Merry Little Hate Notes

Chapter Six

brANDON

“PLEASE, HURRY,” I BEGGED MOM while peeking out of the Bat Cave to see if Holly had returned to her desk. She’d been working in the bathroom for an hour now. I’m not sure how she managed to schedule so many appointments from there, but her reputation as the best BDR remained unaffected by the unusual location. My calendar for the week was full, thanks to her.

Mom looked up from the conference room table where she was doing my dirty work. “I don’t know why you can’t just give her the sticky notes yourself and say, ‘Have some merry little sticky notes’?”

“First of all, she won’t take anything from me.” She’d tossed the peppermint mocha in the trash the day before without even taking a sip. “Second, I’d like her to respect me after this is all said and done, and I don’t think using phrases like merry little sticky notes is going to help my cause. Honestly, I’m not even sure I should keep writing the notes. She barely glanced at the one yesterday before throwing it away. Then this morning I used the one you told me to— Don’t be so coal’d. It didn’t even faze her.” I thought for sure if I told her she had a case of resting Grinch face and she was being coal’d , she’d get so ticked off she’d write me something rude back. Anything but ignore me.

“Give it some time,” Mom said calmly. “Our Holly is going to show up. I know it. This is Holly’s love language. Take it from your wingman.” Mom wagged her brows.

I couldn’t believe I’d resorted to this—calling my mom in the middle of the day to come help me with a woman and asking her which hate note to use. But I was admittedly desperate. No one haunted me like Holly. Not even Christian, although he was sure to haunt me for even thinking about pursuing his sister. Let him come. I had some things to say to him too. “Maybe we could think of a different title for you.” I grinned.

Mom laughed. “There’s no shame in letting your mom help you catch the girl.” She held up the card she’d just written to Holly on my behalf.

Maybe there was no shame in it, but it wasn’t my finest moment. “You realize the odds of me catching her are worse than the Broncos making it to the Super Bowl this year?”

“Don’t say that in front of your dad. He’s already up in arms over their losses and swearing he’s going to cancel his season tickets.”

I knew that was an idle threat. He’d been saying that since John Elway retired years ago.

“Perhaps you could take Holly to a game,” Mom suggested, not so slyly.

“You’re getting way ahead of yourself. Besides, Holly isn’t a big sports fan.” Or at least she didn’t used to be.

“That may be, but I remember her coming to every one of your baseball games. Well ... except your senior year.”

“I screwed that up, didn’t I?” I’d looked for her in the stands every time I stood on the mound that year, just like I always had. And her absence every time reminded me of how I’d hurt her and how much I missed her. After every game, I’d go home and write her a note, just so she’d write something back. And she had, with the brutality I deserved. Now, fourteen years later, I found myself doing the same thing. But this time I would be brave enough to tell her the truth. If she’d give me the chance, that is.

Mom placed the card in the elegant white Christmas bag she’d brought with her for the sticky notes. I hoped Holly might use them if she thought they were from a secret Santa. As far as I could tell, she no longer kept sticky notes on hand like she once had. This was me egging her on to lambast me, to open the door to even an unpleasant welcome.

“Honey, I’m not saying what you did was right, but you were a teenager. Your brain hadn’t fully developed. You need to forgive yourself regardless of whether Holly forgives you. Please,” she said with tears in her eyes. “I want you to feel comfortable at home, with your dad and me, and most importantly, with yourself.”

I felt awful for the distance I’d created between myself and my parents, both physically and emotionally. It wasn’t their fault—no one could ask for better parents. It was just ... “I haven’t felt like myself without Holly and Christian as part of my life. Is that as lame as it sounds?” I thought over the years I would find friends—and women—to fill the void they’d left. But it hadn’t mattered how many friends and associates I’d made or how many beautiful women I’d dated—something always felt like it was missing.

Mom stood resolutely. “Don’t you ever be ashamed of your feelings. That is the manliest thing I’ve ever heard you say. Now let’s go get the girl.” She was obviously much more optimistic than I was.

