of my gin and tonic as I took in his comment.

He was jealous!
an excited voice shrieked inside me. But then another thought came to me,
He can’t be jealous. If he was, then he’d want to hang out with me, but he hasn’t come out to happy hours until today and he hasn’t taken me up on my prime rib dinner offer.

“So …” I paused and looked at my drink.

“What?” he said with a look of concern.

“So, have you thought about that prime rib dinner,” I said slowly as I played with straw in my drink.

“Oh, yeah, the dinner.” He paused. “I’m not sure that’s such a good idea, Emma,” he said flatly.

“What do you mean?” I asked, knowing t
hat the hurt resonated in my voice.

“Well, we work with each other, Emma. I’m your boss, and …” His voice trailed off.

“But, it’s just dinner,” I pled. I cringed at how desperate I must have sounded to him.

“I know. I’m not implying that it would be anything more than that, but—
”

“Hey,
Emma. Are you holding my drink hostage?”

We looked up and it was Sarah walking towards the bar.

“Oh. Hi, Brandon. I didn’t realize you were here,” Sarah said as she noticed Brandon, and then looked between the two of us.

“Um, sorry, Sarah. I was just about to head out to the patio and give you your wine,” I explained.

“No problem,” Sarah said as she took her wine from the bar.

“Brandon, are you going to join us?” Sarah asked as I headed towards Sarah and the patio. I knew I could not look at Brandon at this moment. Both shame and rejection washed over me.

To my relief, Brandon said, “No, I actually realized that I need to go and take care of something. I just wanted to pop in and say hi to everyone.”

“Okay.
Well have a nice weekend then. See you Monday,” Sarah said.

“See you Monday, Brandon,” I said
without looking back at him as I headed out to the patio with Sarah.

Chapter
11

Jill’s visit came at a perfect time. I was feeling pretty low after Brandon’s rejection. I knew it was partly my fault for getting my hopes up in the first place and acting like a lovesick puppy when I’m around him. I didn’t know what it was, but something about him always drew me in, causing me to throw caution to the wind to be with him.

Jill and I did end up going to Tomales Bay with Josh, Sarah, Kelly, and Josh’s friends on Saturday, and we had a great time. I clued Sarah and Kelly in on what Brandon had said during happy hour, but still could not bear to tell them about my dreams and that night in Cancun. That was a humiliation that was too painful to share with yet another person. I was grateful that Jill, Sarah, and Kelly made sure to keep me busy the entire time, which distracted me from obsessing over Brandon. By the time we got back into San Francisco late Saturday, Jill and I spent the rest of the night watching
Love Actually
,
The Notebook
, and
Twilight
, and demolishing two containers of ice cream.

On Sunday, we spent the morning at an European spa and had a fun afternoon of shopping. By the time Jill left Sunday night, I felt better. I had resolved to myself that I had to put my crazy obsession over Brandon behind me. I needed to stop thinking that somehow we were meant to be together because
I
had sex dreams about him,
I
gave up my virginity to him, and
I
remembered him from Cancun. This was all coming from me—not him, and in order for two people to be meant for one another, those feelings had to be mutual, and he made it clear on Friday that he obviously wasn’t interested in me. I needed to forget about that night in Cancun, and stop thinking that my dreams and our night in Cancun meant something more than a spring break fling. It was nothing more than a night to forget for him, and I had to make it a night to forget for myself as well.

When I got into the office Monday morning, I jumped right into work mode and forced myself to keep my focus on the
Imperial Hotel Project. I refused to let Brandon into my thoughts today.

Right before lunch, Josh stopped by my cubicle. “Hey, Emma,” he said in a cheerful voice.

“Hi, Josh.” I smiled at Josh and was thankful for the distraction. My brain was tired from working non-stop since I got in, but I did not stop for fear of thinking about Brandon.

“So yeah, Saturday was so much fun! I’m so glad you decided to come. We should hang out again soon,” he said.

“Yeah, definitely. I had a great time, and it was so nice to get away from the city for a day,” I said.

“Hey, so if you don’t have any lunch plans, did you want to go grab a bite to eat?” Josh said.

Before I had a chance to respond, Brandon came out of his office, and said, “Emma, can you come into my office? I need to talk to you.”

He looked upset and his voice again had an edge of coldness.
Did he overhear Josh and me talking?

