Manage Me: A Vagabond Romance Page 3

  She hugged me, and I shifted the box over into one of my arms to hug her back. "I'll talk to you soon."

  I walked out of the building toward the parking lot, ignoring the disbelieving stares of the receptionists. I made my way out to my car in a daze, plopping into my front seat and collapsing into tears.

  Chapter 4

  Dakota

  The residual high I'd gotten from finally standing up for myself lasted me until I got stuck in the usual traffic on my way home. The commute afforded me the perfect opportunity to ruminate about what I'd just done. Ruminating had always been something I was great at; the habit of overthinking every decision I made had plagued me for much of my adult life.

  The silence that surrounded me wasn't helping; it was getting too easy to lose myself in the regrets of every decision that had led me to this point. I flipped on the radio, which had automatically been set to the oldies station I liked to listen to in the mornings. I was jolted by the sound of Brown Eyed Girl pouring out of the speakers. My mom had always sung this to me as I'd grown, and I couldn't listen to Van Morrison without thinking of her. I sha-la-la-la'd along for a few choruses, but and felt better for a second before remembering how much my mom was probably going to be affected by my decision. Thankfully I will Always Love You came on, and Whitney's dulcet tones afforded me a few more minutes of distraction.

  When this song came to an end, though, I couldn't keep the tears at bay anymore. I tried to stay focused on all the positives that could come from this. I was a well-educated woman with numerous degrees and a long career in finance. There were a lot of firms that were looking to diversify and build up their rosters of female financial advisors.

  As much as I tried to build myself up with my internal pep talk, my practical concerns kept intervening. I had some savings, but if I was unemployed for longer than a few months, I was going to have to break the rule I always reinforced with my clients, and that was to withdraw money from some of my investment accounts. That was only in case of emergency, though, and I wouldn't let it get to that point.

  I saw the turn for Cody's work, and instinctively I turned off the highway. As annoyed as I'd been with him lately, I just needed to feel his arms around me and be told that everything was going to be okay. As I pulled into his office's parking lot, I made sure I looked presentable. I didn't know whether he'd signed the paperwork to become partner yet, but the last thing I wanted to do was perpetuate the assumption that his fiancée was going to be an embarrassment to the firm. I strode into the lobby affecting a confidence I didn't feel.

  "Hi, Miss Gleason," the young secretary said as I approached the elevator.

  There always seemed to be a new girl at the front desk. I could never remember their names, but it never failed to strike me as sweet that they remembered my name. When Cody had first started here, I'd been a little insecure in the face of so many cute, polished young women, but Cody had rolled his eyes when I'd confided in him. "As if I'd cheat on you, and with a secretary of all people. What kind of a cliché do you think I am?" I hadn't brought it up again.

  "Hi! I'm just here to see Cody for a minute," I said, waving as I walked past her.

  "I'll buzz him and let him know you're here," she replied.

  I shook my head, but I was pretty sure she'd still buzzed Cody to let him know I was on my way up to his office. His original spot was on the third floor, and though they might've already announced his partnership, he wouldn't be in his new corner office on the top floor just yet.

  I stepped out of the elevator just as Cody walked out of his office to meet me with a giant smile I knew had to be fake. "Dakota, what are you doing here?" he asked as he pulled me in for a kiss on the cheek.

  There was something discomfiting about the way he hugged me, in much the same way he could have a condescending attitude toward me when I vented to him about having had a hard day. I knew being a lawyer at the top of your field the way he was no easy feat, but he acted like all I did on a daily basis was punch numbers into a calculator. He couldn't even be bothered to learn the difference between a financial advisor and an accountant.

  "I'm so sorry to come here like this; it's been the craziest day," I said with a little bit of a smile. "Can we talk? I promise I'll only take a few minutes."

  "I'm busy, babe. Was it really necessary for you to come here now? Was it really that important?"

