Page 3 of Worth the Fall
“So, I assumed if they had made it to a meeting with me, the idea would’ve been past the early stages, but they didn’t even have a presentation.” Harrison was in the middle of his story, and I was fighting to catch up. He took a long sip of his Scotch and shook his head in disgust. “It was just me and this old hag, discussing the cakes she’s ‘mastered.’”
I gave a tight smile. “That’s so silly.”
He sighed heavily and rolled his eyes. “A new quarter means a new list of pitches, and I’m just drained. Did you get your numbers sorted out?”
I dropped my fork and gripped my cloth napkin, nodding slightly. “Yes. Looking as expected so far.”
Harrison tilted his head, still holding onto his small glass.“You’ve been quiet tonight.”
Mr. Sterling’s “get down and dirty” line was bouncing back and forth in my skull like a hammer. I shook away the dark cloud that seemed to engulf me and gave Harrison a real smile. “Sorry, like you said. A new quarter means a lot more work, just drained.”
He nodded and resumed eating. “Did you get a new assignment?”
A part of me wanted to tell him everything. I wanted to tell him why this “down and dirty” assignment was going to be torture. But on the other hand, what would it matter? What could he say that would change the inevitable?
He was too stunning to be real. I was so lucky to have him agree to be my boyfriend and soon-to-be fiancé. His dark hair, which got trimmed every three weeks, a sharp jawline that was shaved every morning, a tailored blazer across his square shoulders, a gold watch, everything about him screamed refinement.
And he had chosen me, well, rather, we had courted until he used the “I love you” statement, and that was that.
He was a safety net.
“Yes,” I finally answered, taking a bite and chewing slowly. “Actually, it’s a very big deal. Mr. Sterling is giving me a solo project, and when it’s done, he’s going to promote me to his position.”
Harrison grinned, his teeth practically blinding me. “Allegra, are you serious? That’s unbelievable. Guess that means we may not have to wait until December to get engaged.”
“It does?”
He shrugged tightly. “Well, weren’t we waiting until yougot your promotion?”
Maybe in his mind, that’s why we were waiting, but I always figured it was because that’s when my lease was ready to be renewed. “Oh, right, of course.” I nodded confidently. “Yes, well, it will take me on the road for a few months.”
He took a big bite and chewed for a while. “When has that ever stopped us? I’m on the road for weeks at a time.”
“It’ll be months this time.”
Harrison shrugged cooly. “I’m sure I’ll have some overlap, and we can spend the weekend at a bed and breakfast.”
I don’t know what surprised me more, the fact that he was okay with me being gone for unforeseeable amounts of time, or that he was already planning weekend getaways.
“A toast,” he said, signaling our waiter to fill his glass back to the brim. “To my incredible girlfriend, soon-to-be fiancée, the most perfect marketing executive, soon-to-be marketing director, in all of Chicago.”
I raised my glass and clinked it against his. “To my boyfriend, soon-to-be fiancé, the best venture capitalist in the business.”
“You’ve got that right,” he said, pulling out his phone. “I’ll be back,it’s Jackson.” He held the phone to his ear and wandered away from the table.
I watched him walk away, holding on tight to the grin until he was out of sight. Once he turned the corner, I propped my elbows on the table and buried my face in my hands.
~~~
“I’ll call you tomorrow?” Harrison asked as I unlocked the door to my apartment.
I nodded. “Where are you off to now?”
“Florida. We’re going to check on the resort that got started up about six months ago.”
“That’ll be fun.”
“Yeah, should be. When do you leave?”
