Page 138 of Opposites (Never) Attract
I put the phone down on my desk. Personal devices were not allowed in company meetings. I was in a classic white pant suit. Not a spec of lint on it. My makeup perfect. My hair freshly dyed and cut. I was entirely back to my old self.
Entirely.
Outside of my office, I was aware of the support staff watching me. The assistants turning in their seats to watch me walk down the hall.
Although, in fairness, they’d been doing that since I’d been back. Tag’s presence a month ago was still the most exciting thing that had happened in this office for years. And the rumors of where I’d been and the kind of place I’d come from, were still being chewed over at lunch and Friday night drinks. I think they kept waiting for me to cryyee-hawand whip off my pantsuit to reveal a cowgirl underneath.
I wasn’t a cowgirl. Although, I could say that I could ride both an ATV and a horse.
I was very proud of those accomplishments.
There was a small line outside the conference room of people waiting to get in. There was a definite pecking order to how this went. Mr. Berkley was already seated at the head of the long table, the partners in theremaining seats around the table. Everyone else would stand.
It would make sense for me to find a spot in Mr. Berkley’s line of sight. If this was what I thought it was, then he would be addressing me directly, and would want to easily find me in the crowded conference room.
However, some latent sense of…nervousness had me pushing into the far corner of the room. As far away from Mr. Berkley as I could get.
Yes, of course I would accept a partnership. That meant a long-term commitment to the firm. More money than I could ever dream of having.
A better apartment.
You miss the A-frame cabin.
More designer clothes.
You were pretty happy in jeans.
More swanky NYC parties to attend.
The rodeo was more fun.
More access to the financial power brokers.
Power brokers didn’t have a thing on Tag.
Wait. Was I talking myself out of this promotion? Was I standing here in my perfect, white pantsuit, that I’d worn to represent how far women had come in just over a hundred years from our Suffragette sisters, actually thinking about leaving everything behind…?
For a guy?
My Suffragette sisters would not be very happy with me.
But the guy didn’t want me. I had to remember that.
You just like the way I fuck.
So much about Tag hurt. The worst was that I’d never trust a man with my body like I had with him (ever again)…
Except, he wasn’t the only thing I missed.
I’d run away from home, the life I’d never even tried to embrace, all because I thought no one really liked me for who I was. But, I never once took a minute to really find out if that was true or not.
One week home, with my mom, my sisters, the town, and suddenly my perspective had changed.
I had bailed the Swinging D out of a mess. I’d helped the Darryl’s earn ten dollars. Last Hope might have two bed and breakfast places with competing espresso bars because of me. Amity might need my help. Not just cash, but actual financial advice. Bliss, too, if she would bother to take it.
And Harmony and Ethan were going to have babies someday, and three aunts were better than two. That was just basic math.
I could survive seeing Tag, and maybe I’d just get used to how much it hurt when I did. What I couldn’t survive was being away from my home.