  "Cody, do you really think I can't exercise enough judgment to decide whether to bug you or not? I've had a horrible day, and I just wanted to talk to my partner about it." I held back the tears to the best of my ability, but my voice began to wobble a little bit at the end of my statement.

  Evidently, Cody could sense my fragmenting control also, because he grabbed me by the arm and pulled me after him toward his office with more force than necessary.

  Cody's office was in the middle of a long bank of offices, and everyone around us was in the middle of their typical, busy workday. Cody looked around, paranoid, clearly afraid we were drawing attention despite the fact that no one was actually looking at us. From his facial expression, you'd think we were walking around his office naked.

  He ushered me into his office before shutting the door with a slam. "Okay, you're here. What's going on? What can I do for you? You've got five minutes."

  I stared at him. "I'm so glad to merit five minutes of your time. In five years, when one of our kids is dying, am I going to get five minutes then, or will I merit ten once we actually get married?"

  "Dakota, the point?"

  "Well, I didn't get the promotion. More than that, I don't have a job anymore. I came here to tell you, get a hug, be told that you have my back, and go home. See? Five minutes. Think fast, can you manage it?"

  "Wait. Back up. You don't have a job anymore? Did you get fired or did you quit?"

  "Why does it matter?"

  "It matters, Dakota. You were supposed to get a promotion today, and now you come here to tell me that you don't have a job anymore. I'd like to know whether you're actually a rational adult or a kid with a temper tantrum, and what you are is going to determine how I react."

  "Seriously? Cody, I came here for some support. To answer your question, I quit after Zack humiliated me in front of the whole team by giving my job to a girl with no experience who he'd been screwing. Because I finally realized that I don't deserve to be treated like crap by anyone. Including you, love."

  His arm moved so quickly I didn't even see the blow coming. The noise that his handmade hitting my jaw honestly hurt my ears more than his actual slap hurt my face. I blinked a few times, looking at him steadily, unable to believe that the man I was going to marry had actually hit me.

  He was breathing deeply, clearly looking to get a fragile hold on his emotions. "Now, you're going to calm down and go home without making a scene, and we're going to discuss this later."

  I wiped my eyes with the back of my hand. "No need. I won't be there."

  "Come on, stop your whining. You're going to go home, and I'll give you your hug if you still want it."

  "No, Cody. You're not listening to me. I won't be there." I made a point of removing the ring from my left hand and put it on the desk. "And I believe my five minutes are up."

  Cody's blank face finally showed a little emotion, though not the sort of emotion I had been hoping for. He clenched his jaw and pressed his lips together as he put himself between me and his door. "You've gone completely insane."

  I ducked around his arm. "I'm going to open the door, and you're either get a hold of yourself, or you're going to lose your partnership. Your choice."

  I opened the door and walked as quickly as I could over to the elevators and hit the call button. I turned to see Cody behind me, and before I could edge out of his way, he stepped forward and kissed me on the cheek. "Let's talk later."

  "No we won’t, because I don't want to," I replied, deliberately keeping my voice pitched low. It boggled the mind how, despite the fact that he'd hit me only a few minutes before, I
was still making a conscious effort to protect his job when I hadn't been able to muster the same discretion it took to protect my own.

  As the elevator doors closed, I pulled out my phone and dialed Lauren's number. She picked up on the first ring. "Dakota? What's going on?"

  "I'm sorry to call in the middle of the day, but everything's fallen apart. I don't know if you're working, but when you're done will you come by the apartment and help me pack up my stuff?"

  "I'll be over in twenty minutes. Gotta go, jumping in the car," she said before hanging up.

  That was the best thing about Lauren. She could talk more than Shakespeare on crack about nothing, but she never wasted time when it counted.

  Amazingly I managed to get back to the apartment with no further incidents, and when I arrived, it was to find my best friend waiting for me on the doorstep. She jumped up and folded me into her arms.

  "It's going to be okay. No matter what happened, I promise you it's going to be okay."

