Total pages in book: 93
Estimated words: 87601 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 438(@200wpm)___ 350(@250wpm)___ 292(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 87601 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 438(@200wpm)___ 350(@250wpm)___ 292(@300wpm)
It’s best that Gideon is just a memory now…a memory I’ll replay later, after Noelle has left for the party, and I’m alone in the apartment with the coastal New England-scented candle that reminds me of him and my vibrator.
“Do you want coffee?” Noelle asks as she gathers mugs from the cabinet.
“Sure, thanks. It’s going to be another late night at the paperwork factory.”
“Then I’ll use the big coffee carafe, so you’ll have extra to warm up later.” She fetches our extra-large pour-over coffeepot from above the stove.
It was a housewarming gift from my dad. He wanted me to move in with him on the Upper East Side—our apartment has two stories and Dad’s away at our vacation home in The Hamptons most weekends—but he understood when I insisted on rooming with Noelle. He wants me to remain close with my friends and make time for socializing.
Or so he says…
The company-wide audit he’s insisting I perform to “get familiar with the corporate structure” says otherwise. He wants my final report by next Friday, but I’ve only begun to wade through all the documentation. Our corporation has so many subsidiaries, charitable arms, and shell companies for the limited liability ventures that it’s like trying to untangle a wad of necklaces that have been jostling around in a drawer since 1996.
But it’s my wad to untangle, so I’d better keep at it. The fact that my boss is also my father doesn’t make the thought of failing his first test any less stressful.
I’m about to dive back into the profit and loss statement from Harbor Home, our charity offering sanctuary to victims of domestic violence, when there’s a sharp knock on the door.
Noelle squeals and races across the room, making me smile. She and Ben have only been dating for four months and are still in the wildly-in-love phase. It’s adorable, and I’m so happy for her, even if Ben does come with a moderately annoying sidekick.
“Come in, come in, coffee’s almost done,” Noelle says, greeting Ben with a kiss on the cheek and a smitten grin. “Missed you.”
“Missed you, too,” Ben says in that soft, thoughtful way of his. As he steps inside, he lifts a hand. “Hey, Sydney.”
“Hey,” I say, but my greeting is drowned out by Adrian’s snarky, “You saw each other three hours ago, relax,” as he swaggers inside behind his friend.
I snort as I see what Mr. Moderately Annoying is wearing tonight. “I think you could fit another entire person in those pants.”
Adrian grins, his dark eyes dancing as he does a spin, making the shiny black fabric of his pants flare out even further. “You like? That designer who makes those puppet purses that blew up last spring made them for me.”
“They’re…big,” I say tactfully.
“And shiny,” Noelle adds, making Adrian frown.
“And cool,” he insists. “Tell them, Ben.”
“I thought they were a skirt at first,” Ben says, following Noelle into the kitchen to pour hot water over the freshly ground beans. “That would have been cool.”
Adrian sighs. “I’m surrounded by people with no fashion vision.”
“Hey, I’m a designer,” Noelle says. “I have vision. I just don’t think a giant pair of culottes made in parachute fabric is particularly visionary. Your butt is way too cute to cover up like that.” She sniffs and lifts her pert nose higher in the air. “If I were your designer, I’d play to your assets.”
“Aw, thanks.” Adrian winks at Noelle. “You’re a doll.” He glances my way. “What do you think, Syd? Is my butt too cute to hide? I know I’m the most annoying ex-boyfriend ever and don’t deserve a second of your attention, but my butt is pretty okay, right?”
I roll my eyes but can’t help smiling. He’s ridiculous, but beneath the bravado, he’s also painfully insecure. It’s something I’ve only realized lately, but it’s given me more compassion for my ex.
“I would go with your faux leather pants,” I say, studying his short-sleeved hoodie, a mishmash of black fabrics that looks like a junior high school kid made it on their at-home sewing machine, but probably cost a thousand dollars at some Soho designer’s pop-up shop. “The white ones. They’ll look better with your shirt.”
“Agreed,” Noelle says. “There are so many nice textures in that shirt, but you need a pop of something brighter to help bring them out.”
“Cool,” Adrian says. “I’ll change on our way out.” He crosses the room and plops down next to me on the couch. “As soon as I convince Sydney to come and play with us.”
“Sorry, can’t,” I say, my gaze fixed on my screen. “I have too much work.”
“It’s Friday night,” Adrian says.
“And I only have until next Friday night to finish,” I insist. “My dad threw me straight into the deep end.”
Adrian grunts, his tone markedly less cheery as he says, “Let’s not talk about dads. Mine is driving me fucking nuts. He insisted on coming to the fundraiser tonight to ‘support me,’ even though I told him it wasn’t a big deal. Now I’ll have to worry about babysitting him while I’m trying to woo investors.”