UNEDITED
Gemma Alder is used to being the unlucky one in the Alder family: from a nasty rumour about her back in high school to inexplicable mishaps, she seems to be the comical target for unfortunate situations. But if there's one thing she's good...
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Jake
"To us," Cassian says, clinking his glass of whisky on ice against mine. "For clinching a spot to open up our café on the mainland."
Following Cassian's lead, I take a sip of my drink. It's some expensive shit; it hardly burns going down, causing a warm, comforting fire to spread across the lining of my stomach. Aside from the lease deal going through in downtown Vancouver, the whisky has been the only other good thing that's happened to me today. The drive to work this morning was miserable. Not because the traffic was worse than usual or the weather was rainy and shitty, but because I have an angry sixteen-year-old wallowing in her own negative emotions back home and I had to deal with Olive all day today. Lately, work and home have been two different parallels. At home, I'm getting nothing but the silent treatment from Hanna, which makes me want to lose my goddamn mind. I don't know how people can stay silent for so long. If it goes on any longer, I might lose my fucking mind. At work, there's nothing but noise. I'm on the phone all day, talking to various people about various things, Cassian is practically yelling in my ear, or I'm dealing with stubborn assholes like Olive Garcia.
Cassian leans back in his chair, his naturally tanned skin glistening beneath the sunshine shining through the window in my office. "Man," he sighs. "I never thought we'd make it this far." He glances around my office, taking in every piece of memorabilia I have on my shelves, hanging on the walls, et cetera. I don't miss how he focuses, for a brief moment, on the picture of me and Gemma from the camping trip. Hanna actually managed to snap that photo while our attention was focused on the sun as it dipped behind the ocean. I've been meaning to take that photo down, but each time I reach for it I can't find it within myself to put it away.
"I'm pretty fucking proud of us," he continues. "I wonder if this, us getting deals with investors and being able to expand our company, will be a regular occurrence. Could you imagine if we were able to expand as far as the Okanagan? We could potentially become the top coffee company in British Columbia."
I set my drink down and steeple my hands, trying my best to keep my gaze on anything but the picture of Gemma and I. "I could see it happening," I reply. "We've had a fairly steep increase in demands. Earlier today, I was talking to a hotel company that said they may be interested in using our coffee as the complimentary coffee they use in their rooms. Things are looking good, Cass. I'm glad we decided to go for it and stuck with it."
Cassian's eyebrows rise in surprise as he lets loose a low whistle. "Wow. A hotel company. That's pretty damn high end." He takes another sip of his drink. "If things really start to escalate, we may need to hire some more people to help run this business."
"It is," I nod in agreement, my eyes drifting to the picture of Gemma. This form of celebration Cassian and I are doing – having a drink in the office together – doesn't seem right. A proposal going through is a big deal, especially in the City of Vancouver. I feel like I should be taking Gemma out on a fancy date to some expensive restaurant, sharing a bottle of wine with her. And after that, stripping her down and making the same, sweet love we do.
