A Night to Forget (15 page)

“Hey,” Brandon said softly, his hands gently held
my arms. “Please look at me, Emma.” Something sad and honest in his voice made me tilt my head up towards him.

“Please don’t cry,” he said as he wiped the tears from my cheeks. “What I’m suggesting is by no way a rejection. Trust me, if I had my way, I’d forget about dinner, rip off that dress from your body that has been taunting me all day, and have my way with you in my bedroom.” I saw a flicker of desire light up in his eyes, and images of our night on that canopy bed in Cancun flashed through my thoughts.

“—but,” he continued, wrenching me away from my memories, “that wouldn’t be fair to you—“

“Why not?” I interrupted.

“Emma, we work together. I’m your boss, and the son of the founding partner and CEO of F&M. I don’t want us to rush into things and do something we’d regret. If we were to start a romantic relationship, a number of things will change for you. We’d have to disclose this relationship to our legal department, and you would have to go to another project group because I wouldn’t be allowed to be your direct supervisor.”

“Oh,” I said. I realized that I
had never considered the consequences that would result from a relationship with Brandon. When it came to Brandon, it seemed like all forms of rationality evaded me.

“I care about you, Emma. More so than you can imagine—more than I thought possible for a person to care for another—and that scares me.”

“Why?” Again, I interrupted him.

“Because I don’t want my feelings for you to rush you into something that might be a mistake.”

“A mistake?”

Brandon sighed. “What I mean is, I want to take things slow. I want you to get to know me before you make a decision that may change things for you at F&M. I
know you worked really hard to get this job, and I don’t want to be the person to take that away from you. I’m not worth it—”

“You are,” I interrupted a third time.

“Emma,” he said softly, “that’s just it. You don’t know that. You don’t know anything about me. And … and I want you to get to know me first before you make any decisions. I’ve been selfish in the past and allowed my desires and needs to come first, and I’ve hurt people in the process.” His words trailed off as he looked away from me.

We sat there in silence for what felt like a lifetime. “I would never forgive myself if I acted that way with you, if I allowed my desires to come before you,” he finally said.

“But I want to be with you though,” I tried to reason.

“Emma, please. You don’t know enough about me to make such a decision. Let’s just be friends for now and try to get to know one another,” he pled. “Besides, you’re an invaluable member of my team, and I can’t afford to lose you and hurt you at the same time if we jumped into this without thinking it through.”

I knew that everything he said made sense, and I should be thankful that he was thinking about me, but I could not shake the feeling that there was something else he wasn’t telling me.

“So,” he ventured, “can we focus on getting to know each other for now?” He gave me a dazzling smile, and I couldn’t help but smile back.

“Okay,” I finally agreed.
I was in a better position now than I thought I was last week
, I reasoned with myself.
At least now, I know he is really interested in me, and it seems like he wants to spend more time with me.
That’s enough, that’s enough for now.

He pulled me into him and hugged me tightly. I allowed myself to sink into his embrace and breathed in deeply his intoxicating smell—a mixture of his cologne and his natural scent.

“Now, let’s give my fat pants a run for its money and pick out our next cupcake to try,” he said as he tried to lighten up the mood.

He then turned to me, and in a serious tone, he said, “Now, no funny business from you—or your hands.” He glared at me before breaking into a smile. We laughed as we polished off the second round of cupcakes.

And this time, there was no funny business.

Chapter
13

It was Sunday morning, and I was at the San Francisco International Airport, waiting for my flight. Several weeks passed since my dinner with Brandon and since then, most of the time
we spent together involved work, which revolved around the Imperial Hotel Project. Brandon and I spent countless late nights at the office going over the research data, numbers, and statistics. Today, Brandon and I would be flying to D.C. to give our pitch to the hotel’s board of directors.

Despite spending so much time tog
ether, Brandon hadn’t kissed me again since that night at his place. While part of me was disappointed that he hadn’t tried to make another move on me, I embraced the friendship and closeness we were building without additional complications.
Hmm, I guess he was right
. I rolled my eyes and shook my head at the thought.

“Hey Emma,” said a familiar voice from behind me.

I jumped in my seat and turned around and said, “Hey Brandon.”

“What were you shaking your head for?”

“What?” I said, pretending to not understand him.

“You were just—oh, never mind, it’s not important. Have you been waiting long?” he asked.

“No, not really.”

“Great. Sorry, I ran a bit late. Just got a few last minute phone calls I had to take care of.” He put his carry-on down and sat down next to me.

“Toblerone?” he asked as he held out the opened yellow prism-shape chocolate bar towards me.

“Sure,” I said.

He broke off a piece for me. “I never buy these things normally, but for some reason, I always buy a bar of it when I’m at an airport.”

I giggled. “I’ve actually never had one before, but this was really good.”

“Oh? Now looks who’s educating the other one about food,” he teased.

“Yeah, you learn something new every day,” I laughed.

Just then, my phone, which sat on the armrest between us, started ringing. I looked down, and to my surprise, it was Mike.

Mike? Why was he calling?
I thought. The last time Mike and I spoke was the night we broke up before I left for Cancun over eight months ago.

“Who’s Mike,” Brandon asked as he saw Mik
e’s name and photo pop up on my screen.

I fumbled for the button to end the call and send it to voicemail. “Um, just someone I knew in college,” I said quickly.

“Sounds like there’s more to that story,” Brandon said.

I flushed. “He’s an ex-boyfriend,” I admitted.

