I Won’t Be In On Monday (The Annoying Hot Bosses Club #3)

Chapter 21

Chapter Twenty-One

J uniper

I wake up early and all I can do is scream into my pillow. I cannot believe the night I had. I cannot believe how Remington just left me. I wish that I hadn't gone to work the evening before. I should have made some excuse because now I know what it is like to be kissed by Remington. To be tasted by Remington, and I know what it is like to taste him. I was so close to begging him to take my virginity, to telling him that I loved him. I want to die from mortification and embarrassment. I can not believe that I now find myself in the position of having sucked my boss's dick.

My phone starts beeping, and I rub my eyes and grab it. It's my dad. I realize that I still haven't called him back. "Hi. Morning, Dad," I say, hoping he's not going to ask me to come to breakfast or lunch.

"Hey, I've been worried about you. What's going on?"

"I've just been really busy with work. One of my boss's new clients, Liam Gallagher, has..."

"Isn't he an older client? I feel like you've talked about him before."

"I mean, yeah. I don't know why I said new. I meant one of his clients has newly come to the office, and there's just been a lot of work." I make up the excuse. "I am so sorry, Dad. I'm sorry I missed out last week, and..."

"It's okay. I've just been worried about you. I was looking forward to last weekend because I did have something to tell you, but ...”

“I can’t come today either, Dad," I say quickly. "But we have plans for tomorrow, right?"

"Well, about tomorrow…" He sounds frazzled.

"What is it? Oh, my gosh. Are you okay? Look, if you're not feeling well, I can cancel my plans today. Where are you? What's going on?"

"I'm fine. I actually have other plans for tomorrow. I made a little bit of a mistake and..."

"You have other plans for tomorrow?" The shock is apparent in my voice, but I don't know how to hide it. My father has never had plans that didn't revolve around me. Ever. At least not that I can think of.

"Yes, I didn't want to tell you this over the phone, but Morgan and I are..."

"Morgan? Who's Morgan?" I sit up straight in the bed. "What's going on, Dad?"

He lets out a deep sigh. "She's a friend of mine. Some may call her a girlfriend, and she got us tickets to see a matinee performance of Wicked tomorrow. Apparently, they're very expensive, so I do not want to let her down. I hope you understand that."

"Dad, you're going to Broadway with a woman named Morgan, who I've never heard of before. What is going on?"

"Well, you know I couldn't be a monk for the rest of my life."

"But, Dad, you said you never wanted to date again after Mom. That she was the love of your life and that..."

"She was the love of my life, and she gave me you. And I wanted to make sure that when I was raising you, you were my sole focus, that you could feel that love. But you have your own life now. I met Morgan in the park, and one thing led to another. We had coffee, and then we went to a bookstore and played a game of chess. I like her company, and she likes mine, and I know she would very much like to meet you.”

“Oh, my gosh. You have a girlfriend? Dad, why haven't I heard anything about her before? You've literally never told me that you were seeing someone. Never. Why didn't you?"

"Because I didn't want to get you upset or get your hopes up. I wanted to see where everything was going to go first. And well, I like her a lot, and I think she likes me. She actually has a son. And we were thinking maybe we could all go on a trip to Florida one year."

"What are you talking about? Why would we go to Florida?"

"To Disney. Sort of like a blended family."

My heart stops for a second. "Dad, how old is this lady?" I cross my fingers and toes, praying to God that he doesn’t say twenty-eight. If this lady is in her twenties, I will scream. I will literally scream.

"Well, I don't know that she really would want me to disclose her age, but I do believe that she's fifty-four."

"Oh, thank God," I say.

"What's going on, darling?"

"Sorry. When you said she had a son and you wanted us to go to Disney, I was picturing she had some young kid, and..."

"Oh, no. Her son is 25, I believe."

"So then why would we be going to Disney?"

"I don't know. Isn't that what you kids like to do?"

"Dad, I'm not a kid anymore. In fact, I actually find myself in quite a conundrum right now."

"Oh, what's wrong? Is that why you've been so busy?"

"I don't really want to talk about it with you, Dad, but let's just say that I've gotten myself in a weird situation, and I may have to quit my job and move home because if I quit my job and I don't have income, then I can't pay my rent and..."

"Oh, boy. What happened with you and Remington?"

"What do you mean, what happened with me and Remington?"

"Did you guys hook up?"

"Dad, why would you say that? Why would you think that?"

