AllFreeNovel
Share Us
She’d put it all on the line and come after him, anyway. He was so blind. He didn’t deserve Jessica. How could he have been so short sighted? Now that she was gone, he knew she was the only thing that was important. He had to make this right and quickly. He knew what he was going to do.
“I’ll be back.”
“That line doesn’t go well in the movies, either, Brian,” Beth said.
“You’re going to get Jessica, right?” Clara asked.
“If she’ll have me.”
Retro called out, “Boy, ask her if she’ll have us. You might get a little more traction.”
“Yeah, hurry up. We don’t want her to be gone from home too long.”
Brian nodded and Clay waved him on. It was time to go get the love of his life and bring her to their new home.
Chapter Twenty-one
Why was she here?
She should have waited for Brian. Here she was sitting outside of the boardroom waiting to be called in. Jessica was dressed in her best suit. Ms. Cruz had smiled when she walked in the door and then followed it up with a disapproving glare.
“We're glad that you could finally make it, Miss Tingles.”
Jessica wasn't so sure she was happy to be here. To think she had always wanted to be invited to this office. In front of her was Ms. Cruz but to the right was the boardroom. Jessica couldn't remember why once upon a time that was the place that she always wanted to go to and always wanted to be invited in. Now that she had found Brian and knew what true love was, what was behind the boardroom door didn't seem to be as important.
Looking at the hardwood surfaces and the blue and grey motif, this was what Jessica had been working toward. It was funny how she had spent all of her time working toward this one moment and now the only thing she wanted to do was to get up and go back home.
Home. Now she knew she had a home with people who loved her for her. If she were honest, she would just say wherever Brian was she could make her home.
Jessica could hear some clapping inside of the boardroom and knew that it had all begun to start. That's what it meant to be in that boardroom, people got up, everyone clapped, and it didn't make a difference if they were sincere or not.
“Ms. Tingles, do you have anything prepared that I need to bring into the boardroom?”
Jessica looked at Ms. Cruz as if she had grown a head.
“No, it will just be me.”
Ms. Cruz nodded and then went back to her post behind the desk.
Jessica looked around the office and the walls started to pulse around her. Her collar started to itch on her shirt and every couple of minutes she was smoothing her pants as if there were some unwanted wrinkles there. Getting ready for this event had seemed as though it was the culmination of her career ambitions. Now that she was here, though, her heart just wasn't in it.
She didn't want whatever was going to be offered on the other side of that boardroom door, if anything.
Jessica realized that the most important thing that she really wanted was back in Peace. She wasn't saying that she didn't want to have a career, but everything had a place and a value. She needed to talk to Brian about that so they could figure out what they were going to do about their career and make those decisions together. It was funny how when you made up your mind, everything else just seemed boring and blah.
Jessica also thought about the idea that when she went into the boardroom, she doubted that anything that happened would be really about her. There were always games going on and political moves and Jessica didn't want to play and didn't want to be a part of it. At the end of the day, CFO was important, but it wasn't the most important thing.
As she sat there in the office, she wondered who was going to read with Lars. She wondered who would go by and look at the board members playing checkers out in the park. She wondered if eventually people would come into After Hours and she'd be able to be there to greet them. Those were the experiences that made her feel as though she was living the life she wanted. Jessica also felt needed and a part of something bigger than her.
Looking around the office one more time she decided this was not what she wanted. This wasn't the way that she wanted to be remembered. She didn't need the approval of the people sitting in that room. She already had the approval and love of the people who mattered.
There was another round of applause in the room and then Jessica looked at her watch realizing it was almost time for her to go in. She would give everything right now just to be able to see Brian, to talk to him and to make a decision.
It was time to go. Jessica had been rethinking everything and now she knew what she really needed to do. She needed to be with Brian to make some decisions. She stood up and walked over to Ms. Cruz’s desk.
“I'm sorry Ms. Cruz but I'm going to have to leave.”
“Leave?”
