The lead-up to Thanksgiving had become an emotional pressure cooker for me. Jake's plane landed on the twenty-fifth, the day before the big holiday. We had little time to prepare for everything, what with our family being scattered all over the country and everyone having a different schedule. Our mother had always gone all out for Thanksgiving. We would drive to Manhattan to see the parade. When Jake and I were little, seeing Santa at the end of all the colorful floats had been the highlight of our day each year. Then we would go back home where the turkey had been roasting in the oven overnight and the house smelled incredible. Our entire family would come to visit and we'd all have an amazing time eating, playing football in the backyard with grandpa, and decorating the Christmas tree.
With everything that had been going on recently, the holidays had been at the very back of my mind. I hadn't given Thanksgiving any thought and I had zero ideas for new recipes I'd hoped to create in time. Mom had called the night before, telling me what time to arrive at my parents' house for dinner. I was on potato duty, in charge of bringing the mashed, baked, and sweet potatoes. Jake was supposed to make a giant pot of mac and cheese for our cousin's four-year-old triplets who refused to eat grownup food, even if it was just turkey and mashed potatoes.
I'd been cooking for almost an hour and a half when Alec called. My phone was sitting on the kitchen table, two feet from where Jake sat reading the newspaper. I dashed to get it, dropping a spoon in the process.
"Geez!" Jake looked at me incredulously. "Where's the fire, Sis?"
I ignored his question and answered the phone. "Hey. Now's not really a good time." I tried to make an excuse that wouldn't raise my brother's eyebrows. I wanted him to think someone from work had called, rather than Alec. He had no idea how close Alec and I had become. "I'm cooking and-"
"I need to see you." Alec cut me off. "I need to talk to you now, Bree. It's important."
His voice sounded frantic but at the same time happy. He was excited about something. What could possibly be so exciting that he had to pull me away from Thanksgiving food prep when he knew I was with my brother and about to be with the rest of my family?
I scurried into another room where Jake was out of earshot. "Alec, what's going on? Jake's here. You have terrible timing."
He breathed a laugh but I could tell it was forced. He despised Jake just as much as Jake despised him. "I don't care, Bree. I'm on my way over."
"Alec-"
The line went dead. Fantastic.
I tried calling him back to stress the importance that he didn't show up, but he kept forwarding my calls to his voicemail.
"What on earth was that about?" Jake asked when I returned to the kitchen.
I tried to conceal my angst and shrugged it off as nothing. "My coworker was just concerned about a deadline. That's all."
He looked at me skeptically but didn't press on. I went back to preparing the mashed potatoes, adding a little bit of freshly chopped chives and some salt. I didn't realize Jake hadn't stopped staring at me until I turned around to take the sweet potatoes out of the oven.
"Bree, is everything alright?" he asked, coming over to help. He opened the oven door for me while I retrieved the pan. "You just seem distant. I know you've got a lot on your mind with this acquisition but you can talk to me, get it off your chest..."
At the moment, I was more concerned about how I was going to explain away Alec's presence at my front door to Jake, than how I was going to handle Abernathy snatching up Corbin and Hilliard.
"I'll be okay, Jake. I promise." I tried to assure him. I hadn't been able to look him square in the eye for nearly a half hour.
"Hey," he said softly, pulling me into a bear hug.
I rested my head on his chest and he swayed us side to side. I could feel tears pricking my eyes but I refused to cry. I was stressed to the max but I wasn't about to let it show on Thanksgiving. Today, I wasn't supposed to be miserable, worried Bree. Today, I was happy-go-lucky, celebratory Bree, in charge of all things potato!
"Hey," I mimicked against his shirt sleeve.
"Maybe if this advertising stuff doesn't work out, I can talk to National Geographic and see about bringing you on. I could use a helper on trips, you know," Jake offered. "And you've always been good with a camera. Remember when grandpa used to take us bird watching and you would take pictures of every cardinal and bluebird we came across?"
I pulled out of his grasp, shaking my head. "Jake, I appreciate it, but you know I don't want to do photography. You're the hotshot cameraman. I want to be an ad agent," I told him. "I love advertising. I love the challenge."
"There's challenges in being a photographer."
"Like what? Making sure you don't fall off a cliff in the Adirondacks?" I said a little too harshly.
Jake closed his eyes and let a heavy sigh go. "No. Like competing with thousands of other photographers to acquire contracts so I don't go broke," he hissed. "And I don't have the fancy marketing tools to do it like you do."
"Jake, I didn't mean it like that." I tried to apologize but he walked away. I felt terrible for saying that. I had no right to diss his profession.
The doorbell rang.
"Fuck," I snapped to myself. I didn't care if Jake heard me.
I opened the door to find Alec in a stunning London blue button-up that matched the color of his eyes. I unintentionally allowed myself to take in his presence with a long, lingering once-over. I snapped out of it quickly though and stepped outside, jerking the door closed behind me.
"Was I not clear enough?" I attempted to holler in hushed tones. "My brother is here!"
