The Luncheon (pt. 3)

After lunch, Hugo and I returned to the office to do our remaining work. In the four hours after sitting back down on my desk, I'd managed to finally finish the new marketing plan and polish it completely, so I submitted it efficiently and moved on to other works. As the head of marketing, I was the one who would supervise other marketing plans for all our clients, so an extra two hours was spent looking at marketing reports and making sure that everything was running smoothly. 

"Hey, the day's over, you can go home now," I mentioned to my assistant as I passed by him on my way to the copy room. The man had been at it nonstop and I was wondering if he'd end up stealing a promotion from me at some point. If he continued at this pace, I was sure he'd excel farther than the rest of us. It was only his first day and he'd already managed to compartmentalise three days worth of work into organised folders. I was grateful to my boss for having hired such a diligent assistant for me. It took a lot of weight off my shoulders. 

"Yes ma'am, I'm just finishing up here," he held up a small stack of papers and slid them into a Manila folder, which he stored in the filing cabinet behind his desk. I nodded in approval and went off to the copy room. Manager Nanake's assistant emailed me the outline of what Miss Ioshiri wanted to incorporate into the game, and I'd waited until almost everyone had gone home to copy it. I didn't want anyone asking any questions for fear that any competitor agencies would find out. 

If anyone knew that we were working with Kay Ioshiri, they would flood her manager's emails with offers, and ultimately, there were companies out there who had better offers than we did. Miss Ioshiri was the President's friend, but at the end of the day, friendship meant little to nothing when money started to talk. 

The fax machine made quick work of sending the outline up to President Greene's work computer, which was amazing because the moment I turned it off, someone walked into the copy room and startled me. 

"Well well, if it isn't little Mari." 

'Who dares address me by my nickname?' 

"Oh my god," my breath left my lungs and I almost choked for the third time in one day. Something was seriously wrong with my breathing abilities. "Andrew." 

Andrew Stockholm had his hands shoved deep in his slacks pockets and a boyish crooked grin on his face. The freckles on his nose and cheeks had only intensified over the years, adding definition to his honey brown hair. He looked so different yet so identical to who he was eight years ago. His smile brought back haunting memories. 

Even though Andrew and I had always gotten along very well, seeing him was doing more harm than good. All personal issues aside though, I had missed his character. 

"Jason said I'd find you working down here. Still a fussing like a bee, aren't you?" He neared me with his arms wide open, obviously expecting a hug. Not knowing what to do, I froze in place, tensing considerably when he wrapped his arms around me in a bear hug. What the hell was Andrew doing here? "I heard about your promotion. Congratulations!" 

"A-Andrew, it- it's s-such a surprise to see you!" I stuttered our once he'd put me down, trying to avoid his gaze while frantically fixing my clothes. This is why I hated hugs, everything I was wearing would become dishevelled. "What brings you to New York?" 

"Ouch, is that how you greet an old friend?" He pouted at me and placed a hand on his chest. "I'm wounded, Mari." 

'Don't call me that!' I wanted to snap at him, but instead, bit my tongue and smiled at him. At the end of the day, Andrew wasn't at fault for anything and I shouldn't be acting like he was. 

"No! I'm very happy to see you, I'm just caught off guard," I forced out a laugh and quickly grabbed my papers from the copy machine. "Wasn't expecting to see you here at the office." 

"I was in town so I thought I'd drop by and see how my favourite people are doing. I see you're finally eating more, you look good!" He gave me a once over before nodding his head in approval. I didn't know whether to smile or sit down and cry. Andrew was known for having zero percent filter when it came to decorum. He would tell it like I was, and that was that. 

Maybe that's how he managed to enter the music world as an agent. 

"Thank you," in order to avoid any awkward silence, I invited him to walk with me back to my office. "What brings you to New York? More talent?" 

"Yeah, actually. One of my clients has a gig booked here over the weekend. Maybe you know the place? Elev8." 

Of course I knew the place! "Of course I know the place! Sabrina plays there during weekdays. It's so cool that your client has a gig there, they have a very exclusive crowd." 

