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The security alarm beeps from the entryway, alarming me that someone is in my house. I don’t have to waste much time wondering who it is, because Alex is already pacing in front of me in the living room of my penthouse. He runs a hand through his hair, walks to the kitchen, and grabs a beer from the fridge before chugging it and getting back to the pacing.
He’s got bags under his eyes and looks like he’s lost most of his muscle, which worries me but not enough to ask him about it. Lately, he’s been acting differently. Angry more times than not, not being able to sit still, and I’m not stupid… There's only one sign all of this is pointing to, and that’s addiction. His hair is uneven from the lack of care, and he has stains on the front of his white t-shirt.
“Fuck!”
I flinch at his tone, but make no move to ask him what’s going on. At the rate he’s going right now he will tell me eventually. I look back at my laptop, trying to make sure all the details for the company New Year's Eve party are in order, but he snatches it from my lap.
My vision turns red and I jump from the couch. Literally, this is the only time of the year where I have even one day off during the week and this motherfucker is testing my patience. I want to relax, is that so bad?
The veins in Alex’s neck are popping out, his face is red, and I realize this might be worse than I thought. He takes a deep breath and sags onto my couch, leaving me standing alone and staring down at him.
I narrow my eyes on him. “The fuck is going on, man?”
He runs a hand down his face, messing with the hair growing on his chin that he usually keeps trimmed. “She won’t fucking talk to me.”
Mentally, I punch him. In reality, I stand there waiting for him to continue.
“I don’t get it… everything was going great, I don’t know what went wrong.”
If I could laugh without seeming insulting, I would. There’s no part of me that believes he has no blame for his and Ava’s breakup. I never met her, but he’s talked about her enough that I know she’s a decent woman. Alex on the other hand? I wouldn’t count on him being the victim in this situation.
Alex has been my best friend since high school, when he first moved to the city. We hit it off immediately and became inseparable. When I started working at my family’s company, I asked them to hire Alex thinking that he would be a good fit for the job. He’d get his own office, his own hours for the most part, and he’d even have his own assistant.
It’s like as soon as he stepped foot into my world, he changed into a completely different person. I was surprised when he came to me about Ava moving to the city with him, since he’d never mentioned her before and I know for a fact he was with other women.
Because of that, I slowly detached myself from him. He didn’t seem to notice, or he didn’t care, but he was pissing me off more and more these days. The way he was obsessing over his ex was completely unhealthy, something I wanted no part in. Instead of sitting here and listening to him moan and cry about losing his girl, I grab my laptop from where he tossed it and start heading toward my room.
“Where you going, man?”
I shrug my shoulders. “I have a party to plan, I don’t have time for this. Move on, dude.”
He glares at me before lifting himself off the couch and seeing himself out the front door.
I breathe a sigh of relief, then go turn the alarm back on before relaxing in bed. The venue is booked, the only things left to do are check over the guest list and make sure we have enough food catered.
This was something I always wanted to do, host a New Year’s Eve party for the company. It’s mainly to show our appreciation for our employees by letting them party it up in style for the night. As I’m going through the list, I find Ava’s name with all the customer service representatives and sigh.
I forgot that we hired Ava when she came to the city. She’s more than qualified, but when Alex told me about her he also asked if I could hook her up with a job. After looking over her resume, I knew that with her southern roots and high praise from all her other jobs, the customer service wing would be best for her. So far, she’s done fantastic and has rarely had a complaint with our client base.
If you walk into any gym around the city I’m sure you’d see our equipment. My family’s company solely focuses on producing the best gym equipment money can buy. I’ve been waiting for a long time to pitch the idea of adding healthy drinks and food to my father, hoping that maybe he would see the benefit of adding more than equipment to our products.
The point of the customer service wing is for customers who choose to purchase the equipment for their home and come across any issues. You’d be surprised how many times our equipment has malfunctioned for people. Regardless of having the best equipment in the city, maybe the entire country, that doesn’t mean our machines won’t have any faults. That’s where our customer service representatives come in.
If I’m being honest, Ava has had the best reviews of the whole team, which is why I would never fire her. I think the only reason Alex hasn’t asked me to is because he thinks there’s still a chance for him.
Stay on track.
I shake my head, willing any thoughts of other people's issues from my mind, and focus on what’s on my screen. This needs to be situated by the end of the week. Once I have the guest count, I can also look over who’s all coming and form a decent seating chart.
Right away, I know I’m not putting Ava anywhere near Alex, which I’m sure is what he’s hoping I’ll do as his best friend. I refuse to add the drama to my big night though, since my father is trusting me not to mess this up.
My phone rings next me, lighting up the screen with an image of my sister sticking her tongue out. I crack a smile while sliding my thumb across the screen to accept her call.
“Hey, Squirt,” I say in greeting.
She groans which only gains a chuckle from me because I know how much she hates that nickname. ”What are you doing right now?”
“Getting the big New Year’s party situated. What’s up?”
