Page 32 of What It Means To Be Found

I was okay with that.

Which was huge, considering it was me. I was raised by my parents to smile politely, never stir the pot, and never say no. It was wildly unhealthy, but that was the world they lived in. They were both raised the same way as kids, so it checked out. I, however, was breaking the generational curse. Saying no was okay, and I didn’t always have to smile and bend over backward to avoid hurting the feelings of others at the expense of my own comfort and peace.

Eloise Bane was a new woman, and I liked this version of myself much better.

“Lo?” I heard Pat ask from behind me. I swiveled in my chair at the front desk and smiled at the older woman and her use of my new nickname.

“Yes?” I replied as I saved my work on the schedule and gave her my full attention.

“I have a meeting in the next half hour, and I was hoping you would join me for it and take notes,” Pat explained as she set her bag down. She had just returned from lunch.

“Sure, what’s the meeting for?” I reached across my desk and grabbed one of the notebooks I had for such occasions. Pat was a great leader, but detailed organization was not her strong suit.

That’s where I came in.

“Were you here when Mr. James and his daughter Stella were clients?” Pat asked, sitting at her desk and staring at her computer screen. I froze, my thumb pressing on my pen to click it open before I wrote today’s date on the paper.

“Um. No,” I replied. I knew that Daddy James had been a client here because Beck and Courtney had told me so when I ran into him last year at a random club in LA. Apparently, he had the balls to ask Beck out at her place of work, in the middle of her workday. They knew that I had regretfully slept with him and made sure I didn’t bump into him again the rest of the night. I had avoided his random texts and calls throughout the last year, simply ignoring them. When I knew my dad was hosting another poker night, I went out of my way to be out of the house and do literally anything else with my time. I hadn’t actually seen him face-to-face since the night we spent together.

“Oh, well he reached out and wanted to see if I would be interested in an opportunity he had,” Pat shrugged, “I thought I would hear him out.”

I gulped, anxiety taking over my stiff movements.

“Alright,” what was I going to tell Pat? Can I please not be in the same building when he shows up? I may or may not have slept with him in some attempt at self-sabotage and I didn’t want to face the consequences of my actions? I nodded and turned back towards my computer screen, tapping my fingers on the desk as I mentally braced myself for seeing him in the next half hour.

It wasn’t like he would bring up what we did once he realized I worked here, and that I would be taking notes during this meeting. He wasn’t a total idiot, I figured.

I rattled off a text to Courtney, letting her know I would be panicking the rest of the day depending on how the upcoming meeting with Daddy James went. Minutes later, Courtney wandered up to the front desk that I was sitting at and rested her elbows on the surface, placing her chin in her fists.

“How are you doing?” she asked, raising her eyebrows at me expectantly.

“Alright.” I smiled nervously, letting her know with my eyes that I didn’t want Pat to know why I would be weird. Courtney nodded subtly, but then came around the desk and pulled up a spare chair, playing with a rainbow pop-it toy that we sold to a couple of kids who benefitted from fidget toys.

“Did Rosie’s mom cancel again?” Pat asked Courtney. Courtney nodded; eyes focused on the popper.

“I could use the break anyway, so I thought I’d hang out with you guys before whatever meeting is on the calendar today.” Courtney casually replied. I really appreciated her. She was a true, supportive friend. My other friends I had growing up would never bend over backward like this to stay with me to make sure I was doing okay. Courtney didn’t even need to be specifically asked to do this for me, instead she just saw that I was in some sort of distress from my text message and came right in. She didn’t question the fact that her presence would be appreciated when Daddy James walked through those doors.

The next half hour went by smoothly, Courtney making Pat and I laugh as she spun around in her chair like a bored child before the glass doors to the clinic opened and a bell chimed. I held my breath before I glanced up, bracing myself for over-whitened teeth and orange-tinted skin, when my heart jumped out of my chest at the sight before me.

“Whoa, what are you doing here?” Courtney asked, leaning forward on the desk, and holding a fist out for Logan to bump.

That’s right, Logan St. James had just walked through the front doors of the clinic. He looked just as surprised to see Courtney and me here but quickly recovered as he fist-bumped Courtney. He had two other large men with him, who were glancing around the clinic curiously.

Logan’s hands started working, and Courtney’s eyes widened as she flicked her eyes toward me.

“You’re here for the meeting with Pat?” Courtney vocalized his words for Pat and me. Pat stood up from her seat and walked around the front desk to properly shake hands with Logan and the other two men I hadn’t met before.

“Do you work with Connor James?” Pat asked after she introduced herself.

Logan nodded his confirmation.

Oh dear god. My stomach sank into my gut.

This was the worst.

The absolute worst.

Not only was I going to be nervous taking notes in a meeting with Connor, but Logan had to fucking be here too? How did he even work with Daddy James?

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