Don't wish me happiness - Wish me courage and strength and a sense of humor - I will need them all. -- Anne Morrow Lindbergh
Chapter 27 - You've Got Some Explainin' To Do
Chandler's POV-
"You know Mason has the authority to hire anyone for any position under his management without getting approval. He's been asked to go to my dad as a courtesy for upper management positions, such as yours, but he has complete authority in the hiring." I give her a strange look. If he has the ability, then why put me through all the hoops?
"He asked me to be the official interviewer for you," she says with a smile. "And you see how formal that turned out."
For a stiff bitchy woman, I like that she actually has a heart.
"He didn't think you would accept the job if it only came from him, as if he was hiring you as a favor." Her words float over me as if Mason, himself, were sitting in the room agreeing with her. "I can tell you; you would not be my first choice if I was in charge of the section. I think you're too young and lack the experience needed for the corporate world, but your insight and intellect is impressive.
"After talking to you, I support Mason's decision more because I can see the direction he's wanting to take company, and you would be an asset to move his ideas forward. That being said, you have my support 100%. I do suggest you might want to hire a senior exec that has experience to help balance your decisions."
"Thank you."
Walking up the flight of stairs back to Mason's floor, I feel ready to face him. He will understand when I choose not to discuss my meeting with Mr. Cahill, as I have always understood his silence. I will only ask him for a reprieve for the weekend, as long as we have guests, that should give me time to contemplate every part of our meeting.
Mason is standing near Tonya's desk as she hands him an envelope and what looks like a keycard, but it could be a credit card. He smiles at me, and even though I feel unsure of my meeting with his grandfather, I can't help but mirror the look he aims at me. I love this man.
"How did it go?" He barely contains his happiness.
"Fine, what's gotten into you?"
"Just a .... happy, I guess. Are you ready to go?" I nod. "Let's go act as referees, shall we?"
He jokes all the way home about what he thinks Addy is doing to Edward, and how Edward will never learn not to mess with her. When he dared to ask himself how Addy would like the pubs he's chose for the crawl, he got nervous. "She's going to be fine. Just make sure Edward understands he's needed to help. He's 25, it's about time he mans up, at least for the night."
"Ok, thanks."
Mason's POV-
When she walked up to Tanya's desk, I couldn't help but see how happy she was. That alone is a relief, which means her meeting with Grandfather, went well. Not that I was expecting him to act badly in front of her, but with him upset with me, I don't wager a guess on his behavior.
The deep kiss she lets me steal before we enter my apartment will have to tie me over until later - much later. She's not much for big public displays of affection, but what I get in private more than makes up for it.
"You ready?" She asks with her hand planted on the knob. I nod as if expecting it to open on its own.
Addy is dancing around the kitchen making a late lunch, complaining to herself about something she can't find. Unfortunately she's not loud enough for me to offer any assistance before she squeals, being startled at our presence. If she weren't completely full of fear when our eyes meet, it would have been hysterical.
Scared, she rushes from the room, finding Edward on his way in, and I round the corner to see him wrapping her protectively in his arms. I'll be damned. Miracles do happen.
Chandler pushes me toward Addy, not like I wasn't already on my way to comfort her, but to know she's encouraging me, helps. "Sorry. I didn't mean to scare you," I say in top of her curly head, and she chuckles, trying hard to pull herself back together.
I look up to see Edward watching us carefully, but he's more focused on Addy. "You ok?" he asks, rubbing his hands down her arms as if gearing her up for a fight.
"Yeah, that was stupid," she mutters to herself before walking over to me for a hug. "Sorry about that. You just caught me off guard."
Part of me wanted to wrap her in my arms and protect her from the world, but the other part of me wants to take a step back to see her gather her wits. So, I do both, and I can almost hear the mental process she's going though as she tells herself she's ok.
"You finished for the day?" Edward asks, ignoring Addy now, or at least sort of.
"Yes, and now we have a birthday to celebrate." Addy, our birthday girl one week early, looks nervous but it's only a flash. "Our driver will be here at 7:00, so ... plans?"
"I wouldn't mind a walk over to the harbor," Addy suggests, looking around to see if anyone has any other ideas. She leans closer to me and whispers, "You can relax now. You just startled me; I'm ok."
"You two go. We'll stay here. Edward looks tired anyway." Edward gives Chandler a tight smile and a nod, as if he understands what she's doing. I know I do. She's giving me time alone with my sister.
