Totally Worth It, page 18
“Upstairs. In her bedroom,” Lexi answered, challenging the importance of that fact with her tone.
“I just want to get a complete picture.”
Lexi took a long blink and continued. “Anyway, she went down on me.”
“Wait, did you—”
“Yes.”
“Okay.”
“Then I, you know”—Lexi blushed a deep red—“was going down on her.”
“All normal so far.”
Lexi licked her lips and took a breath so deep that her shoulders rose and her chest puffed out before exhaling. Searching for the courage to continue, she squeezed her eyes shut and placed both her hands on the counter to brace herself. “I came,” she mouthed.
“Uh-huh.” Meg paused, waiting for more. She looked at Lexi and realized that she didn’t have anything more to add. Confused, Meg questioned her. “That’s it? You came? I don’t get it.”
“Meg, I came. While I was going down on her.”
Meg crinkled her nose as she winced. “Ooh. She didn’t?”
Lexi shook her off. “No, she did. It happened basically at the same time. But—”
Meg put both of her hands up. “So wait a second. That’s your big embarrassing moment? That’s why you ran out?”
“Yes.”
Meg rolled her eyes and was about to say something when Lexi stopped her.
“It was mortifying.” She cringed. “I was like a fifteen-year-old boy. Complete lack of self-control.”
“Hold on a second here.” Meg was trying to make sense of Lexi’s freak-out. “If it happened at the same time she probably didn’t even notice.”
“She noticed.”
In the middle of a long gulp of soda, Meg raised her free arm up in question.
Lexi dropped her head onto her crossed forearms on the counter. “Trust me, she knew.” She lifted her head a touch. “I was loud.” She whimpered and her voice filled with self-loathing. “Sort of…all over the place.”
“It sounds fucking awesome.”
“Meg!” Lexi jolted her head all the way up.
“What? It does.” Meg laughed, finishing her drink.
Lexi disregarded her with a huff. “Well, right after that, I completely passed out. Like passed out, passed out. Unconscious. I didn’t wake up for hours. The whole thing is humiliating. I can’t believe I’m even telling you about it. I planned on taking it to my grave.”
“I don’t think it’s that big a deal.” Meg tossed her empty can in with the rest of the recyclables.
“Oh yeah? Has it ever happened to you?” Lexi asked the question sarcastically, but a hint of genuine curiosity came through.
“No, it hasn’t. But if it did, you can bet I wouldn’t be complaining about it.” Sensing Lexi’s imminent protest, Meg stopped her with a hand in the air. “Just hear me out on this. What I’m saying is if I was with a girl who was so into me and thought I was so fucking hot, that she actually got off from going down on me, I would think that was fucking awesome. Total turn-on.” She saw Lexi’s lips turn down into a frown and called her out on it. “Stop, I know where you’re going, I see your pouty face starting. If it happened the other way around, I would be just as stoked that I had such fucking mind-blowing sex that I was completely knocked out. It’s a win-win if you ask me.”
Lexi appeared to be mildly considering Meg’s take on the situation when Meg interrupted her thought process, pointing an index finger at Lexi and adding, “What I would be concerned with, however, is you bolted in the middle of the night. And you blew her off when she stopped by this morning. That’s weird.”
“Why?”
“Why is it weird? Um, let me think.” Meg tapped her chin. “How about because you’ve been in love with her since…” She looked at the ceiling pretending to calculate. “Oh right, forever.”
“Meg, it’s not like we’re going to be together now.” Lexi sat upright and pushed her hair behind her shoulders. “I’m not one of those girls who thinks that just because you sleep together that makes you girlfriends or anything. I know it was a one-time thing.”
“How do you know that?”
“Because it’s Jesse. That’s what she does.”
“Says who?”
“Please, you don’t think she sleeps around?” Lexi said skeptically.
“I don’t know,” Meg answered honestly. “But what difference does it make really?”
Lexi didn’t even need to say anything. The look on her face revealed that she was completely unsatisfied with Meg’s response.
