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What a Catch
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Asking for a Friend Out of Focus
LAYTON“I really hated seeing her cry,” I told Marissa on Monday afternoon. We were eating lunch in my office, Chinese takeout that I’d ordered up from a place down the street.Marissa’s shoes were off and her ankles were crossed on top of my sofa, where she was sitting sideways as we talked. Officially, we were in a meeting about cost estimations for a new project, but realistically, I didn’t know how many people who walked past actually believed that.I didn’t care though. I loved her. It was bound to come out sooner or later. I had zero fucks to give about what anyone else thought about it.Marissa smiled sympathetically. “I know. It’s the hardest part by far, seeing them sad and not knowing what to do to fix it. You did a great job, though.”“She’s resilient though,” I said. “I don’t think there’s much she can’t bounce back from.”“That’s true,” she said, as she took a bite of her spicy fried chicken, rocking her head from side to side as she chewed. Once she swallowed, she said,
Asking for a Friend Concerns
LAYTONMarissa smiled coyly, looking at me through her thick lashes. “So do I, and while you make a compelling argument, we can’t just flake.”“There has to be some perks to being the boss,” I argued. “We can go over those files of yours after. I’ll tell Carrie it’s going to take a few hours and we need to go review the files somewhere else.”“A few hours, huh?” Her cheeks flushed. “You’re feeling awfully confident today.”I scoffed, “I’m always feeling confident. And you know it. You also know my confidence has never been unjustified.”“Let’s just say you’ve got one very satisfied customer right here,” she winked before dropping her eyes back to the file. “But these guys won’t be unless we actually get to it.”“You’re no fun.” I wadded up a napkin and chucked it in her direction. “I’ll satisfy them anyway. Might as well satisfy you first.”“That’s such a line,” she smothered a giggle, arching an eyebrow. “Are you being serious or are you just messing with me right now?”“Depends. Are
Asking for a Friend Marking Her Territory
MARISSAA huge black sedan pulled up outside of our office building. Layton and I were waiting for a car Banks had insisted he send. Layton told him we could get to New Hampshire on our own, but the man wouldn’t hear of it.The driver of the huge black car got out, wearing a full freaking uniform complete with a hat and gloves, and walked up to Layton. “Mr. Bridges, my name is Victor. I’ll be your driver today.”What? This was the car Banks sent for us? My jaw threatened to drop. How many people did Banks think Layton was bringing with him? The thing looked like it could easily fit ten.Layton glanced at the car, lifting an eyebrow before he school his expression and nodded once. “Thank you, Victor.”“Do you have any luggage?” Victor asked, then spotted the overnight bags we each had next to us on the sidewalk. Without asking, he picked up both bags and deposited them in the trunk before coming back for us. “I’ll keep your bags while you’re in the meeting with Mr. Banks, and I’ve been
Asking for a Friend Meeting Mr. Banks
MARISSAEight minutes later and exactly, to the minute on time, yet another young woman came down a hallway to our right. “Mr. Bridges? Mr. Banks will see you now. Please follow me.”We did as she asked, being led to a conference room with a table the size of my house in the center of it. I was starting to wonder if this Mr. Banks had something to make up for, since his car, building and table were larger than life and he only seemed to have young attractive girls working in his office.I smirked, catching Layton’s eye. It was no wonder he had no use for such luxurious, ostentatious things. He had nothing to make up for.He narrowed his eyes questioningly, but I shook my head. I would have to remember to tell him later. He would get a kick out of it. At that moment, the conference room doors swung open again and a fifty-something man in an impeccable suit stepped through them. There were some gray strands interrupting his otherwise jet black hair and his eyes were almost the same colo
Asking for a Friend None of the Credit
LAYTONThree weeks after New Hampshire, I still hadn’t given Banks an answer to his odd request. I couldn’t really believe he would even ask such a thing, it was unheard of. As far as I knew, anyway. I’d done some homework since getting back from the meeting and it turned out that every property Banks owned had him listed as the architect.I didn’t know why the hell it was so important to him, but it was clearly something he’d been doing for a long time. Most architects didn’t have the money to cover the cost of a building if he threatened to pull out if they didn’t give him credit. I wasn’t most people.But I still hadn’t decided what I was going to do. Despite the fact that my inheritance was large enough to tide over several small countries for a year, and I’d had my own success and didn’t live too extravagantly. I had paid a small fortune for my apartment, but I figured that was both an investment and my sanctuary.My car was nice and I wore only tailored clothes. I wasn’t selfish
Asking for a Friend It Is a Big Deal
LAYTON“Do you think Banks would consider having both of your names on as architects? It’s still super unfair, but at least you don’t lose credit completely,” Marissa suggested, but I shook my head.“I asked him that about two weeks ago. He didn’t even hear me all the way out before he turned me down. I think he only took the call because he thought I was calling to tell him I would sign his NDA.”Marissa frowned, scrunching up her nose. “He’s being such a child about this. Like, ‘Yes, I like that. I must tell everyone I was clever enough to design it.’ What an idiot. Not even Annie would do something like that. At least I taught her to share. It doesn’t look like his mother succeeded in teaching him even that. Or some commonly accepted values like giving credit where credit is due.”“I don’t know what his issue is,” I shrugged, because his motivations didn’t change anything. He was adamant about canceling the agreement if I didn’t sign all credit over to him. He said it wasn’t worth
Asking for a Friend God Complex
MARISSAFrustrated over Layton’s attitude about Banks wanting to take credit for his design, I left the office after our meeting. The only good thing that had come out of the day was meeting Craig.Layton talked to me about Craig sometimes and he mentioned him often. I knew Craig was not only Layton’s preferred contractor, but also his best friend.Meeting him was a big deal for me, and I’d been nervous about it. But it turned out I didn’t have to be. Craig and I were on the same line of the same page about the Banks thing, and generally speaking, Craig seemed like a great guy.I was surprised by how relaxed and easygoing he was. Before I got to know Layton, I wouldn’t have thought there was one easygoing bone in his body. I definitely wouldn’t have expected his best friend to be a guy like Craig.He had an easy smile, could talk the ear off a donkey if he liked you it seemed, or listen seriously when the situation called for it. It didn’t hurt that he wasn’t an ugly guy either. In fa
Asking for a Friend Ballerina Angel
MARISSA“Beautiful,” I almost whispered, my voice thick with emotion. “You look like a ballerina angel.”“What’s a ballerina angel?” Annie giggled, scrunching up her nose.I shrugged. “It’s the most beautiful angel of them all.”She laughed again and then went back to studying her reflection in the mirror. “Do you think I need other shoes?”On her feet were silver slippers with tiny pink bows at the back of her ankles. She held her left foot up to me so I could get a good look at it. “No, baby. I think those are gorgeous. They go perfectly with that dress.”“That’s what I think, too.” Denise agreed. “You’re perfect, darling. Absolutely perfect. I think you’re ready to party.”“Agreed,” I said. “But I also think you should get out of that dress for now, before it gets dirty.”Annie tended to get dirt on her even when she slept, or that was what it felt like sometimes. I wasn’t one of those neurotic moms who refused to let their child get near dirt, I thought it was good for them to get
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