Chandler's POV-
I don't think I've ever had to hold Mason back so many times in one evening as have tonight. Edward is charming and has been on his best behavior when it comes to Addy, but every time he touched her, even an accidental bump, Mason narrows his eyes.
His hand is constantly within my grasp, and I entwine my fingers, pulling his protective nature down a few pegs. "He's keeping her company," I tell him as we sit across from them at our third pub of the night. "Watch them. It's as if he's physically challenging her to face her fear."
He looks at just the exact moment that Edward tucks his arm across Addy's shoulder, and she turns to give Edward a 'Go to Hell' look that made Mason chuckle before he narrowed his eyes again at Edward.
With that small gesture from Addy, Mason relaxes and takes a swig of his beer. The place is crowded and extremely fun, but we agreed not to let moss grow on our backside, so off we go to our next destination.
We've enjoyed live music, pub games, and great beer, but next stop promises to be the best. Or, at least that's what Mason keeps toting. Then, again, he's a bit tipsy now, and I'm not too far behind him. One thing I've noticed is when Mason has a few drinks down him; he gets a little more handsy. Not that I'm complaining, I thoroughly enjoy his hands on me, but I have to remind him constantly that we are not alone...yet.
"Get me an Amber Bock, please," Mason squeezes my hand before heading toward the restroom, following Edward.
This pub is a noisy mess of mass confusion, but through it all is a bartender that seems unperturbed that the raucous crowd. There are a few people ahead of me, and Addy by my side as we are nudged, bumped, and pushed by the ever-growing sea of bodies.
Addy's small hand grabs my elbow and turn to check that she's ok, but she's turned away from me, cowering to the nudging crowd. "Don't touch me," she yells. She rears up to look more intimidating, and I bite back a smile. Maybe this is a good thing for her.
As the man in front of me takes his drinks and moves for me to talk to the bartender, Addy yells again, and a frat boy has an arm around her, leaning in to whisper in her ear. I turn to help her, but she grabs his hand pulling it back until fingers almost touched his forearm. He yells and bends over in pain, and as he does he reaches up and grabs at her chest. His nose meets Addy's knee so swiftly I barely saw her movement. Way to go Addy. As he falls to the floor bleeding, Addy gets one more hit and yells at him and his friends to learn some manners.
The best friend part of me wants to cheer for her like the crowd around us, but the sister in me is extremely worried. She's been doing to great; I just hope this doesn't cause a set back of her months of recovery. Edward pulls her out of the bar before I could check her, and I go to find Mason.
Through the cheering of the crowd, I push my way to Mason's side. "Addy," I yell. He smiles then his face looses color as looks at my face. "She's outside with Edward. There was a fight." His anger tells me he thinks that it's between Edward and her.
We pass by the frat boy and his friends being escorted out by bouncers. The boy's nose is still bleeding, and I direct Mason's line of sight. "Addy did that."
My words unleash a raging bull that I had to stand in front of to gather his attention. He first charges toward the frat boy, but I was able to stop him. "The bouncers will deal with them." Then, he struggles toward the door, toward Addy. "Mason, look at me. Look at me." I grab his shoulders. "LOOK AT ME. Stop this. Calm down or you will scare her. STOP!"
He blinks and I pull his head down enough to kiss him, "I won't let you see her until you calm down. You're scaring me; I can only imagine what you will do to her."
"I shouldn't have left you. I shouldn't have left her. What was I thinking?" He says more to himself that to me.
"Stop. You were thinking she was fine. She is. She has been." I kiss him again. "She was amazing." I know my face is glowing with pride, and Mason must see it, because he smiles, kisses my forehead, and ushers me out the pub doors.
Edward pulls away from her as we turn the corner to the alley, and it only takes a few steps before Mason has his sister in her arms. Big Bad Brother Protector is out in force and glaring at Edward as he gives a blow by blow of the fight he witnessed.
Mason's POV-
"Do you think she's really ok?" I ask as Chandler as she sneaks into my bedroom.
I'm not sure why we are still sneaking around, most people already know about us, if not everybody, but I do kind of like the clandestine feeling of her idea. It's a little juvenile, a little dirty, and a whole lot sexy.
"Yes. She seems fine, but you're going to need to tell Joel. He's got to live with the aftermath, not you."
"I know. I'll call him tomorrow." I can't do that. "I'll wait until Sunday. I don't want to ruin his weekend. He can't do anything about it right now, anyway."
She nods, and comes to me with the sexiest little smirk on her face. I wonder what she's up to? I bite back a smile at the possibility her expression holds.