“Sure, be right there,” I said. Then I looked at Josh and whispered, “Sure, I can do lunch if you can wait for a few minutes.”

“No problem. I have some work to do so I can wait.”

“Okay
, thanks.” I wasn’t sure what Josh’s intentions were, but he was a nice guy, and I wanted us to be friends.
Besides, it’s just lunch,
I thought.

I got up and walked into Brandon’s office with a notepad and pen in hand. He was going through some portfolios on his desk.

“You wanted to see me?” I asked.

He looked up at me
and said, “Yes. Um … sit down.” He gestured to the chair facing his office desk.

“Okay.” I sat down tentatively.

“Emma, I want to apologize for Friday,” he began, the warmth was back in his voice.

“For what?”

“For being so blunt with you about the dinner,” he said as he looked at me. “I hope you can understand where I’m coming from.”

“Sure,” I said meekly.

There was a pause before he continued. “What are your plans for lunch?”

I looked up in surprise, “Um, well—I was—I mean, I am
going to grab some lunch with Josh.” I paused. “Why?”

“I was just curious.”

“Oh.”

There was another pause.

“Do you mind if I join you guys?” he asked.

His question caught me off guard. Brandon was our boss, so it was odd to hear him ask for permission about something.

“Um, well, I—I suppose that’s okay. I’m sure Josh won’t mind,” I said as I tried to understand where Brandon was coming from.

“Great, and I’ll buy lunch,” Brandon offered.

“You don’t have to,” I said, confused by his eagerness.

“No, I insist. I invited myself to this lunch, so I’d like to pay for it,” he said with a smile.

“That’s nice of you, Brandon. I’m sure Josh won’t mind about that,” I said, returning his smile.

***

Thirty minutes later, I found myself seated between Brandon and Josh at an outdoor restaurant overlooking the San Francisco bay and Bay Bridge. We had already placed our lunch orders and it looked like we had exhausted all work-related topics of discussion.

“Well I’m glad both of your projects are going well,
” Brandon said to Josh and me. We nodded in agreement.

Then there was a lull in the conversation and I started to feel uneasy.

Just as Josh said, “So Emma—” Brandon said “Emma, tell me—” I looked from Brandon to Josh and then back to Brandon, trying to figure out who to acknowledge first so that they could finish their statement.

There was a look on Brandon
’s face that I could not place, but something inside me knew that he wasn’t happy.

When Brandon remained silent, Josh decided to continue his statement.

“So Emma, it was nice meeting Jill this weekend. She seems like a great best friend to have.”

I smiled at Josh. “Yeah, I love her to death. She’s like a sister to me. I’m glad you got to meet her.
” I then caught a glance at Brandon and thought I saw a flash of anger flicker in his eyes. “Don’t you think she’s so hot, Josh? She’s single.” I added teasingly, trying to clear up any possible misunderstanding Brandon may have taken from my statement.

Josh laughed, “Yes, she is hot, but she’s not my type.”

“Oh,” I said as I took a sip of my Diet Coke.
I was not sure if he meant anything by his comment, but I shifted uncomfortably in my seat.

“So Brandon, how was your weekend?” I asked, trying to change the subject and bring Brandon into the conversation at the same time.

“It was okay, I was in Boston,” Brandon said. He smiled at me, but it seemed to lack the warmth that I was used to.

“Oh, what’s in Boston?” I asked as I tried to lighten up his mood.

“Just visiting friends there and taking care of a few things,” he said vaguely.

“Oh yeah, Harvard is your alma mater,” Josh added.

“Right,” Brandon said.

“What kind of things did you have to take care of,” I asked, my curiosity getting the better of me.
There was a pause. “—I meant, was it work related?” I added, trying to downplay my noisiness.

“No
. No, it was personal,” Brandon responded shortly.

His response stung me more than I expected and I quickly looked away from him and took another sip of my drink.

Luckily, our waiter arrived then with our orders.

“Everything looks so good,” Josh said. I couldn’t tell if he could feel the awkwardness that I felt, but I was grateful that he was talking.

“This clam chowder is amazing,” he continued. “Did you guys want to try some?” He moved his bread bowl towards us. Brandon and I both shook our heads.

“No thanks, but it looks great,”
I added reassuringly.

“I’m sure you can make better,” Josh said. He then looked at Brandon, “Did you know Emma’s a great cook?” he asked.