Page 25 of The Hot Shot

If anything, I would’ve been more bothered by Jace’s derogatory comments, especially as he knew my wardrobe entirely, inside out and back to front. I knew he’d be desperate, eager to know what the fuck was going on.

At least I only had two days before the board meeting and then I’d be rid of Asquire Marketing & Advertising for good. I couldn’t wait for the uproar to erupt in this place when Jace and I walked away on our new adventure and Brendan Rightside finally got what was coming to him. It was what had made each of these last few days additional work worth it, knowing that we would be free and clear to start on our own with the backing and support of clients we’d sourced independently. The extra hard work would be worth it when we were free and clear.

JS Optimum Designs was ours to now show to the world and no one could stop that from happening, no matter how hard they tried.

“Did you have a good weekend? It feels like this week you’ve done everything you can to avoid me. What’s going on? I mean, it is D-day,” Jace interrupted as he barged his way into my office, carrying lunch for the pair of us. “I’ve even brought you lunch to soften up the blow of my non-stop attitude until I get some answers,” he said, lifting his brow as I let out a sharp chuckle into the air. “I have either a BLT or a chicken salad. I may even have got you some crisps and a sweet treat, too.”

“I’ll have the BLT, thanks,” I said as I finished typing up the last of my current files I’d been working on before clicking save and logging out of the system. I knew that if I went straight into the fact that I knew I’d avoided Jace, then he’d be even more futile at wanting answers. If I acted like I had no clue what he meant then maybe I could play off the fact I had been so busy, instead of my mind being stuck in the gutter thinking of Walker all week. I was craving his touch and desperate to see him, but I couldn’t. I needed to keep my mind focused and on task. The moment I saw him, I didn’t know how I’d control myself and the urges that traveled through me.

There had been many times I’d worked straight through my lunch but I’d succumbed to Jace’s way of thinking, finally. What could Brendan Rightside do now? We had submitted our resignations at nine am today and the board meeting was today at five pm. Even if he did get wind that we’d handed them in, we had no notice period left and our contracts were officially null and void after the end of today. It was one of the agenda points to be raised at today’s meeting to discuss in length—any contract renewals that were about to cease. Jace and I had made it so that nothing could hinder us and stand in our way of going forward to achieve our dreams.

“It’s no problem. I know you’d do the same for me, but that doesn’t excuse you from talking to me. Come on Sebastian, it’s me. You can’t hide away forever,” Jace said after opening his sandwich up and pulling a triangle out of the packet. “We tell each other everything.”

I felt like such a dick. Normally, I could lay my hand on my heart and say that I’ve not hidden anything from him. Jace had always picked me up through everything in my life when things got tough and somehow figured out a solution to the problem at hand before putting me back together. You wouldn’t think I was the older brother but this time I knew that what was on my mind wasn’t something in which Jace could support me with. I wish I could have the guts to just lay everything out to him but the timing was delicate, especially with the new business set up. I couldn’t jeopardize our livelihood before we’d even begun.

I steeled my features after placing my sandwich down and having finished the bite I’d been chewing away on before I lifted my gaze and looked across at Jace, noticing that he was staring at me.

“It’s honestly nothing,” I said, lying through my teeth. “I’m just all stressed out. What if something is going to go wrong in this meeting later and then we have this bikeathon quickly approaching at the weekend.” I blew out a breath, hoping that I was giving a strong enough performance in pulling off a decent explanation of why I could be avoiding him. The less he knew of the truth, the better. “If I’m truthful, I haven’t even been training. I’ve thrown so much into all this…”

“I get it, I really do bro, but we’ve covered every outcome. Brendan can’t touch us and we’re ready to start afresh tomorrow in our own place,” he uttered quietly. He took a quick glance toward the open doorway, checking I guess to ensure that no one was listening in on us. “The bikeathon is meant to be fun and for charity. Chelsea has already come across. She’s coming into the office next Friday, actually.”

“I know but I don’t want to look like a fool,” I admitted, knowing that Jace would completely understand that. I didn’t want to cause any harm to our image or standing. “I’m heading to the gym tonight anyway for a fast-paced workout if you want to join me?”