"Well, you always talk about him in such a gracious tone, and your eyes always go googly, and well, you're always complaining about all the women that he's asking out. So I figured..."

"Dad, no, we did not hook up. What are you talking about?"

"So the reason you're feeling like you might have to quit your job has nothing to do with your boss."

"I mean, maybe, but this is not something I'm going to talk about with you. Plus, I have to go. I'm meeting some friends in thirty minutes, and I still have to shower and..." I groan, thinking about the last shower that I had.

“Is everything okay? What’s going on, darling?”

“Nothing.”

“Can I call you tomorrow evening?”

“I actually have a date, but maybe after that.”

“Oh, you’ve got a date with your boss?”

“No, I have a date with Marco. And maybe I should be blaming Marco for this whole mess because if he hadn’t asked me out on Friday night, then I wouldn’t have had to work. And if I didn’t have to work, then I wouldn’t have had Chinese food. And then if I hadn’t had Chinese food, he wouldn’t have dropped under the table. And oh, my gosh, I just cannot believe this has happened to me."

"Do I need to get you into a mental health facility, Juniper Hardman? You do sound like you're having a moment here, and if I'm quite honest, I can't understand anything you've just said. What does Chinese food have to do with anything, and who is Marco? And..."

"Oh, Dad, it's too complicated for me to explain, but I'll call you tomorrow evening or maybe Monday evening, and we can grab dinner."

"Okay, darling. Well, you have a good day, and if you need me, I'll be here, except for tomorrow between noon and four, because Morgan and I are going to grab lunch or brunch or whatever and then watch the matinee. But..."

"I get it, Dad. And sure, I'd like to meet her sometime. I want to make sure she's good enough for you."

He chuckles. "Oh, there is my protective daughter. You know what I wish for you?"

"What, Dad?"

"I wish that you find happiness like I've found."

"Yeah. Well, I don't think that's coming anytime soon, but anyway, I'll talk to you later." I hang up the phone and crawl out of bed, then walk over to the mirror and look at my appearance. It's strange because I look exactly the same as I did yesterday morning before my life turned upside down.

“What is going on, Juniper? What am I going to do?" I moan into my hands as I brush my fingers through my hair. Okay. Just take it one moment at a time. Maybe he was so drunk he won't even remember. My phone starts ringing, and I pick it up without looking.

“Hey, Dad, what's going on?"

"This is not your father," a deep voice says, and immediately, I know that it is Remington. Why didn’t I look at the screen? I wouldn't have answered.

"Hello, Remington. How are you this morning?"

"That's exactly why I was calling you," he says. "I just wanted to make sure that..."

"That what?"

"That you're feeling okay this morning."

"I'm feeling absolutely fine, thank you very much."

"Okay, great. I just wanted to make sure there wasn't going to be any awkward conversations on Monday morning."

"Why would there be an awkward conversation on Monday morning?" I say. I'm going to go with ignorance. I'm going to pretend that last night never happened.

"Maybe because my tongue was inside of you last night and you came on my face."

"I don't know what you're talking about, Mr. Parker. And actually, I have plans right now, so I'm going to have to go."

"Juniper, we can't pretend this didn't happen, and we can't pretend that we didn't enjoy it. I don't want you to be mad at me because I didn't take your virginity. I'm not some Prince Charming that..."

"And with that, I'm off. Bye." I hang up the phone quickly. I hurry into the shower and turn on the water. This time I put it on cold. I need to wake myself up. I stand in the water, clutching my thighs as I try not to scream. I close my eyes and remember what it felt like to have Remington standing behind me. I can still feel the swell of his cock between my butt cheeks. Fuck, that was hot. I can still feel the tip of him at my opening. If I just moved a little bit to the side, he would've been inside of me, and I would’ve lost my virginity, and that would've been that. I wish I hadn't told him I wanted it to be special. That I wanted it to be perfect because all I really wanted was for it to be him.

"Juniper, you're going crazy. You need to stop thinking about Remington right now," I lecture myself.

I step out of the shower and grab my towel and rub my body dry. My phone rings again, and I'm about to turn it off when I see that it's Lila. "Hey," I say, picking up the phone. "Don't tell me you guys can't make it this morning."

"No, we're definitely making it. In fact, you are in for an amazing treat."

"Oh, boy. What's the treat?"

"Have you ever heard of Giovanni Valentino?"

"I can't say that I have, no. Who is he?"