I peeked out the door to see if the coast was clear. Did I feel immature? Absolutely. But a man had to do what a man had to do. From the sound of it, most people were still in the common area for the daily Ping-Pong tournament, and no one was in my line of sight. “All right, Mom, just casually drop the bag off at her desk, but don’t let anyone see you do it.”

“Honey, this isn’t my first rodeo.” She grabbed the bag and gracefully floated my way, looking more like a board member than a wingman. Mom didn’t know how to dress down.

“What rodeo have you ever been to?” I wondered out loud. Had she played someone else’s wingman?

She patted my cheek as she walked by. “Wouldn’t you like to know? You should have seen me in college.”

Based on her wicked tone, I didn’t think I wanted a glimpse into her college years—I was fine to let some things stay private. She could have her secrets and I would keep mine.

She marched confidently over to place the bag on Holly’s desk. She gave me a barely imperceptible wave and smirk as she continued on to the elevator. I had a feeling there was more to my mother than I ever knew. I’d only seen her as my mom and the ultimate volunteer. She’d been everything from room mom to PTA president as I grew up. Even now she spent most of her days volunteering in the community. She never missed one of my games and was present for all the big and little achievements in my life. I was just now realizing how little I really knew her. I was going to change that.

But first, I sat back down at the conference table where I’d been working, trying to give Holly some space by organizing online presentations for prospective clients. From that vantage point, I waited to see if Holly would return. She was driving me mad with her lithe body and her silky hair pulled up, a few sexy strands framing her gorgeous face. Even the way she walked was seductive—she waltzed like a nymph through the forest. The fact that she’d never realized her charm made her even more desirable. If she only knew how many guys in high school wanted the chance to see what made the quiet beauty tick. Christian saw to it that most of them never got the chance.

Thankfully, it didn’t take long for Holly to emerge from the bathroom. I watched through the glass door as she stared warily at the bag, afraid to even approach her desk. She probably assumed it was from me. That was my cue to grab my laptop and walk out like I’d just finished a call. I hated these games, but I hated staying away from Holly more.

I walked over nonchalantly, pretending to mind my own business, and set my laptop on the desk next to hers, near my Office character bobbleheads that I set out every day at work. Okay, perhaps I was less mature than I claimed. “I just got off a call with the COO of—”

“Did you put that bag there?” Holly interrupted, pointing at the bag.

“No.” I shook my head, happy I didn’t have to lie.

“Did you see who did?”

“You sound abnormally worried. Is there someone in the office who’s been bothering you? Besides me, obviously.” I smirked, doing my best to deflect her question.

Her lip twitched, begging to smile, but she fought it and frowned instead. “No. It’s just ... Well ... ”

“Well, what? What’s wrong?”

She sighed and set her tablet near her laptop, eyeing the bag like it might bite her. “I don’t celebrate Christmas,” she mumbled, sounding so disheartened by the fact. “I feel bad when people give me gifts during the holidays.”

I could relate to that. Even more, it hurt me to remember how much she’d once loved this time of year. I could still picture her sleeping under the Christmas tree on Christmas Eve, bathed in the glow of the colored lights. She looked beautiful in any light, but especially Christmas lights. “I don’t either,” I whispered. “Not for a long time,” I added, hoping she would know why.

Her ice-blue eyes hit mine, and for a second we shared a moment of understanding. It was the first time she’d truly looked at me in years. I wanted to keep gazing into her ethereal eyes, but she quickly put her guard up.

She hastily looked back at the gift bag and replied to my earlier comment. “You can email me any pertinent information about your meeting.”

I wasn’t having any more of that. “If you want half my commissions, we’re going to play like a team.”

My boldness caught her off guard. Her creamy cheeks blushed while she clasped her shaking hands. For several seconds she said nothing. I figured she was debating whether to tell me off or quit. Either way, I wasn’t backing down. It was one thing if she wanted to personally ignore me—that I could understand. But she’d agreed to this partnership. And I was done with electronic communication only.

