No Love Attached

chapter twenty eight : bradshaw meets buckingham

       "Since Javier showed it to me. It's what everyone's using for communication these days. And it's great for sexting." His eyes peered over his spectacles to educate me.

       "I'm not even going to ask who Javier is," I paused with a sudden need to know who Javier was. "Who's Javier?"

       "My ex's pool boy," he smirked.

        I shook my head in envy, "You live such a good life."

        When Anthony mentioned Damon, it was like a blow to the gut. What I did to Damon, somehow felt worse than what I did to Penney. He was innocent in all of this. Just a guy who had some feelings he shouldn't had. I wanted to continue our playful banter, but instead found myself asking, "How is Damon?"

        Anthony's flat lined smile was response enough for me to know what the answer was.

        We continued walking in silence for a bit. Well, it was less of a silence and more of a "we had to catch our breath from walking so long and didn't want to admit how out of shape we were," pause. People hurried past, all with places to go, probably to their jobs or families. Perhaps, even a date. I found myself immersed in thinking of what these strangers could be doing, before realizing we were a block away from the hotel. The whole point of this walk was to talk without the worry of Penney showing up behind my door.

      "Alright, so, I kind of have some news," I turned to Anthony, who stopped in the middle of the sidewalk to hear it. Bodies shimmied past us, earning us a few mumbles and curses from whoever's way we were in. "Aaron is letting me publish the book --"

      His eyes widened behind his glasses, and a large smile appeared on his face as he opened it to speak.

       "That's not all," I pushed aside my guilty conscience to finally say the words out loud. "I'm going to put in my resignation. It's just too much. So, after London is done, I'll be done with Lewis & James, I guess."

      At first, his expression was unreadable. I braced my self, half-expecting to hear what a dumb idea it was. After all, maybe it was.

      "That's my girl." He pulled me into an embrace, I didn't realize was desperately needed. His tweed coat smelled of cigarettes and Gucci Guilty.

       "Get out of the bloody walkway!" Some man yelled as he brushed by, causing us to pull away.

       "Piss off!" I yelled towards his direction.

       "You can take the woman out of the New York..." An amused Anthony, mumbled.

        The grand, double doors of the Fitz-Wells Hotel were pushed open for us by two smiley doormen clad in maroon and gold uniforms. The lobby was enchanting, like something out of a movie with its marble floors and crystal chandeliers hung every few feet. 

     As usual, it was buzzing. There were men in suits checking in, looking like they just got off an exhausting flight. By the elevator was a couple; the man's hand hung dangerously low on the young woman's back as they nervously scanned the room for unwanted eyes. They caught me and Anthony, who lowly sang "I smell an affair,". Which made for an awkward ride up together. The things they were whispering about doing to each other once they got to their room were just as dirty as the looks they were giving us.

       Anthony and I practically ran out on our floor to get away from whatever was about to be consummated in that elevator.

     I couldn't help but be a tad green with envy when I thought back on the couple. So lustful and passionate that they could barely keep their hands of each other in the elevator. It reminded me of Josh and I, once upon a time.

      "Wait," he said as we walked into my room. My attention immediately went to the huge vase of white roses on the counter. A little white envelope was placed in the center with my name in swirly cursive handwriting.

     "So, how are you publishing the F. Scott Fitzgerald thing if you're quitting the company?"

  I  was too focused on how the hell these flowers were put in my room to answer him right away. I, less than elegantly, tore open the card.

      It read,

      "Looking forward to working with you on our new business venture, partner. xx Aaron,"

     Instead of responding, I just handed the card to him to read for himself.

     He read the words in disbelief and even pushed up his glasses to read it again. A grin washed across his entire face. "Does this mean what I think it does?"

      I bit my lip and nodded nervously. Like a child waiting for approval.

       "Vera, you dirty slut," he replied with the utmost pride. His expression and tone was one that you'd see a father use at his child's college graduation or wedding.

     "I think I'm going to publish what I wrote, too. Under a pseudonym, of course. But still. " The words felt foreign on my tongue. It was also the first time I've said them out loud to anyone.

     "Holy fucking shit."

      That was it. Now, with it said to someone else rather than Aaron, it felt real. It had all happened so quickly within the last few days. After a few emails and one, long phone call, it was decided.

     Aaron Fitzgerald and I were opening up a publishing house.

•••

Author's Note:
Hey everyone! Thank you for reading! I'm so sorry for the long wait again. I'm going to start updating more frequently. I feel like this is going slow, I just don't want to rush anything. Let me know your thoughts on Vera's future business ventures! And yay, Anthony's back! My favorite character. If you enjoyed this, please consider voting or commenting! It means the world to me reading your comments, and motivates me to update.