“Sorry, man. I’ve got a meeting with a client but maybe at the weekend?” he questioned as he picked up his sandwich and cocked his head to the side. I struggled to hide my wince. “We could even just head over after work next week once or twice, depending on the schedule. We are our own bosses after all.”

I couldn’t hide my thoughts at Jace’s remark when he mentioned leaving early. It had been ingrained into me that a working day was just that—no slacking off part way for my own personal gain.

“I think maybe making sure we are around should we be needed at first is important Jace. I don’t want people to associate us as not being reliable and up to the job,” I replied, hoping that Jace took my comment in good stead. I wasn’t attempting to cause any controversy between us but I wanted to be honest. I couldn’t be the boss and just not be around when someone expected me to be. I wasn’t about to continue extending my working hours to suit my client’s needs but if I advertised specific times then I wasn’t going to cut them short, no matter what Jace said. “I want people to see we are professional from the start.”

“And we will be. It was only a suggestion. I’m sure we can sort something out,” he uttered as he opened his drink and took a sip. “It’s not even that important, man. At worst, we train alone.”

“Yeah,” I agreed as I finished up my sandwich and discarded the wrapping in the trash can. I couldn’t help but have an overwhelming sensation of dread come over me as Jace seemed to squint his eyes and furrow his brow at me, watching as I turned back around and made my way back towards the chairs. It was almost like he was debating or weighing something up in his mind, considering whether to broach it with me or not. “Are you all prepared for the meeting?” I quickly let out, hoping that the change of subject would pull Jace from wherever he had drifted off to.

“Yeah, I’m just twiddling my thumbs now,” he said, narrowing his eyes as he watched me with intrigue. “That’s why I brought lunch. I thought sharing a moment of bonding time with my brother would be a good idea before we stand our ground in that room. A united front and all. I just didn’t think I would see you acting all flustered about something.”

And there it was! The kick and intrigue I was waiting for.

“Honestly, I’m fine,” I said with determination, gritting my teeth. “I’d say if something was wrong.”

I felt the vibration of my phone in my pocket and I tried to ignore it, knowing exactly who it would be. I’d had too much on my mind to contemplate taking the time to reply to him and now I felt that Walker may have been getting impatient or worse still, worried that I’d changed my mind. He understood our schedules were manic—not that he liked the fact—but I think he was worried over my lack of contact. I had basically gone radio silent last night and this morning I had been so preoccupied with what’s going on today.

“Need to answer that?” Jace raised his brow and I shook my head immediately.

“It can wait. I have more important things to deal with. Now…” I tapped my chin in thought. “I need to finish two more files and then I’m ready. Want me to meet you in two hours downstairs?”

“Yeah, sounds good,” Jace said with an edge of suspicion. “I’ll sort out my office and then I’ll be ready to get out of here after that meeting.”

“Good idea,” I uttered, thinking that I had better get a shift on if I wanted to leave here at the same time. I couldn’t see Brendan liking me hanging around after everything kicks off in the boardroom. “I better get my ass in gear.”

“Yeah, get to it.” Jace chuckled. “I’ll see you in a bit, man.”

* * *

The meeting in the boardroom was as much a shitshow as Jace and I expected it to be. The afternoon flew by and I completed my jobs with moments to spare before I met Jace and we waltzed in without a care in the world. The look of pure anger on Brendan’s face was picture perfect and I wished I’d taken a polaroid picture so I could slip it under his office door so that he would have a lasting memory of this moment. What I’d have done to have seen the guy’s reaction.

Jace and I didn’t hang around for the aftermath of Brendan Rightside’s temper tantrum and instead, we headed out of the room with our heads held high, grabbed our boxes from our rooms and waved goodbye to our gob-smacked colleagues on the way out the door. I knew we’d be the talk of the office and that some bullshit reasoning behind our departure would be spreading around the department like wildfire, but I wasn’t going to kick off. People could think what they wanted. The moment they saw Asquire Marketing & Advertising started to lose business and begin to fold; they would realize that everything that had been told to them was pure lies. I couldn’t wait for that day.

“So, what now?” Jace asked me as we jumped into a cab with our boxes placed onto our knees.

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