Meg softened her tone. “Look, this is what I do know. Jesse was seeing someone recently, someone from her past, an ex or something. She wouldn’t tell me who. But I’m pretty sure it’s over now. And she told me she wasn’t that into her anyway.” Meg walked over to the kitchen island, took a seat on the stool across from Lexi, and looked right into her big brown eyes. “The other thing that I know, and this I’m sure of, is that you like her. You like her, like her. So stop pretending this isn’t a big deal, Lex. Because it is.”
They sat together quietly acknowledging the truthfulness of the statement before the loud ding of Meg’s email jarred them both out of the moment.
Meg clicked the email open, speed-read through it, and sighed. “I am getting so tired of this.”
“Who’s A. Whitmore?” Lexi faked pomp.
“Anne Whitmore is my boss. In New York. Not to be confused with Mitch Sanford, my boss in London.” Meg’s voice trailed off as she reread through the brief message.
“If she’s your New York boss, how come she’s ordering you to London?” Lexi interjected reading along with her.
“She’s actually giving me a heads-up. I still have to manage my caseload here, so she probably talked to Mitch and knows I’m going to have stuff coming up in the UK, so she wants me to be prepared on both fronts.”
“At least it’s not until the end of the month,” Lexi offered optimistically as she reached the end of the email.
Meg hung her head dramatically. “Just means the next few weeks are going to be full of more stress and anxiety,” Meg muttered, already feeling sorry for herself.
Resting her chin in her hands, Lexi sighed in full commiseration. “Welcome to my world.”
Chapter Nineteen
For the life of her, Meg couldn’t understand why it was necessary to go back to London. She had relinquished nearly all of her London projects to actual London staffers. The only thing she still had a hand in at all was the Davis Pruitt job, and that was merely to satisfy the company’s president who had balked at the suggestion of change. As a result, she was still expected to coordinate and participate in all the Pruitt conference calls and meetings. And now, another trip across the pond. When had European travel become such a drag?
Truth is, she didn’t want to leave New York. She had been assigned three brand-new clients, which meant initial workups, assessments, preliminary meetings, and projections. It was a lot of work and her days were hectic. Meg performed the juggling act she had gotten used to, somehow making time for everything. Often it meant putting in twelve- and fourteen-hour days at the office. On a few occasions, she’d attempted to bring work home to avoid becoming part of the furniture at her office on Third Avenue. So far, that had met with mixed results because she rarely made it home without being stopped.
Spring was finally here, and her neighbors seemed to have come out of hibernation. Meg discovered this while fulfilling the promise she had made to herself to learn the ins and outs of the condo development. Even though she had lived there for months, she still didn’t quite have the layout down pat. So each night after work, once she was inside the tree-lined perimeter of Bay West, Meg made it her business to take a different route to her house.
She was determined to follow, at least once, each of the various paths that encompassed, intertwined, and dissected the streets and recreational areas that made up the community. She was amazed at all the nooks and crannies she discovered along the way. There were hidden gardens with seats for lounging surrounded by beautifully manicured shrubbery, hammocks strewn between oak trees, and she even found a tiny gazebo tucked away behind the auxiliary parking lot.
On these nightly adventures, Meg continually stumbled upon one social opportunity after another. Just walking down the street she encountered scores of neighbors she’d never seen before, all just hanging out and about. Some did yard work or planted flowers, others tinkered with their cars or some other DIY project—there seemed to be no shortage of items in need of repurposing. On more than one occasion, she’d seen groups of women spanning multiple generations gathered on the stoop of a unit, talking about local politics or ways the residents could reduce the community’s carbon footprint.
Meg was forever being stopped and called over. Everyone wanted to get to know her. She was still the new girl in town.
Sometimes these events turned into a spontaneous mini soiree, like the night she ended up sitting on Rose and Teddy’s front steps until nine o’clock, shooting the breeze with the pleasant couple and their next-door neighbors. Other times the gatherings were a touch more planned, like two nights ago when Jesse invited her over for a last-minute barbecue with Betsy and some girl named Allison from Jesse’s firm.
