Page 16 of Love Me Ever After
Fraser threw his hands wide. “What can I say? I’m a great persuader.”
“Which is why you’re where you are. What’s the next step for you?”
He let out a sigh. “I’ve been given a tip off that there’s a director’s position coming up in Strategic Accounts. It would be absolutely perfect, because I could still do a lot of work from home. And that will be a great help.”
“What do you mean?”
“You can’t tell anyone else this yet, but…” He glanced around the deli, making sure there was no one else from the office in there. “Darcy’s pregnant! I’m going to be a dad.” A huge grin split his face.
“That’s great news! Let’s hope that job pans out.” I leaned across the table and punched him on the arm. He really did have everything. Great job, gorgeous wife, new baby on the way. I wasn’t usually the type of bloke to be jealous, but I was envious of him.
The news Fraser had shared with me at lunchtime played on my mind as I went into my meeting with Janine. If he was moving up, that would leave a gap for his current role. Perhaps I could talk to Janine about me filling it. All without telling her I knew anything, of course. I grabbed some water and knocked on her office door, even though it was glass and she could see me standing there.
“Come in, Mason.”
I did as I was told and sat down across the other side of Janine’s desk. It had been a long time since I’d been in there.
“Hey, Janine, how was the holiday? You look pretty chilled.”
Janine had been away for a little over six weeks on a mini-sabbatical. She leaned back in her chair and steepled her fingers, a smile tugging at the corners of her mouth. “Well, I had to hide checking my work emails from my husband, but I can’t deny the break did us both good. You don’t realise how much you needed it until you get back to the office and a mountain of work. Some of the places we went to in Thailand were amazing. You’ll have to check them out.”
I nodded, although Asia wasn’t on my list of holiday destinations, I much preferred the Americas. “Sounds good, I’ll do that.”
“Anyway,” Janine let out a sigh. “Let’s talk about work. How are you finding it in the regional office after your US experience?”
“Well, I can’t deny Times Square had a lot more going for it in terms of after work entertainment.” Instantly, I regretted my choice of words. Not twenty minutes ago, I’d been thinking of talking to Janine about Fraser’s job and now I was going on about stuff that happened outside of work? What a fucking idiot.
Janine gave me a wry smile. “I’m glad to see you fully embraced the opportunity.”
“Seriously though, I did enjoy it. Working with the team out there couldn’t have been better, I made some really good friends.” I clenched my hands into fists underneath the table where Janine couldn’t see. Again, why was I talking about the social aspects of the job? Why wasn’t I talking about the contacts I’d made and the networking I’d done?
“I’ve had good reports from the US management team, Mason. You made a lot of great contacts out there and I wouldn’t want to see them go to waste.”
Thank God someone else had mentioned it, because my brain couldn’t seem to work out how to focus on the professional. “That’s nice to hear, thanks, Janine.”
“You never know if something else might come up in the future. If it did, would you be interested?”
In a heartbeat,my head answered.
But don’t you want another chance with Ems?my heart questioned.
“I hadn’t really given it much thought,” I blustered. “But yes, I guess I could be open to it.”
Janine nodded. “Good to hear, Mason. Make sure you get some time with Robert over the next couple of days. He’d love to hear about your experiences.”
My head whirled. A personal invitation to meet with one of the owners of the business and the potential for a promotion. It was almost too much for a Monday.
8
Ems
When my alarmwent off at five thirty on Wednesday morning, I wanted to pull the duvet over my head and pretend it wasn’t happening. I’d stayed late at the hotel the previous evening, hanging around with the night receptionist and watching all the Lane & Parks staff checking in. He’d finally told me to leave at nine p.m. when there were less than five people to arrive, telling me he’d text me when everyone was there. Although he’d done as he’d said, letting me know shortly after eleven that all names on the list were now safely in the hotel, I’d lain awake, tossing and turning, worrying about what the next two days held.
Everything had been set up. All the conference rooms were ready, waiting for the main meeting to kick off in the only room large enough to hold all the attendees, along with the smaller ones we usually hired out to local businesses or hobby groups. I’d had to sweet talk a few of the arts and crafts classes into moving to other days or skip their lessons this week. There had been vague grumblings and threats of moving elsewhere, but in reality I knew that wouldn’t happen – Ealynn Sands didn’t have any other suitable venues.
It felt like I’d only just dropped off to sleep when the alarm blared.
For a few moments, I lay on my back staring up at the ceiling. This was my big chance, the opportunity to prove to Sonya that I wasn’t just a wedding planner. I really hoped nothing would screw it up.
