Butterflies in Honey (Growing Pains #3) (2 page)

Hope was a dangerous thing.

Krista had to remind herself that it didn’t
matter, Sean wouldn’t communicate with her. He meant it when he
said clean break. Plus, Jim, her violent ex-boyfriend that showed
up in San Francisco two years ago to try and forcefully drag her
back to Seattle, got out of prison a while back and turned up at
her old house. Abbey had to call the cops because Jim was convinced
she was hiding Krista. Sean had said he didn’t want information on
her in case he ever ran into Jim. Or so he said. It sounded a
little farfetched when she thought about it now.

“Does he—do you know if he ever…asks about
me?” she stammered.

Marcus looked at her softly. “He’s never
asked Judy directly, but a couple times she was telling others how
you were and he stopped to listen.”

She nodded again, a tear overflowing.

“Geegee, you know I love you, right?”

She held back a sob, tears now making black
streamers down her face.

“Well, honey, you gotta move on. It’s been
two years. If he hasn’t come for you yet, he ain’t gonna, you know?
And you have that hot little number looking after you, with another
dozen on the hold list. Pick one. Get married. Give Gay Uncle
Marcus fat babies. You know?”

She cried harder. It was going to be one of
those nights. Marcus came around the desk and hugged her as she
cried into his shirt. It had been two long years and the break
still seemed fresh. The hurt was so sharp, she wondered if she
would bleed out before it healed.

That night she cried herself to sleep with
the windows open, listening to the sound of the ocean. She’d be a
liar if she said she wasn’t thinking of Sean the whole time.

~*~*~*~

Sean sat at his desk looking out the window.
She was coming to San Francisco. She would be here tomorrow. She
would be in the same room, breathing the same air, in less than
twenty-four hours. Sean’s chest was nearly exploding. He wasn’t
quite sure how he felt about it. She had someone else now. She’d
had someone else for a whole year. Someone constant. A man that
treated her well and bought her things. Sean had seen a picture—the
man was attractive.

She had moved on.

“Daydreaming?” Ray asked as he walked in.

Sean startled and looked at Ray. “Just
thinking.”

“Are we ready for tomorrow?”

Ray had barely aged in the last two years.
Unlike Sean, Ray refused to work crazy hours. He refused to give
his free time to an employer. He had a family to get back to at the
end of the day. And while Sean had Cassie, she had friends and
occasional boyfriends and a life, she was often elsewhere when Sean
got home. All that awaited him was an empty house and an occasional
unfulfilling lover.

Sean rubbed his eyes. He was tired, on a
great many levels. “As ready as we’ll ever be. I doubt they will
use us.”

“Then why the meeting?”

Sean looked out the window again. “You know
why. Tory is trying to moonlight me.”

“More money?”

“Yes.”

“Better title?”

Sean nodded.

“Then take the job and stay in San Francisco.
You won’t need to see her that way.”

Sean’s heart fell. Ray had been increasingly
worried about him since Krista left. When Sean started working like
a fiend, Ray tried to slow him down. Ray invited him over often,
trying to get Cassie to prod him into accepting. It hadn’t worked.
Especially since Cassie was still mad at him for letting Krista go.
One would think Cassie was the one going through the breakup.

When they heard Krista had a new boyfriend,
Cassie had thrown a plate at Sean’s head. She narrowly missed.
Then, she’d started crying. She didn’t blame Krista—she saved all
the blame for Sean,and reminded him of it whenever she thought
to.

After a beat, Ray asked, “Why is Tory shoving
Krista in your face, I wonder? Why fly her up here? Why not let the
San Francisco offices handle it?”

“Because she’s the best in the company at
what she does.” Sean couldn’t help the surge of pride, followed by
the familiar pain. “Tory probably wants her to judge me. Judge what
I’ve done. If anyone can poke holes in my work, Krista can.”

Ray nodded. “Are you sure you don’t want me
in the meeting?”

Sean shook his head. “If what I hear is true,
she will rip us apart. There’s nothing you can do to help.”

“It won’t be out of cruelty, Sean,” Ray said
quietly. “She was never that kind of girl.”

