A Break in Communications

Chapter 21

Lucy

I guess there was a press release. I wasn’t paying much attention.

Didn’t need to—Anna and I knew what we were doing, and we moved fluidly around one another touching base with everybody around the event space, making sure everything was lined up, greeting and flattering everyone who showed up, checking in with every wheel of the well-oiled machine without either of us really having to think about it.

Even managed to keep Anna’s parents and Veronica from causing any problems. Sacrificed Kelcey, poor girl, to placate Veronica, keeping the two of them busy elsewhere, while we just treated Anna’s parents like they were esteemed guests who were supposed to be here and gave them enough formal treatment that they realized they had to behave formally too, and they stopped trying to embarrass Anna for long enough for a proper event to take place.

Altogether, the event was mostly just a good way to keep myself moving, keep myself busy, and not spiral overthinking that kiss, but obviously I was lying to myself, because obviously I was still spiraling overthinking that kiss. I slipped Anna into every conversation I had, regardless of whether it was about her or not, just because the word Anna kept coming unbidden from my mouth. Lined up with the way I spent half the setup time just staring at her, whether by my side or across the hall, so I guess I was just staying in character.

But I broke character once we settled down, into the height of the event—Berg and Gould both up on the podium, the lights dimmed over the audience as they both went delivering their remarks, and Anna and I hung at the wings of the stage, watching from behind the curtains, just the two of us. Here in the low lights, it felt like we had a secret world for me and her, and I couldn’t hear a word Berg was saying. He could have been out there shit-talking me to the crowd and I’d be none the wiser. I was sitting next to Anna, and I managed to hold it in for about two seconds once it was just the two of us in the quiet.

“Say, Preston,” I whispered, and she sighed, her shoulders falling, looking up at the light rig above us, pointed out at the two on stage.

“I don’t want to dance around this, hide this whole thing, try to get the promotion under false pretenses and then keep hiding how I feel,” she said. “I can get a promotion another time. In some context where I’m not going to hate the promotion and the office. I already saw what it’s like to go through the work while you’re not around…” She pinched her lips tightly, dropping her gaze. “It’s… hard to focus,” she said, voice hollow, quiet, distant.

I swallowed, hard, my heart beating faster, as I looked at her like she was… well, like she was the most beautiful, radiant person in the world. Awfully easy to look at Anna Preston like that. “Anna… are you… trying to say something emotionally loaded and it’s difficult to get around to it?”

“Me? No. Never.” She tented her hands in her lap, sinking back on the bench seat, and she sighed. “Okay, fine. I don’t say this very often, but you win. I’m in love with you, Lucy, and I don’t want all the status and money and power in the world if it keeps me further away from you. How’s that?” She shifted. “How did I do?”

I let out a breath, staring, lips parted, eyes wide, mind spinning in a circle. I was pretty sure I’d heard every word she’d just said individually, but I couldn’t put them together in any way that made sense. The way she said it almost seemed to imply that she was in love with me and didn’t want all the status and money and power in the world if it would keep her further away from me, but, well, that didn’t make much sense, now, did it? She was Anna Preston—divine beauty made real, radiant enough the sun had to stay hundreds of millions of miles away or be burned out by her light. She was every word from her lips is a sweet symphony, was made the mountains and the stars jealous they could never compete with her beauty, was humankind birthed civilization in hopes one day it could lead to her, and I was just Lucy.

“What?” I said, finally. Anna quirked a smile at me.

“What part did you miss? Should I start from the beginning again?”

“The part where… it made sense.”

She laughed, and in the low lights, I could barely see the hint of a flush in her cheeks, her gaze missing mine. “I don’t think that part came up anywhere. I don’t think any of this has ever made sense. But I do know my life doesn’t feel right when you’re not around, and I know when I think of the word love, it’s your obnoxious smile that comes to mind.”

“Are you—talking to me ?”

“No, I’m practicing to profess my love for Kelcey,” she deadpanned. “Yes, Lucy. It’s as surprising to me as anyone.”

I turned to her, my heart pounding, my throat tight. “But you’re… I mean, you’ve been trying for a while to get your name on that… office door.” What the hell was I doing? Anna Preston was telling me she was in love with me and I was trying to talk her out of it? I had a fistful of winning lottery tickets I was trying to shove down a garbage disposal. But Anna just laughed, leaning back against the wall behind us, kicking one leg up over the other.

