Annabelle:
Dash was in a mood by the time I got to work.
The twins also sent memes to the group text message, so I had that to navigate through.
Ryan texted me on the side about it with Sydney in this group.
Ryan: You and Yankees Guy are serious?
I would start texting Ryan and then would get sidetracked by work. The Fancy Feast meeting is one of those things. Isabelle came in guns blazing; she was a lot to handle.
"You are a lot to handle today," I said to her at one point, smiling. It was a joke, but with just enough truth in that, he had to be said.
The comment made her happy.
"My father would say that exact thing to me when I was younger. He was my best friend." The smile told me that she was thinking of fond memories. "I wish I could take you away from Fly Leaf," she said at the end of our meeting.
She hugged me.
"I like you enough that I left Ralph with my assistant, darling." And she had, my allergies were still in check, and the pill I took that morning was for nothing, but it meant enough that it made my whole morning.
Ryan: You have been dodging this question all morning.
Ryan: Sydney says that means it's serious.
Sydney: It is serious. Normally she would be blurting the first thing that comes to mind.
Sydney: Double date at our house this Friday. I have been waiting for forever for this to happen.
She must have thought the last one was too harsh.
Sydney: Excited for you!
I rolled my eyes.
Annabelle: It is serious.
Except for the fact that he had yet to text me today. Was that normal? He did have Friday off because of me too. He dropped everything just for me. He was probably busy catching up on work. That was all.
I had a new client coming in today; there needed to be more background knowledge on this account, except for the fact that it was a new and upcoming cleaning product. Cleaning products were fun products to have. Everyone needed them. If you created something new and made all the moms out there think it would help their lives. They were for it.
Robots.
Cleaning robots was what it was. Window cleaners, lawnmowers, vacuums, the list was endless.
I watched the video the guy, Toby, was showing me. "You mean I stick this on my window, and it cleans it for me?" I was impressed. The lawn mower I didn't care about; I didn't have a lawn. I was tempted to text Dash about it for his backyard, though.
The conference room windows could open on this floor, and he took a white box out of the black tote he had brought in. Hooks the window cleaner up within seconds and then sticks it to the window. "That is incredible," I said, watching the window being cleaned."
Amanda must have been walking by, and she steps in.
She tilts her head to the side like mine is as we stare at the gadget on the window.
"Can I buy one?" She asks.
Toby has been quiet since she stepped in and cleared his throat.
"This is a prototype. We hope to have more up and running next month."
Amanda nods her head. "Ok, put me on the waiting list." She said while we watched the product. As she leaves, she turns back and says, "you get all the fun ones."
"Who was that?" Toby asked in a dazed tone.
"That would be my coworker Amanda." And I can tell by the tone of his voice he would much rather have Amanda on this project than me. After he grabs the window cleaner, he sits down at the table with me, and we start going through our standard packages. In a way, I want this client to see what products they come out with in the future.
When we stood to leave, I made sure to walk him back out, but on the way, I stopped and knocked on Amanda's office; the door was ajar. "Do you have the monthly reports?"
She makes an odd face at me. "The ones we get emailed?"
I shake my head, yes. "Oh, by the way, this is Toby, one of our new clients."
She walks the rest of the way to the open door and shakes his hand. "Amanda, it is nice to meet you officially."
"Likewise," Toby said after a couple of seconds and finally finding his voice. He was a goner already, and Amanda had not even smiled at him.
My cell phone starts to ring; it is a timer I had set for myself before we left the conference room; I look down at it and frown. "Shoot, I have to take this. Toby, it was great meeting you. Amanda, could you walk him out?"
Amanda eyes me and then smiles brightly at Toby. "Sure thing."
And then Toby and Amanda walk down the hallway to the elevators. She knew something was up. We usually walked our clients to the conference room door, never all the way to the elevators. Instead of returning to my office, I walk into Amanda's and sit down in the chairs she has.
Dash still had yet to text me.
Annabelle: My last pitch was cleaning robots. You might be interested in their robotic lawnmower.
I hit send before I could second-guess it.
Amanda came back ten minutes later; Toby must have upped his game.
She comes in looking a little brighter.
"Did he ask for your number?" I ask her, and she jumps; she didn't know I was sitting there.
"He did." She said in a sing-song voice.
"And did you give it to him?"
She shrugs. "Maybe."
She totally did.
I roll my eyes at her. "You are welcome."
She fidgets with her hands. "Thanks. I saw that Cubs Girl was trending again this weekend."
"That she was." I nod, talking about the viral Twitter handler's name in the third person. I didn't create it the Twittersperhe did.
"I didn't know you could bartend like that."
I stand, needing to get back to work; Dash has yet to text me; I frown at my phone. "I have many hidden secrets," I said to her as I walked on by.
Dash:
All I could think about was her having dinner with Roman.
Roman, what type of name was that?
The twins were still open to celebrating, and even though I was in a grade-A mood, I still went out with them. They insisted on meeting at Fire and Ice, my club.
"This is cool," Jack said, looking around the sleek club. They had both dressed up like what I wore; dress pants and a dress shirt. They looked respectable when they dressed like this.
"I didn't know you guys could dress up," I said to them.
Tyler laughed. "Comes with the territory, getting big boy jobs and all."
I waved the bartender over, ordered a round of dirty martinis for the three of us, and motioned to the back table. It was my favorite table in the club; I had reserved it this morning. It was the perfect spot to talk and people-watch.
I wish Annabelle were here with us, though.
"You look like your dog ate your supper. What is up?" Tyler asked.
"We are supposed to be celebrating," Jack reminded us.
The waitress set the three drinks in front of us.
"What is this?" Tyler asked. It was crazy how their voices gave them away and how much I had been working with them on this new club. Even before they signed the contract, they had been emailing, texting, and dropping by the office to review some stuff. The media room was going to be insane. I was dropping profound money on that one room alone. Tyler had called it the betting amusement park for adults.
I had a feeling he was never going to leave.
"Anyways, what is going on? Is it Annabelle?" Tyler asked.
I shake it off or try to, but he is persistent.
"She has that work meeting; it is nothing."
Even though I know she texted me at 4:02 PM, I still needed to respond. She had texted me earlier in the afternoon about lawnmowers, and the last one was two simple words: Miss You.
Fuck.
Dash: I miss you too.
Tyler chuckled as he took a sip of his martini. "Do you feel better now?"
"A little," I said.
"Good, drink up," he said, putting my drink in my hand.
A few martinis and a few shots later, I felt good. Fuck I could barely stand. No, I was standing; everyone else was sitting. We had to make it to the town car; it was supposed to be outside.
I looked behind me. There was only one twin. Which one was it?
"Who are you?" I asked over the music.
"Tyler," he said back, laughing at me.
"Where is Tyler 2.0?" I asked; that was clever.
"Ditched us, the waitress."
I put my hand on his shoulder. "Good man."
We were helping each other make it outside; we were going to make it.
Tyler gets in the car; first, I don't know how he knew it was mine, and I slide in; he rattles his address off. When we get to his place, I get out of the car. "This is where you live?"
"yea."
"Cool."
"Later."
"Later."
I get back in the car and fall asleep.