In Good Company: Chapter 7

“I’m mad you didn’t tell me you knew Callahan Hastings,” Charlotte scolds, slamming the door to her locker. Luckily, we’re the only two people in the employee locker room, so no one else can hear her.

“I don’t know him. Not very well, at least.” I look at my reflection in my locker mirror, wiping underneath my eyes from where my mascara has smudged from the long workday.

Charlotte laughs, grabbing the corner of my locker and opening it wide so I’m forced to meet her eyes. “He specifically requested you. Clearly, you know each other. Anytime I’ve ever served him, he barely looked me in the eye, let alone cared enough to remember my name.”

I sigh, my shoulders sagging a bit in defeat. I know if I tell Charlotte that Cal has also offered me a job for the summer, she’ll think I’m crazy for not agreeing to it right away. Especially if she finds out how much I’ve been offered. “Cal’s my ex’s brother. We met a few times. Got along fine. There’s not much to it.”

Charlotte’s green eyes widen. “Wait, you’ve never mentioned an ex.”

I laugh. “For good reason.”

She slowly nods in understanding. “I get it. We all have those asshole exes we prefer not to mention.”

“Exactly. Cal’s brother isn’t even worth discussing.”

She raises a blonde eyebrow excitedly. “But Cal is worth discussing. So tell me the deets. Why would he request you to be his waitress? Just being his brother’s ex doesn’t make sense.”

I take a seat on the cherrywood bench between the sets of lockers. I’m used to being on my feet for long hours at a time, but the shoes we’re required to wear at Pembroke aren’t the most comfortable. My feet ache, but I know Charlotte won’t let me leave until I tell her more.

“He offered me a job as his private chef.”

Her jaw flies open as she hurriedly sits down on the bench in front of me, straddling the bench as her eyes bore into mine. “Callahan Hastings offered you a job as his private chef? When do you start?”

I look down, my fingers playing with the hem of my uniform skirt. “I haven’t accepted it yet,” I answer quietly. For some reason, saying it out loud that I haven’t said yes already does sound a little crazy. Maybe the fact he’s my ex’s brother isn’t a good enough reason to turn down the job. The money he’s offered would be enough to help not just me but my family as well.

I keep it to myself that another part of the reason I’ve told him no is because it seems like he’s never been told no. It’d be good for him to be denied for once.

“Why haven’t you accepted it?”

I shrug. “It’s weird for me to work for my ex’s brother, right?”

Charlotte reaches between us and grabs my hands. She gives them a squeeze, a smile spreading across her lips. “No, actually, I think it’s weird that you won’t take it because of a shitty ex. If Cal’s brother isn’t even worth your breath to discuss, I don’t think he should get in the way of you accepting a once-in-a-lifetime job offer. Not many people can say they worked for the Callahan Hastings.”

“Thomas Boucher is well-known too,” I counter before pulling my lip between my teeth because even I know it’s not the same.

Thomas Boucher is well-known in his own right. Anyone who has a membership at Pembroke Country Club is wealthy beyond measure. They’ve excelled enough in their careers to not only afford what I’m sure is a hefty yearly membership fee at the club but also the notoriety to even be invited to join the club to begin with. You can’t just have money to be a member at Pembroke. To be a member, you must also have power. People must know your name.

Pembroke’s for the best of the best, and Cal is one of its most prestigious members.

Charlotte drops my hand and rolls her eyes. It’s clear she thinks I’m crazy for not accepting the offer. Maybe I am crazy for not considering it more. “The Bouchers are great,” she begins, her voice sweet. “A lovely family, actually. They tip well and are always very kind, but Thomas isn’t Callahan. Having Callahan Hastings on your resume could open you up to any job you wanted after this. You want to be a chef for Scarlett Astor? Winnie and Archer Moore? The king? Having a recommendation from Callahan would get you a foot in the door with any of those people.”

A laugh escapes me as I shake my head at Charlotte. “Royalty? I’m not so sure about that.”

Charlotte tosses her long, blonde hair over her shoulder and shrugs. “Working for Scarlett Astor would be cooler, anyway. Did you know her family are members here? Maybe Callahan knows them.”

“The Astors are members here?” I ask in disbelief. Scarlett Astor is one of the most famous actresses in the world right now. You can’t watch a movie or see a brand campaign without seeing her face. The Astors are film royalty. I don’t know how I’ve missed them.

Charlotte nods confidently. “At least that’s what I’ve been told. I’ve never seen them here, but imagine if they are. You could become a celebrity chef.”

I roll my eyes at my friend. She’s a big dreamer, and I love that about her. But even if the Astor family were members at Pembroke—which I doubt they are—I’m not looking for another private chef position after this summer. Once fall arrives, I’m on a flight back to Virginia to help with the family business. I’m supposed to take it over from my father. My resume as a private chef won’t matter.

“I haven’t even taken the job with Cal. Let’s not get ahead of ourselves,” I respond, my tone a little sad. I wish I could plan for the future I want, but I can’t. I’m lucky my family’s even given me the time I’ve had now to live out my dream career.

“As your friend, I can’t let you turn down the job. Unless…” She pauses for a moment as she purses her lips. “Is the pay shit? Did he lowball you?”

I laugh at the question before letting out a sigh. “He said he’d pay double what Thomas offered.”

She tilts her head to the side. “Then why are we still talking about this?”

My head falls back as I let out a loud whine. “I don’t know. Because it still feels like I shouldn’t take a job from my ex’s brother. What if Oliver visits?”

“Then you poison his food.”

My eyes widen. “Charlotte,” I scold, hitting her on the thigh.

