Perfectly Lonely - Jessica Marin Page 0,61

roaming hands.

“Walk me to my car?” He doesn’t give me a chance to answer as he gets up, takes my hand and heads toward the house. He kisses me two more times before he leaves, one of those times coming dangerously close to us having sex on the hood of his car. I watch him drive away, leaving me breathless with hopes for tomorrow.

25

Chase

My heart is hammering in my chest from the adrenaline that is buzzing through my body as I watch Cal sign on the dotted line; his letter of intent to become our first investor and celebrity endorser in the history of Wilson Enterprises. We had transportation pick up Cal and his agent separately this morning in order to meet us at a hanger for the chartered helicopters we rented to take us to the vineyard. The forty-five minute helicopter ride east provided gorgeous views of the mountains that cascade through British Columbia and Washington State. Once we landed, we spent all day touring the vineyard with the Chief of Staff, who meticulously explained each and every detail that goes into the making of our most famous commodity — ice wine. After meetings and lunch filled with samplings of our wines, we took the helicopters back to Vancouver to have more meetings at headquarters. Cal was gracious and shook every single employee’s hand, signed autographs, and took photos with them before we were able to isolate him in more meetings that included marketing and advertising plans for him. We went over content of the contract we had previously sent to his lawyers and accountants for approval a couple of days ago. Once adjustments on numbers of profit revenue sharing were corrected, it only took Cal and his agent to have a ten minute private discussion before announcing his verbal agreement to our terms. We went over the updated itinerary for the next couple of days as we’ll now do a press conference at the vineyard and have a private party in downtown Vancouver, inviting the most influential people in British Columbia. Those people on the list being other potential investors that Rhys and I have on our wishlist.

We walk Cal and his agent back to the awaiting transportation and watch in silence as they leave our offices. Once their cars are out of sight, Rhys and I turn to look at each other. I stare at him in amazement as genuine excitement is radiating from his eyes.

“I can’t believe that just happened. We did it — we fucking did it!” he shouts and before I can answer, he’s hugging me tightly. I wrap my arms around him in return, savoring this moment with him as brotherly moments like this are few and far between. “I feel like I just scored five goals,” he laughs as we break apart and walk back to our offices.

“Enjoy this feeling, baby brother. All your hard work in saving our family’s business is going to pay off,” I reassure him, wanting him to feel as proud of himself as I am of him.

“No, Chase. You sealed this deal. We might have physically arranged everything, but it was your vision, your knowledge of the vineyard, your confidence and savvy business skills of putting the deal together. We could never have pulled this off without you.” His acknowledgement of my hard work means the world to me as I busted my ass on this deal and to see it come to fruition sparked that passion that I once had for Wilson Enterprises. I’ve missed this place. I’ve missed the employees. I feel valued and respected here — two emotions that you’ll never find in the paparazzi business. This is where I belong and with the outcome of today, I know I’m needed in order to bring success back to the family business.

I belong here and the feeling calms any anxiety I had of returning home.

Where does that leave Layla?

Shit, I forgot about dinner with Layla!

So caught up in the emotions of the day, that I lost track of time. When I look at my watch for the time, I’m shocked to see it is past eight p.m. I excuse myself from my brother and race back to my office to find three missed text messages within the last four hours from her:

Layla: Are we still on for dinner tonight? If so, what are the plans?

Layla: Hope you are okay since I haven’t heard from you.

Layla: Couldn’t wait anymore for dinner. Enjoy your evening.

I quickly rattle