“Really thought I was in the lead,” she laughed. “But then you went and made me realize I can’t imagine life without you. Clever play, Masters. I have to give you credit.”

“Are you actually telling me you love me? ”

She pinched the bridge of her nose. “Like I’m so incapable of love? Be a little less subtle, why don’t you?”

“Aphrodite is the very symbol of love, but it doesn’t mean I ever think I could be worthy of it.” I paused. “Not that I’d say that out loud, here, in front of the woman who occupies my every waking thought, who I want to think I’m cool.”

She laughed, turning to me, eyes sparkling in the glow of the light strings along the edge of the stage. “Best part about being in love is getting to be deeply uncool and have them still like you. I love you, Lucy. I don’t know a lot about what comes now, but I know that much. I love you and I want to be with you… if you’d like a girlfriend who’s as much of a workaholic as you are and will never begrudge you for staying late at the office because she’s there too.”

Oh my god, I think she actually meant it. Someone somewhere pushed faulty code to prod and messed up the simulation of the universe and made it so Anna Preston fell in love with me. I laughed, breathlessly, smiling wider at her, as I slipped a hand to her back, in disbelief I even got to do that. We could have been married forty years and I’d still be blown away that I got to do that. “As if either of us could ever date any other kind of person,” I laughed. “I love you, too, Anna. Not that that’s news. I’m feeling a little delirious right now. Did Kelcey put something weird in the drinks and I’m hallucinating this?”

She smiled wryly, shaking her head. “If this is all a dream, then I’ll ask to be your girlfriend once we wake up, too.”

“Oh my god, you actually are serious.”

“Are you okay? You look like you’re going to have a panic attack.”

“Am I okay? Anna Preston is asking to be my girlfriend. No, of course I’m not okay. Can I kiss you?”

She suppressed a laugh as best she could, brows furrowing. “Is it going to kill you?”

“Yeah, probably. That’s how I’d like to die, though. Shall we?”

“Don’t know…” She slipped a hand to my cheek, and I think I did die. Seemed to continue moving, though. Some kind of revenant powered by sheer unrelenting desire to kiss Anna Preston. “Don’t think I want murder on my record.”

“We’ll pin it on Veronica. She would probably own a murder charge like nobody’s business.”

“Ah. You’ve always been a clever thinker, Lucy.”

“Oh my god, you’re even complimenting me.”

“Don’t get too used to it.” She leaned in and pressed her lips against mine, and I thought that wasn’t a problem, because I was never getting used to this. Not if we played this life a thousand times over and I spent a million years kissing Anna Preston would I get used to it, not when she was the sun and the stars, not when she was the light of the moon catching on the ocean, inspiration and beauty and the very meaning of human existence—

I kissed her back, like it was the only thing I was ever built to do. I’d believe it was—that I’d been put together from birth with a special purpose, the blessed chosen one who got to kiss Anna Preston, and I was holding onto that until the day I died.

Outside the room, I heard applause rising, and it was probably for something Berg or Gould had said, but I liked to think they were applauding me for pulling the hottest girl ever.

Frankly, I didn’t think they were applauding enough. Unappreciative bastards.

∞∞∞

Berg looked a little upset. Poor Sean Dobbs mostly just looked confused, like he wasn’t sure if today was actually happening or if it was a fever dream. Frankly, I was right there with him. Standing here by the refreshments table with the afterparty lively and full of chatter all around, with my hand on my girlfriend Anna Preston’s lower back holding her possessively close to my side, I was pretty sure I was tripping balls, but all I could think was that I hoped I had a lifetime supply of whatever I was tripping on.

I smiled flawlessly at the two of them as they approached, perfectly in sync with Anna beaming like everything was normal here.

“Well performed, Berg,” Anna said. “You do have a way with the delivery.”

“Anna and I were hanging onto every word,” I said. Berg frowned pointedly, looking between us.

“I had thought… expressly that you two weren’t a couple,” he said, and Anna and I exchanged looks of confusion.

“Me and Anna?” I said.

“We’ve always been a couple,” Anna said, and she lit up, waving behind Berg to where I saw her parents, still here as if they were supposed to be, smile and stroll towards us. “Isn’t that right, Mom? Lucy and I have been together for ages.”

