Rewriting the Rules(27)

Another call comes in and I look to see it's Aubree. "Hey, girl, I have to call you back."

"Okay, talk soon!"

"Okay, bye." Disconnecting from Jessica's call I switch to Aubree. "Hey, what's up?"

"Can you come in a little early? We're getting slammed right now."

"Yeah, I'll be in soon."

"Thanks, girl."

"No problem."

Getting out of bed, I turn to look at myself in the mirror and then I  check the time. I don't have enough time to take a shower so I grab my  dry shampoo bottle and spray my hair. Fluffing it a little and quickly  changing into black leggings, a black tank and an Exhale Spa pink  cardigan, I slip on my flats and run out of my room. I grab a banana and  my water bottle from the counter and rush out of the house to drive to  the spa.   





 

I walk in and see the disaster at the front counter. Putting down my  things in the office, I come out with a smile and take care of an irate  client.

"Debra, I'm looking at the account now and it seems as though your  husband's credit card has been getting declined. Do you have another  form of payment?"

"This is so embarrassing! He's supposed to take care of both our  memberships." She whips out her phone and I give her a moment to figure  out what's going on and help Zara with a new membership signup. I look  over and see Aubree and Megan dealing with the room assignments with a  massage therapist. Aubree looks over and gives me a we're okay look. I  turn my attention back to Zara so we can finish the paperwork and then I  go back to Debra.

"Everything okay?" I ask.

She sighs and takes out cash to pay for both balances. "Thanks, Debra.  Now will this card be okay for next month?" She nods and I print out her  receipt and wish her a great day.

Once all the clients are out, Zara and Megan collapse on the chairs and I have to stop my laughter.

"It wasn't that bad," I tell them.

"Yeah, right," Zara chimes in. "First, Maya leaves early because we all  know she was hungover and then Debra comes in raising hell thinking we  messed up with her membership."

"Wait," I look at Aubree. "You didn't tell me Maya left early."

"I know, I'm sorry. She said she wasn't feeling good and I let her go. We were slow when she left, then all hell broke loose."

Megan, Zara, and Maya are the front desk consultants and handle checking  clients in and out, selling memberships, and selling spa products. The  team's working really well with three consultants, a manager, and  myself. We're at max hours and I can't hire someone else.

"Well, if Maya was sick, then it's okay."

"But she wasn't," Zara states.

"Even if she was hungover, she wasn't ready to work. Don't worry, we  handled everything and now things are okay. Make sure the files get put  away and I'll talk to Jason about possibly hiring someone full-time."

Megan and Zara get to work while Aubree and I go into the office so I can get some work done.

"What do you think about Maya?" I ask Aubree.

"She's good when she wants to be. She's strong and our top seller."

"But?"

"She has issues with the other two ladies. The drama is ridiculous."

"We can't have that. We're supposed to work as a team. I don't know,  I'll think about it and work more with Maya to see what's going on."

"Sounds good. How's everything else going?"

I click on an email to try and keep busy so I don't smile like a fool. "Oh, everything's fine."

Aubree gasps. "You're hiding something from me. Tell me!"

I fill her in on Reed and she nods, not surprised it ended, and then I bring up Troy.

"Wait! Troy Harding. Jason's friend?" I nod. "Oh wow, he's so hot. You're so lucky!"

"Yeah. Well, my brother doesn't know."

"Wait, what?"

"Yeah, it's stupid. He doesn't like the idea of Troy and me, so we're  keeping it from him. Troy hates it. I mean, what else am I going to do?  It's my brother and I love him, but I love Troy too. It sucks and it's  so not fair."

"You can't expect to keep this from him forever. You're going to have to eventually tell him."

"Key word," I point out. "Eventually. For now, Troy and I are content and happy. Things will work out."

"Whatever you say," Aubree smiles and we talk more about the spa and our sales.





Chapter 26



Troy



I'm sitting here across from Will and I think about wanting to tell him  about Charlotte. Fuck, how the hell am I going to do this?

