Page 40 of Reeling in Love

“Don’t lie. You wouldn’t be posting about dentists if one of them had even half-satisfied you with anything resembling hot, steamy sex.”

Shit!

“Yeah. Okay. I didn’t want to bring him up and then he gave me some lecture on relationships. Anyway, how come you’re on the phone instead of under that ‘one girl’?”

“Didn’t feel like it.”

“Ooh! Why? Are you okay? I’ve never known you to let go of a chance to have sex when you’re single.”

“Gotta prepare for tomorrow. G’nite now. Ttyl.”

“G’nite.”

I’m glad that ‘one girl’ didn’t make it into his room. As preposterous as it sounds, I feel better about deciding not to have Clark come over.

Chapter 16

Gabriel: #FeelingMoreThanNothing

The retreat goes decently well. I don’t make any dent in the strategy, but I make some supposedly excellent suggestions and ask the right questions, at least right enough to see myself rising in my colleagues’ estimation.

The one thing that is very apparent to me is that the company wants to continue doing what they’ve always done—open chic stores in the chic areas of the city. While I agree with that, I feel that the stark absence of any digital media is alarming. Somehow, the Paris team doesn’t feel that.

So, the way I see it, I have my task cut out in front of me. Before the Board of Directors takes the final decisions for the future of the US team two weeks from now, I need to build a case for the importance of having a strong online presence without diluting the brand and what it stands for.

Once I’m back from the retreat, the week flies by as my entire time goes into the new office—meeting the people, understanding the business, its history, and the financials. Thankfully, the US team is new, young, and unencumbered by the old thought processes of the French team, and therefore more open to my ideas and brainstorming about them.

As the weekend approaches, I’m pleasantly surprised to realize that I like this work. In fact, I think I can make some impact here.

The downside, or maybe it’s an upside, of all this has been that I’ve barely had any time with Nora. I can’t tell you how relieved I was that Clark never made it to her bed. What’s even better is that whatever happened on their date, it’s not leading to the next one. So, at least that man is out of her mind, and therefore my mind.

But I don’t know what to make out of the fact that she seems to have no memory of that night—of our kiss. Does that mean the kiss meant nothing to her?

I, on the other hand, can’t get it out of my head. Every time I see her, I want to do it again. So, I’ve been doing what any sane man in my place would do. Avoiding her.

The only time we spend together is the drive to her office, which is quite a short one, and we either talk about work or she’s busy scrolling through her phone and commenting and posting stuff on her social media. She’s been living up to her end of the bargain, to keep up the lie she told Mom. Every day, she posts our photos on her Instagram to make ‘our’ story more believable before the weekend dinner. Since we used to hang out a lot earlier, too, I don’t think it’s sparking any change in belief in anyone.

She’s been posting on my behalf too, a mix of personal and professional posts while teaching me how to be better at this. I’ll need the understanding to convince the Board. I’m amazed to see how fast my followers are growing each day! Of course, the main reason was a viral reel I’d made with French and American cliches to announce our new office in Boston.

I have a scheduled meet-up with Alex today about MooreGames’ financials. Maybe he can help me with this, too. I mean, he has experience of losing a person and getting her back. Doesn’t get more messed up than that.

I meet him at his office. It’s a tiny place he’s rented where he holds meetings and stuff. Most of his work, he does at client sites or his home, but this is his place if he ever needs it.

We discuss the MooreGames financials. The investor, Gerard Dumas, has restarted the funding discussions. Alex has been through most of the past financials by now.

“Frankly, I didn’t expect the books to be so clean and well organized, Gabriel. I’m not having any trouble at all.”

“Thanks.”

“If you ask me, this Dumas fellow is making a mistake. I’ve seen the books of so many startups and they are a mess. A mess! And that’s putting it mildly. MooreGames is a breeze in comparison. It’s as well-organized as any large company. You’ve done some good work and I’m sure you’ll easily be able to handle the finances of your entire family business if that’s the way you think and work. I’m genuinely impressed and I don’t say that lightly,” he says, turning his computer screen away once we’ve finished the work discussion.

“Ah, let’s see how that goes. I have some ideas for the business that I’ve been thinking about. But that’s not what I wanted to discuss with you when I said there was something else, too.”

“Oh. Okay. Then what is it?” Alex asks, lowering the screen of his laptop and leaning forward on the table.

Well, maybe this was a mistake. Thinking I could talk to him. But what do I do? I need to talk it out and till now I’ve always talked about such things with Nora. But this is about her. I let out a sigh with my gaze focused on the table instead of Alex.

“It’s about Nora.”

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