“Oh.” Brandon was silent for a moment. “Do you talk to him a lot still?” There was something strained in his voice that I couldn’t understand.

“No, we haven’t spoken since we broke up.”

“When was that?”

“Right before I left
for Cancun on spring break this past March,” I said as I looked over at him. His blank expression at my mention of Cancun was like a cold dagger to my heart.
He really doesn’t remember.

“Why do you think he’s calling?” he asked.

“Um, I’m really not sure actually,” I began. “He does live in D.C. though.”

“That seems like too much of a coincidence.” Brandon’s voice matched the look on his face—cold and troubled. “Are you going to call him back?”

“I’m not sure,” I said, and I really wasn’t sure. I haven’t really thought too much about Mike since we broke up, and his unsolicited phone call did not conjure any of the old feelings I had for him.

I was relieved when our flight began its boarding process and we were called to board. I was not ready to call Mike back at that moment, and definitely not in front of Brandon.

***

By mid-day Monday, after receiving several text messages from Mike and another call, I finally succumbed and called him
back.

“Hey
babe,” Mike’s familiar voice came from the other end after the first ring.

“Hi, Mike. Sorry I didn’t respond until now. I’ve been just busy with work,” I said. I would think he knew that I was no longer interested, right?

“No problem. I just saw on Facebook that you’re in D.C.? Are you still around?” he asked.

Crap
, I thought. I totally forgot that Sarah had posted on my wall a few days ago, wishing me good luck in D.C.

“Yeah, I’m here for work,” I said.
Please don’t ask me to see you
, I begged him silently.

“Well, I’d like to see you since you’re in my neck of the woods,” he said.

I wasn’t sure how to respond, so I remained silent.

“Come on, Emma,” Mike pled, “We haven’t seen or spoken to one another for
like five months.”

It’s been over eight months
, I thought. “Mike, I’m pretty busy with work,” I began.

“Oh right. So what are you here for anyway?” he asked.

“We’re giving a marketing pitch this afternoon to a five-star hotel management company about the branding possibilities for a new set of hotels they’re building,” I said. It was difficult to hide the excitement in my voice, even though I was talking to Mike.

“Sounds interesting,” Mike said
half-heartedly, “Why don’t you tell me all about it over dinner tonight?”

“I’m not sure Mike,” I said hesitantly.

“Well when are you leaving D.C.?” he asked.

“Tomorrow morning,” I replied.

“So soon? Then we have to hang out tonight.”

“I’ll probably be pretty tired after
the pitch today. I just spend the last four hours doing last minute preparations for the pitch with my boss, and this afternoon will be a stressful one,” I explained, hoping it was enough to get me out of this meeting.

It was not.

Mike sighed with frustration. “Damnit, Emma. Ugh. I’m really sorry for being a jerk to you that night,” he continued, “I was totally out of line, and I knew that. It’s not an excuse, but I was just under a lot of pressure from the guys. Plus, you know how much I love you and how badly I want you. Can you please let me make it up to you?”

I remained silent
but felt my resolve waver.

“I—”
I started.

“If you’re not up for dinner, what about drinks?” he interrupted. “Emma, I want us to be at least friends. I don’t like how we left things.”

I paused.
He has been a good boyfriend up until that night
. “Fine. Just drinks.”

“Great,” Mike said excitedly. “I know a lot of great bars in D.C. and—”

“Mike, I think I’ll be pretty tired after this pitch. Do you mind if we just grab a drink at the bar here at my hotel? I just don’t know if I’m up for going anywhere.”

“Sure, that works too,” Mike said. “How about I swing by around 8 p.m.?”

“Okay.” I gave Mike my hotel information before hanging up the phone. Before I had the chance to process everything that was said from the call, Brandon texted me:
Hey, meet you out front in 5? We should head over for the pitch now.

***

“You were amazing, Emma!” Brandon ran over and hugged me tightly, lifting me off the ground. We had just left Imperial Hotel’s offices where we had given our pitch. His embrace was strong and comforting—it felt like home and where I belonged. I inhaled deeply and his smell sent chills down my spine.

“I could just kiss you! You really saved my ass
in there,” he said with excitement.

“I’m glad that I could help,” I said with laughter.
And, I wouldn’t mind that kiss
, I thought to myself.

“We should go out to a nice dinner and celebrate,” Brandon said with unadulterated excitement shining through his eyes.

I groaned, which immediately halted Brandon’s excitement.

“What’s wrong?” he asked.

“I actually made plans tonight,” I said, feeling a tinge of guilt that I couldn’t place.

Understanding seem to appear on his face. “With your ex?”

“Yeah,” I said, looking away from him.

There was a pause.

“Are you still interested in him?”

“No, it’s not like that. He just heard that I was in town and has been calling and texting ever since to try to meet up before I head back to SF,” I explained.

“Oh. So what do you guys have planned? A nice dinner out?”

“No, he’s meeting me downstairs in our hotel bar.”
“I see.” We stood there in silent for a few seconds, the excitement and adrenaline from our successful pitch slowly leaving us. “Well, I hope you have fun then. If you need anything, I’m just across the hall. Otherwise, I’ll see you in the morning.” He leaned forward and gave me a hug—not just a quick half-hug, but a full firm embrace. I hugged him back, and we both inhaled deeply at the same time, causing my heart to flutter wildly inside my chest.

“Really great job today, Emma,” Brandon said as he released me from his embrace.

“Thanks. You were amazing as well.” I smiled at him before heading to my hotel room.