Page 3 of Christmas in Comets Valley
Seething, I threw a hand out of the warmth of my covers, desperate to end the source of my agony. What time was it anyway?
I peeled an eyelid out from my sleep mask and winced at the stream of sunlight pouring through the curtains and straight into my eyeballs. Well, the sun was already up, so it had to be at least six.
BEEP. BEEP. BEEP.
“Shut up!” I grumbled at the deafening noise, flailing a hand over the nightstand until I grasped my phone. I answered the call flashing across my screen and the megaphone-worthy beeps ceased, finally putting an end to my suffering.
“Get your ass up, Aera! Why didtodayof all days have to be the one you picked to be late?” Ben’s hushed voice sounded through the speaker. While I might’ve been half asleep, I didn’t miss the bridled anger laced in his tone.
My business partner must’ve taken up post as the village idiot if he thought calling to yell at me this early in the morning was going to work out in his favor.
Plus, I wasn’t even late yet. I still had a full hour to get to the office for our leadership team's morning debrief, and even then, I’d still be two hours early compared to our nine to fivers. If Ben was going to be pissed at me for sleeping in an hour later than normal, so be it.
I pressed the red button in the middle of the screen and hung up on him without an ounce of remorse.
My eyelids fluttered closed, calling me back to my delicious slumber. But right as I got myself tucked perfectly into the warmth of the comforter, the beeping returned.
I could see it now. Today’s newspaper headlines would read:
World-renowned fashion designer, Aera Chase, murdered her longtime business partner, Benjamin Fletcher, in a brutal display of vengeance. Click here to read the grueling details about how she chopped off each of his extremities one by one—penis included.
Feeling my body temperature rise,I snatched my phone and slammed it against my ear. “Ben, if Christ himself isn’t coming back at this very moment, I swear to fucking god I’m going to murder you,” I grumbled into the receiver with a scowl plastered on my face, which he, unfortunately, wasn’t able to witness.
“Christ, swearing, and murder in the same sentence? How becoming of you, Aer.”
“Get to the point of your call before I hang up on you a second time.”
“You’re late to our meeting with the investors,” he spit venomously. Ben had always been an ass, but he wasn’t one to take a vicious tone with me, especially when he was joking around. “I’ve been stalling for the last half hour, telling people you’re having car troubles, but it appears you’ve taken it upon yourself to sleep in until noon instead. What the fuck, Aera!” he whisper-yelled.
“It’s not noon, you imbecile. Our board meeting isn’t for another…” I trailed off, twisting my head to get a better view of the clock on my nightstand—12:32 p.m.
I shot up straight in the bed. “Start the meeting. I’ll be there in twenty.” I hung up the call before he had the chance to respond with another snide remark.
Eighteen minutes later, I strode through the conference room door with a lug wrench in hand and an ashy-colored stain smeared on the front of my shirt.
It was moments like this that made having a condo within walking distance of the office worth the outrageous price I paid for it. I tried not to imagine how much worse this situation would have been if I’d stayed at the Malibu house last night like I’d originally planned to until I got swept up at the office.
“Sorry, boys. I got a nasty flat on the freeway and not a single one of those pesky East Coast transplants were willing to stop and help a girl out.” I shook my head and waved the lug wrench around in a circle.
The investors, most of which unfortunately happened to all be middle-aged white men, stared at me with bug eyes, like they hired me to recreate a scene from their favorite porno.
Their wives must be so proud.
“Color me impressed, Miss Chase,” Todd, one of our biggest investors, piped up from the furthest end of the conference table after a beat. “I don’t even know how to change a tire myself. How honorable of your parents to teach you how to change one.”
Of course Todd didn’t know how to change a tire. The guy came out of the womb a billionaire. I’d be shocked if he’d ever set foot behind the wheel of a car before for anything more than a picture. If I was a betting woman, I’d say he had, hmm… five drivers on standby at all times? If not more.
“Oh, enough about silly old me.” I gave them all a sweet smile and turned my attention to Ben, who stood at the front of the room in his perfectly tailored navy-blue suit with a scowl on his face as usual. Basking in the magnificence of my power, I shot him a knowing wink, “Ben, where were you?”
* * *
“Nice save.”The corners of Ben’s lips twitched upward the slightest hair once we were alone in the conference room. “The lug wrench really sold it.” A deep laugh he let few people hear bellowed out of his chest as he grabbed the wrench off the table and waved it above his head like a rodeo clown.
“What? I had to make it seem believable!Andit got Todd to put up another half a million on his initial investment, which I consider a success.” I lifted a hand to high-five Ben, but he left me hanging.
Typical.
“True.” He relaxed down onto the edge of the long, rectangular table. “Hey, if shit hits the fan for us in the future, you could make a killing as a car salesperson.” His elbow nudged into my side as I took a seat next to him.
