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Chapter Five

NICOLE

“Hi, Nicole,” Jacqueline’s voice echoed from the hallway right as I locked my office door.

“Hi, Jacqueline,” I smiled at the CHRO before both of our gazes slid over to Brandon, the CEO of Sun Steer, walking out of his office.

“Done for the day?” He asked the two of us. We both shouldered our bags, our office lights were off, and we were locking up. Just like him.

“Yup,” I replied. It was only 3:00 pm, but I had done all the work I could force myself to do. It was a week after that kiss with Taylor Desmond, and I often found myself staring into space, thinking about the feel of their lips on mine. How their septum ring felt pressed against my lip and cheek.

“Are you going to be in the office tomorrow, Jacqueline?” Brandon asked as the two of us joined him.

Coming from the CEO of Sun Steer, usually, that question would make someone nervous.

Not here, though. It took me all of one week to understand how laid-back Brandon was.

It was very different coming from my previous company, Blix.

Jacqueline worked there, too, apparently. That’s how big the multi-billion-dollar company was. We never bumped into each other.

Sun Steer was growing, and I could see a future where the company grew as large as Blix, but the difference would be all because of Brandon Moore.

In a world filled with shitty CEOs and unethical billionaires, Brandon Moore was an example of what a CEO should be.

When he founded this company with Zaid back in the day, they both had a vision for what the ethics of the company would look like.

Surprisingly, Brandon has made sure they kept to it.

It was something I was shocked to see when I first stepped into my position as CFO here. A blonde-haired, straight cis white man not making grabby hands at any and all profits his company made?

Unheard of.

Upper management got paid well. I was able to live on my own in an elevated part of Orange County, just a few minutes from the Irvine offices.

My HOA had multiple pools, hot tubs, a pickleball court, a yoga studio, and other amenities I hadn’t even explored yet.

I still lived in a relatively small one-bedroom apartment, but the fact that I could earn a livable wage on my own, and maintain a savings account in this economy, wasn’t something to blink at.

During one of the first meetings I had with Brandon, regarding overall budgets for things like new hires, I noticed what the lowest-paid employee was making at Sun Steer.

It was over six figures.

When I casually brought this up with him, trying to compliment him without seeming like I was sucking up, he just shrugged and said, “If the lowest-level full-time employee at Sun Steer isn’t making enough money and needs to get a second job, Sun Steer doesn’t deserve to be in business.

People don’t go to work because they love to work, they go to work because they need to get paid to live.

As a company, we’ve seemed to deal with less turnover by simply paying our employees enough to live close to the office. ”

After going over the numbers, I also learned that Brandon also made sure that upper management never made more than 4x the amount of the lowest-paid employee in the company.

I never wanted to work anywhere else.

“Yeah, I’ll be here,” Jacqueline replied as she popped her earbuds in, bringing me back to the present, “I’m interviewing a couple of candidates for Signe’s replacement.”

Signe’s career as a romance author was taking off, and she was finally able to give notice that she would be quitting within a couple of months.

At my old job, if I knew someone was leaving soon, I wouldn’t expect to see much of them again after they quit.

However, I noticed a warm, happy feeling in my stomach when I realized that I would still hang out with Signe regularly.

We had a friendship outside of work, that wouldn’t end just because we didn’t clock in at the same time in the same place anymore.

Signe was my friend. Not Colleen’s. Not Sun Steer’s. Mine.

A connection I made all on my own, without the help of whoever I was dating.

“Great, I wanted to meet with you both regarding catering options for the end-of-summer company party.” Brandon nodded as he walked with us toward the elevators, pressing the button to call them up.

“Oh, we should cater dinner and dessert,” I nodded. I love dessert.

“I’d like that,” Jacqueline widened her eyes, before asking Brandon, “I can’t remember, is this party for employees only, or are family and friends invited?”

“Family and friends are invited,” Brandon nodded as he thumbed away on his phone.

“Cool,” Jacqueline turned to me then, “You should invite Taylor.”

I stiffened before the elevator doors opened, “What?”

Jacqueline stepped through as Brandon gestured for me to follow behind her.

