The next day I found myself leaning against the trunk of my car, parked on the side of the road downtown, drinking my morning coffee and staring up at a billboard of myself with Shane and Emma. The logo we had decided on was emblazoned in giant lettering across the front and the image of me was right behind it. I had to admit that looking at it, even I felt inspired. Shane had done an excellent job in making me look like an absolute boss.
"Well?" he asked then after a minute of Emma and I staring up at the gigantic sign. "What do you think?"
"It's incredible," I told him with a smile, turning to face him. "Truly, Shane, you did an amazing job."
He smiled proudly up at it. Emma placed an encouraging hand on his arm. I eyed that gesture suspiciously. I hadn't yet had the chance to talk to her about last night but I had every intention to.
"Back to the office?" I asked then and they nodded in agreement. We all climbed into the car and headed back. Mindy met me at the door, wide eyed and frantic saying that the phones had been ringing off the hook all morning and my day was jam packed with meetings with clients. So the billboard was working. I thanked Mindy and told her to bring the first one to me in twenty minutes. Then I said a rushed goodbye to Emma and Shane and ran off to my desk to check my email before my day of meetings began.
Apparently, potential customers were not the only ones who'd seen the billboard. At the top of my email list was a journalist for a local women's magazine asking to interview me for an article about my "inspiring dream and success as a female CEO and business owner." Touched, I responded to the email that I would be honored to do such an interview. Then my meetings began and they lasted until six in the evening. Then I had designs to start on so I flipped the switch on my desk lamp and settled in for another long night.
An hour or so later, a box of Chinese takeout was dropped onto my desk and the mouthwatering aroma of sweet and sour chicken hit me as I looked up to see my brother standing before me, already eating out of a box of his own. He took the seat across from me as I reached for the food.
"Thought you might forget to eat," he told me and my stomach rumbled as if in response. "The advertisement seems to be working then."
I nodded as I took a bite.
"Listen," he said, face getting much more serious. "Carter told me about Brad."
I frowned.
"I'm worried about you, Ava. I know I can't make the decision for you but I really think you should consider no longer doing business with this guy."
I saw the concern in my brother's eyes and thought about what he was saying. I knew he was worried about me. I knew they all were. And I knew how much I hated the way that Bradley Cork treated me. But this business was everything to me. It was my whole life and I had been so afraid of chasing away such a profitable client. But now, with this billboard and the forthcoming magazine article, maybe we would get enough new clients for me to feel better about losing his business.
"I know," I told Aaron then with a sigh, rubbing my eyes with exhaustion. "I know. And I'll think about it. I promise."
The next morning, I awoke to a knocking at my door. Grabbing my robe and tying it around me to over the little silk and lace nightie I had slept in, I headed out to answer it. I opened it to see Carter standing there, cardboard box in hand. He gave it to me and pushed past into my apartment.
"The delivery guy threw this in front of my door instead again," he told me as he opened the refrigerator and took out the milk before reaching for the cereal. "Apparently, he wasn't trained on the difference between 202 and 402."
I shut the door and set the box on the counter. The return address looked vaguely familiar but I did not recognize it immediately. I opened the box to find a card on top of some tissue paper. I lifted the card and read:
Saw this and thought of you. - B
B? Brad? I lifted the tissue paper and gasped, stepping away quickly.
"Ava?" Carter asked, setting down the bowl in his hands with a look of concern. I looked up at him, hands covering my mouth. He took a step forward and lifted the tissue paper and his jaw clenched immediately. Laying there, wrapped neatly in a bow, was a set of extremely racy teal lingerie. Carter's mouth set in an angry line as he growled. "Is this from him?"
He took my silence as affirmation. More furious than I had ever seen him, he stormed out of the kitchen, heading for the door. Fearing he would do something foolish in his rage, I ran after him.
"Carter! No! Stop!"
He wasn't listening. He simply stomped toward the door with terrifying purpose. I threw myself in front of him, placing my hands on his chest to stop him.
"Carter, listen to me. I can handle it. I'm going to drop him as a client, okay? Today. I promise. And then it'll be over. I won't see him again."
But I noticed that he was no longer looking beyond me to the door as he had been in his furious state. He had gone entirely still and his eyes had drifted downward. I looked down to see that, in my haste, my robe had come somewhat untied and visible beneath was my bare leg and a little scrap of lacy silk against my upper thigh. I looked back into his eyes and saw the heat there as they bore, now, into my own. But it was no longer rage he was feeling. His gaze lingered until my whole body burned and I tightened my robe around me. Then he blinked, as if coming out of a trance, and took a step back away from me. He appeared flustered, something that Carter Holden never was, and he ran a hand through his hair as his eyes darted around to every part of the apartment that wasn't me.
"I-uh-I shouldn't," he stumbled, seemingly just as surprised and confused by his reaction as I was. "I need to get to work."
With that, he pushed past me and out the door, closing it tightly behind him. I started after him for a moment, confused and wondering if I had imagined that strange look he had given me, that odd change in the air around us. But then I saw the box on my counter and my anger returned. I whipped out my cell phone and pulled up Brad's contact information before shooting him a text.
We need to talk. Can you meet me at the coffee shop on Elm?
In a matter of seconds, I received an eager yes and I rolled my eyes and got dressed before getting into my car and driving to meet him. He was already there when I arrived, leaning back in his chair with a calm, confident smile on his face. I approached him and threw the box down in front of him.
