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Kandy, six torturous, heart-wrenching years later
Riding through heavy traffic in NY gives me the time I need to prepare for the long day ahead. Six years and I never have gotten used to all the horns, congestion on every street, or the abrasive nature of the locals.
But I love it. No one sticks their noses into my business and not a single family member lives within driving distance. Christmases are spent with me jetting off to a new tropical island every year. Except for this one, but that’s okay.
I call that bliss with a capital B. Especially around this time of year. I thumb open the calendar on my phone and count the days until Christmas vacation kicks off. Oh baby! Five weeks and three days until I seal myself away in my new apartment overlooking Central Park and not come out until January or I run out of Oreos. Whichever comes first. I’ll finally have time to binge that new historical romance show everyone is swooning over and paint my living room cranberry red. Maybe I’ll get a tree this year, too.
The past year of working for my best friend, Justice Thorne, at Thorneware, a multi-billion-dollar tech company has come with a new set of challenges I didn’t run into as a one-time secretary for my friend’s mother. But no one ever said being made partner would be easy. Meetings, endless phone calls, contracts, and long nights of number crunching, missed dinners and lunches have been my days for weeks on end. Come to think of it, I can’t remember the last time I actually sat down to eat a home-cooked meal. A burrito on the go and a quick Danish with a coffee is all I’ve managed for weeks.
A thrill of tingles wells up inside of me at my new status within the company which came with a set of keys to my new apartment and a sizable increase in pay with stock options. Two months and I still can’t get over the birthday present my friend gifted me. All because I helped her find true love with three hunks who dote on her tirelessly.
As per usual this time of year, my mind lingers on old memories of my lost chance at love. Seeing Justice with her harem of men brings cravings for what might have been once upon a time, but like I have done for the past six years, I shove those memories aside and focus on what matters. Me in the now. Because if I don’t, who will?
I pass a thumb over a golden butterfly hanging around my neck. A birthday present from them a few years back. I’d only been here for a year and was desperately fighting to make enough money to afford to live in such an expensive city.
Up until a year ago I was not too sure I wouldn’t be forced into returning home.
Truth be told, the day Justice broke it off with her mother and asked me to come work for her was one of the happiest in recent memory. That day we both left behind the narcissistic woman—aka the powerhouse owner of Thorne Tech, Justice’s natural competition in a market filled with tech-savvy geniuses.
I feel eyes on me, and I look up to see the driver staring at me through the rearview.
“All okay, Mr. Mackay?”
My driver looks back at me for a brief moment and then back on the road. “Yes, ma’am.”
He couldn’t be more than a few years older than me. Clean cut, soft hands and remarkably easy going. Almost too much so. I like a little grit and height to my men, but there’s a type of man for every type of woman, I suppose. Whoever gets to look into his kind eyes every day would be a lucky chick for sure.
His services are another benefit that came with my new position. One I secretly love more than anything. I’ve picked up some unsavory attention from an unwanted admirer. Not being alone when I go and come from the office puts my mind at ease. At first, I didn’t know if I would ever get used to having a chauffeur but not spending an hour elbowing my way through pedestrian traffic is yet another nice benefit.
“Have you lived here long, Mr. Mackay?”
He nods. “My whole life. I know everything there is to know about the Big Apple. Good and bad. It’s easy for a girl like you to get lost here. Best be careful.” He hands me a disposable coffee cup from my favorite shop around the corner from my place and a small white bag.
“You’re right there. It’s nothing like my small Texas town. That’s a good and bad thing.” I smile and greedily take both and sip at the steamy liquid and literally moan with delight.
“What a surprise. Wow, that was good. You even got the flavor right. Thank you, Mr. Mackay.”
“Vanilla latte, two sugars. Extra whipped cream on Fridays.”
My brows rise in surprise. “You are good.”
“You look tired. You should take better care of yourself, Kandy.”
Not Ms. Lockhart, I notice, but whatever. You buy me my special Friday coffee and sugary goodies; you can use my given name.
I nod and toast the air with my coffee cup. “You’re right.” I down half of the coffee before diving into the fresh pastry, saving half for Justice. “But there’s no rest for the wicked or the tired.”
