Page 82 of Unfinished

I sat back in my chair and my mind raced with everything I’d picked up about advertising and ad tech. I’d have to spend the weekend catching up for sure and maybe skimming over some international laws myself. I’d absolutely have to have Aston on my team because our brainstorming power was unmatched.

“This is do-able. This will revolutionize the way advertising is done online.” I was beginning to realize what a project like this would mean for my career.

“Yes, which is why we want you on it. You are our best by far and you know how to think outside the box. We need fresh thinkers here that aren’t stuck in the old ways. You will head up the development and report to me directly. Get your team together and I’ll have legal set up the NDA’s and contracts for everyone to sign before the first meeting next week. You were the number one choice for this project. No one else was mentioned during discussions on who to assign it to.”

I smiled and there was a rush of feeling proud at what I’d accomplished. To be chosen specifically for a project that would change the advertising game was going to be huge. This was a career-making opportunity. If this went well, I would be a big name in tech and likely be offered VP positions by some of the biggest tech companies.

“Thank you so much for this opportunity. I can’t wait to start.”

“I can practically see your head whirling with ideas.” Declan smirked and I laughed with a nod before he continued, “It’s good, I do the same thing. Monday morning we will have a meeting with the whole team, the lawyers, and the client. I want ideas from everyone.”

“Absolutely.”

After spending the rest of the day working with HR and legal building my team for the project, it was time to celebrate my promotion. Once we got home from work, I changed into a short sapphire dress and silver strappy heels. The dress barely covered the ends of my tattoos.

After the breakup with Liam, I got orchids that wrapped from my inner thigh up my bikini zone to my hip. Inside the design was a hidden message that, unless really looked at, you couldn’t see it and no one but me and one other person would ever understand the meaning. Derek, my boyfriend, hadn’t even noticed the hidden message, but if I was being honest, he didn’t spend much time down there.

Derek and I have been dating for about six months, and like previous relationships, it wasn't working out. There was no real passion there. I didn’t know of any financial analyst who was passionate. It was all rather boring and vanilla and I’d been contemplating breaking up with him.

With this new project at work, I probably should let him go. The majority of my focus was going to end up on this project and he’d likely get irritated with the amount of work I'd put into it.

Walking out of my bedroom, I looked at Ashley who was wearing a hot pink dress that had a cut out under the breasts. Ashley helped me to up my fashion game since moving to New York. To be honest, I think she wanted to live vicariously through me since she was stuck wearing scrubs most of the time. Regardless, my style changed a lot over the years. Where I used to always be in canvas shoes and jeans, I often wore heels instead.

We headed out to Lifted, a dance club near where we lived and immediately took a few shots and started celebrating. The club was packed and we started dancing as “Roses” Imanbek Remix started playing. Ashley and I didn’t really start going out until after we moved to NYC. Back in Pittsburgh, work took over the majority of our time we had only gone out a handful of times through college.

Sadly, about half of those times ended in the most heartbreaking ways. After the break up, I put so much focus on my school and work that I barely had a social life. I tried to stay away from anything that reminded me of Liam. Two years ago, by chance, I saw him with some girl and fell down a rabbit hole trying to find out everything he’d been up to.

I spent weeks crying and in a dark place before Ashley and Aston were able to pull me out of it. Despite Liam’s manipulation, it was clear he was trying to protect me. It hurt when he didn't come for me after graduation and I wished he had been honest with me from the start. He hid so much from me and that was a bad combination with my trust issues. I eventually convinced myself that our love was just a summer fling that we held onto for way too long. He didn't love me and he had moved on from me.

Ashley and I stood near a table while Aston went to get us drinks and flirt with the bartender. My eyes met with a tall blonde man as he walked through the door. He was wearing a light blue button down, untucked, with the sleeves rolled up and dark denim jeans. He was lean with a strong jaw and a straight nose. His tanned skin screamed California.

“Hey, babe.” Derek kissed me quickly when he arrived at our table.

“How was your day?”

“Same old, same old.”

Derek was from Shermer, too, but we never ran in the same circles and he was four years older than me. Which was good because he never brought up the summer that most people in the town still talked about. Liam’s mom caused a huge scandal and people to this day picked sides about our supposed break up that summer.

“How was your day?” Derek inquired, taking a sip of his vodka soda with a lime while scanning the crowd.

“I got the promotion!” I exclaimed with a big smile.

“That’s great.” Derek nodded, then scanned the club again. His lack of enthusiasm didn’t go unnoticed by Aston and Ashley. They both gave me a look that said 'what the fuck' and I rolled my eyes while Derek wasn’t looking.

“She’s been picked to handle a huge career making project too,” Aston announced.

“Cool.” Derek replied not really paying attention, “I see some people I need to talk to real quick, I’ll be right back.”

Derek left the table walking towards a group of men. They smiled wide as they all shook hands and then Derek slid into the booth with them as a serious looking discussion started.

“What an asshole!” Aston exclaimed, and Ashley laughed.

“Don’t worry, I’m breaking up with him tonight.”

“Oh thank god! I was wondering how long you were going to try to pull something exciting from him.” Ashley looked completely relieved and I laughed.

Later, as I was walking with Derek back to the apartment, I was trying to determine the best way to break up with him.

---