Autumn and Summer (4 page)

Alth
ough I don’t own any power suits, I know my outfit is both fashionable and professional.  No, I don’t look as stuffy and business-like as the group who got on the elevator before me. But I look good. And no snooty bitch is going to make me think otherwise,
I thought as I stared down the hall in the direction from which Ms. Torres had exited.

“
Gabriella Torres is a mega bitch,” Meghan muttered before picking up the phone that had just started ringing. “Style Magazine. Meghan speaking. How can I help you?” she answered, her cheerful voice once again fully intact.

I stifled my laughter by putting my hand over my mouth i
n response to Meghan’s assessment of Ms. Gabriella Torres. Meghan winked and started typing information on the keyboard and talking into the receiver.

I backed away from the desk, staring through the glass
wall behind it. The view allowed me to see the hustle and bustle of a fashion and culture magazine. The open floor plan was modern and the various dry erase boards and projection screens and lack of cubicles made it clear that it was a collaborative work environment. The hallways that flared out from the left and right of the receptionist desk seemed to have several closed office doors. Excitement flooded my system.
Open floor plan for brainstorming and working as a team and private offices for individual work space,
I thought as I realized how much I really wanted the job.

Taking a seat
on the modern couch that faced the television, I listened to a news segment as I flipped through my portfolio again. Reviewing my work and going over interview questions in my head, I vaguely heard the elevator ding. Not wanting to seem nosy, I kept my eyes down on my paperwork.

If it is Mr. Orlando, I don’t wa
nt to seem nosey or overzealous,
I considered as I closed my portfolio and stacked my paperwork neatly.
I need to just play it cool.

A
minute later, I heard Gabriella’s memorable voice boom through the lobby an octave lower than it was when she was barking orders at Meghan. “Mr. Ford,” Gabriella exclaimed flirtatiously, “It’s so good to see you. Thank you for taking time out of your schedule to meet with me.”

Who is this Mr. Ford that Mega Bitch is fawning over? Her entire per
sonality has done a complete three-sixty in a matter of fifteen minutes,
I thought as curiosity got the better of me.

I tucked my hair
behind my ear and casually glanced toward the receptionist desk. Mr. Ford was shaking hands with Meghan and as he stood there, my mind registered who he was a minute after my body did.  His 6’2” frame covered in a perfectly tailored, navy blue suit was unforgettable.
Even from the back, he looks like a Greek god,
I thought as I let my eyes trail over his body without shame.
Does he work here? He has no idea what I would do to—

“Ms. Wilson?” a man called from the opposite hallway that the sexy Mr. Ford was going down.
My head snapped in the direction of the voice so fast I was surprised my neck didn’t break.

Oh my God… did I just get caught saliv
ating right before my interview? This is bad. This is really bad. Instead of a job offer, I’ll get an invitation to ‘Sexual Harassment in the Workplace’ training,
I groaned inwardly.

Gathering my paperwork, I stood and collected myself. Looking up at the friendly man who was smiling my way, I let out a sigh of relief.
He wouldn’t be smiling like that if he noticed the drool that was forming at the corners of my mouth. Phew! That was close,
I acknowledged as I smiled back at the man I presumed to be Mr. Orlando.
And clearly that’s a sign that I shouldn’t eye-fuck Mr. Ford. I need to concentrate on this opportunity and not on finding a new Mr. Wrong. Looking like that, he has probably left a string of broken hearts in his wake. I don’t have time for that shit. If I’m attracted to him, he’s probably bad news. I need to take a break from the boy hunt for a while.

Chancing a look toward the other hallway
as I picked up my handbag, my heart dropped. Meghan, Gabriella, and Mr. Ford were all watching me.
Oh my God, did they see me eyeing Mr. Ford?
I wondered as I quickly scanned each of them.  Meghan smiled brightly and gave me a discreet head nod. Gabriella looked at me with obvious disdain. And Mr. Ford looked at me with curiosity… and something I couldn’t quite put my finger on.

