Page 135 of Stay With Me

There was a knock on the door, and Kimberly poked her head inside.

“The contractors are here to look at that stuff with you,” she informed him.

“Thanks, Kimberly.”

He noticed Sammie give him a bit of a look. “The repairs?”

He shook his head and waved casually. “Nah, I wanted to have them check the foundation and structure of the building, just in case—”

“Just in case there’s a flash flood or something?” she asked, arching an eyebrow.

He laughed somewhat sheepishly, knowing she’d gathered that he was still preoccupied with the more horrible aspects of his dream. He shrugged and laughed again, attempting to brush off his worry.

She smirked. “It’s okay, Nick. Learning from mistakes is a good thing. Even if they’re only hypothetical mistakes.”

“I’m all about learning from my mistakes,” he remarked pointedly.

She gave a quick smile. “I’m starting to see that.”

I sure hope so,he mused. That was, after all, the whole point of any of this.

Before slipping out of the room, he turned back toward her.

“Hey, Sammi-uh … Samantha?”

“Yes?”

“If you don’t have too much on your plate already, I was wondering if you’d help me and Kimberly with a project.”

“That’s why I’m here.”

He crossed the room and pulled a folder off the shelf, handing it to her.

“Each year we host a New Year’s party,” he explained. “We sell tickets and there’s a cocktail party, dinner, drinks, dancing, a champagne toast, you know, the whole nine yards. Try to make it a sophisticated thing. These are all the plans and contracts from the past couple of years if you want to look over them.”

She crinkled her nose as she peered at a few of the photos in the folder. “This looks like a super fun party.”

“Yeah, it’s good for publicity to sort of kick off the first quarter, and it’s also a way for the staff to have a little fun while having to work on New Year’s Eve. Brings in quite a bit of money too.”

She closed the folder and gave him a pleasant look. “Sounds great.”

“Awesome,” he replied, feeling a tiny bit like he’d scored himself a date with her, then started for the door again. “Thanks again for all your help. All of this that you’ve done with this week is invaluable. You’re exactly what I-uh … I mean, whatweneeded.”

She hugged the folder close to her chest. “Just doing my job.”

“Yeah.” He cleared his throat, trying to shake himself out of the minor trance that seemed to overtake him every time he looked at her. “Keep up the good work.”

Chapter Twenty-Nine

Samantha

“Where were the tables last year?” Samantha asked, squinting across the bustling dining room. She and Kimberly stood in an empty corner of the room, from which they could survey the entire layout.

“Eight large rounds on the west side of the room, and fifteen on the east side. The dance floor was in the middle, and the DJ was at the north end of that,” Kimberly answered, pointing a finger to scan the room, then let it land on the floor plan inside a folder splayed out on a small table between them. She tapped her nails on the clusters of polygons drawn on the plan that Samantha was still having trouble understanding.

“This is the corner with the windows, this the bar, and this is the kitchen entrance. See it?”

Samantha squinted again. “I think so.”