Meredith woke up the next morning feeling good about herself. It wasn’t love at first sight. She didn’t believe in that. The guy wasn’t even Prince Charming even though the had a princely accent. She had finally stopped saying no and went out. Even if she hadn’t had a decent time with one of the guys there she had fun. She tried sushi for the first time. And although she wasn’t excited to go try it again she didn’t find it terrible, except that weird green paste. She did karaoke for the first time and actually really liked it. The whole event was pleasant. She didn’t have to date the guy she had been paired off with but he seemed like a nice enough person to hang out with again. He was funny, he had interesting hobbies, and he was smart.
She decided to text both Taylor and Jordan the same message:
Thanks for last night. I had a lot of fun. :)
Simple to the point and they both were responsible for helping her have a good time, which she was thankful for.
Anytime Hon.
Taylor responded. And Meredith picked up Dino and danced around her living room for a few minutes as Dino rolled his eyes. She finally put her dizzy cat down on the love seat and headed to the closet to grab something to wear and go get washed and dressed for her typical movie Saturday.
On her way out she grabbed a jacket from her armoire because movie theaters were notoriously cold and she headed downtown. While on the L she looked at her phone app to check the showtimes and plotted out three movies for the day. She had her bag with her and stopped at Dylan’s Candy Store on Michigan Ave. to get some high quality movie snacks and then stopped at Wholefoods for a wrap and headed into the theater around the corner.
Meredith bought three tickets to three different movies. The ticket taker was new so she had to quickly explain and they shrugged and tore all three stubs for her. She heard a ping on her phone and looked down to see Jordan respond.
I’m assuming this is Meredith. lol I had fun too Luv. Let’s do it again.
Meredith smiled as she rode up the escalator into the downtown Chicago theater. She went and got a soda and a bag of popcorn and headed to her first show. The movie had something to do with vampires that lived on the dark side of the moon and came to earth to feed once every hundred years. Meredith liked the soundtrack but enjoyed her Wholefoods wrap far more than the movie. With half a bag of popcorn and half a wrap she headed to the theater bar to wait for the next show.
“Hey, Meredith.” A security guard strolled up to her and said hello. He was an off duty police officer picking up extra hours as a security guard at the theater. She saw him nearly every Saturday. He wore a Black Security uniform with a Security cap. He had a smile with dimples that could kill and muscles on top of muscles. He wasn’t one of those donut loving cops he was rock solid. His skin was olive and his eyes were chocolate. Anyway she looked at him, he was delicious.
“Oh! Hi Aaron! How are you?”
“You know, same ol’ same ol’. What are you seeing tonight?”
“I saw Darker Side of the Moon and waiting to see Fire Cloak and The Passing 3.”
“Oh. The Passing 3 was good. Better than 2 I think.”
“Sweet.”
“You ever wanna watch one when I’m off duty I’ll join you.” He added a wink for extra measure. Normally Meredith would have laughed him off but after last night she decided why not and tore another piece of origami paper and wrote her number on. She handed it to him and told him to let her know when he was off duty then headed to her second movie.
Meredith only had about fifteen minutes between films so she went straight to the next movie. The guard found her and handed her a bag of chocolate covered almonds.
“I noticed you didn't have a bag of these tonight.” He winked at her and headed back out as he called out over his shoulder, “Enjoy the show.” She smiled and did just that. And Aaron was right, The Passing 3 was better than the first or second. She had finished her popcorn and wrap in the previous movie and saved dessert for last but since she had chocolate almonds she saved her Dylan’s for later and ate the almonds.
I’m becoming a gigolo, Meredith thought on her ride home. She didn’t even know what a gigolo was but she had Ben, Jordan, and Aaron all setting up dates with her, not to mention Taylor’s plan to get her hitched to Edward Maxwell in less than a week. Chad was ancient history. And he really was ancient history. She hadn’t seen or heard from him in nearly two years. And now she knew she wouldn’t need to.
When Meredith got home she danced Dino around before giving him a night time snack of leftover movie popcorn. She had saved a handful just for him. Then took a long shower and opened her armoire drawers to find her satin pajama short set that always made her feel extra special then she headed to bed early. She still had an important project to work on Monday and she was going to spend Sunday with her mother.
