The days went on and I put the night of the concert behind me. I knew it would only make matters worse if I had dwelled on everything that had gone wrong, so I chose the alternative— pretending as if none of it had happened at all. I poured myself into my work. However, the coming weeks posed to be a challenge for me.
The label was assigning me with a new project that would require my full and undivided attention, so that meant that it was up to me to complete all of my current marketing efforts prior to the introduction of my new assignment. Since I was to be more occupied by my work, I figured that it would be best if I enrolled Lina in daycare so that I could return to working in the office.
The day of the meeting for my assignment was upon us, but the new enrollment period for Lina's daycare wouldn't begin for another week, which left me in a bind. I didn't have any childcare for her, so was left with no choice than to cart her with me to the office.
The elevator doors opened, leaving me face to face with Alisa, the receptionist of my office.
"Celine! It is so great to see you. I am so glad you're coming back to the office." She squealed with excitement, getting up from her desk to greet me with a hug.
"I know, it's so good to see you, and to be back." I smiled, returning her embrace.
Alisa and I had become really close during my time spent working in the office prior to taking my maternity leave, and seeing her eased some of my nerves about returning to the office. She released me from the hug and gasped, noticing the baby bucket in hand for the first time.
"SHUT UP! Celine, this is Evangeline? She's perfect." She remarked, her eyes welling with tears.
"Yep, my little Lina." I said smiling down at them sweetly as Alisa crouched to meet Lina's gaze.
"Wow, she's a whole mini human. You did that, momma!"
I let out a laugh. "I guess I did. But, Alisa, I have a huge favor to ask." I cut to the chase.
"I'll do anything for you. I'm just happy to have my work-bestie back." she smiled sweetly, returning to standing position from her crouch.
"Would you mind watching Lina— just until my meeting is over? I swear, it won't be a minute longer."
"Not at all. In fact, I'd LOVE to." She replied, and took the baby bucket from my hand and the diaper bag off my shoulder without missing a beat.
"Thank you so much. You're seriously a lifesaver. I couldn't get anyone to watch her today and I've just been so stressed about getting back to work and making sure she's okay, and—"
"Celine, it's okay, you don't have to explain yourself to me. I've got you covered, always." She assured me.
"Thanks again. I just have to run to the bathroom really quick before the meeting. If she gets fussy theres a pacifier in the bag, but if she doesn't seem to want that, there's a bottle in there too that she'll take. But, I'm sure she'll be fine, she's usually pretty mellow." I called out as I made my way to the bathroom.
Once I was through, I made my way back to the reception desk but was stopped in my tracks by the conversation unfolding before me.
"Now, who do we have here?" an all too familiar voice asked.
Oh my god.
"This is Evangeline." Alisa announced proudly, showcasing her to the man who stood before her.
"Well, Evangeline you are the most precious thing I've seen today. I love babies," Josh said, his face animated in an attempt to amuse the baby— his baby. "Is she yours?"
"Well, only temporarily," She outwardly cringed at her word choice as she repositioned Lina in her arms. "I- I mean, I'm watching over her for the next hour or so while her mom is in a meeting. She's not actually my baby." Alisa fumbled through her words, seemingly starstruck.
I took Alisa's botching of words as an opportunity to approach. She looked to me thankfully, as if I had saved the day.
"Speaking of, this, uh, this is her mother right here actually. Mr. Kiszka, this is Celine Lyons." Alisa introduced us, though no introduction was necessary.
"Ah, Ms. Lyons, we meet again."
Well, fuck.
I was honestly surprised he had remembered me.
"You two know each other?" Alisa hissed, widening her eyes at me.
I chose to ignore her, not wanting to get into it at this moment in time, but focused my attention instead on Josh, pasting an award winning smile on my face in an attempt to seem unfazed. "Josh, uh, hi, how are you?"
"I'm doing well, thank you." He replied, returning my smile. "I take it this is the little one that Michael had mentioned the other day."
"The very one, yes. This is my daughter, Lina." I said introducing the unsuspecting father to his baby girl for the first time.
"Well, she's absolutely beautiful, you're very lucky. Hopefully, one day I'll be fortunate enough to have one of my own."
It gutted me that he had no idea that he was quite literally the other half in her creation, but I couldn't explain this all to him right now. Not here, not now.
I wanted nothing more than for my transition back to the office to be seamless but of course the universe had other plans by bringing Josh and I here, together, in the first place.
"She's my everything," was all I could manage as a response.
