𝐇𝐞𝐫 𝐏𝐢𝐥𝐨𝐭 || ᴊᴇɴʟɪsᴀ

𝐭 𝐰 𝐞 𝐧 𝐭 𝐲 - 𝐟 𝐨 𝐮 𝐫

Monday morning with coffee in hand I strolled through Mark’s open door, psyched up and ready to tell him about Lisa and me. Between the success of Saturday night, the hot sex that followed and our sweet, lazy Sunday I was so loved-up that I wanted to shout it to the world. Mark glanced up as I closed the door quietly, but said nothing about my sudden appearance in his office.

Sitting opposite him, I noticed the disarray of his desk. Sales and purchases ready to be finalized, and various contracts among the chaos. He looked tired, but most surprisingly was the shadow of dark stubble adorning his cheeks. I set my coffee down on his desk.

“Pierre’s closed this morning?”

Mark had been getting his morning shave from Pierre for years, adhering to a strict facial hair ritual. In all the years we’d been friends, I’d only seen him with stubble a handful of times. It was akin to someone forgetting to get dressed in the morning.

“No, I was just running a little late,” he explained in a tone that told me I’d get no more from him.

I tried for some levity. “You look swarthy.” And also totally unprepared for the meeting we were supposed to be having in less than an hour.

“Good, that’s exactly what I was going for,” he replied without taking his eyes from his laptop.

Nope, I was being shut down. Fine. “So, I just wanted—”

“Jen, I’m really sorry but I’m trying to organize shit for our meeting.” Finally, he gave me his attention. Or part of it. “Can we talk later?”

Frowning, I agreed with a drawn out, “Sure…okay.”

“I’ll see you in the conference room in forty minutes.”

Forty minutes later when I opened the door to the conference room, Mark wasn’t there. Instead, I was more than a little alarmed to see not only Tom but also Quentin seated at the large round table. Our corporate lawyer as well as Mark’s personal lawyer. One on their own was strange enough, but both together sent a shrill peal of alarm down my spine, and I had a sudden uncomfortable feeling that I wasn’t going to like what this meeting was about.

The uncomfortable feeling was quickly replaced by annoyance at Mark for tossing me overboard without a lifejacket. I brushed my hair over my shoulder, switching automatically to polite hostess.

“Gentlemen, this is unexpected, but a pleasure nonetheless.” Straightening, I crossed the room with my hand outstretched, suddenly grateful I’d put on a pair of four-inch Jimmys this morning. Without the extra height, I’d have felt even more at a disadvantage.

After exchanging the usual handshakes and greetings and ensuring they had a beverage, I added, “I hope you haven’t been waiting long. I believe Mark was just getting a few things ready.” I set my tablet and phone down and sat opposite them just as Mark walked into the conference room and closed the door.

The men repeated the same handshake, greeting, refreshment-check ritual before Mark sat down on the same side as me, leaving a chair between us. Odd. He made eye contact with each of us in turn.

“Thank you all for coming.”

There were damp patches on the front of his light blue Oxford shirt. Sweat. In air-conditioning. My business partner folded his hands on top of the table, his knuckles white. “Well. Where to start?”

Inside my head, Obnoxious Jennie raised her hand and mumbled a snide How about with what the hell is going on? I pushed her down. Clearly this wasn’t my meeting and I just had to sit and wait and watch. I pulled my focus away from him to look at the lawyers sitting opposite. Their expressions were unreadable so I concentrated on my friend.