Chapter 8: Christmas Lights

AVA

When the day of my appointment with Diane Payne came around, I was feeling more excited than nervous, much to my own surprise.

She was the second celebrity I’d ever met, the first being Jesse Harrison, the actor who’d written the children’s book I’d illustrated.

Diane’s idea was surprisingly exciting to me. She wanted me to write the title of the book in calligraphy, inspired by the hand lettering I’d done on the flyleaf of ~Harry’s Hero~, Jesse Harrison’s book.

We talked, and I even sketched out some ideas, further fueling her excitement, as well as my own. The meeting flew by, and by the end, we were giggling like schoolgirls.

Mr. Brentstone just leaned back in his chair and watched the whole thing unfold.

I spent the next few days working on Diane’s project, and on Friday I felt like I was done with the calligraphy, which was rare for me; I usually kept tweaking my illustrations and designs until they were physically pried from my hands on the day of the deadline.

I called a meeting with Owen, the graphic designer who was working on the project too. We quickly put together a presentation and called a meeting with Mr. Brentstone.

The presentation went well, and Mr. Brentstone seemed pleased enough—although he wouldn’t have been himself if he hadn’t kept the positive feedback down to a minimum.

I was excited to show Diane as soon as possible, and I was sure she’d be excited to see it as well, but Mr. Brentstone informed me that we wouldn’t be having that meeting until after Christmas.

***

The day of the Christmas party arrived.

Luckily for me, two of the other party planners had volunteered to stay over between work and the party to let the caterers and bartenders in and help them get set up, so I got to go home and freshen up.

We’d decided on a semiformal dress code, so I put on a long-sleeve cocktail dress that hit midthigh and decided to wear stockings instead of tights underneath for a touch of sexiness that only I knew about, just to give myself a little boost of confidence.

I chose black pumps to complete the outfit, and I put on some red lipstick.

When I was done, I texted Ella a picture of my outfit to make sure I wasn’t overdressed, but Ella was wearing a sparkly floor-length gown, so I figured I was good.

I drove myself back to the office, making sure I was there before the rest of my colleagues started coming in. I felt nervous and excited at the same time.

When I entered the office, I was happily surprised at how festive it looked, all lit up by Christmas lights that reflected in the ornaments and the glittery streamers and even in the glass office walls.

People started coming in soon after I got there, and in no time the place was buzzing with conversation and laughter.

The food and drinks were all a big hit, so I could finally relax a little and mingle with my colleagues.

I went over to the drinks counter to grab myself a soda, and I felt a hand wrap around my wrist. I whipped my head around and found Tobias’s bright smile beaming at me. He pulled me into a hug.

“There’s my plus-one! I’ve been looking for you.”

I steadied myself on his chest, smiling up at him. “You clean up nice.”

“You don’t look too bad yourself.” He looked me up and down, grinning. “Do a little spin.”

I spun around, feeling silly, and grabbed that soda I came for in the first place.

“You don’t want anything stronger?” asked Tobias, who was holding an old-fashioned.

“I’m good.”

We exchanged some pleasant yet forgettable chitchat for a while, and I found myself starting to lose interest a little. I looked around to find Ella.

“Well, this is as good a time as any,” Tobias said, suddenly looking a little flushed. “I was wondering if maybe you’d want to go out with me sometime?”

I snapped my head back to look at him. “Oh!” I said, stalling so that I could gather myself. Tobias was genuinely nice, handsome, and oozed happy vibes—exactly what I needed.

I smiled. “I would really like that!” I was glad to find myself meaning the words as they left my mouth.

Tobias’s face lit up. “Great! I assume you have plans this Christmas weekend?”

“I do. My parents are flying in from Seattle to celebrate Christmas with me.”

Tobias swiped a hand through his blond hair. “I figured. How about lunch next Mond—”

“Ms. Mayweather, just a head’s up,” a voice suddenly boomed behind me, making me jump and almost choke on my soda.

I grabbed Tobias’s arm to steady myself with one hand, the other pressed to my chest trying to calm my racing heart.

I turned around to see Mr. Brentstone in a black suit and no tie, the top button of his white dress shirt undone.

He looked dangerously handsome, so much so that I had to physically turn away from him and take a deep breath to collect myself.

“We’re having lunch at Cleopatra’s next Monday,” he continued, seemingly unfazed by my near heart attack.

“Who’s we?” I managed to squeak.

“We leave at 12:30. Make sure to be ready before then. I don’t like to be kept waiting.” He turned around, leaving no room for discussion.

“Great,” I heard Tobias mumble behind me. “Now I have to compete with ~that~.”