Meredith avoided the pigeons and made sure she had no loose popcorn in her purse as she headed to the Metra the next day. She would take the train to Schaumburg where her mother lived. Meredith’s mother picked her up at the train station and the went to Yu’s Mandarin for lunch. Meredith really had been craving Chinese food since the sushi left her wanting a little more asian in her life. “So how have you been this week?” Meredith’s mother asked her after they ordered drinks. “I got a big project at work so I have been crazy busy. It’s due on Friday so I still have a lot of work to do.” Meredith looked around the restaurant. She felt uneasy as though someone were watching them somewhere. “Oh! Meri, that's wonderful.” Her mother had called her Meri since she could remember. “Will you get a promotion?”
Meredith spent all day Monday with Karen in the meeting room with their laptops going over the ad campaign and adjusting and perfecting their designs. Mr. Hubert kept walking up to the glass window and just watching them without coming in. They knew he was anxious when he kept pulling out his mustache comb and running it through his mustache over and over. It just added to the creepy effect he was creating, which wasn’t helpful to their concentration.“Even if they don’t see this as amazing I’m proud of what we have going here. It truly is amazing.” Karen told Meredith as they looked at the preview on the screen. “Choosing to go with the more risky font without a backup is a bit of a gamble but it allows us time to perfect it rather than split between two projects essentially.”“Exactly. Mr. Hubert wants us to wow
Meredith showed Jordan into her apartment with a giggle. She had promised to show him her origami collection since he showed her his photography. He had phrased it: “I show you mine so you have to show me yours.” “I don’t know how my cat Dino will take to you but it seems like he is giving us some privacy. Not many places to hide in this small apartment but leave it to a cat to find a place to vanish to.” She said as she pulled the large hat box down from her armoire and bent down to set it on the coffee table. It took up most of the table. “Nice box.” Jordan said in his slightly slurred British accent with a smirk. He had a double meaning as he had been checking her out from behind but it went over her head. “Thank you. I got it a a thrift store. I thought it would be perfect for my origami.” She opened the box
The next day Meredith met Karen, Greg and Mr. Hubert in the meeting room and they went over their ad campaign. Mr. Hubert sat for thirty minutes not saying a word just scrutinizing it in every way possible.“And you didn’t make a backup?” He finally asked.“No, sir. We thought it would better to risk a gamble on having more time to refine and polish one rather than work on two.”“That was a good idea. Had anyone else done it I wouldn’t have agreed but the two of you are something else. Great work indeed.”“Thank you, sir.” Meredith and Karen said in unison while Greg nodded in agreement.“I want the three of you to spend as long as possible with the printers to
Meredith was woken up by a very loud alarm that Taylor had set by the bed. She groaned and rolled around but she knew she had to get up because the big day had finally arrived. She padded out Sarah’s bedroom and into the the living room following the smell of coffee into the kitchen. “Morning!” Taylor said as she flitted around the kitchen and paused to hand Meredith a mug. “I made a light breakfast just in case you’re nervous. Also don’t want you bloated or anything when you’re supposed to look sexy.” “Thanks.” Meredith responded grumpily, half sarcastically and half actual gratitude. She was actually kind of hungry she had forgotten to eat dinner the night before. She finished pouring her cup of coffee and adding three spoons of sugar with a splash of two percent milk while Taylor set their dishes on the other side of the island in front of two bar stools.
