“I’m sorry, Piper. Now isn’t the time.”
Nor will it ever be if it’s up to him. I close my laptop and turn off the screen before taking my seat at the table. What I really want to do is storm out. But I’m an adult. If I did that, they’d still see me as the baby of the family making a scene to get my way. I refuse to give Pierce the satisfaction.
I pull out my phone and open up the document he sends us every week for this meeting. One of these days he’s going to realize I’m right.
All he’s doing is rehashing things we talk about every week. I tune him out and brainstorm ways I can convince him to let me do what I need to. Finally, he stands and concludes the meeting.
Parker comes up to me after everyone else has left the room. “For what it’s worth, I think your ideas are amazing. Pierce is letting his ego make his decisions.”
“Yeah, he is.” I shove my laptop into my bag. “But you could have had my back. Nobody ever listens to me, but with a little support from a couple of you, he probably would have said yes.”
Parker laughs and leans against the wall. “You know damn well he wouldn’t have budged. He’s a lot like dad and stuck in his ways.”
“You talk about him like he’s an old man.”
“Compared to the rest of us, he is. Maybe we should set him up on a date. That might mellow him out some.”
“Oh my God, I wouldn’t wish a night of boring torture on anyone. I think that might fall under cruel and unusual punishment.” I sling my bag over my shoulder and head toward the door. “I’m going to lunch.”
“Want company?”
Do I? Not really. If he had spoken up for me after my presentation, maybe. Right now, I need to be alone.
“No. I’ll bring something back for you, though.”
“Cool.” He must have noticed my mood. He wraps me in a hug. “Next time I’ll say something.”
“Thanks.”
Little does he know it’s probably too little too late. Pierce won’t give me another chance to ambush them. It’s probably best if I let things settle for a bit anyway. I’ll get another chance…eventually.
As soon as I open the door, heat blasts me. As much as I love summer, it’d be great if it wasn’t a million degrees at any given point in the day. I get in my car and roll the windows down before turning it on and blasting the air conditioner.
It’ll take a few minutes to cool down, but it gives me time to get my shit together. If I walk into Out of the Ashes in mycurrent mood, there’s no doubt the bartender, Eric, will try to pry information out of me. He’s like an emotion detector and is determined to get to the bottom of whatever is ailing someone at the moment.
Too bad the only person who can cheer me up works an hour away. He needs a job in town so we can do lunch dates together. It would give me some reprieve when my family is doing everything in their power to squash my dreams.
But, no. Beau has to work for some fancy marketing firm. Doesn’t he know best friends are supposed to be available whenever there’s a problem. I can’t do that with him so far away.
I pick up my phone to send him a text and put it down immediately. He doesn’t need to worry about me while he’s at work. He’ll get all my frustrations soon enough.
two
. . .
beau
My fingers shakeas I move the mouse on the computer screen. Why is it always so cold in this freaking office? The whole team looks at me weird because I come in wearing a hoodie despite it being a hundred degrees outside. Still, there's no reason to have it freezing in here. I think it might be time to invest in some hand warmers. Though, I’m sure I’ll get shit for that, too.
“What are you working on?” Cole, one of the guys in the small business department, leans over my shoulder.
“You should probably get glasses if you have to get this close to see my screen.” I push him away. “It’s a proposal for my friend’s winery. Well, it belongs to the family, but she’s in charge of marketing.”
“Why are there two of them? Unless my vision is really that bad and I’m seeing double.”
This isn’t something I want to get into. But, if I don’t tell him, he won’t leave. I swear, if I had the capital, I would have my own firm and I wouldn’t have to deal with nosy coworkers.
“Because everything hinges on a presentation she’s giving this morning. One is if they agree with her, the other is if they don’t. It’s complicated.”