Sean felt like crying. If there had been no
witnesses he might’ve. “I know, Ray. She’ll just be doing her job.
I just wish they were sending someone else.”

Chapter Two

It was ten in the morning and Krista had a
death grip on her lucky mug. She was sitting in the conference room
in the San Francisco office waiting for Tory. A small team was
sitting with her, including Marcus and Ben, going over the
preliminary information from their old company. Krista knew the
numbers backward and forward, could see the gaping holes as if they
had neon arrows pointed at them, and couldn’t help but highlight
all the discrepancies (of which there were a million) for all the
team to exploit.

In short, doing her job. And doing it well,
just like Tory taught her.

Aside from that, which was second nature at
this stage in the game, she was trying desperately to control the
raging butterflies in her stomach. It felt like the little suckers
were battering up against her ribs, punching her heart and other
organs, and ultimately making her feel like she had to throw up
constantly.

“Who is giving the presentation?” Ben asked
stiffly, interrupting the thumping in Krista’s chest. He and Marcus
were wondering if Krista would make it through the day without
throwing a tirade or breaking down in tears.

For herself, she put her money on both.
Tirade first. Tears later.

“Guess,” Marcus said with a smile in his
voice. “There are five people.”

“Okay, will we see John?”

“Mr. Senior VP? Yes, indeedie.”

“Judy in marketing.”

“Right again.”

“Janice in art?”

“Ha! No, they went with Phyllis of all
people! Phyllis replacing me? No way! Krista, you remember
Phyllis—she is the one that made you figure out the book machine on
your own!”

“Ben helped with that, actually. I cheated,”
Krista said going over the material they were given. Not that she
needed to—it was all memorized. She stupidly thought it would take
her mind off of Sean. She had so wanted to look good in the
meeting. Instead, to properly do her job, she would look like the
Big Bitch she was rumored to be.

Sean might have loved her once, but after the
meeting, if he had any feelings left, they’d probably veer toward
hatred.

Tears might be first, actually.

“Sneaky!” Marcus said as he pointed at Ben.
“I didn’t know your tendrils were in the company before I met
you.”

Ben smiled. “James Montgomery from
Research?”

“No! You won’t believe this—they are using
that little weasel Larry! Since he worked with Krista before, they
thought he would know how to work her or something. Montgomery was
livid
!”

“They know I’m coming?” Krista asked in a
choked voice

“Of course they do! John is thrilled. He
thinks you and him see eye to eye,” Marcus said dryly as he
lounged.

“One more, right?” Ben said, looking at
Marcus with a furrowed brow.

“Sean,” Krista whispered.

“Oh yeah.” Ben suddenly found something else
to focus on. They were silent until Tory walked in a couple minutes
later.

Tory was a busy man, but made a point to walk
at a measured pace. When he spoke to you he never belayed his rush,
never lost his patience, and always held you in the highest
respect. Well, he did everyone Krista knew. He probably lost his
cool down the road somewhere.

“Okay gang, the car is out front. Krista,
please walk with me.” Tory watched as his team of high powered
suits filed out in front of him. They were a crew of Ivy League
stars. They all had the same haircut, the same suit, even the same
body type. They also had the same thoughts. But those thoughts made
millions, so Tory must’ve known what he was doing. Krista, Ben, and
Marcus called them Tory’s Circus.

Krista grabbed her laptop and stuffed it into
her computer case. She caught up with him and matched his
stride.

“Have you talked to Mr. McAdams since you
left San Francisco?” Tory asked.

“Wow, Tory. Right for the jugular, huh? No, I
haven’t.”

“How will he affect you today?”

“Honestly, I’m not sure. I have my notes on
their written materials bulletined, but I’m not sure how much he’ll
scramble my thoughts once I see him. It’s been a long time.”

Tory dipped his head thoughtfully. “I
appreciate your honesty. It is a breath of fresh air from my ‘Yes
Men.’ Well Krista, you are only human. I am going to sit you next
to me today so I can keep an eye on you. Use your laptop—just ping
me with whatever you need. I can always arrange for you to meet
with their Research Analyst separately if you need to.”

“Sean won’t let that happen.”