"He is the number one hairstylist in New York right now."

"Okay, and why are we excited about him?"

"Because he is going to give you a haircut."

"Oh, okay."

"And guess what?"

"What?"

"He has a best friend by the name of Rosalind DeMarco. And you know who Rosalind DeMarco is?"

"I don't, but I have a feeling you're going to tell me."

"She's the number one makeup artist in all of New York City, and she has a bunch of free samples that she's willing to give you."

"This sounds amazing, but I do not have money to pay for the number one hairstylist or the number one makeup artist. I didn't even have money to pay for..."

"Hey, it's my treat," Lila says. "You don't have to pay for anything."

"I'm not letting you pay for these people. They don't sound like they're going to be cheap and..."

"Juniper, I am not going to argue with you. These people are going to do your hair and makeup, and it's going to be amazing. You were going to let me and Sky do it for free, right?"

"Well, yeah, but that's because you were going to do it and..."

"We have some skills, but we can't cut your hair and know exactly what makeup you're going to need. We'll help you with the clothes stuff, okay? And you can buy your own clothes, but please, please, please let them take care of you today. Please. Don't you want to look good for your date with Marco tomorrow? Plus, don't you want to walk into the office on Monday and wow everyone?"

"When you say everyone, who do you mean?"

"Mr. Remington Parker, of course. I mean, if you have a crush on him, and you want him to notice you..."

"I think he's already noticed me," I say, trying not to let out how annoyed I am at that moment.

"Well, I think he's noticed you. How could he not? But wait until he sees you on Monday. He's going to be like, 'Oh, hot damn. Who is that gorgeous, beautiful supermodel?'"

I start giggling because how could I not? "I don't know that Remington Parker would ever use those words, but I appreciate the sentiment."

"So, you're going to come?"

"I guess so. Where should I meet you guys?"

"Come to... Hold on, let me look at the paper and get the address." She pauses, and I hear a rustling of paper in the background. "Okay, you're going to come to The Beautiful Adventure. I believe it's on the Lower East Side. You can google the address."

"Okay, what time should I be there? Or is it still the same meeting time?"

"I think he's got you down in for forty-five minutes."

"But I thought we were going to meet and grab breakfast first?"

"Yeah, but this was the only time he could fit you in, so we'll grab lunch. I'll bring a bagel for you to eat in the beauty salon."

"Okay. Will Skye be there, too?”

“You bet you she will." Ah, Lila sounds super excited. I cannot wait for this.

"Are you excited?"

"I guess so."

"You don't sound excited," she says. "What is going on?"

"I just... I'll tell you guys later. I just had a really crazy night."

"Oh, boy. When you say crazy, you mean…?"

"I mean that it was crazy."

"Like crazy crazy?"

"I mean, crazy, crazy, crazy, crazy, crazy."

She starts laughing. "Okay, now you have got me very, very interested. I will see you in thirty minutes."

"Yeah, I'll be there. Thanks, Lila. I really appreciate everything."

"You're welcome," she says. "I am excited to see how this goes."

"I am, tool. I just hope I don't regret it." I hang up the phone and rub my forehead. I don't know what I'm doing anymore. The whole point of getting the makeover was to get Remington to notice me, but he's already noticed me. And while it had been a bit of a fairytale, it hadn't been the fairytale I'd had in my subconscious. He didn't taken one look at me naked and fell on his knees and begged me to marry him. He didn't tell me that I was the most beautiful woman in the world. He didn't tell me he loved me and had harbored feelings for me forever. He didn't say any of that. I mean, not that I actually expected that to happen, but if it was a book I was writing, that's what I would've wanted to have happened.

But life is not the books, Juniper. That's why you're writing a romantasy, because true love is a fantasy.

I walk into the closet and pick out a white dress. I might as well wear something feminine if I'm going to blossom into a swan. I stare at my reflection in the mirror and apply some pink blusher and bright red lipstick to my face. I don't look half bad. I don't look like the ugly duckling I always assumed I was before. Maybe it's because I'm seeing myself differently now. Maybe it's because even though Remington Parker didn't tell me he was in love with me, he was definitely attracted to me. Even if it was just sexually, there was magnetism between us. There was something.

I feel my nerves buzzing, the excitement racing through me. I may not have gotten Remington Parker to commit to me, but I have made him come, and that made me feel powerful. And if I am honest with myself, I loved every moment of it.