Page 28 of Kiss and Makeup
Chapter Twelve
Xavier
I haven’t been to a party in... Since I took the BeautyBee contract.
That thought accompanied me as I grabbed my coat and got into my car to head into Chicago. Tomorrow, I would pick up Kristen and Emma at 5 and head to Cruise Media’s Christmas party. This year, my father had personally booked the event space on the 40th floor of a well-known hotel. He hadn’t said much more than that to me, though, telling me that I’d worked hard and didn’t need to be involved in the event planning process.
With Emma and Kristen to occupy my time, I didn’t mind not being involved. And I really was looking forward to this party, even if it would be nothing like the wild, pre- and post-game parties I used to have with my friends from the club.
My brows furrowed at the red light impeding my progress into the city. When—and where—had I found all this patience? Just a month and a half ago, I had hated driving into Chicago. I hated the sheer number of people I had to deal with just to walk ten feet down the street. I hated the cars that choked the streets and deafened me with their incessant honking.
I think I realized now what the city was really about, though. All these people—the ones speed-walking the sidewalks and the ones braving the traffic—they all had reasons for what they were doing and where they were going. Loved ones at home, maybe, or jobs to get to. The in between, the journey by car or foot—that didn’t matter. It was the people waiting at home and the responsibilities to handle that drove the millions living in Chicago.
And now it was time to go to my loved one.
Kristen and I chose a window seat away from the door, so we could look out at the cold but have no part of its incursion into the warmth of the coffee shop. It was early, and normally I wouldn’t have left my house for another forty-five minutes—but coffee and bagels with Kristen before work enticed me so much that I couldn’t pass it up when she called me yesterday to put forth the idea. Maybe I had to get up a little earlier, but it was worth it.
She was worth it.
“What does Emma think we’re doing tomorrow?” I asked, stirring cream into my medium House Blend coffee.
“She understands parties, but not that this one won’t be a lot of little girls and boys playing in a house and eating cookie cake.” Kristen leveled the plastic knife she was using to spread cream cheese on her bagel at me. “Although, she has seen some old Disney princess movies. She might have an idea of more adult-like parties from Beauty and the Beast and Cinderella.”
“I think the kids will kind of be doing their own thing while we socialize and congratulate each other on our successes,” I pointed out. “Kind of a kids’ party and an adults’ party at the same time. Although, there might be dancing. I’m not sure. My dad is pretty determined to handle everything himself.”
“Did you mention me to him yet?”
“Yet?” I glanced up. “I wasn’t planning to. I was kind of hoping to surprise them. We talked about this a few days ago.”
“Oh, yeah. Sorry.” Kristen took a larger bite than she could handle and had to shuffle it around her mouth, puffing out her cheeks like a blowfish. It was cute, endearing, and hilarious all at once, but if I mentioned any of those observations, I might get my head torn off. Kristen had been a bit touchy lately and I wasn’t sure why. She didn’t seem to be quite on the same page as me about this party—whenever I mentioned it, she talked about it briefly before moving on to… anything else.
I was really looking forward to this party, and I wanted Kristen to as well. Not knowing what was wrong—or if anything really was wrong, because these out of character moments seemed to vanish so quickly—worried me. I didn’t think she was keeping any secrets from me, and after how I reacted toward her ex showing up on set… I needed to give her the benefit of the doubt.
“If you’re worried about Emma, you don’t have to go,” I ventured cautiously after a moment. “Or you could see if Lauren is free for a few hours tomorrow.”
“No, no,” Kristen said dismissively, laying her knife on a napkin after tending to the second half of the bagel. “I’m sure she’ll love it.”
A little abrupt, but I would take Kristen’s words at face value for now. She was usually so decisive. If she suddenly decided she or Emma couldn’t go, I had no doubt she would tell me what was going on then. Besides, I had to leave to meet my father at the office in ten minutes and I didn’t want to ruin our breakfast—the only time we would get to spend with each other today—by throwing questions at Kristen.
So, instead, we chatted about Emma, the weather, our contract’s success, and family until we both had to head to the office. The weather… such an inconsequential, uninteresting topic. Except when I talked about it to Kristen. Her mannerisms, clever little comments, and pleasant voice could make any topic extraordinary.
Any time I could spend with Kristen always lifted my spirits, so when I knocked on my dad’s office door and he told me to come in, I did so with a smile on my face. “Good morning, Dad.” When we talked in his office alone, he didn’t mind if I called him “Dad”. Outside the office, amongst the many employees of Cruise Media…. That was a different story.
“Morning, Xavier. Please, have a seat.” Some of the cheer decking the streets and accompanying the company-wide excitement for the party tomorrow had rubbed off on even the focused, hardworking CEO. He leaned back in his comfortable leather office chair, relaxed and pleased to see me.
“Do you have another contract for me?” I asked, throwing my educated guess as to the reason for this meeting out there. Dad hadn’t given me much to go on in his texts.
“No, not yet. You’re already handling our newest potential client, and you’re doing a great job. That’s why I called you here, actually.” My dad stood up and held out his right hand, fingers open.
Nonplussed, I followed suit and shook his hand. “I’m not sure what you mean.”
“I mean that I’m thanking you as the CEO of Cruise Media for the hard work you’ve put in for this company lately. I want you to know that your professionalism and dedication is appreciated, and if you keep this up you’ll make a great CEO someday.” His grip tightened on my hand and he pulled me into a brief but very un-CEO-like hug. “And I want you to know that I’m proud of you. I’m so proud of you, Xavier, and I’m so happy that you’ve found your place in this company.”
I wanted to say “thank you, Dad”, but my throat closed over the words. My dad’s eyes sparkled, lit with the pride he had for me, and suddenly “thank you” wasn't good enough. Instead, I just pulled him back in for another father-son hug that showed my feelings better than words ever could.
When it came time to pick up Kristen and Emma for the party, none of my excitement had faded. If anything, my dad’s words had imparted within me a lingering happiness that warmed me from the inside out. Finally, I would get to show two of the people I loved most in the world—my mother and father—that the girl they had so adored was back in my life.
Kristen and Emma were ready and waiting at her apartment for me to pick them up. It took a moment to position Emma’s car seat correctly in the back, adjust her little dress so it wouldn’t get too wrinkled, and then we were on our way.
