Chapter 18“I’ll have a glass of champagne. We’re waiting for two more people to get here, but they should be here any moment. So please also bring out a glass of the pinot noir and an old fashioned,” I say to the server who came by to take our drink orders.“How do you know what they order?” Jackie asks me once the server has left our table.Jackie and I came separately to the hotel bar from the office, but we’re both on time while Olivia and Maddy aren’t anywhere to be seen. Michelle told me they were still holed up in a conference room when I left so I knew I’d beat them here.“I did a fair amount of research on the two of them after our meeting. Their drink preferences were pretty easy to find,” I reply. I don’t mention that I almost asked Lauren for the information until I decided that wouldn’t help her already rising anxiety.If I wasn’t so distracted about Olivia and Maddy’s impending arrival, I may have thought sitting here with Jackie was awkward, but right now I’m so focused on looking out for the two of them that sitting here with her almost feels normal. It also doesn’t help that we’re in The Four Seasons and all I can do is remember my first time getting a drink with Lauren here. Luckily, we’re at a different table or I’d start thinking about hidden underwear in hotel bathrooms more than I already am.“Trying to even the playing field?” Jackie asks.“She talked to my ex-boss about me. I think I have a right to do a bit of my own digging.”“I’m surprised you haven’t already. I stalk the shit out of my girlfriends’ exes,” she says and it’s so casual that it almost feels as if we’re just two friends again. “And those women weren’t still married to their exes,” she adds.And there it is. I was probably too hopeful to momentarily think we were back to how we were before Lauren ever came into the picture.“Googling someone and going out of your way to talk to their past boss are two entirely different things,” I reply, ignoring her subtle jab.“Michelle may not want to talk about it, but we both know why she’s doing all this. Good thing her detective skills only seem to run surface level. Imagine what she could find out about you if she dug deeper,” Jackie says.The server comes back to our table with the drinks, allowing me an easy excuse to ignore Jackie’s follow-up statement. I take a much-needed sip but can still feel her eyes on me.“Did you talk to Michelle?” she asks when I just continue to drink my champagne in silence.“Just to tell her about Olivia’s invite for drinks. She seemed to agree we couldn’t get out of it.”“We didn’t get it as bad as Michelle did today. Olivia didn’t even let her talk and now she’s not even invited to whatever this is,” Jackie says, waving her hand around the bar.I’ve been so wrapped up in my own drama, I didn’t even really think about how hard that meeting must have been for Michelle. She’s the leader of our team and was treated with about the same importance as an intern.“She seemed fine when I left, but it’s hard to tell with Michelle,” I offer, but immediately stop talking when I can see Olivia and Maddy enter the bar from the hotel lobby. “They’re here,” I say quickly to Jackie so she knows we can’t keep talking about Michelle.As they walk towards us, I can see a few of the heads in the bar turn towards Olivia, which I can understand. She’s a striking figure and still looks as immaculate as she did this morning. I notice that as they walk, Maddy stays a few steps behind her boss, which I’m guessing is some weird, corporate sign of respect.“Hello, ladies,” Olivia says as she approaches the table.Normally I would get up to shake a client’s hand, but I feel like I’ve touched this woman enough for a lifetime so I stay seated. Luckily, Jackie doesn’t seem inclined to get up either.“Are these for us?” Olivia asks, looking down at the two drinks in the seats across from us.“They get busy this time of night so I thought I’d get ahead on your order,” I reply as casually as I can and take a sip of my drink.Olivia raises her eyebrow slightly and gives me the same cocky smirk she had on her face this afternoon in my office.“Thank you, Emma. Your attention to detail is noted. Though this feels a little too much like an interview. Jaqueline, why don’t you move over here to Madeline’s side,” Olivia says, but her inflection didn’t raise at the end, implying this was a command and not a request.Jackie gives me a side glance before turning her eyes back to Olivia and giving a small nod.“Don’t worry, I won’t call you Jaqueline like Olivia does,” Maddy says with a warm smile directed at Jackie.“Great. Olivier and Emmaline can sit over here,” Jackie says as she scoots out of her chair and moves her body and beer across the table.Olivia picks up her old fashioned and takes the seat next to me.“My name isn’t Emmaline,” I say dryly back to Jackie.“It is now,” Jackie replies. With the way she’s cocking her head and smiling, I can’t tell if this sudden banter is genuine or if it’s for the benefit of our clients.“I’m impressed. There aren’t many people bold enough to make Olivia the butt of a joke,” Maddy says and tips her glass to Jackie’s.“Yes, very clever,” Olivia deadpans back to Maddy.I’m guessing Maddy and Olivia have a close relationship if Maddy is willing to tease Olivia almanbahis şikayet like this.