Alisa cleared her throat, causing me to tear my gaze from Josh to her. "Uh, Celine, Mr. Johnston is expecting the two of you. Will you escort Mr. Kiszka to conference room B?"
I looked at my watch. Shit, I was late. "Yeah, sure. You can follow me." I said turning on my heel, making my way in the direction of the meeting room.
Of course we'd be a part of the same meeting. The universe has a great sense of humor.
I heard Josh jog to catch up from behind me. "So, I take it you work for the label, what is your role here?" He inquired, matching my stride.
"Oh, I'm a marketing coordinator. This is the label you and your band belongs to?" I spoke evenly, trying not to let the thought of Josh and I potentially working together rile me more than I already had been.
"Yes. We just wrapped up our tour at the show you and your friends attended the other night and we're beginning the work for our next album now." He answered gently, potentially sensing my slight unease. "Maybe you'll be a part of the process since we're attending the same meeting." He remarked, bumping me playfully with his elbow.
My nightmares were being actualized as we spoke.
"I'm not exactly sure what they have in store for me, the topic of this meeting has remained confidential, so I guess we'll see." I said, forcing a smile in an attempt to be polite, all the while my insides were churning with anxiety and uncertainty.
We rounded the final corner of the corridor and approached the door to conference room B. I pushed open the large door and gestured for him to enter first.
"Ladies first." He declined, as I nodded curtly and entered through the doorway.
We were the last two to arrive at the conference room and were met with an array of heads turning in our direction upon our arrival.
"Ah, Celine, there you are. And, I see you brought our final guest along with you. Wonderful, let's begin." My face flushed at the comment my boss, Mr. Johnston, made upon our entry. To an onlooker it would've seemed innocent, but I could tell by his tone that he was displeased with my tardiness.
Great, another thing contributing to this shit-show.
The two of us shuffled in and found the two remaining open seats. I ended up sitting right smack in the middle of Greta Van Fleet— with Jake and Josh to my left, and Sam and Danny to the right.
Why me, God?
"Now that we have all of you here, I am pleased to announce the details of this project. As many of you may already know, Greta Van Fleet has just wrapped up their tour for their third studio album. Gentlemen, you have done a tremendous job thus far, and we are very excited to begin the efforts to promote and release your fourth album upon its completion." Sporadic hoots and hollers filled the room as we all applauded the boys for their success.
"Now, I have gathered you all here today to provide an outline of the plan and to assign specific tasks. First, I want to welcome back one of the strongest members of our marketing division, Celine Lyons." My coworkers, along with the various other individuals in the room applauded my return. I nodded and smiled— my actions felt robotic as my heart-rate quickened.
"Celine, beginning next week, you will be heading the marketing efforts for Greta Van Fleet's fourth album. You will be working closely with the band and their publicist, as well as their social media representative to create a plan of action for how we would like to publicize this work. Understood?"
"Yes, sir." I replied, my throat feeling incredibly dry.
"Great, this role of yours is a big deal, so congratulations and welcome back, Celine."
Josh mimed a thumbs up, giving me a slight smile from beside me.
I tried to return the smile, but I remained unsure if my expression was receive correctly or if, in reality, I looked as nauseous as I had felt.
'working closely with the band' I couldn't imagine anything worse. I would have to be face to face with Josh almost every single day.
How would I come clean about Lina to him without losing my job?
The answer for now: I couldn't.
I had kept it from him for this long, so what was the harm if the omission was prolonged for a little while longer?
My thoughts consumed me— so much so that I zoned out the remainder of the meeting. I was only brought back into consciousness by the drumming of Sam's fingers on the table as he rose, like everyone else in the room, at the adjournment of the meeting.
"Celine, long time no see." He teased as I looked up at him, standing as well.
"Yeah, I guess you'll be seeing a lot of me from now on." I joked.
"Never a bad thing." Josh interjected with a smile, as Sam shook his head with a light laugh, almost as if he had expected such a contribution from his eldest sibling.
"We're excited to be a part of your team. From what it sounds like, you're more than qualified to assist us with this. Plus, it's nice to have a familiar face." Danny added, smoothing over any potential ruffled feathers.
"Yes, congratulations on your promotion." Jake nodded along. "and give Mikey our best, it's a shame you all had to leave so suddenly the other night." he said the last bit with a smirk, making it seem like more of a dig at Mikey than a sincere statement for me to pass along.
I let out a nervous laugh, "Will do."
We stopped at the reception desk, where Alisa rocked a sleeping Lina in her arms.