Meredith stepped onto the elevator. She was wearing platform nude pumps, a very sexy high-waisted black pencil skirt with a gold zipper that traveled up the back, a cropped short-sleeved red satin blouse, and a very confident smile. Her hair and makeup had been done to perfection and she was, as Mr. Hubert had put it earlier, “Wow.” Across from her in the corner of the elevator one of the three Maxwell brothers stood leaning slightly against the wall. He wore elephant grey derby shoes, a solid blue three-piece suit with a skinny grey tie tucked into his vest, his dark brown hair was parted on the side and buzzed short around the sides but long on the top. His clear green eyes looked the color of mossy but with the clarity of an emerald. His jaw was clenched as though he were deep in thought and he wore a five o’clock shadow across it. Meredith had been
“Your late.” The David told her. “Sit down.” Meredith glanced into the corner office, along the side wall closest to her was floor to ceiling black shelves full of books and a few shelves had room for awards and framed event photos. Against the back wall she noticed as she walked across the room was a large framed abstract painting in bold colors and below it was a dry bar with an assortment of liquor bottles and glasses. The other two walls were floor to ceiling windows looking out over the financial district of Chicago. There were potted plants in each corner, two modern grey arm chairs sat in front of a large black desk with a iMac and and mouse to the left and a macbook pro in the center of the desk with a small stack of papers to the right. The David sat in a black leather chair as he frantically typed something on his macbook pro. Meredith sat down in one of the grey chairs in front of his des
“You’re Mr. Maxwell, my boss.” She wasn’t entirely sure what he meant by that. “There are several Maxwells. Which one am I. I’m obviously not Edward Maxwell because you already had a meeting with him earlier. What do you refer to me as?” “Honestly?” “Preferably.” “A David.” Meredith responded and the David smirked but other than that he made no signs in the positive or negative towards her remark. The server arrived with some sort of artichoke dish and then left again. She didn’t wait for proper etiquette and began to eat. “Well you obviously know about the fan club but are not part of it. That’s a plus.” “Knowing about the fan club?” She asked between bites.
Meredith was thoroughly enjoying the garden party. There were immaculate flowers, greenery and shrubs delicately sprinkled around the greenest lushest lawn Meredith had ever seen. She had gotten so many compliments on her outfit. Of course, she gave all the credit to Brayden who had picked it all out. Brayden charmed all the women without even saying anything, when he did they were almost faint.Meredith shook her head at it all and went about the party trying every bit of the au d'oeuvres that were presented. If she found one that was exceptional she would pop it in Brayden’s mouth. Brayden didn’t complain because he loved watching Meredith doing this little dance of the foodie.The Baxton’s finally caught up with Meredith and Brayden near the sushi station where Meredith was trying a mini dragon roll. Brayden was talking to a well known architect and promising to stop by and take a look at his home designs.“I see you two made it okay,” Dave Baxton greeted he chuckled watching Mere
Meredith and Brayden had finished their fourth and last jump of the day. They had been at the Chicagoland Skydiving Center for nearly the whole day. They were having so much of a fun time it felt like time flew by and before they knew it they were on jump four and starting to wear out a bit.They thanked Steve and scheduled to come back in a week to go over more ground training and get some more jumps in. Then they headed on their way.“I’ll drive. You’re exhausted, babe,” Brayden said and he opened the passenger seat for Meredith to get in.“It’s just an excuse to drive my car.”“Maybe”“Did you like it really?” Meredith asked with a yawn as Brayden slid into the driver’s seat.“I loved it! I think we should do jumps on Saturday and Sunday. Eight jumps a week and we can get to two hundred in no time.” Brayden looked like he was grinning, which to anyone else would look like a small smile. Meredith knew her husband was excited and so was she. Brayden drove towards Schaumburg and foun
Meredith woke up earlier than usual for a Saturday. She had a long night and had only managed to squeeze in a few hours of sleep. Still she felt refreshed and with excitement that her husband was slightly afraid of. He of course had been up long before she opened her eyes.Brayden recalled the kayaking date, which was fun with a hint of danger being him falling into the river with Meredith laughing. But that was nothing compared to her jumping down the Swiss Wall. And while they were separated Brayden had no idea what Meredith had been up to. Jacob had been very vague with his reports.Brayden, who wasn’t sure how to dress for wherever Meredith was taking them, opted for casual attire. He wore a pair of Bruno Magli Italian leather sneakers in a dark burnished chestnut color. He had on a pair of Brunello Cucinelli navy cashmere creased sweatpants and a white Tom Ford t-shirt under a black The Row cashmere zip up hoodie.He followed Dino into the kitchen where he first fed Dino then pre