Or maybe I’m
just lusting after him enough for the both of us,
I admitted as I squared my shoulders and headed in the direction of the man I presumed to be Mr. Orlando.
Ugh, I must be a masochist. My interview is what’s important. Impressing Mr. Orlando is what’s important. I don’t care what Mr. Ford thinks.
My stomach clenched in objection to my thought process but I shook my hair over my shoulders and held strong.
I always go after the wrong guys. And I don’t go after my dreams as often as I should. This is a perfect opportunity. Instead of mentally preparing myself for this interview, I’m thinking about Mr. Sex in a Suit. You know what… he’s probably a dick. He’s hanging out with Mega Bitch, right?
The last thought gave me the clarity I needed to push the lust out of my mind.

“Hello, Mr. Orlando?” The statement turne
d into a question as I realized that this may not be the editor-in-chief of Style Magazine.

“Yes
, ma’am… but please, call me John,” John Orlando warmly announced as he shook my hand. He was an older man—mid-fifties—with salt-and-pepper hair. He had tan, leathery skin from too much sun. He had a father-figure vibe about him; however, he dressed like he was a teenage surfer.

“Th
ank you so much for this opportunity,” I smiled and tossed my dark honey-blonde hair casually. It was enough hair movement to be flattering, but not enough to be misconstrued as flirting.

“Thank you for agreeing to this interview on such short notice. We are looking to fill the position rather quickly.”

As I trailed behind John on the way to his office, I could almost feel a heated stare sweeping over my body. Fighting every urge within me to look and see if Mr. Ford’s eyes were on me, I focused on the task at hand: landing this job.

Jesus
, take the wheel,
I prayed silently as I walked into a room with two other people at the table.
I hate panel interviews!

**********

              “I can’t believe they just offered you the job!” Tatiana exclaimed across the table to Summer. Her hazel eyes were wide with shock as she yelled, “Congratulations!”

             
Catching the tail end of the conversation as I returned to the table, I chimed in, “Believe it, ladies. Summer’s work is amazing! She always ends up bringing out complexity and emotion to every photo she takes.”

As I slid onto the bar stool, I
handed the whiskey Summer ordered to celebrate across the table to her. I crossed my legs and leaned forward with my elbows on the table. “She is truly the best photographer ever!” I gleefully bragged about my best friend as I made myself comfortable on the stool.

“No wonder your profile picture is ridiculously gorgeous,” Tatiana joked, poking me in my side.

Laughing, I raised my glass in a toast, I said, “To Summer. And new beginnings.”

             
Clinking glasses, Summer, Olivia, Tatiana and I drank our happy hour drinks. I had strawberry margaritas while Olivia and Tatiana had shots of Patron. Summer’s drink of choice was whiskey.

“Congrat
ulations Summer! I’m so glad I forwarded that email to Autumn. And I’m glad you will be working in my building,” Olivia cheered after she gulped down her shot of tequila. “I was sad when Autumn’s company moved from the Infinity Building last year for construction.  But with you coming in and Autumn’s company moving back in a month, we are going to have so much fun!” Olivia shouted, pumping her slender arm up and down.

“Work is
definitely going to be more like play when the four of us are together!” Tatiana laughed loudly, pushing Olivia’s shoulder to stop her from embarrassing us with her dance moves.

Tatiana and Olivia were two of the first people I met when I moved to Wellington
and started with Scallen Marketing Group.  Tatiana and Olivia worked on the top floors of the Infinity Building with the exclusive StratFord Consulting Firm. During my first week of work, I went to the coffee shop across the street and stood behind Tatiana and Olivia in line. During the long wait to be served, we talked and hit it off immediately. They started at StratFord at roughly the same time and about a year prior to my arrival. Two years later, the four of us were now merging into a fabulous foursome.

After
twenty minutes of recapping our work days, Tatiana checked her watch and finished the rest of her second drink. “Oh no! We’re going to be late and Jason is going to kill us. I’m so sorry we can’t stay.”

“Is it 5:30 already?!” Olivia gulped.
She pulled her thick auburn hair into a ponytail…and then pulled it out and ran her hands through her long hair. She was fidgeting nervously. I looked at her quizzically as I sipped my margarita. The table had fallen silent as we all looked at her.

“
A few weeks ago, Tatiana and Jason mentioned they wanted me to meet Jason’s fraternity brother,” Olivia explained.

“Ahh,” Summer nodded in understanding.

I smiled and looked at Tatiana. “Have you met him?” I questioned curiously.

“No,” Tatiana admitted. “But they have tickets to go see Kanye West. If nothing else, we will see an awesome concert!”