���Who's Sabrina?" He looked confused and blinked. It seemed hard to remember that Sabrina wasn't in my life so many years ago. 

"Oh, my best friend. She's a DJ for Elev8 during the weekdays since she's basically impossible to hire on weekends." 

There wasn't an ounce of exaggeration in my explanation. Sabrina really was talented and coveted. She was one of the most prolific DJ's in New York City, and people were lining up for months to book an appointment with her. Of course, with my background in marketing, I submitted her to the company and we boosted her image every chance we got. Her face was on busses, park benches, and even random flyers. She was that amazing. 

"Oh, I don't think we've heard of her in LA," Andrew looked pensive as he sat down in the plush chair before my desk. My office wasn't anything impressive to look at, but it was mine and it was a serious achievement. 

"That makes sense, she only tours the east coast," I quickly placed the papers containing Miss Ioshiri's information in a folder, and that folder went into the locked drawer at the bottom of my desk. That locked drawer had been there since I was upgraded to this office, but I'd never had the necessity to use it. Finally needing to lock up some information made me feel even more like an executive, and excitement was bubbling in my chest. 

"Do you think she'd be able to meet with us? I know you said that she's impossible to get a hold of on weekends, but since she's your friend, maybe you could pull some strings?" Andrew sounded so hopeful and so sincere about being happy to see me that I couldn't possibly say no. 

"I'll see what I can do," I grabbed my phone and began to dial Sabrina's number. Here's hoping she would be too busy to meet up with us on the weekend, because I was sure that she'd have some words to say to Andrew for being such good friends with my boss. She picked up after the first ring. 

"You never told me about how it went with Jack yesterday! How could you do this to me, Amaria? I wanted to know if you guys hooked up! Ohmygod did you? Is that why you didn't call me yesterday? Did you two f—" 

I scrambled to lower the volume of my in-call audio because even though it wasn't on speaker, I knew it was loud enough for Andrew to hear exactly what she was saying, and judging by the suggestive look on his face, he'd heard enough of what she had to say. 

"Shut up, I'm not calling you about that!" My voice sounded undoubtedly high pitched, and no matter how much I cleared my throat, it wouldn't come down. 

"What are you calling me for, then?" There was a soft beat in the background, which let me know she was in her home studio. Sabrina was the crazy type of DJ who would wake up in the middle of the night to produce some beats, an since she wasn't allowed to go to a recording studio in the middle of the night, she built one in her penthouse. 

"I have a friend in town who's an agent from LA. He's in New York because his client has a gig at Elev8. We were wondering if you'd be cool to meet at the club with them. I don't know how tigh your schedule is this weekend, so I'm calling in advance," when I said the word weekend, there was a hitch in my voice that I knew Sabrina would catch. It was our silent code that whenever we needed the other to bail us out, we'd produce a hitch in whatever code word. Since she knew me so well, I was sure she'd say no. 

After a loaded moment, Sabrina spoke. "Will you be there?" 

That bitch. 

Andrew could clearly hear her, and I was sure that she'd caught on that he was here based on my language. She was putting me in a tight spot on purpose because she wanted to meet him, and that was the last thing I wanted! Sabrina had a reputation for being explosive with people she didn't like. 

"I don't think so, I have some work I'd like to catch up on," let's see how she pushed through that! 

"The only way I'm going is if you go." 

Andrew looked surprised for a moment, but that surprise was wiped out when he clasped his hands together and gave me a pleading look. Andrew had never done anything wrong to me, except lie, that is, and I had no reason to deny him this request. My guilt was already eating me alive and I hadn't even said no yet! 

"Fine, I'll be there. What time?" The question was directed at Andrew, to which he responded with 

"Eleven pm," I relayed this information to my best friend, who giddily agreed and said that she'd clear her schedule for that night. The dread was already beginning to fill me up. Too many things had happened today. 

"Oh by the way, Amar, I'm going to your house for dinner tonight. Expect me to bring some takeout and don't you dare let me find that apartment locked and empty!" 

"Calm yourself, I'll be there by eight," I knew better than to cross Sabrina when she was coming over. The call was ended and I smiled at Andrew. 

"We're all set!"