“Hmm. Yes, that might be right. Well, we’ll
figure something out.”

“Yes, sir.”

“Don’t call me ‘sir,’ it makes me feel
old.”

“Yes, Mister,” Krista said with a smirk.

They got into the town car together. As
Krista always did, she started to prep the team with what she would
expect from the numbers they gave. Then they were walking into the
lobby. Her hands were sweating and her legs felt weak. Thanks to
Sean’s example once upon a time, she had an array of tailored,
high-powered suits for these meetings, so she knew she looked good,
but she still felt vulnerable. She fell back behind the Circus.

They waited in clusters, Ben and Marcus
joking next to her. Everyone fell silent when they heard what was
unmistakably John’s voice: “Tory, nice to see you again! It’s been
a while. Too long!”

“Hello John. Nice to see you.”

“Please, follow me,” John said. The
procession started.

Krista couldn’t see over their group, so she
didn’t know who was up front with John, if anyone. Her stomach was
in knots as she made the familiar way through the corridors and
into the elevator. They went up the elevator in shifts since they
wouldn’t all fit in one. John and Tory were gone by the time she
got there.

“Re
lax
,” Marcus said in Krista’s ear.
He grinned like the Cheshire Cat. He was excited and anxious to be
back in his old stomping grounds.

“Be nice to them today,” Krista gave Marcus a
poignant look. She got the feeling he couldn’t wait to make
mincemeat of Phyllis.

“
Me
be nice? You’re the one with the
reputation of Big Bad Bitch!” Marcus laughed as they got in the
elevator. “I’ll have to stop you from blowing their whole
house…down.”

One of the Circus smirked. Krista scowled at
him. He went back to being straight faced.

The Circus was all a bunch of nerds in a
former life. Money they might have now, but they still remembered
their high school years as geeks. Krista would’ve been nice to them
in high school, but she bullied them now. It was fun.

“You’ve been waiting for this moment for two
years, whereas I have been dreading it,” she said to Marcus,
keeping an eye on the members of the Circus. She hated when they
listened in. They were as bad as a sewing circle.

“True. Okay, I won’t make Phyllis look as
stupid as she’ll sound. But that’s all I can guarantee.”

Krista smiled tightly as her stomach did
flips. Two more floors. One.
God!

They followed the Circus to the largest
conference room. As they walked in she looked around in wonder.
They had completely revamped all their electronics and redecorated.
Everything, including the chairs and phones, were new. The room
looked sleek and modern. Everything was fresh, impressive. If she
didn’t know their staff, the look of their facilities would lend a
positive spin to their credibility.

It was all Sean’s doing, Krista knew it just
by the look. John was the money man, Sean was the closer. He had an
eye for flair.

Tory was shaking hands with Larry, and then
with Phyllis. He gave a warm hello to Judy. The Circus was finding
their seats. John was setting up the projector. Where was Sean? He
wasn’t in the room. Maybe they thought he shouldn’t be in the
presentation since she and he had history?

Krista walked over to Judy, the marketing
person Krista had worked with when she’d been in the company. “Hi
Judy. Really good to see you.”

She smiled. “You, too, Krista. Give ‘em hell.
They deserve it!” she said quietly.

“Krista.” Tory wanted to get started. She
went to him and took her seat. She set up her computer promptly,
positioned her lucky mug just so—though behind her computer because
she didn’t want Sean to see it—and opened her IM. She then joined
the rest of her team so they could pass notes without getting
caught. All that done (and done quickly since she had done it a
million times in a million different cities), she got ready to wait
patiently for the show to start.

John was talking to Marcus. He caught
Krista’s eye and gave her a big smile and small wave. It was not
the John she remembered. All sarcasm was gone. She was now the
client. The enemy. He was trying to schmooze.

She smiled back, and then looked away.
Suddenly she wasn’t all that impressed. This wasn’t how she saw her
homecoming at all. In fact, it put a different light on her tenure
there. Compared to what she was used to, this company was small
potatoes; poorly set-up, small staff, small minded people, and
limited resources. It surprised Krista that Tory took the account
the first time around. But then, he stole everyone that made it
great—Krista nearly shined her finger nails on her suit with that
thought.