Awkward Meet Normal

Chapter Thirty-Four

Dash:

I woke on the couch in the early morning with a killer headache.

Fuck I was getting old.

I had made it home in one piece and appeared to have left the pantry open. Rufus had gotten a few items out of it. A loaf of bread had been one of his victims. Thankfully he must have gotten bored and did not eat himself full.

"Bad boy," I said to him, looking around the living room. He had been sitting on the end of the couch when I awoke, staring at me. "You are weird," I said to him, rubbing my forehead.

My phone said it was five fifteen and had five percent left.

I make my way upstairs, leaving the garbage from Rufus lying around my house. On second thought, walking up to my room, he ate quite a bit of food. That money I spent on dog training did not help with his curious stomach.

My phone was charging, and the room did not feel like it was spinning as much. I wouldn't say I liked this feeling; I usually did not allow myself to get this way. Those twins knew how to drink. They were drinking me under the table, and I was still worse than them when we left. How did Jack find his way home? It was not my problem.

Sleep and a good breakfast were all I needed.

Sleep came again, and food was purchased on the way to the office. I had three early meetings, and I regretted my life choices.

Annabelle's firm was the second meeting of the day. They were meeting with us at our offices. I was excited to see her, even if it was for work. Knowing she was with Roman all night made my stomach sick. Or that was the hangover still. I was unsure.

Katerina will be sitting in on today's meetings and taking notes. We were going to go over slogans and possible club names for marketing purposes.

As soon as Katerina ushers Annabelle through my office doors, I know something is off. Marcus, her boss, is with her.

"Dash," it is nice to meet you in person.

"Likewise," I said to him, trying to catch Annabelle's eyes. She looks off to the side when she mutters a pathetic Good Morning to me.

What was going on? It was as if I was seeing Annabelle from a couple of weeks back. Not the woman I had devoured over and over this weekend. We made up for a lot of lost time this weekend.

"Should we get down to business then?" Marcus asked, and I nodded my head in agreement. We sit at the large conference table sitting in my office. My office was six of Annabelle's.

I pull her chair out for her without recognition or anything from her.

"Let's get the hard stuff out of the way. I will take over this account as Annabelle will be assigned to another client."

Her eyes meet mine for a second, and then she looks back to Marcus, who continues talking.

"I hope this is not an issue. We will have our best people on it."

I stare at Annabelle and then back at Marcus. "Annabelle is your best person, and I want her. I signed up with Fly Leaf thinking I would get the best."

"And you will." Marcus smiles at me. "I can assure you, your business is very important to me."

Thinking this was a done topic, he grabbed paperwork out of his folder and passed a copy to me and one to Katerina. Katerina had yet to start taking notes.

Halfway through, I take my foot and nudge it against Annabelle's feet. She moves her feet back some and clears her throat. She had not talked during this meeting. She does not look up from page eight, Marcus is still rabbling on, and I nod and say, "oh yea," on the parts I am supposed to be, but the only thing I care about is Annabelle.

"Do you have a preference?" Marcus asked me.

I had no clue what he had said.

"A preference?" I asked him.

He looked at me with a relaxed look on his face. Annabelle was hunched over slightly, head down, her hands knuckling the paper in front of her as if it was her safety vest.

What the fuck had happened?

"On the names we picked."

I look to Katerina, "workshop them like we did the others and get back to them with a decision."

"Don't you care?" Marcus asked me.

I shrug. "To be frank, I don't like any of the names you listed. I think I would prefer to go with Anna's Bets for the name."

That did it. She looked up at me with fire in her eyes.

"Better yet," I smile. "Annie's Bets."

I do not know why I was poking the bear. But I wanted her damn attention any way I could, and she was finally staring at me. I stared back.

Marcus continued talking.

"We can make a note of it."

Katerina smiled next to me. "Anna's Bets sounds kind of cool. It is not the worst name choice if you want women to come."

Annabelle was still staring at me, but then she cleared he throat and talked for the first time during the meeting.

"It will stay on the list," her voice was icy. "We have another meeting to attend."

Marcus looked down at the watch on his wrist. "Oh shoot. Anna, you are right."

They both stand; her eyes will not meet mine once again.

I followed them to my office door, trailing her like a puppy dog.

Marcus shook my hand, and Annabelle shook Katerina's, too; I could tell she was going through the motion. I grab her hand after she is done with Katerina's.

She looks at me and says, "Goodbye, Dash."

It was how her voice said it.

She takes her hand out of mine, and I watch as she walks away from me.

Five seconds after she leaves, I take my phone out to text her, and that is when I see them all.

My thumb hits the screen, and I continue to drag it up to look at the text messages I sent her. I looked mentally insane; I felt insane looking at the text messages.

Authors Note:

Have you ever been machine gun text messaged?