“That’s very true,” I commented, sitting back in my chair.

“Yeah, I guess,” Olivia said slowly. “I mean, I’m excited, but I’m ner
vous. Blind dates are nerve-racking! It could go bad. I mean, really bad. It could be—”

Tatiana interrupted, “Olivia, calm down! Jason would not hook you up with someone w
ho is lame. You are gorgeous and smart and sweet. Blind dates aren’t that bad. I met Jason on a blind date.”

“Easy for you to say! You look like Rihanna,” Olivia countered.

“And you look like a sexed-up Disney Princess! You are hot, Liv!” Tatiana yelled causing the next table to look over at us. With her large grey eyes, porcelain skin, and long, dark hair, Olivia did look like Snow White.

“You are beautiful, Liv
ie. You have nothing to be nervous about,” I assured her, laughing at Tatiana’s outburst.

“Absolutely gorgeous. Don’t worry too much about it.
Just go and have fun,” Summer added.

“
Thanks, guys,” Olivia said, standing up to pull on her sweater. “It’s not that I don’t think I’m pretty. I do.” She did a series of model poses causing us to laugh. “It’s just awkward when someone is more into the other person. It’s rare that people are equally physically attracted to each other. If he’s really hot and isn’t that into me, I’m going to be bummed. If he’s not hot at all, I’m going to be bummed and I’m going to feel shallow. If I don’t like him, Jason might not want to be friends with me anymore. Or if he doesn’t like me, Jason might feel awkward around me—”

“Olivia, stop
! It will be okay. No weirdness, promise,” Tatiana said as she dropped two twenties on the table. After putting on her suit jacket, she reached over and hugged Summer. “When Autumn mentioned you guys were celebrating here, we had to swing by to say congrats! Sorry to run off so quickly.”

“And
sorry to leave early after bringing down the celebratory mood with my blind date fears!” Olivia apologized as she hugged me and then Summer.

“Thank you so much,” Summer responded graciously. “It’s always so good to see you guys! I’m glad I’ve officially moved here.”

Once Olivia and Tatiana were gone, Summer and I ordered food. The crowd had grown since we arrived.  Men and women in work attire mixed with men and women in Friday night date night attire.
By the time our food was brought to us, we had turned down four date offers. Two from the creepy bar men.

None of the potential suitors were my type, but really, what is my type? Am I too picky?
I considered as I sipped on my bottled water.
Robert was a nice guy. But he was boring. But why was he so boring to me? Is it me? Am I the problem?

“Mmm… this smells good,” Summer said, interrupting my thoughts.

“Looks good too,” I agreed as the grilled chicken and broccoli dish was placed in front of me. Summer ordered smoked salmon.

“So I was thinking about
Josh…and Robert…and Derr—,” Summer started slowly.

I continued blessing my food before lifting my head up and looking at her like she had lost her mind. With an eyebrow raised, I felt the hair on the back of my neck stand up. Ever since we were little, Summer
had always managed to shock me and then reel me into outrageous plans.
Twenty-four years of friendship and she was always full of surprises
, I thought as I started shaking my head slowly.

“Why are you already shaking your head
‘no’? You don’t even know what I’m about to say!” Summer laughed.

“Yeah, but I know you,
” I countered good-naturedly as I smoothed the side of my hair that was pinned up with bobby pins. Rolling my eyes, I continued, “Okay, fine! Why are you thinking about them?” I stabbed at the broccoli on my plate and brought it to my lips. The steamed broccoli was seasoned to perfection. I closed my eyes briefly as I chewed it.

             
Right as I swallowed, Summer said, “Because they were good guys.”

             
My eyes flew open and I coughed. Choking on my broccoli, I coughed again loudly and then took a sip of my water. “What?” I sputtered incredulously once I was able to speak again.

             
“No, hear me out. You knew from the beginning that Josh was no good for me. And I knew from the beginning that Robert was no good for you. But we still engaged in the relationships. And if we are being honest, on paper those guys would be perfect for us. Same interests, same goals
.
But even though we saw that the guys weren’t good for each other, we didn’t see it for ourselves. And Derrick…”

             
Afraid to eat before I heard where Summer was going with her thought process, I placed my fork down and sipped from the margarita glass.
I can already tell that this conversations needs alcohol,
I thought as I swallowed the strawberry liquid and nodded for her to continue.