“I don’t think there’s anything wicked about you. Stick with me. I’ll make sure it stays that way.”
My mouth forms a soft smile. “Thank you for that.” I think. I duck my head and pull up Justice’s name on chat and type out a quick almost there.
I should talk with my workaholic friend about the hours we’re keeping. But being so new at the partner table makes me hesitant. I know I’ll need to make my bones before asking favors for time off.
But when the hired help starts commenting on the bags under the eyes and getting you food because you don’t have time to eat, it should be a sign something needs to give, right?
The dark SUV comes to a stop outside our high-rise, and I elbow the door closed after one last heart-felt thank you for breakfast.
“Oh wait!” I knock on the window and the driver stops suddenly. I jerk the door open and lean in. “My phone. Sorry about that.”
“Wouldn’t want that to happen again.”
“No kidding.” Once in a while is okay, but almost every day this week borders on me losing my mind. Get it together, Kandy. I wave him off and head inside.
New York City is nothing if not beautiful in the late fall. A few ornamental trees with fake orange leaves and twinkle lights decorate the large glass entrance and I duck behind them when I notice the company’s tech guy waiting by the bank of elevators.
Joshua something. I really need to work on my ability to recall names, but his name isn’t my problem at the moment. Keeping hidden is. He’s a whizz with tech but makes my skin crawl. I press a little deeper behind the tree when he turns my way. Handsome, sandy blond hair and aqua-colored eyes give him a California laid-back look. But looks can be deceiving.
Every time I call him to the office to fix my laptop, the creep vibes on my radar ping past one hundred which keep me from jumping at the chance to ride the twenty floors up solo with him.
The second he’s whooshed out of sight I jump to another elevator and head straight for Justice’s office the second the door pings open. I swing through the large maple door and offer up a quick smile.
She holds a hand up and points at the phone in her hand. She mouths new clients, thirty million contract.
Holy shit, I mouth back. Really, I don’t think I’ll ever get used to the outrageous amounts of money tossed around in everyday talk within these walls. Well not ever, but not right this second.
Justice hangs up and there’s a glow about her I know comes from being a new mother to a three-month-old. “How’s the baby and the guys?”
“When I left home they were all asleep on the living room floor. It looked like a toy factory exploded. Everything that girl owns covered every square inch. The baby was on Jacob’s chest fast asleep. I think they had a stuffed toy rager well after two in the morning. That baby girl has all three of them wrapped around her tiny little pinky. Last night they each took turns tending to her so I could sleep.”
“I thought there was something different about you.”
“Yeah, I actually got more than two hours of shut-eye for the first time in forevahhh. Speaking of sleep, have you gotten any?”
“The bags under my eyes that bad?”
“Pretty much.”
I pull out my tablet and thumb through today’s agenda. “Not in recent memory. I haven’t made my bed in over a week at least. I haven’t made it past the couch. Please tell me what it is like,” I tease, passing her the white bag holding the other uneaten half of my Danish.
She takes it and dives in. “Oh. What’s this? Damn that’s good stuff. Since when do you have time in the morning to grab breakfast? Tell me your secrets?”
“I didn’t. Mr. Mackay gave it to me.”
Justice takes another bite. “Who?”
I tap the screen and approve of a few meetings a couple of high rolling clients are requesting through our assistant. “The driver.”
Justice nods and in goes the last little bit. “I don’t think I’ve had a bite to eat that hasn’t come from one of the guys cooking it or a deli in a solid year.”
I huff. “But you’ve got an empire in return. Besides, Christmas is coming and you’ll have two whole weeks of domestic bliss to enjoy with Jacob, Lucian, Seth, and the baby. I doubt you’ll go a single day that those men don’t dote on you.”
I skim the pad of my thumb over the butterfly necklace around my neck.
Justice smiles and I tuck my chin to my chest. Stabs of pain slice through my heart, surprising me. The last thing I want to do is come off as jealous of my best friend’s happiness, but the ache slipping between my ribs and twisting is hard to ignore. I snatch at the butterfly necklace around my neck and stroke the wing.