As soon as Meg accepted, she hung up the phone and called Lexi and tried to talk her into coming with. Meg knew Lexi had been desperately trying to randomly bump into Jesse and so far had absolutely zero success. She reasoned Lexi should simply tag along and act like it was no big deal, she was Meg’s BFF after all. Plus Meg figured this was probably Jesse’s bid to set her up with Betsy, and she could use a wingman. She could tell by the hesitation in Lexi’s voice that she almost had her, but ultimately Lexi declined. Meg sallied forth without her, and even though there was still no spark with Betsy, Meg had such a good time hanging out with the three women, she’d ended up staying past midnight.
Even with these breaks for socializing, Meg managed to get all her work done ahead of schedule. She had hoped in vain that her efficiency would spare her the scheduled trip overseas. She pondered this idly as she sat in front of her computer, booking Monday’s flight to London. The ticket prices were astronomical. It didn’t really matter, Sullivan & Son was footing the bill, but the economist in her kept looking for a deal. But there wasn’t one to be had on this Wednesday evening, just five days before her departure.
Wednesday. She exhaled sharply and checked the time: 8:56 and not a peep from Mia.
Meg wasn’t even sure she cared. Things had cooled off between them considerably since P-town, that was for sure. They’d seen each other last Wednesday and the week before too, but things were…different.
For starters, they had hardly talked at all and the scant conversation they’d managed had felt forced. Then after they’d had sex, Mia left right away, making up excuses both times that she had an early shift the following morning. It bothered Meg more than she wanted to admit. Not because she was brokenhearted, though. What she hated was their friendship seemed to be getting lost in the shuffle. They rarely texted anymore, unless it was to hook up. Honestly, it was all starting to feel a bit wham-bam to Meg. What she had appreciated the most about their arrangement was that through the course of it, they had formed a friendship, confiding in each other about the most random things. She had often thought of their situation as the true definition of friends with benefits. Now that the friendship was fading, Meg wasn’t really interested in the benefits package after all.
When she got back from London, she was going to make things right with Mia. It was okay that their fling had run its course, but there was no need to abandon their friendship. She would make Mia see that.
*
Meg pulled up her calendar on her phone as she grabbed a coffee from the hotel’s breakfast buffet. She had a full day today, starting with a new client meet and greet in the morning, followed by what she hoped would be the final Pruitt meeting after lunch. The rest of the week appeared to be open. She shook her head and walked the short distance to the office.
The morning meeting went smoothly. Even though she still wasn’t convinced she was needed at this function, the big-name marketing company execs directed many of their questions specifically to her. They had followed her work with Davis Pruitt and seemed particularly impressed that she had effectively orchestrated the company’s reorganization without reducing its staff.
Afterward, London-boss Mitch called her to his office to explain this was part of the reason he’d asked her to fly over. He was utterly impressed with her work and had made a point of telling New York–boss Anne the same, even though she wasn’t a bit surprised. But the other reason he had insisted that she come to London this week was she had never received a proper orientation. To that end, he instructed her to come in the next day around lunchtime, prepared to party. She was going to have to squeeze into one day the level of debauchery that most associates accomplished in a week, but if her work ethic was anything to go by, he had no doubt she would succeed with flying colors.
It was a good time, her orientation. She knew all the staff by now, so there were no nerves at all, just a fun time with her UK cronies. The only person unable to attend was Sasha Michaels.
Shocker.
On Thursday Meg woke up around noon to the revelation that she had the entire day to herself. She wasn’t expected at the office and her flight home didn’t depart for another twenty-four hours. Luxuriating in the piping-hot shower stream, Meg decided she would spend the day sightseeing. For all the time she had spent in London in the last six months, she had yet to see a single landmark.