“How long have you two worked together?” Olivia asks.“Two years. But I’m surprised you didn’t know that already,” I respond with a small wink that I hope will offset my snark.“It looks like I’m not the only one to do her research,” Olivia says as she raises her glass to me. “Besides, I didn’t ask if you’ve dated. That, I already know the answer to.”Jackie catches my eye for a moment and even Maddy looks uncomfortable with Olivia’s comment.“How do you know we dated?” I ask.“I didn’t until you just told me,” she replies easily.“Behave,” Maddy says from across the table, looking at her boss.“I am behaving,” Olivia says back and it almost reminds me of the way Jackie and I usually banter.“And how long have you two worked together?” Jackie asks Maddy, seemingly not as affected by Olivia’s manipulation of the conversation as I am.“It feels like it’s been since birth,” Maddy jokes and I notice again how much more relaxed she seems in general than Olivia. Maddy has an easy confidence to her, but she’s much less imposing than her boss. “I started working for Olivia’s consultancy firm about five years ago.”“You must be talented if she’s taking you to Ellison with her,” Jackie said next, her attention fully on Maddy now.“She’s the best there is,” Olivia says, bringing the attention back to herself. “Though, maybe she has competition,” Olivia says as she turns to me and raises one of her perfectly manicured eyebrows.I can see Jackie narrow her eyes sightly at Olivia’s comment and I really wish the woman would stop blatantly flirting with me in front of her. Jackie’s already mad enough about another certain executive taking an interest in me.“And where are you originally from?” Jackie asks Maddy, turning her body slightly towards the other woman.“My family is from San Antonio,” she replies, also turning her body towards Jackie.“Ah, so a Texan through and through,” Jackie says back with a smile.“Via Mexico. My parents moved to Texas two years before I was born.”“Your family sounds like mine,” Jackie replies. “My parents moved to Seattle from Brazil. But I guess that was quite a few years before I was born.”I can feel Olivia shift in her seat next to me and I wonder if she’s as uncomfortable as I am. Jackie and Maddy are so engrossed in their conversation, I feel as if I’m watching a movie of a first date, not able to actually interact with the actors myself.“That’s quite the jump. What brought them all the way to Seattle?” Maddy asks Jackie.“My dad is a software engineer and there are more jobs here.”“Fascinating,” Olivia says, but her tone implies that she’s anything but fascinated. “Did you two have any questions we didn’t get to today or are we going to find out about Madeline’s high school experience as well?”“I for one, would love to hear about high school,” Jackie says with a smile directed at Maddy before turning a more serious look back to Olivia. “But I’m also curious about something you said in today’s meeting. You mentioned needing the creative campaign to be nimble. Can you expand on that?”I’ve always appreciated Jackie’s skill in balancing professionalism with her dry humor and Olivia’s presence doesn’t seem to hinder that at all as she smoothly transitions from her conversation with Maddy back to PR-mode.“There’s a good chance this launch will coincide with a separate re-brand for the company at large. We will need to make sure that any creative we use can evolve so it aligns with that re-brand,” Olivia answers.“Are you re-branding just Ellison Tech or all the subsidiaries?” I ask.“Just Ellison Tech. And it may be another year before that happens. But I need to know that our agency partner has the in-house resources to shift things quickly.”“Who’s handling the re-brand”? Jackie asks and I know exactly where her head is at when she does.“Are you trying to secure two contracts from us, Jaqueline?” Olivia asks.“As many as I can,” Jackie replies with a charming smile. “I do have quite a bit of re-brand experience as well.”“I saw the branding campaign your office did for Tech Farm. It was very clever. Did you work on that?” Maddy asks Jackie.“I led the creative on that campaign, actually,” Jackie responds with a small shrug.“Really? It was amazing. I’m not sure I’ve ever seen a creative re-brand drive so much PR on its own. Especially without a product launch attached,” Maddy adds.“Unfortunately, we’ll be handling the re-brand in-house,” Olivia says in a louder voice, cutting into their conversation again. “We just need to know your own team can be flexible as we work through it.”At that moment, the server comes back up to our table to check on our drinks. Olivia’s drink is still almost full and she just shakes her head at the server when he asks if Olivia wants another.“Nothing for me. Just another glass of champagne and whatever they’d like,” Olivia says, pointing to Jackie and Maddy across the table.I was already going to order another drink to get through this happy hour, but it grates on me that Olivia just took the initiative to do it for me.“Next question?” she asks, turning to me in her chair.“From what we’ve learned, your father didn’t want a great deal of importance put on digital almanbahis canlı casino paid media. In fact, he would only allocate a very small portion of each budget to it. What is your opinion on the matter?” I ask, but direct my attention to Maddy instead of Olivia, who’s eyes I can still feel on me.