AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“This practically is business, Wes. It’s events like these that put our names on the map and money in our pockets. You can’t bail out now!”
I sigh. I knew this would be hard, but Lawrence is really putting up a fight. It’s hard not to be irritated at him, especially after he split Zooey and I apart last night. My anger rises within me again and I scowl at him. “Look, I’m no use to you here. Let me go and I’ll make sure that the office is ready for your return on Monday.”
“Listen, Wes, you need to lighten up a little,” Lawrence says dismissively, barely listening to me as he watches everyone around him pulling their weight. “This is the one weekend every year where we are supposed to relax a little, and mix business with pleasure. Don’t ruin it with your sour attitude. Get involved. And speaking of which, I have a little task for you.”
I sigh. I’m clearly not going to get through to him. He’s far too stubborn. If I tried to leave now, he’d have a fit. So I cross my arms and decide to listen. “What is it?”
“Well, you and Zooey clearly hit it off last night, so I want you to try and talk some sense into her tonight.”
My heart sinks. She’s the one person I’m trying to avoid, and he wants me to spend all evening with her?
“What do you mean, talk some sense into her?”
“Well, about the business! You haven’t got kids, so I want to know that one day, our hard work will have a legacy. I want her to take over, but she’s so set on frittering her life away on a stage...I don’t know, Wes, it all goes over my head. That’s why I thought you might be able to persuade her to my way of thinking.”
“I really don’t think I’m the right man for the job, Lawrence…”
“Well of course you are! You’re the other half of this team, Wes. And she won’t listen to me. She never does.”
“Well...maybe you should consider leaving her to her own devices,” I say through gritted teeth. “She seems like she knows what she wants. Why don’t you let her be?”
Lawrence stares at me as though I’ve suggested something crazy. And then he laughs and shakes his head at me.
“Oh, Wes...you might understand if you had kids. Look, she needs someone to nudge her in the right direction, or her life is just going to go off the rails. Trust me, man. Stick around and help your best friend out, okay? The office can wait a few days for your return.”
Just like that, the conversation is over. I sigh as Lawrence walks away from me, leaving me in a worse position than I started in. Not only has he stopped me from leaving, but he’s also forcing me closer to Zooey, leaving me in a tricky situation. Now, I’ll have to try and squash my feelings to stop me from getting in trouble. And with the animal inside me stirring even more, it’s going to be completely impossible to stop the sparks from flying.
Zooey
Today has been so hard to get through, and it’s barely even evening. Poppy and I slept off our hangovers for a while, but then we were expected to go back downstairs and start off the fun. The weather has been glorious for October and now, everyone has spilled out into the garden to mingle. I do my best to keep by Poppy’s side, but she keeps gravitating toward the attractive couple that caught her attention last night.
“You know, there’s no harm in you joining us,” Poppy whispered to me, only half teasing. “I think you could...ahem...learn a lot from them.”
“Gross,” I say, wrinkling my nose at her. Not only is the idea of a four-way experience off putting, it’s been hard to imagine myself with anyone but Wes since the events of last night. I stand off to the side of the party as the sun goes down and try to avoid any sort of significant conversation.
I can tell my father has been keeping an eye on me, so every now and then, I make the effort to talk to someone. I wish I could hang out with Wes, or even just discuss what happened last night, but I haven’t seen him all night. I guess he’s avoiding me, and can I blame him? Dad put us in the most awkward position imaginable. I only wish we could push him and his thoughts aside and move on from it, as unlikely as that might seem.
I’m almost glad when the games begin. All over the garden, there are various stalls set up for the party-goers to get involved in. The air smells amazing from the pumpkin pie station and the toffee apple stand, but it’s the games that have got people really smiling. Already, there have been some ridiculous contests, such as who can burst the most pumpkin balloons by sitting on them, and pin the heart on the skeleton. The latter game is basically just an excuse for a bunch of randy middle aged women to feel up the human model, one of Dad’s better looking friends. It’s all been pretty silly so far, but at least entertaining to watch. Next up is the apple bobbing contest, where pairs enter together.
