Page 1 of New Resolutions

Chapter One

Charity

Christmas Eve

Christmastime has always been one of my favorite times of the year, but this year, not so much. This year the whole ‘adulting’ thing has gotten me low. My mom died six months ago, and I haven’t really been in the mood to celebrate anything. It’s been very hard. I sold the house we lived in so I could rent an apartment in the city and have time to properly mourn but there is no time limit on being sad.

I lucked out with the apartment…it came with a roommate. Sarah. She’s been really great in pulling me out of my misery and even got me a job in the same building she works in doing the same thing she does - taking care of babies and small kids all day long in this big company’s daycare. I’ve only been working there for a month, but it’s gone a long way in helping me not necessarily get over my mom’s passing but making it not quite so painful.

I don’t think I’ve been working there long enough for me to go to the company party, but Sarah said she wouldn’t even think about me not going. Which is why I am standing in our little bathroom gazing into the mirror wondering what the hell I’m doing. This dress, the makeup, the hair -the heels- are not me at all.

“And that’s why you have to do it all! Come on Charity, this is more like Halloween than Halloween. It’s dressing up andpretending to be whoever you want to be. Who knows, you might be the lucky woman who captures Barrett Cane’s attention tonight.”

“Barrett Cane? Who’s that?”

“Girl, have you not looked the company up? Barrett Cane is the man who owns the company -and the whole damned building - he’s also the man who signs our paychecks.”

“The Boss.”

Sarah giggles and gives my shoulder a push. “Yeah, the Boss. Every girl in the building has tried to catch his eye.”

“Even you?”

“Oh God no, girl. I don’t shoot higher than I can see. I’ve been trying to land the head of his security for ages, but that man is all work and no play. Besides, old stuffy businessmen really aren't my thing.”

“So…does that mean he sleeps around with his employees?” I can’t help but snarl my nose up at the thought of some lecherous old perv hitting on girls way younger than him.

“God no! No one’s seen him with a woman in…ever really. No pictures, no society tales, not even gossip. Hell, last year people didn’t think he had even come to the party, but we all saw that sexy man muffin of a security guard flitting around and where he is, Cane is.”

“Then why would you think I would catch his eye?”

“Uh, you’re gorgeous and don’t even know it. Any man with a pulse would look you up and down and dream of touching that hotness.”

I can’t help but blush at her words, “He probably has a whole harem of women waiting on him. Hidden in a chamber under his penthouse. And I don’t want to be another harem girl.”

“You can’t hang on to that cherry forever, girl. Your mom would want you to go on living your life and that means to the fullest.”

She’s not wrong. No matter how annoying it is to be told, she is right. So spot on in fact, she basically said the last words my mom said to me before telling me she loves me and closing her eyes for the last time.

“I don’t think someone like the owner of the whole building will want to put up with anything as messy or silly as a virgin who doesn’t know what she is doing or how to pleasure…anyone -me or him. He probably doesn’t have any pictures of him with women because he hires professional ladies who don’t hang around for long or use their real names.”

“Oh, like the movie Pretty Woman. I love that movie. Looking back on it, it probably wasn’t okay to have a career goal of being a Beverly Hills prostitute when you’re only twelve.”

“Probably not…but I would have been sharing a corner with you.”

She laughs and throws her arms around me which in turn causes me to laugh. I got so lucky finding her. We just naturally vibe together and have been close since we met. It was almost like my mom led me straight to Sarah because she knew she would take care of me.

“Come on, girl. We look too good to be sitting around talking about fairy tales. We need to get out there and find our princes.”

Chapter Two

Rhett

Everything is too loud, too bright or too dark, and too…people-y. But my employees deserve the opportunity to unwind and have some fun. So, I give you the annual Cane Christmas Party. I always try to show up even if it is only for a few minutes, like last year.

Really, these past couple of years have been…dull, static, the same shit different days. I used to really love what I did for a living. Now…the parties are too loud, the people are too fake, and everything seems to be… a special kind of hell. Yes, everything is gilded in gold, and I am very comfortably well-off, but there is a definite lack of innocence, of good, of fucking purpose.

Maybe the hell is deserved. Maybe all the shit I have done to get where I’m at has led me straight to the very pit of hell. I pulled myself up out of the muck by doing what I had to do to never be down that far again. You show me a businessman who says they didn’t do shady shit that might be on the verge of illegal and I will show you a liar. I try to make it up to the universe now by doing some good through my charities and by making my employees’ lives as good as I can. The people who work for me have excellent healthcare, plenty of time off if they become sick or need vacations and we offer a state-of-the-art childcare program that also focuses on after-school programs. The building also has a gym and a cafeteria that would put some restaurants to shame.

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