“Good question,” Maddy says. “Richard is a bit more traditional than the two of us. While we want the big story, we also recognize that the channels where people read their news and get their information is vast. We’ll expect to see how you plan to secure coverage while also amplifying that coverage through paid media and other channels.”Her answer is music to my ears considering the digital-heavy focus our campaign ideas have taken. Part of why I love working at Altitude so much is the agency’s innovative thinking when it comes to traditional PR strategies and I’m glad Olivia and Maddy also see the value in that kind of thinking.“You also mentioned thought leadership today. Who will be the Ellison representative that’s the face of the launch?” I ask next.“I will,” Olivia says. “People expect to see an actual Ellison leading our major launches.”“We also have a man named Simon Simpson on our board. He’s very influential in the Southwest sustainability space and would also be a good target for speaking engagements or white papers,” Maddy adds.I recognize Simon’s name immediately as one of the board members who Lauren said would be pro-Altitude. I believe she had said he owned a large electric truck company in Austin and wasn’t a huge fan of our major competitor.“I would say we haven’t made a final decision on Simon’s involvement,” Olivia says, looking pointedly at Maddy, who busies herself by picking up her drink to take a sip.I catch Jackie’s eye again for a moment and I know she’s also noticing the brief moment of tension between the women. I hope it means that Lauren’s intel is right and Simon is a much better avenue for us to focus our pitching efforts on than Olivia.“I assume as CEO you’ll be incredibly busy. It might be good to designate a secondary option if you can’t make yourself available to us. If Simon has a background in the industry, he could be a good option to legitimize our narrative” I say to Olivia, trying to see if I can get any more information on the topic of Simon.“I have no issue making myself available to you, Emma. Day or night,” Olivia responds in a low voice and it’s impossible not to notice the slight husk her tone took. “Next question?”~ ~ ~ ~ ~ Before I leave the hotel bathroom, I quickly look at my phone to see the time. I was too scared to check it at the table because I didn’t want to come across as rude and I was worried Lauren’s name would be on the screen. But as I look at it, I see that she hasn’t texted yet.As I head to the door of the bathroom, I pass by the vanity I once put my underwear behind and even though I’m still stressed out about the day’s events, I feel a wave of arousal course through my body at the memory.It’s been almost two hours since we got to the bar. I had only planned to stay an hour, but Olivia was so forthcoming with her answers, that I wanted to take advantage of her loose lips. Lips that didn’t seem to be affected by alcohol since she never did have any more of her one drink.I stopped drinking after my second glass even though Olivia tried to order me another. I never drink more than two glasses when with a client and that rule seems especially prudent tonight.“Speak of the devil,” Jackie says a little too loudly when I get back to the table.I’ve known her long enough to know that the slight increase in volume and the red that is now lightly tinting her tanned cheeks is a sign that Jackie is feeling tipsy.“I was just asking Jacqueline here how social the employees of the Seattle office are with each other,” Olivia says as I take my seat again.“Oh,” is all I manage to say through my tightening throat.I instantly regret leaving Jackie alone at the table with them when she’s had so much to drink. I can’t imagine she mentioned Lauren, but Olivia’s smirk is making me nervous.“Yes, she says you never believe her theories on who’s sleeping together,” Olivia adds.I feel immediately relieved at her comment. Jackie does often have theories on who in the office is sleeping together and they’re never right. The latest being that Michelle is sleeping with Guy, who I keep telling her is gay.“That’s because Jackie’s theories are always wrong,” I say back.“Not all of them,” Jackie says, making eye contact with me and my stomach, which had slowly started to uncoil at Olivia’s comment, tightens again at Jackie’s subtle implication.Before she can make this any worse, I decide to put an end to the evening. I’m anxious to see Lauren again and now that I’ve gotten all my questions answered, more than anxious to no longer be in Olivia’s company.“And on that note, I think I’ll grab the bill. I have an early meeting tomorrow and I know you two have a morning flight to catch. We both appreciate this extra time though,” I try to say as smoothly as I can so it doesn’t seem like I’m running out of there.“It was our pleasure,” Olivia replies.The server hasn’t been by our table for a while so I stand up from the table so I can find him and pay. I’m almanbahis casino suddenly desperate to get out of here and don’t want to wait for him to leisurely come by again.When I come back to the table, I can see Jackie and Maddy leaning into each other and talking quietly. Olivia quirks her eyebrow at me when she sees me looking at them.