“That’s right,” her mother said, absolutely glowing as she came over to the refreshments table, a glass in hand and a flushed smile that said it wasn’t her first glass. “Oh, I can’t forget about when you brought her around and you two were just so happy, gazing into each other’s eyes like the rest of us didn’t exist…”

“That’s right, that’s right,” her father said, nodding sagely as if he knew everything there was to know about me and not just how well I could fake interest in college basketball. “Lucy’s a good one. We’re happy to have her as part of the family. Say—there’s a lot of lights here, aren’t there?”

“Oh, the office holiday party was just the same,” her mother said, nudging him. “I think it’s just the way the room shines brighter when Anna and Lucy are in it. And Veronica and Kelcey, too. They’re just so radiantly happy, all four of them.”

They were in for a rude surprise if they were waiting for a happy ending from Veronica and Kelcey. Sean looked between us all so confused he looked like he might cry.

“But—well, Anna, it’s just—when you met me in your office, you assured me you and Lucy weren’t…”

Anna raised her eyebrows. “When I told you we weren’t just a fling, we were serious?”

“No—” Sean put his hands up. “No, no. You said it the other way around. What? You said you’d had a clean break. I’d told the whole committee that you weren’t—”

I said as casually as anything, “Yes, you said I could take that break to help look after my grandmother. Even Anna took a break too to help.”

“No, no, no,” he said, flushing redder, and we were backed up by the absolute best person for the situation, which was Kelcey drifting over to our side swaying with that dreamy look that said she was absolutely back in Veronica’s snare. Poor girl. She was happy for tonight, at least.

“Hey, you two,” she said, beaming at me and Anna. “Oh, god, it’s so cute seeing you two together all lovey-dovey.”

“Hey, Kelce,” Anna said. “Do you remember when Lucy and I started dating?”

Kelcey puffed out her cheeks, thinking it over. “Jeez, it was, like, forever ago. I’m surprised you’re not married yet. You’re both go-getters.”

I slipped my hand into Anna’s, interlacing my fingers with hers, and I squeezed her into my side. “We’re in no rush,” I laughed. “Just happy I get to have the love of my life here with me.”

Sean scrunched up his face in confusion, poor man. At this point, Berg looked at Sean like this had all been his misunderstanding, but either way, I was just as baffled at how this was possible when Anna rested her head against mine and said, “And the love of my life here with me. Just don’t tell her I said that, she’ll get a big head.”

Jesus Christ. Was my heart going to keep falling through the floor every time Anna said something like that, for the rest of my life? I’d believe it. Kelcey swatted the edge of the table in sheer excitement, and it got Anna’s mother to stop gawking at me and Anna and look at her instead.

“Oh—Kelcey,” she said, absolutely glowing. “I wanted to get a chance to meet you and say hello—I’m Veronica’s mother, but you can just call me Maria. Or you could just call me Mom.”

Anna hung her head. “Oh, here we go.”

Kelcey lit up at Maria. “It’s so nice to meet you. Anna and Veronica have both talked about you so much.”

Kelcey didn’t quite get the implications here, and her just going along with it was going to make Maria think she and Veronica were getting married by the new year… which would serve Veronica just as well. Berg cleared his throat. “So—I’m sorry to interrupt, but—Anna, Lucy, I don’t know if Sean got across that—”

“That it’s going to complicate the matters of the promotion since Lucy and I are a couple?” Anna said lightly. “Of course, I remember. I told him I trusted whatever solution he’d come up with.”

I nodded, piling on to gaslight an old man. Not the noblest pursuit, but Anna and I both played dirty. “You told me you had the solution in mind when I mentioned taking that break to look after my grandmother…”

“Uh.” Sean shifted awkwardly. “Right… that.” I could see the wheels spinning in his head, and he started sweating bullets when Berg looked at him.

“Sean, what’ve you been on?”

“Nothing—nothing. Ah—my mind must have gotten into the holiday vacation ahead of the rest of me. Don’t worry, I’ve got it together.” He blanked, hanging there for one awkward second while Anna’s parents gushed to the eternally oblivious Kelcey, until finally, he spoke like he was in a dream. “Well… with the press release having been such a success, we’re hoping to expand the role of operations within the department, and—well, Lucy and Anna have been such an effective and coordinated team with running this ship, they’ve essentially already both held the role. So, with operations expanding, I think it makes sense to spin the role off into two positions… it would let them both get to where they naturally thrive in leadership and remove any conflicts of interest as well.”