“You should invite Taylor,” Jacqueline repeated. She spoke a little more clearly as if my question was because I didn’t hear her the first time.

I nodded, “Oh. Why?”

Jacqueline looked at me, before glancing at my phone in my hands, “Because—wait, didn’t they text you?”

I widened my eyes, “Were they going to text me?”

Jacqueline frowned before her eyes widened and her lips parted, “Oh. Maybe I wasn’t supposed to say anything.

” Ever since Jacqueline got her autism diagnosis, she has been less worried about masking around everyone and more comfortable explaining herself with words that made the most sense to her.

A couple of weeks after confessing her love to Leo at his rugby practice, she decided to “pull the trigger” and get formally tested.

I remembered being with Jacqueline at a girls’ night with all of us, including Mary and Jamie (who also worked at Sun Steer), while her phone rang with the incoming call.

When Jacqueline’s autism diagnosis was confirmed, she cried.

Then we all started crying with her, hugging her and congratulating her on finally having the answers she’d been wondering about her whole life.

“No, actually,” I lifted a finger, “I think you should say something. More things. Did they tell you they were going to call me?”

Jacqueline pressed her lips together, glancing at Brandon, who seemed mildly amused with the conversation as the elevator started its descent.

“They just asked me for your number,” Jacqueline said, staying perfectly still as she replied.

“Why?” I pressed.

Jacqueline squinted her eyes as she faced forward, avoiding my gaze, “I really don’t know if I should say.”

“Jacqueline,” I reached forward and squeezed her bicep, “I want to know why someone wanted my contact information.” I raised my eyebrows at her, and she nodded once before exhaling and replying.

“They said they were interested in asking you out.”

A swarm of butterflies took off in my stomach from her words, “Really?” I noticed right then that I was smiling, and I removed my hand from Jacqueline’s bicep to press my hand to my cheek.

Yup. I was blushing.

“Oh. I see,” I tried to keep my cool, but I couldn’t.

Taylor was interested in me.

I was a grown woman, closer to forty years old than thirty, and yet I was still blushing as if I were a teenager who had just discovered her first crush.

Then, as my stomach dropped, I realized something.

“They haven’t texted me yet,” I sighed the words when the elevator doors opened, and we all filed off the elevator.

“They will,” Jacqueline nodded to herself, “They were blushing like you are when they asked me for your number.”

“Should I—” I stopped, letting Brandon walk ahead a bit as Jacqueline loitered in the lobby with me, “I mean, do you think—if they text me—that I should go out with them?”

Jacqueline shrugged, “If you want to.”

I did want to, but that didn’t necessarily mean I should .

Her dark eyes studied me in that intense way that intimidated more people than not. Before I could continue, Jacqueline spoke up again.

“Taylor is one of my favorite people. I think you’d have fun with them.” She nodded to herself, as if settling the discussion.

Perhaps it really was as simple as that.

“Yeah. I think you’re right,” I murmured.

And with that, Jacqueline smiled and pulled her phone out, waving goodbye before we parted ways.

I stood there in the lobby of our building for a moment, staring at Jacqueline’s retreating form, while trying to picture Taylor Desmond blushing while asking for my phone number.

I couldn’t.

Did they even get nervous? I wouldn’t peg them as someone who got nervous asking for someone’s number.

I replayed that conversation with Jacqueline multiple times in my head on the drive home. Trying to remember every detail, wondering if I heard Jacqueline right or if I made the entire conversation up in my head.

Was I ready to date someone like Taylor?

Did they even want to date, or did they just want to hook up?

I remembered Sarah’s words from the previous week, how Taylor didn’t “do relationships.”

I frowned to myself.

But…maybe I needed a break from relationships too.

Maybe I needed to have fun with someone like Taylor, to help me get my groove back.

I didn’t realize how thrilling the idea sounded to me until later, when I was fixing myself some dinner and heard my phone vibrate on my kitchen countertop.

An unknown number had just texted me.

I stopped what I was doing to swipe at the notification with trembling fingers.

Hey, it’s Taylor.