“These two are staying. I’ll walk you out,” Olivia says and gets up from the table.“You’re staying?” I ask Jackie, looking down at her.“We’re going to have another drink,” she says casually back, but I recognize the challenging look on her face.She knows I can’t say anything with Olivia and Maddy watching us, so I just give her a nod.“Don’t worry, I’ll make sure she shows up for work tomorrow,” Maddy says with a smile directed to me.“I’m not worried but thank you. Have fun,” I say and give Jackie one more look before I turn and walk towards the exit.I know Olivia is following right behind me, but I don’t turn around. I could tell from the beginning of the night that there was some spark between Maddy and Jackie and I’m just hoping Jackie doesn’t cross the line with her. That would make this situation even more complicated. And I really hope she has enough sense to keep her mouth shut about Lauren.It’s raining when I step outside of the hotel so I move over to the valet area so I can pull out my phone and order an Uber.“Did you drive?” Olivia asks.“No, I’ll order an Uber. But I don’t like getting wet,” I reply and it’s only once I say it that I hear my own innuendo.Olivia gives me a slow smile, but fortunately lets my comment go. “Are you upset about them staying?” she asks me, nodding her head to the entrance of the hotel.“No, not at all. Jackie’s free to have a drink with whomever she wants,” I reply.“So that wasn’t jealousy I detected?”“No. The two of us haven’t been in that place for a long time,” I say back, intentionally leaving out Jackie’s recent declaration to me.“Good. Come up to my room with me.”My head snaps up from looking at my phone and I know my eyes must be wide. Of course, I could feel Olivia’s eyes on me at times today and tonight, but I didn’t think Lauren’s prediction would be so spot on.“I thought this wasn’t a date?” I ask.“It wasn’t. But it could certainly turn into that,” she says as she moves some of my hair behind my ear.My whole body tenses at her touch and it’s not lost on me how different her hands feel touching my hair than Lauren’s do.“I have a girlfriend,” I reply.“I don’t mind.”Olivia takes a step closer to me and the professional space we had between our bodies is suddenly eliminated. I can smell the light scent of alcohol and mint on her breath and if I was interested, it wouldn’t take much to lean in and kiss the woman.“I do,” I reply in a low voice. “And she doesn’t like to share,” I add.It feels scandalous to be talking to Olivia about my girlfriend, knowing she has no idea that said girlfriend is actually her ex-wife. And as much as that amuses part of me, the other part of me just wants to get out of this situation as fast as I can.“She sounds controlling,” Olivia says back before lightly grazing her hand down my arm.I let out an involuntary shudder of discomfort at the sensation, which I hope she doesn’t read as arousal.“That’s rich coming from you,” I respond as I take a small step back.Olivia lets out a laugh at my comment. “I like your sass,” she says, but thankfully she doesn’t move back into my space.“I’m not trying to be sassy.”“Even better.”“I have to believe that even Olivia Ellison understands the idea that no means no.”Olivia doesn’t respond for a moment, but just looks at me before her smirk slowly comes back onto her face.“She does. But I won’t be forgetting you any time soon, Emma King. And I’ll see you in two weeks,” she finally says.She reaches into her coat pocket and pulls out a card that she hands to me.“My personal number is on there. Feel free to use it,” she says with one final smile before turning around and walking back into the hotel.I let out a breath the second she’s gone. I’m glad I didn’t have to do more to get out of that situation, but I assume Olivia has no trouble finding women to bed and isn’t that upset about the rejection. She probably just has to snap her fingers and women submit.I turn my attention back to my phone so I can order a car and message Lauren.On my way. I need a cheeseburger and fries, I text her. The Uber takes no time getting to the hotel and I hop in to avoid getting too rained on before looking at my phone to see Lauren’s response.One Happy Meal coming right up.As I read her response, I feel the first genuine smile I’ve felt all day cross my face and I’m reminded that the woman I’m going to right now is so vastly different than the woman I just left.Chapter 19I feel instantly lighter as I walk into Lauren’s apartment and can smell the now-familiar scent of my girlfriend. I still have a knot in my stomach at the thought of what Jackie and Maddy could be talking about, but right now I just want to focus on something other than Ellison.As soon as I come into the living room, all thoughts of Ellison and Olivia fly out of my head the moment I see Lauren.“Welcome home, honey. Drink?” she asks.But I’m still staring at her outfit and can’t seem to form words. Lauren has on what appears to be a pair of very short shorts and nothing else. Covering the front of her bare body is a tight apron that says, “Best Dad Ever” on it.I’m simultaneously turned on by how hot she looks and also amused at the odd choice of apron.