Page 21 of Bad Boy Bachelor Christmas
“But—”
“How did you get up to the house, by the way?”
“I walked.”
“I told you not to cross the fields alone.”
“I wanted to stretch my legs.”
I sighed. “Come on. I’ll give you a lift back… Circa 1990.” I scoffed. “It’s in the past for a reason, Winter. Let’s leave it there.”
CHAPTER10
WINTER
There were more perks to this gig than fancy homemade breakfasts every morning and a cozy little cabin to call my own.
North Waylon had his own private plane.
And it wasfancy.
Lavish, white-leather seats with red stitching, red carpet, cream cabin fixtures, and crystal glassware for our champagne poured out of a bottle that probably cost upward of five hundred dollars. Perhaps more.
We flew from New York to Chicago late at night and arrived at two in the morning. By then, I was dead tired, bitter about my ideas being blatantly shot down by North, and still somewhat giddy over the life of luxury I got to live this month. I was excited about seeing the Cuthbert firm’s office as well and diving into my first project. It would be a better use of my time than hanging out on the Waylon Farm or listening to North’s incessant grumblings over everything I was doing wrong.
Why did he bother to even get an intern when he had such a fixed idea of what he wanted?
Nothing added up to me.
After our flight touched down, we were chauffeured to a swanky hotel close to the Cuthbert office. I got my own room, thank God, and slept like a baby in the California king bed surrounded by plush pillows. In the morning, I woke to room service, with coffee, orange juice, fresh fruit, bacon, eggs, and toast. I devoured it all, took a hot shower, slapped on some makeup, curled my hair, and studied my reflection in the mirror after getting dressed.
Even if I was to be a fly on the wall today, I wanted to look like a professional fly who knew what she was doing. I hoped the pantsuit I’d picked out conveyed that. Professional, on top of things, creative, but disciplined. What other boxes did a gal need to check?
Silence.
That was North’s most important box.
Screw him and his boxes and rules. I wasn’t even being paid to be here. Maybe if I was on his payroll, I’d listen to his instructions better, but I had to make the most of this internship for my own benefit, not his. If he’d just loosen up a bit, maybe he’d see that things could be done a little differently and elicit happy customers. If all his clientele were used to the same old shtick from him and Marge, why not see if they were open to taking some risks and throwing some curveballs into the mix?
I thought my nostalgic millennial Christmas wasjustthe way to get that job done, and I wasn’t going to give up on it just yet. North could get as huffy as he wanted.
An hour later, I strode into the head office of the Cuthbert Firm. It oozed modern minimalism with sleek black furniture, dark gray walls with halo-shaped light sconces, and black and white artwork all over the place. One would never know it was a law firm until they saw their name in gold letters on the wall behind the reception desk.
I slid my hands into the pockets of my blazer as we waited for the Cuthberts to receive us. “This place is a designer’s wet dream,” I breathed.
North turned to me. “What did you say?”
“It’s a blank canvas with so much potential.” My eyes darted from corner to corner, blank space to blank space, while my imagination filled in all the things I would love to do if I’d been given creative freedom over designing the space. “It’s missing warmth. It’s bold and brave and clean, but it needs something to soften it just a little.”
I nodded to an open space right in the middle of the grand office which was currently occupied by low black leather sofas. Nobody was sitting in them. “I’d put a coffee bar there, swap out the small sofas for deep comfortable furniture, jazz it up with some color. Then people might actually congregate there on their lunch breaks. Clients might even be inclined to sit for a while after meetings. This place could be a hub. I imagine some of their clients probably feel pretty safe here if they’re in the middle of legal battles and this is where their representation is. Right?”
North stared at me like I was talking foreign policies.
“What?” I asked.
“Nothing.”
Bullshit.I folded my arms and felt one of my eyebrows take a hike toward my hairline. “Just say it.”