She had planned out the course in her head, allotting just enough time to see everything she wanted. Then as she strolled down a particularly bustling thoroughfare on her way to the Tube, she caught a glimpse of a girl with perfectly styled short blond hair exiting a salon, and something crazy happened. Without a chance to back out of her split-second decision, Meg marched herself through the salon door.
She panicked a little at first as she assessed the girl at the front desk. The girl’s light brown hair was pulled back except for one long pink streak that hung down the side of her face. She was covered with a vine of floral tattoos along both forearms and her dark makeup and nose ring completed her impressive look. Meg knew she looked like a complete dork in comparison and was about to sound like one too.
“Hi. I, um, don’t have an appointment or anything and this is probably weird, but I just saw some girl walk out of here”—she thumbed toward the door—“with really short blond hair. And I was kind of wondering if, you know, whoever did her hair, could maybe do mine?” She touched the ends of her hair self-consciously.
The girl leaned over the reception desk and gave Meg a thorough once-over. When she met Meg’s eyes, her expression softened and a warm smile spread all the way up to her hazel eyes. “Sure, luv. Hang on.” Her bangle bracelets clanked against the counter as she turned toward the back of the shop. “David. Dav-id,” she singsonged.
David emerged from the rear and sashayed to the storefront. Meg was surprised he could move at all in the painted-on skinny jeans he wore. His T-shirt was equally tight, finished with a scarf purely for effect. As he approached the desk, the receptionist took another long look at Meg and began to explain.
“David, you’ve just cut Lizzie’s hair, yeh?” She obviously knew the answer, but David nodded anyway. She gestured at Meg. “This here adorable American is looking for the same. Can you do?”
David stepped in front of the counter and circled Meg a full 360 degrees. He stopped in front of her face and held up both hands. “May I?” he asked.
Meg moved her chin up and down even though she wasn’t sure what she was saying yes to.
Starting at the base of her neck, David ran his hands up through the back and sides of her hair, carefully making his way to the front, pushing the strands first to one side, then the other, before messing it up completely.
“Darling, your hair is fab. So thick.” He was about her height, so when he stood in front of her, their eyes were exactly level. He put one finger up to his puckered lips and nodded. “When I’m through, you are going to be one fit lezzer.”
His voice was so serious, Meg couldn’t help but burst out in laughter. David and the receptionist chuckled with her.
For the next two hours, Meg watched her own physical transformation take place in stages. She stared calmly in the mirror as the bulk of her hair fell to the floor. It wasn’t nearly as scary as she’d expected it to be, perhaps because David kept her occupied by firing question after question at her. He’d already found out where she was from, how old she was, and what she did for work.
“Your girlfriend is going to be shocked when you get home!”
Meg smiled, loving that he’d pegged her right away. “No girlfriend. But yeah, I think my friends will be surprised.”
David leaned back in the direction of the reception area. “Nat, she’s single,” he called out.
“So where are you partying tonight, before you up and leave us for good?” he asked.
Meg was a bit embarrassed, but she answered honestly. Shrugging her shoulders she admitted the truth. “I was just gonna go back to my hotel. I haven’t been out really at all since I’ve been here. I wouldn’t even know where to go.”
David stopped dead. Still holding a lock of hair in his hand, he called out, “Natalie, call the girls, we’re going out tonight.” He looked at Meg in the mirror. “Seriously, come out with us. We’re normal people. Quite fun, even. Not a serial killer among us. Swearsies.” He crossed his heart with the scissors he held.
“Why not?” Meg said lightheartedly. In the mirror’s reflection she made eye contact with Natalie who smiled and lightly clapped.
When he finally spun her chair around for the first look, Meg’s jaw almost hit the floor.
“Holy shit.” Meg felt the back of her neck. She turned her head from side to side. She didn’t want to mess too much with the product David had applied but she felt the need to touch her head. She could feel little nubs trimmed down to the base underneath the pixie cut, allowing for what David called a textured look. The highlights were delicate, creating just a bit of depth. Meg loved it.
