Page 36 of When the Walls Come Down
Hopefully, she’d get a break later or answer me during her lunch. And as long as I was being wishful, maybe I’d have a good reason to celebrate with her as well. After showing Casey my new proposal for the cider line and assuring him that I wasn’t interested in going anywhere anytime soon.
We’d eat.
We’d give each other shit.
Laugh.
Flirt.
Drink.
Maybe I’d even get a bottle of champagne.
Then we’d go back to one of our places and get naked. Or not. Truthfully, sex with her was great, but it was her time I valued the most.
Okay, they might have been about equal. Sue me. She was fucking dynamite in bed. Dynamite all the way around.
Before I knew it, I’d wasted all the extra time I’d made for myself fantasizing about a curly-headed, sharp-tongued hellion and I was actually going to make it to the meeting just in time—if not a minute or two late depending on how busy the coffee caddy was on my way up.
With a fresh cup and my leather portfolio tucked under my arm, I marched into the boardroom just shy of being tardy to a meeting that might be the difference in employment and… Fuck, who the hell knew?
Then the Matrix glitched.
What the fuck is going on?
Vic and Celia, my graphic design and social media leads, were set up on the closest side of the table to me at the door, and Casey was across from them sitting next to her.
Maggie Peach Light Gray Italian.
There. At my job. And by the process of elimination alone, it was apparent that she was the “they” Casey had found to take over my position.
You know those few seconds after an accident happens? You slice your finger open. You rear-end a car. You hit send on an email before checking it over. Or even the dreaded call to an ex while drunk—not that I can say that one had happened in years and years. But you know what I mean. That window of time right after something big happens when there’s the thought of how do I undo this?
I was there.
Gobsmacked and frozen, I blinked and shook my head. This wasn’t a thing. This wasn’t even possible.
What the fuck is she doing here?
Casey stood and Maggie followed, ghostly pale but still capable of moving—which, at present, I didn’t have the agency to do.
“And this is Shane Warren, my brother-in-law and the Bay Brewing and Two Ships creative director at-large. Well, at least for the time being.” Casey gave me a get-your-fucking-shit-together-you’re-being-rude glare over the table and then added, “Shane, this is Maggie Light.”
Surreal didn’t cut it.
How had this not come up? We’d spent hours talking about ourselves and getting to know each other since Friday. In fact, I remembered her asking me Saturday what I did for work before the noodles boiled over.
There wasn’t time to let it sink in. It was happening. Now.
Vic and Celia looked up at me, waiting for me to say or do something too.
I cleared my throat, extended my hand over the table, and offered it to Maggie. “It’s a pleasure to meet you.”
She exhaled, and her hand shook as it paired with mine. “Thank you. It’s nice to meet you too.”
Casey sat down, Maggie followed, and I took a seat beside Vic at the table.
It was one meeting. I could get through this. At best, it was mostly about introductions. Adding a new member to the staff. I reminded myself they insisted nothing would change until everything felt good.
This wasn’t a crisis. It was a fluke. A coincidence. Just like running into her at Two Ships. And us living in the same building, only blocks away from the brewery.
Goddamn it, why her? Why now?
Casey began to speak, thankfully moving things along. This was his meeting, after all. “Maggie has an impressive résumé, including two degrees. One in business and the other in design.” That was more than I had. “After meeting her on a trip and seeing some of her work, I knew right away she’d make a great fit here, and when we mentioned having her relocate, she nearly jumped at our offer.”
Maggie gave Casey a tight-lipped smile. For all intents and purposes, she looked the part of slightly nervous, but rightly so.
Me? I already had my handkerchief out, wiping my forehead and pouring myself a glass of water from the pitcher at the center of the table.
Vic spoke up. “So what will Maggie’s role be on the team?”
Casey’s eyes landed on a sheet of paper before him and answered without looking up. “As we do some restructuring over the next few weeks to months, she will presumably move into the Creative Director position Shane holds now.”
Both Celia’s and Vic’s gazes cut to me.
“What will Shane do?” Celia asked.
Let me tell you, that was a big fucking question I wanted an answer to as well. Regardless of what this meeting was, I was not prepared to leave.