"Well, I will be seeing you guys soon, I guess." I said waving them goodbye as they parted ways.
I collected Lina into my arms and transferred her back into her bucket. Out of the corner of my eye I caught Josh gesturing for the boys to go on without him. They entered the elevator, leaving him behind with Alisa and me at the desk. I felt my heart-rate quicken once again.
What was he doing?
"Mind if I walk you to your car. I just want to make sure you make it there, safe. You know, with the precious cargo and all." He laughed awkwardly, motioning to Lina.
I didn't have it in me to turn him down.
"Uh, yeah, sure– it wouldn't hurt." I laughed uncomfortably, trying to ease the tension. "We can head out in just a minute."
"Alisa, thank you so much for watching over Lina. You're seriously the best. Lunch on me next week." I thanked her briefly before I had to go.
"Of course! It was really no trouble at all. And, I'm holding you to that lunch because we have a LOT to catch up on." She winked at me, obviously referring to Josh.
I rolled my eyes and giggled, bidding her goodbye. I turned to Josh, baby bucket in hand, ready as I would ever be for my baby daddy to escort me and our child to my car.
We entered the elevator and I pressed the button to take us down to the parking garage.
"I was disappointed that you and your friends left in such a hurry the other night." He began.
"Really?" I asked, genuinely surprised by his confession.
"Sure. I hadn't seen Michael in a while and it would've been nice to catch up with him. And, to get acquainted with his lovely friends as well— one in particular to be exact." He said with a cheeky grin, obviously trying to imply something.
I didn't take the bait.
"Yeah, I'm sorry again for his behavior. I don't know what had gotten into him, I think maybe too much to drink."
"I suppose," He pondered, scratching his chin. "but the drink oftentimes exposes one's true feelings. There had to have been an underlying motive." Josh prodded, trying to get an admittance of Mikey's true intentions out of me.
"I guess so." I dismissed his prying, clearing my throat, which echoed within the elevator, leaving us in an awkward silence.
He was the first to break it, "Can I ask you a question?"
"I suppose," I replied, mimicking his flirtatious tone from before.
He made it extremely difficult to remain neutral towards him.
The elevator arrived at the floor of the parking garage where I had left my car, and we both stepped out.
He let out a breath, "Are you seeing anyone?"
Was he nervous?
"Wow, rather forward of you, Kiszka, don't you think?" I teased him.
He laughed.
Such a sound, that it felt as though I could get drunk on it.
"Well, no. I am not." I replied cooly in an attempt to seem sure of myself.
"Follow up question." He stated regaining the confidence that I had become so accustomed to. "Can I take you out to dinner?"
"Oh," was all I could manage at first. "I- I don't know, Josh."
"I think we could have a great time with one another." He added before I could officially turn him down.
"We're coworkers, I don't- I don't think it would be a good idea." I said as an excuse.
"I was honestly planning on asking you the night we met— before we even knew we would be working together. I don't know why, but I just felt so drawn to you, like from the moment I laid my eyes on you. And, you left so suddenly, I didn't have the chance to ask." He insisted.
"I don't know, I- I just, I just feel like it would be too complicated." I stuttered, my brain feeling like it had just short circuited.
Could I actually go on a date with him? Would that be a good idea? Would this all blow up in my face? Should I turn him down? I have to... but do I? This is a terrible idea. Do I want to? I don't know.
"Celine, I'm just asking you to dinner, I'm not asking you to have my children." He chuckled.
I laughed incredulously.
Funny, I already had.
"Sorry! I didn't mean it like that, like with you being a mom and all, it came out wrong." He squeezed his eyes shut in embarrassment, which I found to be quite cute.
"I just mean that I'd love to have the opportunity to get to know you a bit better, and I don't think that going to dinner with one another is that big of a deal. I am able distinguish between my professional and personal relationships. I assure you this will not interfere with the project at all." He nodded decidedly, pleased with the way he had explained himself.
I searched his face hoping to find within it an excuse to turn him down, but I only found his deep brown eyes that could quite frankly get me to do anything in the world for him— some of which I had already done once before.
"Fate has brought us together once again, so who are we to ignore her wishes?" He said softly, reaching for my empty hand.
My breath hitched at his sentiment and the gesture.
If only he knew the reason as to why.
"Okay," I said shakily, as a released my hand from his and extended my hand receive his phone. I was met with the biggest, brightest grin I could've imagined, and it absolutely melted me as he pulled his phone out of his pocket.
I typed in my phone number very slowly, as to assure accuracy, sealing my fate further with each digit.