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“Sure thing, one check?”
“Separate checks,” Blaire and I both responded in unison. I didn’t appreciate the knowing smile on Nancy’s face as she nodded and walked away to prep our checks.
Blaire spun her empty wineglass by the stem.
“You know, I think the biggest reason I wanted tonight to go well is I wanted my family to know it went well. My sister leads these high-pressure depositions all the time and my dad oversaw dozens of town halls in that very room, and I’ve never heard them talk about a situation that got out of hand quite like this.”
I wasn’t sure how to respond to that. This was the first time Blaire had revealed her insecurities when it came to her seemingly perfect family, but then again, our time together was more often spent arguing about expenses or schedules, not really being transparent with each other.
“Here you go, kids,” Nancy said as she returned with our separate checks, her impeccable timing on display again. “Y’all have a great night and I hope to see you back at Pepper’s soon!”
Blaire shook her head and smiled at Nancy, taking the pen out of the receipt holder and signing her name after adding a generous tip. I guess that was the end of the emotional honesty portion of the evening for both of us. After we closed out our bills, Blaire and I walked back toward our cars.
“I hope you’re feeling a bit better about the town hall meeting,” I said as we approached Blaire’s car. “I’ll post the documents on our portal when I get home, and hopefully the webinar approach will help the next two meetings be a bit more productive.”
Blaire nodded. “I’ll post the documents to Holly Ridge’s portal tonight, too. We’ll see if I can keep off the Holly Ridge community online group tonight. I don’t think I want to see what their reactions are.”
A piece of Blaire’s hair fell into her face, and she just looked so defeated again, which was the opposite of how I wanted her to feel after my reassurance and our drinks.
I reached toward that wayward lock of hair and tucked it behind Blaire’s ear. Her eyes shot up to mine and then flickered toward my mouth. I couldn’t let myself go there, so I released Blaire’s hair and reached behind her to open her driver’s side door. Blaire didn’t move out of my way as I expected her to, and my nose ended up brushing her hair, right where I had replaced that stray strand, inhaling her honey scent.
Blaire was boxed in between her open door and my body. My body refused to move when my face was inches from hers. My eyes strayed to her lips, her tongue peaked out of her mouth to wet them, and I found I wanted to taste those lips, have my tongue tangled with hers.
Suddenly an alarm sounded in the Wally World parking lot across the way, and just like that, the spell was broken. I remembered exactly whose scent was intoxicating me. Getting involved with Blaire would void my ticket out of Winterberry Glen. Also, there was the minor fact that we couldn’t stand each other, and even if that changed, Blaire was the sort of girl one would form a real attachment to. An attachment I never intended to form with anyone. I felt myself taking a sudden step back.
“I’m...I’m sorry,” I stammered, and turning away from Blaire, I rushed to my car. For the second time in one night, I was leaving Blaire with a shocked look on her face, but it was clear I needed to get home. Trying to get closer to her would obviously lead to my own destruction.
Chapter 5.5
From: [email protected]
Date: May 20, 2:45 p.m.
Subject: Virtual Meeting Calendar Invite
Dear Ms. Greene,
Please see the recurring meeting invite using Winterberry Glen’s video conferencing software. Going forward, we will meet virtually for our weekly check-in meetings.
Warmest Regards,
Cole Thomas
Winterberry Glen CFO
From: [email protected]
Date: May 21, 8:07 a.m.
Subject: Re: Virtual Meeting Calendar Invite
Dear Mr. Thomas,
Invitation received, but can you please clarify why we’re moving to virtual check-ins? While you refuse to come to my favorite coffee shop in Holly Ridge to make our meetings more comfortable, and it’ll be a relief to not have to worry about spilling too many pens across your desk and annoy you, I do think face to face can be more effective. I can say I’d be reluctantly happy to continue coming to the government center to continue our meetings. I’ll stop suggesting other locations.
