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“You see why I wanted to do this in person. Formally.”
I lean back in my seat and inhale deeply before exhaling. Ever since Jameson took my first company from me, I’ve been working hard to rebuild. Douglas came on board and guided me in a way I’d never been guided. Chatoyer, my first company, was hugely successful, but I believe a lot of that was luck. Sure, I made good business decisions, but I believe they coincided with luck. This time around, with my second company, I’ve made extremely sound business decisions that required no luck to work. And I didn’t get ahead of myself even when I wanted to. Douglas made sure of that.
One decision he’s made me patiently sit on for years is branching out into retail outlets overseas. We have stores in the States, and they do very well, but we don’t yet have stores in any other country. I’m dying to open a London store, and then a Paris store, and then stores across Europe.
“So, it’s time for London?” I ask.
He nods. “It’s time for London.”
That electricity swirling inside me, desperate to escape, practically explodes out of me. I stand and do a dance on the spot. I’m laughing like an idiot when I look at him and squeal, “We’re going to London, baby!”
He stands. “I fucking love you, woman.”
I throw my arms around him in a hug. After I squeeze the hell out of him, I say, “Right, back to work. I want this to happen ASAP.”
After he leaves, I text Natalie with the good news, share it with my inner circle here, and ask Vanessa to plan a meeting to go over this tomorrow. Thankfully, I have two hours free in the morning to fit it in.
I find it difficult to concentrate after Douglas’s good news, but slowly make my way through my to do list.
I’m halfway through my list when Shantel calls.
“Hey,” I say after Vanessa puts the call through. “Please don’t tell me you’re calling to let me know Jameson has added a last-minute dinner to my schedule for today.”
She laughs.
This is a joke between us now after I called her last Thursday to apologize to her for being less than friendly when she called me about that dinner. We had a great conversation, discussing Jameson’s tendency to forget that people have things going on in their lives that he should take into consideration. She was half joking. I was not, but she thought I was. Shantel thinks I’m the dutiful wife. I’d love to be able to have a conversation with her in which she knew I wasn’t really her boss’s wife. I’d love to hear the real stories about working with him.
“No,” she says. “No dinner tonight. I’m calling to thank you for the gift you sent over. I freaking love it all. Thank you!”
“Oh, that’s great! I’m glad it arrived.” I sent her a gift basket of my latest beauty release.
“I never know what products to try, so this is perfect.”
“If you ever want me to hook you up with a beauty consult, let me know. I’d love to do that for you.”
A call from Jameson’s mother comes in on my cell. “Shantel, I’m sorry, but I have to take another call.”
“No worries. I just wanted to personally say thank you. I did think about sending Jameson home with instructions to say thank you, but I couldn’t be sure he’d remember.”
I laugh. “I understand. Men have the worst memory for this kind of stuff.”
“His is one of the worst, but I’m sure you know that,” she says before saying goodbye and ending the call.
I switch to Reese’s call. “Hi, Reese.”
“Adeline, darling. I’m so glad I caught you.”
I adore how excited she sounds to talk with me. I think Bill was right when he said Reese is a gift from God. “What’s up?”
“I’m calling to find out if you’re allergic to any food and if there’s anything you don’t like to eat. I’m planning our Christmas dinner and want to make sure you have everything you love.”
My thoughts all slow down, falling over each other.
I feel like a deer caught in headlights.
Christmas is two weeks away. Jameson hasn’t mentioned a dinner to me, but I should have realized his mother would plan a family dinner. She holds Taco Tuesday each week, after all.
I don’t celebrate Christmas like a lot of people do. It wasn’t a big part of my childhood. In fact, my mother wasn’t usually around on Christmas Eve or Christmas Day. She was off busy with the latest man she was sleeping with. Sabrina and I were left to fend for ourselves. And as far as presents were concerned, I can only remember three Christmases I received gifts from my mother.