"Do you really want to continue talking about this, or do you want to get reacquainted?" She asks in a low husky tone, as she untucks my t-shirt.
"Reacquainted? Are we not acquainted already?"
"Yes," she smirks again and steps back. "I see you're point. Goodnight"
She turns to leave. In one fail swoop she's in my arms being tossed on the bed, and my t-shirt is thrown across the room. Her laugh isn't audible at first as she tries not to be heard by our guests, and it becomes nonexistent when I lay siege to her body.
-
"Finally," I whisper to Chandler as I watch Addy and Edward walk toward security. A weekend of playing referee has been exhausting. Part of the time I was waiting for Edward to push the wrong button and unleash Addy's temper, the rest was trying to keep Edward from making moves on my sister.
Even though for the most part they have gotten along, it's the idea that Edward is sniffing around my baby sister again that makes me cringe. Obviously, from the look on her face, Addy isn't too happy about the possibility either.
Chandler laughs and wraps her arms around my waist. "She's going to be fine."
"If she doesn't kill him first."
As we pull away from the airport, I dial Joel. "She's past security."
"Yeah, she just texted me. What happened?"
"A lot." I'm about to go into the story of events from the bar, but he continues.
"She's wants me to pack a few things and be ready when she lands."
"Figures. From the look she was giving Edward, she wants to get away from him. She needs a vacation from her vacation." We talk for a while about her weekend, letting him know how she fared in social situations. He didn't seem affected about the fight at the bar. He only replies, "Good, she fought back," as if it's an everyday occurrence.
After twenty minutes he tells me, "I need to go. She keeps texting, so I'm guessing Edward is bugging her again."
"Probably so."
With Addy and Edward safely on their way back home, chandler and I are in for a lazy Sunday. "So, where to now?"
"I could use a nap. I'm beat," she says with a yawn, and all I can do is agree with her. It's been months since I've had a lazy day, just one that allowed me a chance to nap, and the thought of Chandler beside me, under me, being as loud as she wants, doesn't hurt either.
The elevator to my apartment closes and I pin Chandler to the wall. "What are you doing?"
"Working off some energy so we can nap," I say in my sexiest smirk, watching her lips curls on the sides. I delve in, bringing her body some much needed attention, and we continue all the way to my bedroom.
By the time we expelled our energy and napped, it was late afternoon. "Do you want something to drink?" I ask her as I stretch and search for clothes. Gym shorts is all I need.
"Water."
I pick up the Sunday paper before returning with a glass of water. "Where did I leave my phone?"
She mumbles something about being my phone's keeper before she replies, "Probably still in your pants. You dropped them by the front door," she laughs as I was looking around for my clothes I had on earlier.
"What? I was in a hurry."
"I remember," she says with a smile.
"You weren't complaining." I challenge
"No, I would never. In fact, I like it fast-n-hard and slow-n-gentle and any other way you love me."
I bend over to meet her lips with a slow deep kiss that causes us to catch our breaths. "Let me grab my phone."
Notifications of missed calls and texts litter my home screen. "Shit."
I start with the easy, leaving Patrick Sr. for last. Whatever happened in the meeting Friday has left Chandler on edge everytime I bring up the subject, so I need to be completely prepared for action before I talk to him.
Joel: I have Addy. We're headed to the river for the week. I hope it works out for the two of them.
Rachel: Check the paper. Call me. I can be there in seconds.
Regan: If you're ignoring Fritz, I don't blame you. Cryptic
Six missed calls from Patrick Sr. and one voice message. "You obviously know the damage you've done, but ignoring my calls won't solve your problem. I expect you in my office at 9:00 with Regan to get ahead of this story."
Dropping my phone on my bed, I pick up the newspaper. The business section has a front page devoted to the Cahill/Mid-South merger, with praise heaped on the expansion of the media division. Nothing in the article is damaging to Cahill, quite the opposite in fact.
I open my email app as I scan through the front section of the paper, nothing. In the little gossipy section in the society pages, there it is. Pictures of me holding Addy outside the bar and another of a man getting hauled away by a bouncer are featured with captions and a story.
The writer takes liberties, and insinuates that I was the cause for the bloody man's exit from the bar. The torrid little story gives the ins and outs of our night, including the number of pubs we visited and how easily I wondered from one lady to the next. By the time I reached the end, I was painted as a hot-headed playboy.
Chandler kisses my cheek as I call in the cavalry - Regan and Rachel.