"This is unacceptable," I snapped, feeling all the rage I'd held inside for him bubbling to the surface.
"You didn't like my gift?" he asked flirtatiously as if he were truly unaware of how inappropriate his actions were. "I think it would look amazing on you."
"The harassment needs to stop. I have told you, time and time again, that I am not interested. What you're doing now is stalking. If you make another advance on me or send another package to my house, I will call the police on you."
"Whoa, whoa, calm down baby."
"Don't call me baby."
"Listen, you don't want to say something you'll regret. You wouldn't want me taking my business elsewhere."
"If you cannot conduct your business in a professional manner and separate it from your feelings for me, then I don't think we should be doing business together anyway."
That was when he lost it. His smile vanished completely and I could see the angered set of shoulders. He hadn't anticipated that I would call his bluff. This man, the kind of man who always got what he wanted, was not used to losing and this time he had. He was not taking it well.
"Have you forgotten who I am?" he growled then, his voice raising. I folded my hands in my lap and sat calmly, trying to ignore the increasing stares of the other patrons around us. "I am your biggest client. I own this industry. You can't drop me. I'll ruin you. I'll-"
"Thank you for your business, Mr. Cork," I interrupted, standing to make my exit. "I wish you well in your future ventures."
He leapt to his feet then, hand shooting across the table until my arm was painfully in his grip and he held me there. I looked into his eyes and, for the first time since knowing him, felt actual fear.
"Let her go," someone said then and I looked up to find that a man I had never seen before had a grip on Brad's opposite shoulder and a look of unabashed confrontation in his eyes. Brad turned to look at him, keeping a firm grip on my arm. "This is no way to treat a woman and if you don't let her go right now, you and I are going to have to take this outside."
Brad stared at him for a moment, blinking in shock that someone would dare speak to him this way.
"Fine," he said then, finally releasing my arm. "She's not worth it anyway."
Then he stormed out of the shop and I grasped my arm in my other hand, rubbing where he had held me to soothe the ache. It might actually bruise, the bastard.
"Are you okay?" the man asked then and I looked up to see that the anger in his eyes had been replaced by concern.
I nodded. "I am now. Thank you."
He glanced down at the box that Brad had left on the table when he stormed out. "Is this his?"
I sighed. "I guess not."
He looked at me in confusion so I explained.
"He was a business contact. He's been harassing me for weeks. This arrived at my apartment this morning," I told him in irritation, opening the lid so that he could see inside. His eyes widened at the contents. "So, you know, I don't want it. Do you happen to be looking for a gift for your girlfriend?"
He chuckled. "I don't happen to have a girlfriend. But there's a dumpster out back that I think this would look lovely in."
I snorted.
"Can I walk you to your car?" he asked, still smiling, noting how I was still standing, purse on my arm. I nodded and he followed me outside. When we reached my car, he put his hands in his pockets and met my eyes. "So I hope this doesn't come off as insensitive, given what you just went through, but I have this overwhelming fear that I might not see you again. I know you're in a tough place right now but here's my number. Call me or don't, only if you feel ready. I'd love to take you out sometime. You know, prove we aren't all assholes."
I smiled at him. "I'd like that."
He smiled back and handed me a business card as I slid into the driver's seat.
"Ooh, Dr. Thomas Kenton, and you didn't even brag about your medical degree once."
"Well, we haven't gone to dinner yet."
I laughed at that and started my car. He stepped away, smiling.
"Thanks again, Doctor. I'll see you soon."
Then I drove off, headed back for the office. When I arrived, Emma wasn't there and Mindy said she had called in to say she would be starting late today. I told Mindy to hold my calls and headed upstairs to check on my friend. She opened the door the moment I knocked. I looked her up and down and saw no indication that anything was wrong.
"Is everything okay?" I asked as I entered the apartment. "Mindy said you called and said you would be late."
"Oh yeah. Everything is fine. I just woke up late and wanted to do some work around here before heading into the noise of the office," she told me and I nodded as she gestured to her laptop and papers strewn upon her dining room table. I headed for the couch and settled in while I told her about my eventful morning. She seemed especially interested in my white knight rescuer. I sat forward and my hand fell into the space between the cushions. I felt fabric there so I wrapped my fingers around the object and pulled it out, holding it up in the air. There, dangling before my eyes, were a pair of men's underwear.
"Um... Em?"
She glanced up from her laptop and her eyes went wide. She leapt to her feet and ran over, plucking the article from my hands, cheeks reddening.
"I supposed I should have asked you about your night," I said then, eyebrows raised. She bit her lip but even that couldn't keep her from smiling.
"Um, you know, Shane was over last night," she said, attempting a casual affect.
"Sans underwear?" I asked with a smile and she giggled. "Spill, girl."
"Ava, it was incredible. He came over to ask where we stood and I said that I wanted to be more than friends and he said 'Thank God' and then he kissed me and things... escalated from there," she was smiling so big I thought her face might crack.
"Well?" I asked salaciously. "How was he?"
"You have no idea," she sighed dreamily.
"That good?"
She just smiled in response.
"Wow," I said.
"But I'm sure you'll get plenty from Dr. White Knight," she said with a wink and I laughed. "I can tell you now that I am so much more relaxed."
I laughed at that as well. "I have to admit it's been a while."
"So..." she said then, taking my phone off of the coffee table and handing it to me. "Call him."