AllFreeNovel
Share Us
He vaulted forward, grabbing his clothes. “Sonia,” he said, opening the dressing room door and staring into the dark hallway.
It was empty. She was gone, as if she’d never been there.
He pulled on his clothes, swearing under his breath. But when he hurried out to the maze of the backstage area, she was nowhere to be found.
6
Monday
Six days before the wedding
4:43 p.m.
On a white screen, the cursor blinked.
Brendan’s hands hovered over his keyboard. For the past twenty minutes, he’d been trying to come up with a speech for Senator Wilson that conveyed confidence. Connection. Charisma.
So far, he’d managed about six words, and he’d deleted all of them.
Outside his cubicle, there was a hum of conversation in the senator’s office suite. Spinning in his swivel chair, Brendan checked his phone, then tossed it aside. Needless to say, he hadn’t heard from Sonia.
And calling her? Hell, no. He could easily get her number from Ian or Di, but that wasn’t going to happen. Sonia was the one who’d left him naked in her dressing room. She’d unlocked parts he’d never shown anyone, then walked off with the key.
Turning back to his desk, Brendan clicked on his calendar, but the colored blocks swam in front of his eyes. The noise outside his cube grew louder, two people snapping at each other.
“I’ve been waiting all day for those files!”
“Quality takes time, Melanie. You know that.”
Melanie and Pete, fighting yet again. Stifling a groan, Brendan got to his feet. When he poked his head out of his cube, he saw Pete’s retreating back, walking away in a huff.
“My God, he’s such a baby,” Mel muttered, twisting her fingers together. She looked up at Brendan. “Can you…?”
“Sure, Mel.” Brendan did his best to look reassuring. “I’ll have a talk with him.”
Picking up his phone, he sent a quick text. Minutes later, Pete swaggered into his cube.
“What’s up, O’Brian? I’ve barely seen you all day. Better keep an eye on your minions. Melanie turns into a toddler when you’re not around.”
“Send her the files she asked for.”
“That’s it? You’re not going to listen to my side?”
Brendan raised his eyebrows. “I don’t have time for this. You need to shape up, Pete. We’re all working for a cause here, and that cause is not you.”
“Fine,” Pete grumbled. “What’s gotten under your skin, O’Brian? You’re so serious all of a sudden. Is it this?” Leaning over Brendan’s desk, Pete picked up a heavy card with a blue and silver design. “‘Diana Natalie Cooper and Ian Michael O’Brian invite you to share in their joy,’” he read out loud. “Prison sentence is more like it.”
Brendan took the invitation firmly from his hand. “Back to work, Pete. Start by sending Mel those files.”
With Pete gone, Brendan tried to work on his speech. He typed a few words at random. But he kept picking up Di and Ian’s wedding invitation and turning it around in his hands.
A wedding. A marriage. A lifetime together, if the two of them were lucky. When it came down to it, he’d always wanted this for them. But that didn’t mean it wasn’t weird as hell. Ian.Married.To Di.
Dropping the invitation, Brendan picked up a framed photo of him and Ian, taken after they’d won a college basketball championship. The picture meant success, brotherhood, teamwork. Normally, it brought a grin to his face, which was why he kept it on his desk.
But today, looking at their victory faces made him feel hollow.
Ian was pure energy, his entire body alive. Soaked in sweat, hair plastered to his forehead, fist pumping in the air. He was so fucking happy, the emotion poured from every cell.