             
“So I was thinking about Olivia’s blind date and it occurred to me…what if the reason we keep ending up with Mr. Wrong is because we aren’t seeing the whole picture clearly. What if the key to finding Mr. Right is to let our best friend find Mr. Right Now for us!”

I thought about what she was suggesting.
Finishing my margarita, I considered her idea.
After everything that happened with Derrick and then the string of bad dates and then Robert, I could stand to change it up a bit. I need to get Derrick out of my head for good and she needs to get Josh out of her head. Hmmm…what if we set each other up? It could be fun, right? What could it hurt?

“What do you think?” Summer asked, a gleam in her blue eyes.
“I’m not saying we are going to find each other’s soul-mates this month. But I think opening our minds will help us find Mr. Right eventually. And besides, I don’t need to be in charge of picking my own guys for at least the next month. And you haven’t had sex in entirely too long. It’s been a few weeks for me and I’m about to lose my mind. So we’ll date around. It’s perfect!”

“I don’t think I could date more than one guy at a time.”

“It’s not like you would be in a relationship with them and cheating on them. It’s completely okay to go on a first date with multiple men. It’s like going to an ice cream shop and they offer you a sample of chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream… and then they ask you to try mint chocolate chip…and then they ask you to try strawberry.  Because you tried the three different flavors, you can definitively say ‘I like cookie dough the best’ and order that one. Dating is the same exact thing: sampling. Except instead of delicious flavors, we will be sampling delicious men,” Summer reasoned with a sly grin.

I pursed my lips and cocked my head to the side. Tapping my finger on the smooth surface of the glass table top, I started nodding my head slowly. “I’ve never thought about it like that. I guess…that sounds…interesting. But we would need rules.”

“Of course,” Summer squealed giddily.

Laughing, I asked, “Why are you so excited?”

“Because I thought it was going to take more convincing than that!”

I held up my empty margarita glass. “Maybe it was the strength of these margaritas or my elation over the fact that you have moved in with me.”

“Or maybe after twenty-
four years of friendship, I’m finally wearing you down!”

We ate our food that had cooled considerably as we discussed the p
arameters of our new adventure. Once Summer finished explaining what she had in mind, I summed it up simply, “So for the next month, we will go on ten first dates with ten different men and we will only date those ten men. Sounds easy enough. But quality is more important than quantity. I don’t want you trying to fix me up with any old thing because you are trying to make a quota!”

Summer’s he
ad fell back and she let out a loud chuckle. “Very true,” she said as she shook her head humorously. “We will bring our ‘A’ game. Rule number one is that each guy will have to top the four major areas of compatibility and physical attractiveness.” Biting into a buttered roll, she chewed and swallowed before explaining by counting off with her fingers. “One, they will be hot. Two, they will be smart. Three, they will be interesting. And four, they will be gainfully employed.”

Biting into the delicious
chicken, I chewed thoughtfully before I said, “Because we have similar tastes in guys physically, I’m not concerned about the physical attractiveness part. But you don’t know anyone here so how exactly would you gauge someone’s other areas of compatibility? We both know that being hot and sexy does not equal Mr. Right.”

“
Agreed. But you know people around here and you know people who know people. I am outgoing and I’m going to be working with lots of new people and I’ll be shooting lots of hot models. This is going to work.”

I nodded. “And because we are looking for each other and not looking for ourselves, it’ll make things a lot easier
. A lot less pressure,” I reasoned.

“
Exactly!” She tossed her wavy hair over her shoulder and leaned across the table. Instinctively, I pushed my plate away and I leaned forward to hear her, careful not to get any food on my dress. “This guy over here is clearly listening in on our conversation,” she explained quietly, tilting her head in his direction. “Okay, so rule number one is compatibility. Rule number two is that we won’t have sex with any of them. Well, at least until the end of the month.”

“
You know that sleeping with a guy after the first date is not my thing. I have to get to know him before he can get all of this.” I ran my hands down my sides as I did a body roll.

We both leaned back from the table to laugh.
I turned my head to the side and I caught a glimpse of the guy Summer said was staring at us. And he was still staring. Frowning slightly, I turned my head away from him and looked back at my best friend. “I hope he can’t hear our sex talk,” I said with my eyes wide. “Anyway, you were saying…”