My heart missed a beat, and I could tell from the slight tensing of her hand in mine that Anna’s did, too, as we exchanged a quick, subtle look, eyes flicking over at the same moment to meet each other and back again. Berg raised his eyebrows at Sean. “Not at one point in the meetings did we discuss this.”

“Oh, er, well. Come to think of it, we didn’t do a very good job leaving a paper trail… we’d discussed it more face-to-face. I guess that’s on me. My skills with communications are slipping. It’s a big role for one person, you know. It’ll make more sense with both of them.”

I jumped in before I could think it through. “We’d definitely had the discussions around it. It had just been contingent on keeping Gould’s account and how the press release went.”

Anna smiled flawlessly. “And with your performance on stage, Berg, I think we can safely say this was a success.”

“It really was,” I said, matching her serene smile. “We’ve got Gould firmly back with us, I think.”

Berg, a sucker for flattery, stood up taller, even though he sighed. “All right… Sean, we’ll have to have a long talk. But I suppose it makes sense. We’ll just have to discuss logistics…”

“Of—of course,” Sean said, his face red, shifting awkwardly from one foot to the other. Poor guy. He was retiring, he’d be able to put all this behind him soon enough. “Well—thank you for your hard work with everything, you two. Real… powerhouse couple. I think you’re right that this has gone perfectly.”

“Merry Christmas, Sean,” Anna said, raising her glass. “Here’s to Sean’s leadership, selecting me and Lucy for this job.”

“Here’s to Sean,” I said, joining in, and Anna’s mother raised her glass, suddenly remembering we were there.

“Here’s to Anna and Lucy,” she said, ruining our streak. Sean would be fine.

Sean and Berg both trailed off in the other direction before long, talking in hushed voices with one another, Sean looking chagrined as he went, and Anna’s mother gave me a hug before she went anywhere.

“Lucy, you need to come visit us for Christmas,” she said. “We’ve missed you so much. You can bring Miss Charlotte. She’s just wonderful and keeps asking for more of our signature family chili recipe.”

Anna answered before I could. “Don’t worry,” she laughed. “You’ve finally gotten your way, Mom. Got someone I’m not missing any events with. Lucy and I are going to be there. Aren’t we, darling?” she said with a look my way that took my breath away. Damn, but I loved that word in her voice. Darling. Also all the other words.

“Of course we will,” I laughed, looking back to Anna’s mother. “I’ve got to try your world-famous cinnamon rolls again, after all, Maria.”

She looked like she’d explode with happiness, and once she and Anna’s father went, she was just about giggling and gushing the whole way about her daughters finally finding love. Sweet woman. She did make some good cinnamon rolls, too. Guess Anna’s culinary skills had come from somewhere.

Kelcey beamed at us, looking like she was so happy she might have passed out too. No wonder Anna’s mother seemed to love her. Peas in a pod. “So you’re both getting the promotion? Boss Anna and Boss Lucy?”

“Don’t call me that,” Anna said.

“Boss Lucy is right,” I said. “I assume they will. I mean, how could any of you carry on without your favorite power couple leading the department?”

Kelcey squealed. “Oh my god, I know! Boss Wives. That has such a good ring to it.”

“Please…” Anna hung her head. “Please just call me Anna.”

Kelcey didn’t get much more time to gush over us before the looming shadow of Veronica swept up behind her, and when Veronica stepped up next to her and slipped an obvious hand to Kelcey’s butt, Kelcey giggled, lighting up as much as Anna’s face fell.

“Don’t go spending too much time talking to my sister,” Veronica said lightly, holding a drink in her other hand. “I’ll get possessive.”

“Oh, god,” Kelcey giggled, falling into her side. “You could get possessive of me. In any way you like.”

“Please, you two,” Anna groaned, pinching the bridge of her nose.

Veronica slipped her hand down to take a completely shameless handful of Kelcey’s thigh just below the hem of her dress. “Trust me, I will,” Veronica said. “I’ve missed the noises you make.”