Meredith and Brayden took the elevator down to Brayden’s office. Brayden seemed to be deep in thought so Meredith decided not to interrupt. Finally just as they entered Brayden’s office he turned to her and raised an eyebrow.“What?” Meredith asked, confused.“What’s going on tomorrow?” Brayden asked in a serious tone.“I just decided to pick up a new hobby and thought it would be great if you came with me,” Meredith gave her best I’m-an-angel smile and puppy dog eyes.“As long as you aren’t planning on jumping off the side of a mountain again.” Brayden moved in close to his wife and searched her eyes.“Not at the moment,” Meredith smirked. Brayden leaned in to kiss the smirk off Meredith’s face. She reached around his waist and he wrapped her in his embrace as they both sighed a calming peaceful sigh simultaneously.“If you want to move back to the condo let’s make it happen.” Brayden conceded. “I don’t care where I live as long as I’m with you.” Meredith looked up into Brayden’s sin
Meredith was on her way out the office to have lunch with Brayden before they went to see his father to talk about the CEO position. Brayden had felt very strongly about securing the title. So much so that he had coerced a random stranger in the elevator into marrying him. Meredith sighed in relief as she walked out of her building and saw Sean waiting with the familiar Mercedes to take her to the Maxwell Sharpe building. She had on her black belted pleated short sleeve Burberry dress and her strappy Louboutin stiletto sandals. “It’s good to see you, Sean. Thank you.” Meredith said as she reached the car. “It’s good to see you too, Mrs. Maxwell.” Sean responded. Meredith smiled and got into the car and they were soon on their way. Meredith was slightly nervous about
Meredith felt that familiar thumping and the pounding through her body as her feet hit the treadmill mat in her building’s workout room. She looked out the window at the natural light shining in the already bright workout space and smiled. She no longer needed to run as an escape or to be strong enough to push things down in order to be a perfect Maxwell. This time she had chosen Brayden and they truly were a united team going into things. As she was running she remembered her parents’ had been suspicious about her relationship with Brayden. Maybe they should look for a new home. It would be weird if Meredith had told her parents that they were getting a new place and they just kept the old one. Meredith shrugged to herself, and started her cooldown. Technically her apartment was a new place for them. And t
Meredith woke up in her husband's arms and didn’t want to get out of bed. She sighed and picked up her phone and pressed the button to light up the display flashing the time before her eyes. Another sigh and a light groan later and she was getting out of bed and headed into her shared walk-in-closet and chose something to wear from her work wardrobe.She picked a Tommy Hilfiger pencil skirt with front faux zippered pockets. She paired it with a pair of BCBG black pumps and her Eileen silk top. Meredith got washed and dressed and grabbed her Michael Kors bag and headed out for work.She texted Jacob as she walked from her apartment to her job and made sure that was going to send Brayden home on time and make sure that he ate lunch. Meredith decided she was going to nag about this for the week.She d
“No secrets, Mere.” Taylor was looking Meredith up and down and her outfit. She knew Meredith had kept her ‘billionaire wardrobe’ at Brayden’s for whatever reason but was now suddenly wearing them. “I can’t wear them?” Meredith tried to feign ignorance to no avail. Taylor just gave her a look and Alyssa was still confused. “Isn’t Brayden your husband?” Alyssa asked, having never met him but heard stories. “I don’t understand. Do you have separate homes?” “Yes. Sort of.” Meredith responded and Taylor raised an eyebrow as the server dropped off more drinks. “We separated.” “What!” Alyssa gasped while Taylor casually picked up her drink and waited for Meredith to get to the part she was interested in; why Meredith was wearing clothes that were at Brayden’s. “We missed each other. He's moving in my place and we are working things out.” Meredith shrugged then began to sip her drink as well. She had gotten a lemonade so she wouldn’t have to worry about Clinton popping up and carrying he
Brayden wanted to help Meredith get rid of her Christian problem. Meredith didn’t really want Brayden involved at all. If she had needed help she would have called Jacob but she wasn’t ready to go that route. In all actuality, Meredith was hoping Christian would get the clues and bold hints she had for him that she wasn’t interested.“If it gets too much for me to handle, I’ll let you know.” Meredith told Brayden over some twenty-three layer chocolate cake that she had picked up earlier. Brayden picked the dessert wine and as always Meredith was loving the combination and they accented one another.“I was worried you would say that. Meredith, I want to be with you. Hopefully that’s a little more obvious by me moving in but for this to work I think we are going to need some sort of structure.”