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I shrug. “I don’t even know. I’m a horrible person.”
Feb stops walking and tugs on my arm so I’m facing her. “Listen, you’re not really dating Nicholas.” She’s right. “You don’t have to tell him where you’re going, or who you’re meeting. Just tell him you’re meeting me.”
“Yes. Ok, you’re right.”
“See, easy.”
“What’s easy?” Nicholas says from behind me.
I swing around with a big smile on my face. “I’m meeting Feb for drinks later. At eight.” I glance over at Feb and nod.
I’m sure he can tell I’m lying, because I’ve always been really bad at it.
Luckily for me, my sister excels at the gift. She’s a pro, and she turns to face Nicholas and says, “That’s right.” She parks a hand on her hip and points a finger at him. “And you better let me have some girl time with my favorite sis.”
“Of course,” Nicholas says. “But to be fair, she is your only sister.”
“True. True,” I say all too quickly, trying my best to lead them both to the restaurant.
Nicholas stares at me, and I swear he can see right through me.
Straight to the suffocating guilt at my rotten core.
I really hate lying to him.
Soon, I won’t have to worry about it. And I’m not sure how I feel about that anymore.
I’m down at the hotel bar at exactly eight o’clock. I’ve ordered a glass of white wine, and I run my finger along the delicate stem of the glass as I wait for Garrett Pulse.
And wait.
He’s late.
And I’m annoyed.
One thing I appreciate about Nicholas is he’s always on time. It shows respect. Obviously, Pulse doesn’t care about my time, because it’s nearly fifteen minutes after the hour.
“January,” Garrett says, slithering like a snake onto the stool next to me.
“Mr. Pulse, how are you this evening?” I try to push away my agitation of him being late and focus on why I’m so nervous. I keep glancing over his shoulder, waiting for Nicholas to appear at the entrance, or worse, my family.
“Garrett,” he says as he calls the bartender over with a raise of his hand. He orders a Moscow Mule, and then turns his attention back on me. “I was surprised Nicholas didn’t say anything about losing you to me. Have you told him yet?”
Busted.
The bartender hands him his drink, and I clear my throat as Garrett takes a sip. I swipe my hands over my brown corduroy pants. After dinner, Nicholas and I went up to our room and I changed into something more casual. I didn’t want to give Garrett the wrong idea by showing up in a sexy dress.
Although, the way Nicholas’ eyes swept over my beige sweater and brown pants paired with knee-high brown boots, you’d think this outfit is just as sexy as the dress.
I grab my wine glass, trying to think of a way I can answer his question.
I decide on the truth. “I haven’t told him yet. I was waiting until after the holidays to put in my formal notice.”
“I can assure you he won’t be happy.” Garrett chuckles in a way I suddenly find annoying.
Am I going to hurt Nicholas by leaving?
I normally would be happy about this. Two days ago I would be chuckling annoyingly right along with Garrett, but for some reason, I’m not.
Do not get confused about a kiss that didn’t mean anything.
“I’m sure he won’t,” I say more to myself before taking a long pull of my Chardonnay.
“Enough about him. I’d like you to look over this campaign we’re planning on launching right after the holidays. I know you don’t officially start until then, but I’d love to get your thoughts on it.”
He slides over a folder, and I pick it up. When I open it, I look at the pictures of an older game he’s relaunching. I glance over a few key aspects of the campaign, and nearly gasp when I see that he’s ripping off Nicholas’ marketing campaign for his new game, launching in March.
This is not good.
This will destroy Nicholas’ whole campaign launch, and there won’t be enough time to start from scratch.
“Where did you get the idea for this?”
Garrett’s watching me closely. He knows I know it’s a complete copy. I should throw the folder in his face and call him out, but I’m torn.
I want the job of marketing exec, but now I’m wondering if we have a mole in our offices. Sure, Brighting Gaming has a lot of enemies, but not anyone who works for them.
I bet it’s Ron Dawson. He’s a creep and a half.
I bet he’s the one leaking information to the marketing team over at Pulse Gaming.
“I have some of the brightest minds on my team.”
I don’t miss the way he emphasizes the word brightest. As in Brighting Gaming. There’s definitely a mole.
“I’ll look over this more later and give you all my notes in the morning.” I fake a yawn. “I’m really tired and we’ve got a busy day tomorrow.” I try to offer him a smile, but now I don’t feel so well.
