Page 51

After spending the day with my parents I felt like I was on top of the world.

It felt like every single thing was going perfectly.

Nathan and I were good, we went out once twice after that but my busy schedule prevented us from seeing as much as I would have liked.

We hadn’t clarified or specified anything and I kind of liked it that way because there was no pressure to confirm or deny anything.

People had seen us out a few times and begun to speculate but neither of us said anything.

He had officially taken his men and left the office and it felt quieter without him.

The absence was felt but he still made sure to send me random things every day with the description of the smells.

I am not ashamed to say that I now have a drawer filled with all those little notes that he gave me .

Everything was going fine and perfect until this morning when I got a call from Marissa.

She was panicked and on the verge of tears and she begged me to come into the office.

I had zero plans of going in today because the show is tomorrow and we are supposed to fly out this afternoon.

I procrastinated packing and I had to rush to do it this morning.

I had just finished when her call came in and I wasted no time in speeding over to the office.

I was worried about her and what she potentially wanted to tell me.

There could be a million different things that have gone wrong.

The clothes could have burned down or someone could have gotten hurt.

I tried not to think but my mind kept conjuring up the worst case scenarios.

When I got to the office, she was standing by the door and pacing.

She saw me and opened her mouth but closed it immediately.

Her shoulders were tense and there was a light sheen of sweat on her brow.

I could see that she had chewed her nails down to the skin and I tried to brace myself for what she was going to say.

I gestured for her to sit in the car and she did so quietly and hesitantly.

“What’s wrong?” I asked, “Just tell me at once because I am thinking of the worst case scenarios right now.”

She opened her mouth to speak then closed it and took a deep breath. “I accidentally fixed the flight for the wrong day.”

My first thought was thank goodness no one died.

My second thought was thank goodness the clothes are okay and after that my brain went blank.

I tried to process her words but they wouldn’t register in my brain because I remember asking her to cross check the flight at least two times and she assured me that they were perfect.

All of a sudden, she’s telling me that she booked them on the wrong day .

I turned to her and she caught my eye for a second before looking away quickly.

She was embarrassed as she should be because we are supposed to leave today.

Getting a last minute flight is not the problem, the problem is that this is going to disrupt my entire day’s schedule.

I was supposed to meet with Nathan but now I might have to cancel that to fix her mistake.

“I am so sorry,” she began. “I have no idea how I fixed it for tomorrow instead of today and I will fix it I promise but I-,”

“Stop!” my voice came out harsher than intended and she went quiet immediately. “How the hell did you manage to mess that up? I told you to cross check it and you told me that you did. How did you not notice this sooner?”

“I don’t know, I’m sorry, it was an accident.”

“You have been working with me for years Marissa. How the hell do you even make these kinds of accidents?”

I pinched the bridge of my nose between my pointer finger and thumb as I tried to take deep breaths to stop myself from saying something I would regret. The frustration was climbing and I heard Marissa sniffle next to me which made me feel guilty for even getting upset.

Marissa wouldn’t just make this kind of mistake, I know that. She is one of the most thorough people I have ever met and that is why she has stayed with me for so long. It was hard to push my anger out of the way so I could see the full picture but I counted backwards from ten and exhaled deeply.

“What is going on with you lately?” I asked in a considerably calmer tone than before. “You have been off at work and you’re making careless mistakes that you normally wouldn’t. Is this a temporary thing or is there something I should actually be worried about?”

“I’m just,” she began and she let out a sigh. “I’m just having a really hard time right now and I know I shouldn’t bring it to work and I am sorry that I did. I promise you it won’t happen again.”

“Do you need time off?”

“No,” the word was out of her mouth before I even finished my sentence and she sighed. “No, I just- I will be fine. I’ll look for a last minute flight and-,”

“Don’t worry, I’ll handle that. What about the rental cars and the hotel? Is everything else in place?”

“They are all booked for today. It was just the flight that I somehow messed up.”