  The tears that I'd been holding back all day started streaming out. "How hard was it for you to say that?"

  "It wasn't. Why?"

  "Cody couldn't."

  She let go of me and grabbed my keys, opening the door for me. "Come on. We're just going to grab everything and go through it at my place. No time-wasting."

  ***

  "Okay, go pack."

  I looked up at Lauren from the spot on the couch that had become molded to my body over the course of the last two weeks. "What are you talking about?"

  She pushed my feet off the sofa and took their place. "I'm talking about how you've been sitting in the same spot for the last week, and I'm getting worried. You went through two huge transitions in the same day, and you've barely taken the opportunity to move on from that part of your life. You need an adventure, and I need a vacation."

  I looked at her in disbelief. "I can't leave town! I'm still getting responses back from the inquiries I sent out. And do you really think that the moment I become unemployed is the time to be spending?"

  "We won't do anything too big or expensive. We'll drive up north to the Bay, and we'll camp or sleep in the car, or we'll find a nice, cheap hostel. Let's get some movement!"

  "What are you going to do about the apartment?"

  Lauren grinned. "My friend Roy is in town to do some shoots, and he asked if he could rent it from me for way more than what it costs in market rent. We'd actually make money off of this trip!"

  I folded my arms over my chest and stared her down. "I need to keep applying for jobs. I can't stay unemployed. And what if I get an interview while we're away?"

  "I swear that if you hear about a last-minute interview, we'll come straight home. And I promise that I'll give you time every day to work on job applications or do whatever else you want to do. What if you decide you want to write again? You've never had time like this just to do what you wanted."

  I looked at her thoughtfully. It was true; I'd double-majored in Finance and Creative Writing, but I hadn't even bothered to journal since I'd started working at the firm five years before with the intention that I might write a novel while working full-time, but I'd never bothered to take the time. Now I'd been given an opportunity to do the thing I'd always wanted to. But I wasn't quite ready to agree.

  "Come on, D. You need a new adventure. Maybe a fun little romance?"

  I shook my head. "No. No way. I just broke up with Cody."

  "I said romance, not fiancé. It doesn't need to stick. And I know it's been way longer than two weeks since you've last had sex. You need a little fling."

  I stood up and stretched. "I'll give you the trip, but I can't promise anything else."

  Lauren frowned. "D..."

  "Please, Lauren. I've let you talk me into this crazy shenanigan. Don't push me on this. But I promise I won't stand in the way of any flings you might have. I hereby give you permission to leave me alone with my book and go off to have wild sex with any cute guys you might meet."

  She jumped on me. "Yay! Dakota, you won't regret this."

  I grimaced. "Okay, if you say so. When do we leave?"

  She grinned evilly. "Four hours."

  "Four hours?! Lauren, what the hell? What if I'd said no?"

  "I knew you'd say yes."

  I groaned. "You're an evil genius."

  She called over her shoulder as she skipped away: "I've been told!"

  I went into the second bedroom and pulled out the smaller suitcase I'd packed with everything from Cody's apartment and still not bothered to empty. I dumped the contents on the bed and started skimming the bare minimum I might need. I had no idea how long we might be gone for, but I refused to overpack. Despite my resolution, my suitcase soon became so stuffed I could barely close it.

  "How are you doing?" Lauren walked in to check on my progress. She came over to look inside the overstuffed bag. "Seriously? You're packing a suit? Yeah, that's not going to happen." She immediately began pulling out the carefully folded work clothes.

  "Come on. We're going to San Francisco, right? What if I get an interview up there?”

  "We'll finagle something. The same way we will if the world splits in half and strands us on opposite sides of California. Come ON. I need your help to change the sheets." She tugged on my hand, pulling me after her into her room.

  We finished prepping the apartment just as a knock sounded on the apartment door. Lauren opened the door with a flourish. "Hey, Russ! Here are the keys, numbers for the super are on the fridge. That's Dakota. Help us bring our stuff down to the car."

