That sense of dread is growing in my gut, and I flip over to the voicemail tab. There it is, a minute after the call. I press play, and hear Maureen’s cool voice on the other end. Shit. I listen to the message, my horror only growing, realizing what Scarlett must have heard, what she must have though. Shit. “Shit.” It’s so bad that I have to say it out loud.
I’m flipping through my emails, finding the one with Scarlett’s contact information, and I’m relieved that it’s still there and she didn’t delete it. I call the number, hoping desperately that she’ll pick up and I can tell her to just come back. But no, the phone rings until her voice picks up on the other end, asking me to leave a message. I call again. Maybe she’s ignoring me after what she heard in the message. I know that if I were in her position I wouldn’t want to talk to me either.
God, I’m such a dick. I can’t even believe I tried to have her fired for spilling coffee and falling over. What kind of an ass am I to do that, especially with her in the room?
She’s probably on the way to the airport right now, but I have no idea which one. I call Maureen back, my leg bouncing anxiously while I wait for her to pick up. It’s three hours earlier in Seattle—she should still be in the office.
“This is Maureen.”
“Maureen,” I say, “this is Chris Flintlock.”
“Oh,” she says, sounding surprised. “I guess you got my message.”
“I did, and I need you to tell me which airport you booked Scarlett out of.”
She chuckles, “One of my assistants did the booking Chris, but I can have her check if you wa—”
“Yes,” I say, not even letting her finish the word. “Now please, this is time sensitive.”
“Right. Okay.” Maureen sounds flustered, and there’s a part of me that feels a little bad for getting in her face, but I’ll be damned if I’m going to let Scarlett fly away tonight because of a goddamn misunderstanding. When she comes back on the line she seems calmer. “She’s booked out of LaGuardia. Delta Airlines. Can I ask if something is wrong?”
“Not yet. We’ll see. Thanks Maureen.”
“Chris, about the—”
I hang up. I don’t have time to answer any other questions. I grab my coat and wallet, practically sprinting for the door. If there’s any luck in the world I’ll be able to catch her before she gets on the plane. I’ll make them page the whole damn airport. She’s not leaving this city if I can help it.
I hail the first cab I can see, and he skids to a stop in front of me. I hop in the back. “I need to get to LaGuardia,” I tell the driver, “and there’s a bonus in it if you get me there in less than thirty minutes.”
The driver looks at me like I’m crazy, and maybe I am, but he pulls off, and I lean my head back against the seat. How could I have been so stupid? I should have called Maureen back and told her that I over reacted to the incident with Scarlett. I would have told her that she’s great, that she’s perfect, that she turned out to be exactly what I needed and more. I try Scarlett’s cell again. I try it multiple times, every time it goes to voicemail. That’s not a good sign. The minutes absolutely crawl by, and with each tick of the clock I get more nervous that she’s slipping out of my grasp.
The phone rings, and I glance down, my heart falling when I see it isn’t her number. It’s Jason—the call I should really be hoping to get.
“Chris Flintlock,” I answer, pinching the bridge of my nose between my fingers and trying to sound professional and not like a desperate teenager.
“Chris,” Jason says. “Hey, I just wanted to give you a heads up that corporate loved your material. They’ll be giving us the final word in the morning, but I can’t imagine we won’t be signing a contract tomorrow.”
“That’s great, Jason. Thank you for letting me know.”
“What do you say we go out for drinks, get in an early celebration.”
“I really would love to,” I say, imagining how much better it would be if I could take Scarlett to drinks instead of chasing her down, “but something really urgent has come up, and I’m on my way to take care of it now.”
“Love trouble?” he asks, and I stay silent, not knowing what to say. He takes my silence for the admission that it is, and chuckles. “Go get her, brother. I’ll be in touch tomorrow.”
“Talk to you soon.”
I hang up the phone. It hits me that I’m in way deeper with Scarlett than I realized. The Pleasure Chest is the biggest client I’ve had the opportunity to sign this year, and I’m this close to doing it. But I can’t even think about that, I don’t even care, because she’s not here with me. What the hell have I gotten myself into? And do I ever really want to get back out?
We pull up to the Delta departures exactly forty minutes later. I give the driver a bonus anyway, because riding with me quietly cursing in the backseat, anxiously tapping my foot and making phone calls couldn’t have been the fare he wanted tonight. As soon as the cash is out of my hand, I’m sprinting into the airport. If I’m lucky, if I’m really lucky, my cab driver was faster than the one that she took, and made up some time. If someone up in the unknowable universe is looking out for me, she isn’t through security yet. Looking at the security line, I might have a chance.
I scan the check-in counters at Delta, and I don’t see her, so I sprint for the security line instead, looking for anyone blonde and her height. The line stretches almost the length of the terminal, disappearing into the maze of metal detectors in a mess of serpentine twists. I jog down the length of the line, and she’s not there. I reach the main funnel into the terminal, and there are so many people. I feel my hopes fall as I scan the crowd, because there’s absolutely no way I’m going to find her in this mess.
And then my entire body goes electric, because I see her. She’s inside security, sorting her things to go through the metal detector. “Scarlett!” I call out to her at the top of my lungs. I throw myself towards her without thought, ducking under the rope of the lines, leaping over a suitcase, and shoving my way through the line. More than one curse is thrown my way I as push through the crowd. “Scarlett Brown!” I yell to make sure she hears me. I break free of the crowd in front of the first checkpoint, and she’s right there. “Scarlett!” I call, and I move to go to her. The security agent is on his feet in a second, blocking my way and telling me that I can’t go any further. I barely hear him because Scarlett has looked up and she’s seen me. Relief floods my system like cool rain, and I can tell that she’s confused. “Scarlett, please!” I say. She grabs her things and comes over to me. The security guard has a look on his face like he doesn’t want to deal with this shit, and the travelers behind me are even worse.
Scarlett steps back over the threshold to my side of security, and then I’m drawing her to me and kissing her. I feel her body jump in surprise and then relax, molding to me like it’s something familiar and comforting. It only lasts a second though, because Scarlett is pulling away, looking around. “Chris, what are you doing here?”
“You can’t leave,” I tell her. “There’s no way in hell I’m letting you go.”
Her face hardens. “Oh? I heard the message. The company got your request and they’re sending somebody better. So your wish is granted.”
“Scarlett,” I say, putting my hands on her shoulders, “I didn’t request that. I don’t want to send you away, because there is no one better. You are everything I need. Everything I didn’t know I needed.”
Confusion clouds her face as my words sink in. “Really?”
“Really.” I lean in to kiss her again, and this time she’s smiling as my lips meet hers. Cheers go up around us from the people in line, whether or not they’re happy for our reunion or they’re happy because the security obstruction is about to be cleared, I’ll never know. Scarlett blushes when I pull away, laughing. I take the handle of her suitcase and guide her out of the line so the security guards stop glaring at us.
“I still don’t understand,” she tells me. “Maureen said she got the message.”
“She must have meant that idiotic phone call I made that first day about you. I didn’t call her again after that. About that, by the way, I don’t think I’ve ever been more of an ass in my life.”
She smiles. “I forgive you. Though it is quite an experience having someone tell your boss you should be fired.”
“I’m a dick.”
She’s laughing again, and she leans into me. “Yeah, you are a little bit. But thankfully I know a lot of really great ways you can make it up to me.”
“Oh?” My cock twitches in my pants, and I know that whatever she wants me to do, I’ll do. I will grovel by worshipping her body in every way I know how.
She slips her coat on. “I think those things are better left for somewhere a little less public.”
“I couldn’t agree more.” I say. “But there’s one last thing I need to take care of.” I pull out my phone and dial Maureen’s office.