Chapter Four
Chris gave me one of his charming smiles that took my breath away and responded, “Well, if we’re going to be working together, I feel like it would be prudent to get to know each other.”
I nodded at his logic. “That sounds fair.” I gave him a hesitant smile. “Where should we start?”
That was the beginning of our friendship. We learned that we had so much in common and we hung out constantly. Breakfast or lunch meetings turned into dinner meetings which then turned into meeting up at each other’s houses. We had more friendly meetings than professional ones, though we did make progress with his book. I found myself thankful to have a friend that understood how heartbreaking it was to see my ex-boyfriend engaged to my brother.
Soon it was three months later and we were discussing promotion of Chris’s book over beers at my apartment. I had different ideas scattered around us on the coffee table, floor, and couch. He was sitting on the couch looking at a potential poster and I was sitting on the floor, laptop on the coffee table, and beer in my hand.
“I don’t know about this one,” Chris said to me as he leaned toward my back. I could feel his closeness, my ears tingling as his breath brushed them.
I turned to him and raised and eyebrow. “What bothers you about it?”
He placed the poster on the table, shaking his head. I looked at the one he was upset with. It was the one with the two main characters depicted in front of an ocean at night. I had personally liked this cover because it made the story look both romantic and dark at the same time. I prepared to say this to him when I saw that Chris was about to say something.
“I just think it makes it look too much like a romance novel.” He looked at me with the smile that I had grown fond of. “I like that it’s in the dark, but it seems too intimate in my opinion.”
That took me aback a bit and I thought of my response for a minute before I said, “I can see your concern. I liked that it seems romantic because it shows the love and the darkness at the same time.” I took a deep breath. “I also think that this will be the way to appeal to the female audience.”
Chris turned back to the poster on my coffee table pensively. “I guess that makes sense. Let me think about it for a bit before we go with this one. I do want to appeal to women, but I just don’t want to lose the integrity of my story.”
I nodded my agreement and typed up notes about this meeting. Chris began to clean up all the documents that were everywhere. He grabbed my beer off the coffee table where I left it and shook the can a bit. “You left some in here.”
I looked up at him. “Yeah, I haven’t finished it yet.” He gave me a mischievous smile and placed his mouth on the can to finish off my beer. I shook my head and threw a wadded-up paper I had beside me at him. “You jerk.”
He laughed as he dodged the projectile. “If you want, you can come get the dregs from my mouth.” He winked at me as he walked out of my living room to my kitchen.
My heart skipped a beat as I finished up my notes and closed my laptop. Chris had a habit of flirting with me so blatantly and I could never figure out if he was serious or not. I kept trying to not take him seriously because I didn’t want to get my hopes up, but he kept becoming more hardcore with his flirtations. I stood up from my spot on the floor and walked into my kitchen where Chris was leaning on my counter, petting Noir. This was one of my favorite things to watch whenever Chris hung out at my house. Noir loved him almost as much as he loved me which was always a big hint as to what kind of person anyone was.
I opened my fridge, pulled out the last beer, opened it and began sipping at it. “So, once you feel comfortable with the promotion materials, we can get you set up with vendors and bookstores. Let’s shoot for next week.”
Chris looked up from petting Noir and smiled. “That sounds like a plan.” He then walked over to me and took the beer from me. “So, are you looking forward to the party on Saturday?” He asked me as he took a swig from my beer.
I rolled my eyes at him and crossed my arms. “Oh, yeah, I’m super excited to attend my ex’s engagement party.”
Chris laughed. “It’s also your brother’s engagement party. You might be happy for him at least.”
I glared at my “friend” and shrugged. “I’ll go and show my support, but I probably won’t be having much fun. Are you planning on taking anyone?” I hoped he didn’t get suspicious of my prying question.
Chris looked down at the beer in his hand then looked up at me through his eye lashes. “The person I want to take with me isn’t ready for me to ask them yet.”
He paused and looked directly at me, making me blush. Was he hinting that I was the one he wanted to take to the party? Should I get my hopes up? No, I told myself. He’s just a shameless flirt, don’t get caught up in it.
I took a deep breath and started to walk away. “Well, I guess we can just hang out during the party, that’ll make it at least a little bearable.” I looked back at him and winked. “Let’s see who can drink the most without making a fool of themselves.”
Chris laughed and followed behind me after chugging the last of the beer and throwing the can out. We both walked to my room where we both laid down on the bed after changing into our pajamas (Chris had extra clothes at my place for these long evenings). I pulled my blanket over my chest and turned to see Chris do the same with his own blanket (we had to have separate blankets as we both loved to hog them).
“Good night,” I whispered, then closed my eyes, succumbing to the exhaustion that washed over me suddenly. I always fell asleep fast when he was next to me, and I never had any nightmares.
“Good night,” I heard his whispered reply before I dove into a wonderful dream.
Saturday came up way too soon, and so did the engagement party. I found myself at the Imperial Atlantis, a hotel owned by the Jones family. I rented a suite for the weekend so that I could get wasted and not have to drive myself home and so that Chris could stay with me. It was great having a friend like him that understood my pain.
I looked at the big mirror found in one of the rooms in my suite. The three-piece, navy blue, slim-fit suit I was wearing accentuated my eyes and my figure. Paris had been the one to pick this suit out for me when we had gone shopping together a year before. I adjusted the gray tie I was wearing and swept my bangs out of my face. The day would be filled with memories of Paris and I was not ready for it.
I looked at the watch, checking for the time, when I remembered that this too was a gift from Paris. I need a shot, I thought to myself as I heard a knock on the door. I looked back at my watch and saw that it was only 6:15. I wasn’t late, so why was someone knocking on the door?
I opened the door and my anxiety instantly left when I saw Chris there holding up a bottle of whiskey. “I figured you might need a quick drink before we headed to the party.”
I let him into the suite and walked over to get some glasses. “You read my mind,” I told him. “I literally was thinking I needed a shot of something.”
Chris nodded as he took the glasses from me, opened the bottle, and poured a generous amount in each. “If I don’t know my best friend by now, what kind of person would I be?”
Did my heart hurt when he referred to me as a friend? No, I was just feeling anxious about the party again… I think… I took the glass he offered me, clinked it to his, and took a healthy swig. The familiar burn washed over me and I felt myself relax once again. I motioned for Chris to take a seat and I sat down across from him.
“So, how are you holding up,” he asked me, concern evident in his eyes.
“As well as you would expect.” I told him, taking another swig of my whiskey. “I am wearing a suit that Pairs picked out for me a year ago, the watch he bought me for Christmas last year, and in fifteen minutes I have to go watch him be happy next to my brother.” I gulped down the remainder of the whiskey in my cup.
Chris whistled. “Yikes, man. That sounds rough.”
I laughed. “I’ll be alright. I’ll just stick to my best friend all night and hopefully wake up hung over tomorrow.”
Chris laughed at that and stood up, finishing off his own drink. “I can make that happen.” He held his hand out to me. I took it and stood up. He kept my hand in his for a minute. “Let’s go have fun at your ex’s engagement party.”
I groaned as we both walked toward the door. “Only because I have to.”
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