  I barely had time to meet the eye of the tall, handsome guy with the light-brown hair and glasses before Lauren pushed my bag into my arms and picked up an armful of luggage, rushing out of the door.

  I turned to him. "Nice to meet you, I guess."

  He grinned at me. "Nice to meet you too. What do you need me to carry?"

  "If you take the cooler and the tent, I'll grab the camping chairs."

  He picked up the stuff I'd asked him to get and followed me out the door.

  "I never pegged Lauren for a camper. She always seemed so high-fashion."

  "Yeah, we camped out a bunch in college when we were short on money and felt like getting away."

  We made our way down to the car, and Russ did his magical manly car-packing Tetris and managed to make everything fit without blocking the rear-view mirror. I shook his hand and got into the front seat with my backpack. I saw him pass her a wad of cash before she gave him a hug and got into the driver's seat.

  "Okay, we're off!"

  I looked at her warily before looking out to the road. "I guess we're on an adventure."

  Chapter 5

  Ryan

  "I can't believe it's your first day off in years and you're wasting it in here," I groaned as Jacob messed around in his bedroom, going through his bag for the millionth time.

  "Lay off, I'm just trying to find my board shorts," Jacob threw a balled up t-shirt at my head, but I dodged it.

  Jacob and I didn't get to hang out very often. He'd been in his job doing something in finance for eight years and had still only managed to take about three vacations during that time. I'd persuaded him to take a rare day off to come down to the hostel and spend a day with me on the water.

  "Dude, if you take any longer to find your freaking bathing suit, the day is going to be over, and we won't even have gotten to the beach."

  He lifted his bag off the bed and held the shorts up in triumph. "Found it!"

  "Awesome. Now get changed, and we might actually catch some sun today."

  He jumped into his bathing suit in record time and grabbed his bag. "Come on! What are you dawdling for?"

  I rolled my eyes before following him out of the door. We walked toward the hostel entrance, passing Drake at the check-in desk. He waved me over and put a form in front of me with a pen.

  "Another invoice?"

  "Yep."

  I signed the paper and passed it back. Drake eyed Jacob out
of the corner of his eye. "Tell me; do all of your brothers look like movie stars? Or is there at least one ugly sibling?"

  "Unfortunately, they're all as handsome as they are driven. And they're all driven like Ferraris."

  "That line was almost as annoying as the fact that your whole family is ridiculously attractive."

  I turned around and headed out. "Later!"

  I came back to my brother as he stood waiting for me at the door. I looked at him more closely and saw the circles that showed under his eyes despite his good looks. He was burning himself out. Every time we managed to see each other Jacob looked more and more worn down. He must've looked like crap when Hartley saw him for lunch because he would never have taken a day off unless he'd been pushed into it. Either that or my genius big brother had manipulated him into coming to hang out with me on a strategic fact-finding mission to figure out when I'd be able to get to Big Sur.

  "You know," I said as we walked out toward the beach, "I don't think I've even had to wait for a date as long as I just waited for you."

  "That's because you don't go on dates," he laughed.

  "So what did Hartley wants you to tell me? Let's get it over with so we can enjoy the day."

  "That you need to stop hiding out at the hostel and get your ass down to Big Sur."

  "Okay, now you've said it. What do you want to do first?"

  "Look, I get the appeal of hiding out up here. You're in a different world. No one would ever guess that you own the place, much less that you're a stakeholder in Baxter. Hell, that's why I got out completely. It means a lot knowing that what I've achieved in my world I've done under my own name."

  "But... Come on, where's the but?"

  "You're really, really good at the hospitality industry, Ryan. That's why there was never any question of you getting out. You've always loved problem-solving and managing a team and opening the high-end places. I'm not sure what's going on with you right now, but you look like you've gone off the rails a little. You can tell me if there's something wrong, you know."