"So I was thinking we all take a trip to AC this weekend."

"Oh, yeah?"

"It'll be good to get away for a weekend. After the incident with  Charlotte and the fact that we've been working our asses off, we need a  weekend to relax. I asked Carter, but there's no way they'll be able to  leave Avery."

"What about Sal?"

"He made plans with Monica."

"They're back together?" Will nods and I let it go, not wanting to hear more.

"Oh," I snap. "I'm sure Jessica will want to come along. They haven't seen each other since she moved to Rochester."

"Good point. I'll talk to Charlotte and you get it set up."   





 

"Sounds good."

Honestly, the idea of getting away for a weekend with Charlotte gets me  excited. The only downfall is spending it with Will. We're going to have  to be careful and lay out some ground rules. As much as I hate sneaking  around, at least it gives us what we both want.

When I get home I book the hotel and rent a cabana for us. After booking  what I need to and then emailing my clients to let them know I'll be  out of town until Monday, I hear the door open and know instantly, it's  Charlotte.

Walking out of my office, I bring her in my arms and lead her to the  living room. I tell her about the Atlantic City plan and she immediately  gets up and calls Jessica so she can get a flight to Rochester.

"Seriously! It's happening! Hello AC," she yells on the phone and I leave to give her time alone with her best friend.



The drive to Atlantic City is quick and easy, and soon we're heading to  our rooms at Harrah's Resort hotel. Tonight we're heading to dinner and  The Pool After Dark. Charlotte slept in the car most of the way with  Jessica since her flight got in early this morning. Will and I took  turns driving, talking business and more about Atlantic City and what we  wanted to do. I looked at her from time to time and wondered what she  was thinking.

"So Jessica and I are going to lounge around the pool area if you guys want to join."

"We'll see you there," I answer before Will could say anything. He's  itching to hit up the tables at the Taj Mahal and I'm itching to see  Charlotte in a two-piece.

"Sounds good," she smiles at us. The elevator dings and the four of us walk out and head to our rooms.

Will and I are a few rooms down from the girls. We head in and unpack our things to get ready for relaxation by the pool.

"Remind me again why we didn't get our own rooms," I grumble, hanging my  suit and shirts in the closet. "I love you, man, but I don't feel like  sharing a room with you."

"Why?" he asks. "You planning on hooking up with someone this weekend?"

Maybe. "You know that's not me," I tell him. "Plus, after dealing with the fucking gift from Andrea, I don't trust anyone."

He laughs, holding his stomach. "I told you that bitch was bad news."

"Yeah, whatever. It was good pussy for a while, until my dick felt like it was going to fall off."

"I told you she was bad news from day one. Hey, we're cool, right?"

"Yeah. We're fine."

"The idea of you and Charlotte together pisses me off."

"You're still on that?"

"Just listen, you fucker. I get it. You two are good friends, and that's  fine. I just don't like the idea of you and her being together. She's  all I have left."

"I respect that. She comes over to my house, we hang out, and have fun. I like being around her."

"Do you guys hang out a lot?"

Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.

"She stops by and swims or relaxes. I don't know, man."

He eyes me with suspicion and I'm silently saying a prayer. If there's  anything I know, Charlotte is off limits, no matter what. Will's made it  clear that no one is to touch her or look at her. When I was taking  care of her he didn't have a choice. He had to trust me with her, and  now I have to keep reminding him that I have her best interest at heart.

"What, man?"

"Nothing," he shakes his head. "A funny thought came to me. I mean," he laughs. "Na, you wouldn't."

"What?"

"We're best friends." He walks around the hotel room and sits on the  single couch in the corner of the room. I see his hands curl into a fist  and relax again. "Pretty much brothers, so that makes Charlotte your  little sister. You wouldn't do anything to hurt her, right?" He lowers  his eyes, making his hands into a fist again. I'm picturing him beating  the shit out of me and kicking my balls. I fear for my boys.

"You know me better than that. I love Charlotte, and I'll always do anything I can to protect her, so don't worry."