After considering for a moment, her stance relaxed. “Fine,” she murmured unwillingly. “Whom did you speak with?”

I let out the breath I’d been holding, feeling as if I’d won a minor victory. Although I couldn’t celebrate yet—I knew the battle had just begun and would get figuratively bloody before all was said and done.

“I spoke to Saige at Artemis Vibe Apparel. The CEO, Blake Vanderbilt, is going to be in Aspen next week on vacation. There’s a chance she’ll make time for us to meet her up there.”

Holly jerked her head my way. “Us? Why would I need to be there?” She sounded panicked. “Marisol never had me travel with her. And I’m not typically involved at this level.”

“Artemis isn’t a typical company, now is it?” I countered. They were entirely female owned and operated and were none too thrilled that a man had taken over Marisol’s account. Our saving grace was Saige—the executive vice president liked Holly.

“No, they’re not,” Holly admitted. “But I still don’t see why I would need to be involved with any such meeting.”

“Because you have an established relationship with them and you’re a woman.” I did my best not to let my eyes rove over all her womanly features.

“So I would just go and sit there while you schmoozed their CEO?”

“For the record, I don’t schmooze people. Also, you would be the one doing the schmoozing .” I grinned.

“Oh, no, no, no. That’s not my job. I do the research, make the initial calls, set up meetings, and make the slide decks. I don’t give presentations.”

“You will if you want to close a deal that means”—I leaned closer to keep this next part private—“almost half a million dollars in commission.” Taxes would take half of that, and we would divide what remained, but this wasn’t a negligible sum. Artemis Vibe Apparel was a Forbes 100 company.

She stopped breathing for a moment before she squeaked out, “All right.”

I tried not to let my smile show the thrill I felt at winning this battle. It made me even more determined to score a meeting with Blake. What I wouldn’t do for an entire day with Holly where she couldn’t hide in the bathroom half the time. “If it comes to that, I’ll help you learn the art of schmoozing.”

She rolled her eyes and logged on to her laptop, ignoring the gift bag.

“You’re not going to check who the bag is from? Maybe you have a secret admirer in the office,” I teased her. Did I ever admire her.

Her eyes darted around nervously at every man in the vicinity, including Jason, who had just returned to his desk. He settled two rows away, where he could glance at Holly. I’d noticed his eyes seemed to land on her frequently throughout the day. I was liking him less and less.

“Do you have an admirer?” The better questions would be: Who is it? And did she like the guy? I couldn’t imagine she would be interested in Jason. And if she were, I owed it to Christian to neutralize that situation. She deserved better than the likes of him.

“No,” Holly said, as if that were ridiculous.

“Are you sure?” I needed to know who I was up against.

“Yes.” She hastily grabbed the bag as if to prove to herself none of our coworkers saw her romantically. Why was that? Another mystery to solve.

I watched her carefully remove the shimmery tissue paper before reaching into the bag to pull the card out first. She read it out loud. “Have yourself some merry little sticky notes.” Her brows furrowed while she pulled out the large stack of holiday-themed sticky notes in reds and greens with candy canes printed on them. Holly immediately dropped them on the floor like she’d burned herself. “What in the world?” She threw me a scathing glance.

I threw up my hands and truthfully said, “They’re not from me. I would never say something like merry little sticky notes .”

She tossed her head from side to side, conceding the point. “That’s true.”

“Thank you.”

“For what?” she asked, confused.

I rubbed the back of my neck, internally berating myself for not playing it cool. “For agreeing with me.”

“Don’t get used to it,” she shot back.

With those fighting words, my Holly reappeared. She didn’t realize it, but she’d cracked the door just a sliver.

“I wouldn’t dream of it.” I grinned.

“Ugh. I’m going to the bathroom.”

“I’ll be here,” I called after her retreating figure.

For as long as it took, I would be there waiting for her to let me in.