Alec just laughed my words off. "Bree, I have good news," he said.
I groaned. "Alright, Shaffers. I could use some of that. Maybe I'll let your intrusion slide this time."
He smirked, amused by my frustration. "I met up with Troy this morning for coffee. He's willing to hire you on if you want to avoid the Abernathy situation."
My brows pulled together in a tight frown that instantly hurt. "Alec, how can Troy offer me a job when Abernathy is buying Harper Media too?"
A grin swept across his face and I was almost sure I saw a twinkle in his eyes. Maybe it was just the light reflecting off the puddles left by our recent rain.
"That's the thing. They are."
"I'm not sure I understand."
"I've been talking to a woman who works for Clearwater Media Group out of Seattle," he started to explain. "She got me a phone conference with the head of public relations. I was originally hunting for a new job when I started talking to Crystal, but when I told Madison, the PR director, what was going on with Abernathy buying up everybody-"
"Wait. Wait," I interrupted. "When did you start talking to this Crystal girl?"
My jealously was on full display but I didn't care.
He shrugged. "At the gala. She was networking there."
Now I finally knew her name. "So this Crystal is the bottle blonde that looked like she wanted to tear your pants off in the middle of the dancefloor that night," I said with a glare.
Alec's expression was unreadable. I took it as a mix of shock and feeling guilty. He hadn't been expecting me to bring up his little friend, I suppose. Now I understood why they were having dinner. It was probably a business meeting. Hopefully.
"Anyway." He brushed off my statement and continued. "Madison talked to their board of directors and they've come up with an interesting proposition."
I raised an eyebrow. "You have my attention."
"It turns out, Abernathy and Clearwater are major competitors. Abernathy dominates the east coast and Clearwater dominates the west coast. They each want to essentially put the other out of business," Alec said, leaning back against the wall as he spoke. "When Clearwater got wind of Abernathy's plans down here, they decided to offer the top performing employees at Harper Media, Corbin and Hilliard, Parker, and a couple others jobs with them."
I shrugged, waving my hand. "What's so great about that? And what does it have to do with Troy offering me a job?"
"Abernathy doesn't know it yet but Troy accepted their offer and Clearwater is going to put him in charge of new hires for ad agents. They agreed to let him bring on your coworkers, Renee, Michelle, and Shelby. I understand they're trying to cut deals with your bosses right now. Troy said he'd hire you as director of commercial advertising for the Seattle, Spokane, and Portland areas. The job is yours if you want it," Alec smiled. "And the kicker is that Clearwater has agreed to pay everyone double the salaries Abernathy is offering. It's a great deal, Bree."
I couldn't believe what I was hearing. I'd been so angry and jealous over seeing Alec with Crystal. I'd gotten it so wrong. Alec wasn't trying to sleep with other women. He was conducting a business deal, of all things! And apparently a damn good one too.
I never would've seen this coming in a million years. It was like the clouds opened up and there was light at the end of the tunnel for those of us who were expecting Abernathy to dump us. I was thrilled and relieved to hear that Renee had a great job offer with a salary that would give her more than enough to support her son and take that annual vacation to the Caribbean that she'd been dreaming of since the day I'd met her. I was glad Michelle and Shelby had somewhere to go too. They wouldn't have to worry about job hunting. Even Mr. Corbin and Mr. Hilliard had promising opportunities. Abernathy Advertisements was about to get the shock of their lives. They'd never know what hit them. I wanted to be a fly on the wall when Darin found out.
But what about Alec?
"Alec?" Our eyes met and I suddenly craved the taste of his lips. "What are you going to do?"
His smile broadened. "I've already accepted a job with Clearwater. Assistant director of commercial advertising. You'd be my boss, crazy enough," he chuckled.
"Y-you did?"
"Of course," he grinned proudly. "I don't start until after New Year's. I've got to find a place and move in a pretty short timeframe but I'm looking forward to a fresh start."
I didn't know what to say. The whole thing was about as surreal and unexpected as anything could get in this industry. It felt amazing to know I had an offer on the table and I wouldn't have to be stuck with Abernathy and Darin Forbes, but suddenly moving all the way across the country from one coast to the other to work at a company I wasn't familiar with in a city I knew nothing about except that it rains a lot... That didn't seem practical. What if Clearwater decides they don't like the way I do business? I'll be unemployed in an unfamiliar city with no money to pay my bills or anything else. Then where will I go?
It was such a huge risk. So much that could go wrong.
"How long do I have to make up my mind?" I finally asked.
"A week."
A week?! How was I supposed to make such an important, life-changing decision in one fucking week? I didn't know a single person at Clearwater and I was actually considering trusting the future of my advertising career with them? I must be insane.
The front door opened with a squeak and there stood Jake in the doorway, an incandescent scowl plastered across his face when he recognized who I was with.
"What the hell is he doing here?" Jake barked, absolutely furious.
Alec cleared his throat. "I'll take that as my cue to leave."
"Good idea," Jake sneered.