“Ew—Veronica,” Anna said, wrinkling her nose. “Can you stop feeling up my coworker right in front of me?”

Kelcey laughed, ignoring everything in the world not named Veronica Preston. “Including the noises you make fun of me for? I’m still going to squeal when I see cute Christmas decorations in a shopfront.”

Veronica took her hand out from under Kelcey’s dress, thank god, and nudged her playfully. “Kelce, babe, those are my favorite ones of all. I only make fun of it because I get jealous you’re looking at a shopfront instead of me, you know how it is.”

Kelcey nudged her back, giggling. “Ugh, keep flirting like that and we won’t get anywhere, Vee.”

“I think I know exactly where we’ll get,” Veronica said lightly. “And I’m not going to pretend I’m not angling for it. Like I said—an ambitious woman.”

“Hmm. You’re a capable girl. I bet you can pull it off.”

Anna massaged her temple. “Kelcey, go hit on my sister… elsewhere. Please. I beg of you.”

“Maybe we ought to give them space,” I said, squeezing Anna’s side, and Veronica gave us a look.

“Ugh, you two can’t steal all the spotlight,” she said. “You get that mad when it’s someone other than the two of you flirting? Don’t get me wrong, Luce, I’m glad my sister finally got her head out of her ass and got together with you, but let’s not pretend you two haven’t been flirting nonstop everywhere you go. Besides, look how cute Kelce is. Of course I’m going to flirt with her.”

“Including reaching up her skirt in the middle of the room,” I said lightly. Veronica raised her eyebrows.

“That’s not something you wanna dare me on.”

Kelcey gave her puppy-dog eyes. “It’s something I wanna dare you on.”

“Okay, that’s more than enough,” Anna said, putting her hands up. “Lucy—darling—let’s just leave. I’ve partied enough for one night.”

Veronica shot her a look. “For the millionth time, you’re not subtle. You can just say you want to go fuck, and it’s going to be easier for everyone.”

Anna sighed, hard. “Yes,” she said. “I want to go have loud, messy sex with my girlfriend now.”

“Cool, have fun,” Veronica said, and she tugged on Kelcey’s wrist, pulling her along in the other way. “C’mon, blue-eyes, let’s go to the bathrooms.”

“Ew,” Anna groaned, watching them go. I sighed, letting my shoulders fall, finishing off my drink as they headed away.

“When do you think Kelcey will next be crying to us about Vern breaking her heart?”

“Veronica’s probably going to kick her away the day after Christmas. Mark my words.”

“Think they’ll ever actually get together?”

Anna snorted. “For all of our sakes, I really hope not. Which, given how difficult they both are, means they probably will. Mom’s never going to let this go, anyway…” She sighed. “Can’t wait to field nonstop questions both from Kelcey and my mother about Veronica’s emotional unavailability.”

“Preston girls are a trip…”

She grinned at me. “Sometimes they come around, though. I mean it, though. Let’s go now. I’m tired and just want a cup of hot chocolate and to get back to our book.”

Ah—Anna wanted to go out and head back to her apartment with me by her side and spend carefree little moments with me. Because she was in love with me. Was I seriously going to keep being like this over every little thing with her, for the rest of time?

Probably, yeah.

“Sounds like a dream,” I said. “It’s all the event planners’ responsibility from here. Is that the only thing you were serious about, though?” I said lightly, suppressing a smile, and Anna beamed.

“No, I was also serious about the part about wanting loud, messy sex with you.”

“Oh.” I blinked fast. “Yeah, the event planners can definitely handle this from here. Also, since when did you initiate?”

She laughed. “Since you’re letting the team down, Masters,” she said. “You’re going to have to start suddenly bending me over the desk more often.”

“I’m taking that as a challenge, you know.”

She smiled wider. “Oh, no. Whatever will I do?”

I bit my lip, smiling wider. “Ha… experience suggests, everything I tell you to. You’re a good girl like that.”

“Okay—okay, you win,” she laughed, covering up her face as a blush spilled out across her cheeks. “I kept my cool for a minute. You have to admit, that wasn’t bad.”

I had to admit that everything she ever did was perfect, and that nothing in the world would ever be a fraction as dazzling and breathtaking as she was in every word she ever spoke.

But that was probably just me. I kind of had it bad for this girl.