She shrugs, clearly not seeing anything wrong with her solution. “Don’t worry about stupid Oliver. Take the job, Lucy. Or I’m going to take the job for you, and I’m a terrible cook.”

I laugh, remembering when we had a movie night, and she almost burned down my tiny apartment just by making a frozen pizza. Mr. Fred, the owner of the shop my apartment is above, came to our rescue in his pajamas with a fire extinguisher. “I’ll never forget the one time I let you cook for us.”

“I thought the plastic piece under the pizza was supposed to go in with the pizza. Sue me.”

I shake my head. She can’t cook at all, and her sense of humor is a little dark sometimes, but Charlotte is the best of the best. Making friends when you’re an adult is hard, especially when in an unfamiliar place. I’m lucky to have found her, and although I won’t be poisoning Oliver anytime soon, maybe she’s onto something.

Am I overthinking this?

I scrub my hands along my face as I let out a groan. “Am I thinking too much into this? Should I have already said yes?” I wonder if I’m being a little childish by wanting to deny the offer just to tell him no.

Charlotte scoots forward, placing her hands on my shoulders. “Yes, you should’ve already said yes, but that’s beside the point now. It’s not too late to say no.”

I nod, meeting her green gaze. “What if it is? I accidentally wasn’t the politest to him at lunch today…” I cringe a little, remembering how short I was with Cal. I think he left the restaurant still wanting me to take the job with him with the way my responses only made his smirk even wider, but I can’t be sure.

Charlotte quickly jumps up and claps her hands. “Up!”

I stay sitting. “Why?”

Charlotte rolls her eyes before grabbing my hand and pulling me off the bench herself. “It’s time for you to go find Cal and tell him you accept!”

“How do you know he’s still here?”

“Because where else would he be?” she counters, making it seem like my question was dumb in the first place. She might have a point. Most members spend their entire day here in the summer. They have nothing better to do with their time. Their work is play, and their play is work. And it’s all done here at Pembroke.

Before I can respond, the door to the locker room flies open. Charlotte and I both look in that direction, finding a woman in a black pantsuit leaning against the door.

“Don’t mind me,” the woman says, her palms flat against the wood door as she takes a couple of deep breaths.

I take a step forward in concern. “Are you okay?”

She gives me a tight smile. “I’m fine. Just babysitting and at the end of my rope.”

Charlotte and I share a look. Charlotte’s the one to speak up. “I love kids, but they can be a handful sometimes.”

The woman laughs, pushing pieces of neatly curled, dark hair from her face. “Oh, I wish my problem was a child. Unfortunately, I’m tasked with babysitting a grown man who’s currently making me contemplate committing murder.”

“Men will do that,” Charlotte pipes up.

This time, when the woman smiles, it actually reaches her eyes. “Yes, they will. Especially this one.”

“Ditch his ass,” Charlotte offers.

I shake my head at her, not bothering to hide my smile at her words. You never know what’s going to come out of her mouth. It’s one of my favorite things about her. “You can’t say that to people you don’t know,” I scold. This woman clearly isn’t a Pembroke employee, but something about her already mentioning wanting to commit murder tells me she won’t rat on Charlotte for cursing in front of a member.

“It’s fine,” the woman gets out with a sigh. “I’m Camille. And trust me, I wish I could ditch him. I dream about it every night, but tragically, my job depends on babysitting a self-absorbed asshole who wants to make my life miserable any chance he gets.”

“That sounds awful,” I remark, feeling bad for her. She looks about my age, maybe a little older. Her stress is evident in the rigid set of her shoulders and the slight wrinkle on her forehead.

“Is he hot, at least?” Charlotte asks, letting out a yelp when I smack her shoulder with the back of my hand.

Camille tucks a piece of her dark hair behind her ear as she lets out a sarcastic laugh. “Unfortunately, yes. And he knows it.”

Charlotte lets out a low whistle. “The worst combination.”

“You’re telling me,” Camille responds, pushing herself off the door with a groan. “I’ve got to get going. I snuck away for a moment while my client talked business with Beckham Sinclair, but I’ve got to get back to the table before he runs away and I get fired.”

“Good luck. If all else fails, give him a nice kick in the balls to keep him in line!” Charlotte says sweetly, twisting a blonde strand of her hair around her finger.

“Nice meeting you, Camille,” I say, trying to keep a straight face after Charlotte’s comment.

Camille opens the door before tossing one last smile over her shoulder. “I’ll be dreaming about giving him a good kick in the balls.”

“Are you in there gossiping about my balls?” a deep voice croons from the other side of the door.

Both Charlotte and I lean forward to sneak a peek. Unfortunately for us, the door slams shut before we can see the culprit behind Camille’s annoyance.

It’s quiet for a moment before Charlotte turns back to me, her eyes roaming over my face and hair. “Back to business. Let’s get you cleaned up a little from your shift, and then you’re going to go find Callahan and tell him you accept the job.”

I nod, anxious butterflies taking flight in my stomach. Is that my final decision? Am I going to accept? Charlotte fusses with smoothing out my hair as I try to convince myself it still isn’t a good idea to accept it.

But I can’t convince myself it’s the wrong decision. I think down the road, I’d be upset with myself if I turned down this opportunity.

“Purse your lips,” Charlotte demands, holding up a tube of lip gloss.

I laugh. “I’m saying yes to a job, not asking him on a date. Is lip gloss necessary?”

She scoffs. “It’s always necessary. Now, listen to me so you can get on with taking your dream position this summer.”

I do as I’m told, allowing Charlotte to fuss over me as I muster up the courage to find Cal and tell him I accept.