Page 17 of Feel It in the Air

5

MARGEAUX

“So we needfilings for Blue Jeans in Low Beams as brand, then also the logo, the tagline, plus the art, correct?” I verify, flipping through the paperwork in my lap.

I shift in the large leather guest chair across from Bronwyn Ainsworth, Hayes’s director of marketing, making sure I don’t drop anything. Last thing I want is to litter her office with my paperwork. Not to mention, having to reorder this stack would be a nightmare. The honey-haired gal about my age presses her lips together, nodding as she thinks.

“Yup. We did this way out of order for my liking, and next time we will have all this in the works well before we launch a product, but…here we are.”

She shrugs casually, her northern accent not quite as out of place as it was when Percy first introduced us. I’d been so excited when he told me that he wanted me to assist with trademark filings for the new Southern Brothers products that I had apparently missed his comment about her accent. It wasn’t until Percy jokingly said “see, I told you she talked funny” that I recalled Gus telling me how he was abandoning his new hire from Boston when we were stuck at JFK and put two and two together.

“Meh,” I tell her. “Not the worst I’ve handled.”

“Oh, good. Then you’ve been officially voluntold to help with the All Snowed Gin stuff once we get all that figured out.”

I laugh, debating whether or not I should tell her that I’m more than willing to take it on. That it would actually be a dream come true. I opt to hold back though. No need to scare my new coworkers yet. I’m only on day four—they don’t need to know exactly the kind of overzealous nerd they hired.

“So, how are you liking Hayes so far? Everyone being nice?” she asks.

“I like it,” I reply, wondering what she knows. Just how much of this question is pure curiosity and how much of it is because she’s been filled in on the gossip? Gus told me that Bronwyn is basically extended family, since her fiancé is twins with Willa’s boyfriend, leaving me a little cautious. “I’m still getting settled, but I’m excited. This might sound weird to say, but this is kind of my dream job. Doing this, at a company like Hayes, is exactly what I’ve wanted for a long time, so I’m excited.”

Bronwyn beams. Sitting up straight, her eyes go wide and I can tell that my comment sparked something in her. And not because she was fishing for information.

“That doesn’t sound weird at all. If there is anyone in this building who knows that feeling, you’re talking to her. That’s why I moved here from Boston. I was with Coffman Witte prior to Hayes.”

“Sulonen.”

“No way! Coffman Witte did a bunch of work with Sulonen!” Her smile widens, clearly loving that she’s found another corporate nerd. “That also means that I get how overwhelming this place can be at first. I had to create a little device so I could remember which Hayes was over which department when I first started.”

“You created a device?”

Bronwyn nods proudly. “Gus, the oldest, usually has a grumpy look on his face. G is for grumpy and Gus. Next in line is Milo, like the cat from that old movie, and at the time he had this one curl that flopped in his face, that a cat would want to play with. He runs Southern Brothers Brewing with his best friend, Brandt. Third is Anton and A for agriculture. Huxley, his name has an X, like ax, and he’s the lumberjack-esque one.”

I huff out a laugh. I’ve only met Gus and Milo so far, but I don’t volunteer that information. Nor do I own up to our history, or that he’s filled me in on his family. I’m interested in hearing her account of each one and how they’ll differ. Because while I’ve never seen Gus’s grumpy side, and Milo’s hair is shorter now, I’ve heard the grumpy thing a time or two, so I trust it’s accurate. More than anything, I’m impressed with how effortlessly she’s rattling this information off.

“Jace rhymes with mace, so of course, personal safety. Then Ewan, as in ‘ew, camping, fishing, hunting,’ all the things I personally have no interest in doing. And there’s Willa who⁠—”

“What about me?”

A beautiful, tall, leggy blonde sashays into Bronwyn’s office, almost as if she’s gliding on water, confidence radiating off her like heat off asphalt. Even if she hadn’t self-identified, there would be no question in my mind that she was Gus’s baby sister. Their coloring is complete opposite—her blonde hair and blue eyes probably a stark contrast to his dark hair and scruff when next to each other—but just like him and Milo, the family resemblance is uncanny.

“Willa, this is Margeaux, the new gal in legal. Margeaux, meet Willa Hayes.”

A devilish smile spreads across Willa’s face as she lowers herself into the other guest chair, turning to face me. My cheeks heat up, already feeling the attention, unsure where this is going to go.

No, that’s not true. I know where this is going. While I haven’t seen much of Gus since our encounter outside of payroll on my first day, we have been texting. It’s been nice to spend my evenings talking to him. Do I wish that we were sitting on my couch together having a real conversation over a bottle of wine or a pizza instead of generic “how was your day” messages in between unpacking boxes? Of course. But I will take what I can get.

Either way, a few of those messages have let me know that Milo wasted no time in raising the alarm via the family group text that there was a new development in the JFK airport bar saga. To be fair, I can’t blame him. Had one of my brothers done what Gus had, I’d be doing the same thing. As I trust they would be for me.

That’s what siblings do, right?

“Margeaux.” Willa says my name like it’s the latest in high fashion, a high-value brand who made up a new word that sounds foreign now but will be a household name before long. “It’s so nice to meet you! I’m sorry I haven’t made it down to introduce myself yet.”

Out of the corner of my eye I can see Bronwyn’s brow furrow. “Because you introduce yourself to every new employee? You’re suddenly the welcome wagon?”

Her sarcasm is hard to miss, but Willa doesn’t skip a beat. “Gus mentioned that we had a new legal associate and that he thought it would be nice if we got to know each other.”

I’ve got ten bucks that’s not at all what Gus said…