“Just focus on cross checking every other thing and try not to mess anything up.”

She flushed pink and nodded then got out of the car. I waited until she had disappeared into the office before I buried my head against the steering wheel and let out a loud groan. There goes my day off.

I was so busy thinking about all the things I needed to do that I forgot to call Nathan.

By the time I got to the house, he was also pulling in and I muttered a small curse under my breath.

I hesitated before coming out of my car wondering how I was going to break the news to him that I was going to have to cancel.

After a second of deliberating, I figured it was now or never and I opened the door.

“I thought you had a day off,” he began as I got out of the car. “What changed? ”

“There’s been a tiny mess up with the flight and I have to call the airline and try and see if I can get tickets for today. It is just a complete mess and the day hasn’t even started yet.”

“Marissa messed it up?” he asked as if it was an impossible concept to grasp. “She is one of the most competent people I have ever met.”

“I was as shocked as you were. I don’t know what’s been going on with her lately but I told her I would figure it out and now I actually have to do that. Everything is such a mess and I planned on sleeping in-”

“I’ll handle it,” he said as if it was the simplest thing in the world and I turned to him mid rant.

I blinked at him as if he had spoken a foreign language and I couldn’t stop the word before it left my lips. “What did you say?”

“Would you prefer if I said it in French because I can?” he asked and I delivered a sharp elbow to his side. “Honestly Adira, relax, I will handle it.”

My first instinct was to tell him that I could do it.

I am so used to doing things for myself that even help seemed foreign to me but then a softer voice in my head told me to just let him.

The worst case scenario is that he doesn’t handle it and I end up leaving tomorrow.

Jet lag will be a bitch and I would have to get ready straight from the airport but I think I can do it.

I sighed and nodded. Nathan smiled and led me towards the house.

It felt weird for me to just let things go.

Usually I would panic for a few minutes, maybe drown myself in junk food and then start scrambling for a solution.

It felt different but for once I just decided to let someone else take charge .

Nathan and I spent the day in a very productive manner.

I had completely lost track of time that it wasn’t until I got a text from Miles asking when we were leaving that I remembered that we were supposed to travel.

I started to panic again and Nathan told me that he had everything sorted out already.

Nathan took my phone to text both Miles and Marissa and he didn’t give it back to me because he knew I would freak out. While he spoke to them, I changed into sweats and a t- shirt for the trip so I would be comfortable.

We drove Nathan’s car to the airport and when we got there, I found the other two waiting for us. I expected us to go through the usual security checks but instead, we were led through another route. At first I was confused about what was happening and then I saw it.

It was sleek and white and pristine. My mouth fell open and I turned to Nathan with wide eyes.

He had a small smirk playing on his lips and he took in my shocked expression.

He was pulling my box behind him without a care in the world while I was staring jaw slacked at the private jet in front of us.

“Did you rent out a private jet?” I asked incredulously.

“Of course not,” he said as if it was a completely absurd idea. “I own a private jet.”

My brows disappeared behind my hairline and Nathan laughed then used his pointer finger to tap the bottom of my chin.

“Close your mouth sunshine, you’ll catch flies.”

He handed my box to the attendants and gestured for me to go up the stairs.

I turned back to gauge everyone’s reactions and Marissa was as stunned as I was.

She was staring wide eyed as if she couldn’t believe what she was seeing while Miles looked more stoic faced but I could still see in his eyes that he was impressed .

The interior screamed sophistication and luxury.

There were leather seats curved around what I assume are handcrafted tables.

The lights inside were turned down to cast a sort of warm glow over the space.

I was completely in shock as I took it all in and I felt Nathan’s hand at the small of my back as he guided me towards a seat.

He sat right next to me and two hostesses came to ask us if we needed anything. All I could do was shake my head and they moved on to Marissa and Miles who were seated behind us. I waited until the aircraft was in the air before I turned to Nathan.