Chapter 48
Chapter 48
Mandy arrived back at her apartment below Carl’s house late into the night. Exhausted, she crawled into bed with her clothes on and made sure to set her alarm so she would wake up on time. She needed to get off the emotional rollercoaster she had been on.
Too tired to even think anymore, she fell asleep and decided to deal with life in the morning. Carl, her family, the shambles of her personal life, could all wait. Nothing was going to change in the night so worrying wouldn’t fix anything. Sleep would.
The morning didn’t bring any added comfort but she did feel better. She dressed and headed into the office early. Ready to tackle work and lose herself in it.
If Carl needed her, it would only be work related from now on.
She scoffed. How many times had she told herself that already?
Gina came in and told her the investor was in Carl’s office.
She nodded and grabbed her file on the table. “Thanks, Gina.” She headed into Carl’s office and looked up in surprise. “Nicholas?”
“Hey, Mandy,” Nicholas said, just as surprised as she was. “What’re you doing here?”
“Carl—Mr. Salvo asked me to speak with an investor who wasn’t sure he was interested in the project. I was just going over the file.” She glanced down again. “I didn’t realize it was you.”
He harrumphed. “Where’s Carl?”
“In...” She hesitated, unsure if she should mention Carl’s father. “Mr. Salvo’s away. He asked me to talk to you. What’s going on?”
He grinned at her as she walked around and leaned against the edge of Carl’s large desk. “I’m having second thoughts... on my second thoughts now.”
She smiled. “Talk to me.”
“Over lunch?” He glanced around. “Things not working out between you and Mr. Salvo?”
She felt her cheeks burn but she ignored it. “I told you Nicholas, I work for Mr. Salvo. That’s it.”
He smiled. “A beautiful woman like you, and Carl hasn’t put the moves on you? That seems impossible.”
Mandy stared at him, wondering if he knew. She doubted Carl would say anything. Maybe it was obvious on her. She held his gaze, refusing to give away anything.
“Damn! You must be really good at your job for him not to risk losing you.”
Mandy chose to ignore his comment. “I thought you wanted to talk about the investment, not Mr. Salvo’s, or my, personal business.” She kept her voice pleasant but there was no mistaking her tone.
Nicholas tugged at his earlobe. “My apologies. I didn’t mean—”
“How about we talk about why you are having second thoughts. Why the hesitation to invest the money?”
The conversation continued and Mandy kept it completely professional. Nicholas commented on her knowledge and apologized again and again for his comment about Carl and her. As they wrapped up, he tried again, “Mandy, I want to apologize again for my earlier comment. It was completely unprofessional and I am not the jealous type. I don’t know why I said what I said and I hope you can forget it or let it go.”
“It’s on the verge of sexual harassment, Nicholas.” She took a moment to gloat when his eyes grew big.
“I know. I know. It was stupid. I didn’t mean it against you. Carl just has a history...”
She raised her eyebrows and he stopped. “I’m going to give you a ‘by’ on this one Nicholas. One time only. You keep your name on the contract and when the deal makes you a few extra million, you remember I gave you a second chance.” She wasn’t sure why she was saying it, but she was using his mistake as a means to force him to not break his contract. Business at this level was lethal and by any means necessary she figured.
Nicholas chuckled and handed her a check. “You got it. But not because of what I said to cover my ass, but because you’re one smart businesswo—person. Carl is an idiot, but I’m not complaining.” He shook her hand. “The dinner offer still stands, if you’re interested in talking business or ever decide you want to look at running your own company one day. I can make that happen.” He smiled and headed out of the office whistling.
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Carl FLEW BACK TO NEW York a week after his father’s funeral. He looked exhausted and it didn’t seem to take much to tick him off, but he also seemed lighter now, as if a huge burden had been lifted off his shoulders. He asked Mandy to schedule plans to see Mark for dinner in New York in about a month, and to book a few days off over the fourth of July weekend to head back home. He told her nothing else, kept it professional, and Mandy decided she needed to do the same. Her heart disagreed but she tried her best to ignore it.
The incident in the truck was never brought up, and the awkwardness between her and Carl was less apparent as the days progressed. In private, they addressed each other casually and were cordial. Mandy hated that she couldn’t dismiss the feeling of longing she felt for him. No one made her feel as good as he did. Ever.
“Are you all right?” Gina asked Mandy after work one day.
“Huh? Oh, yeah, I am.” Mandy smiled at her weakly. “Sorry, I spaced out for a second. What were you saying?”
Gina shook her head. “You’ve been spaced out for way more than a second. You’ve hardly touched your drink.”
Mandy looked at the margarita on the bar top and realized that while Gina had already drank most of hers, Mandy had only taken a few sips.
“What’s going on?” Gina’s brow furrowed. “Is this about your sister’s wedding? Claudia and your mother keep calling the front desk and I just take the message and then toss it in the bin.” She grinned, and then grew serious and tilted her head as she stared at Mandy. “Did something happen with Carl in Philadelphia? You’ve seemed off ever since you guys got back.”
“We’re not supposed to address our boss by his first name,” Mandy said automatically.
Gina rolled her eyes. “Oh, please. It’s after work, we’re at a bar, not the office, and I’m not talking about our boss. I’m talking about the man you have had sizzling sexual tension with ever since you started working there.”
Mandy flushed. “I wouldn’t say anything was sizzling between the two of us.”
“Then you are fooling yourself. And so is Carl.” She polished off her drink and looked around the bar.
“Look, even if there was anything between us, he’s my boss. I love my job too much to risk anything.” She held her hand up to stop Gina. “Nothing happened between us. And no, nothing is bothering me.”
“You’re delusional if you think there’s nothing between the two of you.”
Mandy sighed. “It’s not Carl, okay? Things are actually fine between us. It’s my sister’s wedding that I’m worried about.” She did feel guilty about the wedding and had spoken to her mother. She promised her mother that she would be there and wouldn’t cause a scene. “I don’t want to go. But at the same time, she’s my sister, you know?”
Gina nodded sympathetically. “Normally, I’d say you should go because it’s good to have a relationship with family. But in your case, I don’t know. Your family has done nothing to support you—hell, they have even tried to sabotage you—so why should you support them? You have a tough decision. I do think you have to go if you want to continue having a relationship with them, though. Show them you are better than what they think you are.”
Mandy could imagine her life without her family. They would no longer make her feel bad about her body. Claudia couldn’t insult her anymore, and she would no longer have to see Stephen. She wouldn’t have to constantly witness her mother favoring Claudia over her or her father favoring work over her. But she would miss other times as well. The times she and Claudia used to gossip about boys and watch romantic comedies. Trying a new recipe with her mother, only for them to realize halfway through that they forgot a really important step and had to start all over again. Attending Broadway plays with her dad. Things had gotten really messed up with the wedding and the conflict about Stephen, but it hadn’t always been that bad. At least, she didn’t think so. “I don’t know,” she said finally. She sighed. Hiding wasn’t going to fix anything. Nor was not talking to her family. Look what that had done to Carl’s. “It’s so complicated.”
Gina nodded. “Family always is,” she said and gr
abbed Mandy’s drink to take a sip. “Except your family’s more complicated than most.”