Page 11 of Lucy
CHAPTER FOUR
Better Brands and Advertising was my home away from home. I felt as comfortable in my office as I did in my kitchen. I smashed the charity meeting I had and presented them with several media blitz packages to choose from, all of which I designed personally.
I wanted to take myself out for a celebratory lunch. I waltzed out to Lauren’s desk and sat on the edge. “I’m a goddamn marketing genius, baby and to celebrate that genius, we’re going to go to lunch. You ready?” Lauren gave me a brilliant smile. It was that smile that pushed me to ask her out six months ago when she started working in my office.
“Yeah, let’s go.” She shut off her computer and grabbed my hand. Lauren always looked at me like I was the world. I wanted to be the world for her. I also wanted to help her unwind a little. She was so uptight sometimes. It made her an amazing secretary but an annoying girlfriend.
We had lunch and a few celebratory drinks at a nearby spot with amazing seafood. Lauren sat across from me, her sharp bob sweeping her shoulders and her cappuccino skin glowing from the sun filtering through the window. She was beautiful. Not in the same way as Lucy but that’s why I picked her.
Lauren was pulled together and on top of everything. She was as far away from Lucy as I could possibly get with a woman. Those two were day and night.
“I don’t know about this dinner tonight, Abel,” Lauren sighed as we left the restaurant. I held her hand while we walked back to work.
“What do you mean?” I knew exactly what she meant. She could sense the tornado in Lucy and she didn’t like it. Nobody did. That’s why I stuck in my sister’s corner so staunchly. I’d never seen someone so hated just for existing the way Lucy was.
“She’s…” Lauren searched her mind for the right words but there were none. How do you describe a tornado with gentle, pretty words? How do you compliment a hellraiser?
“She’s Lucy,” I said with more bite than I meant to have. Lauren forced a smile and rubbed the back of my hand.
“Right. She’s Lucy.”
“Listen, you’ve got to understand that you’re not the first or the only person Lucy has rubbed the wrong way. Be patient and let me deal with her.”
“Okay, I will. I don’t take disrespect from anyone though, Abel. Lucy included.”
“Like I said, let me handle my sister.” My eyes were stern and Lauren held her hands up in surrender right before we stepped back inside the office. Tonight would be interesting and I wondered if Lucy would behave or would she start to churn and spin and darken the sky?
**
Lucy was late as usual but this time it was only fifteen minutes. She breezed into the house wearing a shredded black shirt and ripped jeans with fishnets underneath. Lauren shot me a wide-eyed look and took a long sip from her glass of wine.
I smiled when I saw my sister though. She looked amazing. Before I could even open my arms for her she crashed into me. “You’d be so proud of me. I got like twenty boxes packed.” She spoke against my Adam’s apple like she always did and Lauren eyed the display.
“Not you. Not Lazy Lucy,” I chuckled.
“Fuck you. I did it. Now I need twenty more boxes and I’ll be done. I still don’t know where I’m staying though.” She released her grip on me but I still held her waist. We got so close to fucking last night and my dick remembered. I had to talk it down a few times before I let go of her.
The look in her brown eyes let me know she was well aware that I was using her to hide my erection. “Later?” She asked.
“Later,” I told her with a nod.
“Hi, Carmen,” Lucy sighed.
“Lauren,” I corrected her.
“Oh, I thought we decided Carmen was a better fit?”
“I thought you were supposed to behave,” I growled in her ear.
“I am. She knows I’m just fucking with her, right…Lauren?” She flashed a fake smile and Lauren rolled her eyes.
“Let’s cook dinner.” I clapped my hands together hoping that somehow the sound would erase the tension mounting in the kitchen. We were having meatloaf, mashed potatoes, and summer squash. Lucy was busy cutting the potatoes while Lauren seasoned the meat.
“This is more like it. My favorite girls hanging out in the kitchen, cooking.” After I finished peeling the squash, I tossed an arm around both of them.
“So, Lucy, what did you go to school for?” Lauren asked, trying her best to lighten the mood. Lucy had been pretty tight-lipped the entire time and she chopped through the potatoes like she was decapitating someone.
“Visual and performing arts.”
