In the Company

“So what exactly are we wearing to this thing?” Ryleigh asked me as we packed our things up at the end of the day. She had to be referring to the party Deena had planned on Friday.

“Something nice, fancy,” I shrugged. “I don’t know. Maybe a visit to the freebie room tomorrow?”

Ryleigh’s eyes widened at that and she nodded, letting her auburn curls bounce around. As I shut down my laptop, a knock was heard on our office door. Exchanging a look, Ryleigh called out to open the door. Standing there were six hockey players.

“Can we help you gentlemen?” she asked, leaning against her desk.

I matched her stance against my own and cocked my head to the side, observing the men as they entered our chic office.

Never had a group of clients looked so out of place in our white and glass world. There was Max, average height, darker skin, shaggy hair that was begging for a cut, and a stubble ridden face. Claude had much lighter hair than his teammate (I knew that much about them.), paler skin, and a stockier frame. Taylor was certainly good looking. He was younger than some of his fellow hockey players in the room with blonder hair and I’d even say a cute nose. Tyler was in same boat as Taylor when it came to age. He had a cute smile and ears that stuck out a little bit from his dark hair. Brayden-who I caught staring at Ry- was younger than his other Philly teammates and had much shorter hair and some nice eyes. And then there was Patrick. He was shorter than some of the others, but with a decent build to make up for it. He had blonde curls that he had probably grown out at some point in time and a cocky little smirk that seemed evident all the time, except when Deena gave her speech.

All in all, a very good looking group. Troubled certainly, but good looking nonetheless.

“The scary boss lady suggested dinner for all of us,” Claude said. “Interested?”

Ryleigh looked to me. Obviously, we were both interested. But it was a matter of whether we were too tired to move.

“Sure,” I shrugged. “Where did you guys have in mind?”

“You’re the locals,” Brayden pointed out.

“Well,” I decided to have a little fun at their expense. “As long as I don’t get run over, I’m fine with wherever.”

Patrick almost blushed. “I said I was sorry, didn’t I? You just brushed me off!”

“Because you were hitting on me,” I laughed. “And this is New York, get used to it boys.”

Ryleigh and I grabbed our things and led the boys down to the lobby. We waved to Lydia who was on her way who had a shocked expression plastered across her face.

“Mamma Di Masci’s?” I asked Ry, referring to our favorite Italian restaurant.

“Hell yeah!” she smiled linking arms with me. “I hear the lasagna calling my name already.”

“Italian,” Taylor groaned happily to himself. “I like it already.”

Even though the guys wanted to hail a cab, Ry and I convinced them that if we could make the short walk in heels, they could do it too. To distract them, we spent the time firing questions to each other.

“So wait,” Tyler put up his hands. “You,” he pointed to Ryleigh. “Have no idea what hockey is. And you,” he gestured to me. “Barely do. What is wrong with this picture?”

“Nothing,” we deadpanned together.

“If you were as busy as we were, you’d understand,” Ryleigh explained. “And I grew up in Small Town, Oklahoma. No hockey around there.”

“And yeah, I grew up in Dallas,” I shrugged. “But my brother and uncle were more of football fans.”

“Dad?” Max asked.

Ryleigh squeezed my arm gently, knowing I never liked answering questions about him.

“Don’t really know,” I tried to wave it off. “He’s only just gotten out of the military. When he and Mom were still married, we traveled so much that it was hard to pick up any local interests.”

Conversation slowed then, a small awkwardness hanging in the air. Ryleigh and I still walked arm-in-arm, not caring if it looked a little weird.

“Purple,” Ryleigh blurted out to break the silence.

“Yellow,” Patrick said, thinking it was a joke. “I can do it too.”

“No, no,” she shook her head. “That’s the color I’m wearing on Friday. I don’t care if it doesn’t match my hair, I’m wearing it. And you’re wearing red.” Ryleigh enjoyed making decisions for me, whether I liked it or not.

“Um, no,” I shook my head. “I’m not sticking out in red.”

“Aw, come on!” Ry pouted. “Don’t you think she’d look good in red?” She nudged Patrick.

“Ryleigh!” I all but shrieked.

“What?” she feigned innocence. “It’s a legitimate. But don’t you?”

Patrick leaned around her and looked at me, locking eyes.

“Yeah,” he conceded. “You would.”

I had to be blushing. “Thanks?” But that was something I should be hearing from David, not some hockey player I had just met. “But what about Ry?” I bumped Brayden with my right elbow. “Purple’ll look good on her, right?”

He nodded. “Sure. I don’t see why not.”

If looks could kill, they’d be calling the coroner to Rockefeller Plaza as we walked through.

“I’m hungry,” Tyler almost whined. “Are we there yet?”

Ryleigh and I halted in front of Mamma’s.

“Welcome boys,” I said, holding open the door. “To the best spot in New York.”

*****

The next morning, Ryleigh and I rolled out of bed to the sound of our alarms. Getting in late last night, I knew I wouldn’t be up for running this morning. So instead, I decided I’d give Ryleigh my bag at the end of the day and change at work, running in the afternoon.

I could hear Ry in the kitchen making breakfast. She liked eating first and then changing, while I was the other way around. By the smell, I could assume she was making tea instead of coffee and oatmeal. Yuck to both.

“So what do you think?” she said leaning in my doorway as she ate from a bowl.

“Of what? Your muy bruto breakfast?” I smirked as I pulled on a pair of slacks and a short sleeved, flowy blouse. “Or something else?”

“The hockey players, you ding dong,” she rolled her eyes. “Cute shoes.”

“Thanks,” I opted for flats today, a pair of metallic loafers. “And can I really have an opinion on them? I mean, I have a boyfriend already.”

“Who’s too busy to come to the party, mind you,” Ryleigh pointed out.

“Yeah, don’t remind me,” I sighed as I placed my earrings into their holes. I had called David the previous day to see if he was up to being my plus-1 for Friday’s party. Apparently, a big investor in his firm was in town and another party was planned across town for that night.

“Freebie room first thing today,” she sing songed as she made her way back to the kitchen.

*****

After getting to work, we picked up our agendas for the day. Before we needed to be briefed by Deena, we had 45 minutes to ‘settle in’. Obviously that meant not bothering with our office and heading up to the 6th floor for the freebie room.

The 6th floor was like a version of Saks, Macy’s, Bloomie’s, and Harrods, all with no price tag. Anything we could possibly want was there. Of course, we couldn’t just take things. We had to fill out a request form after selecting our items and it had to be approved, but there was so much stuff that was always coming in, it never really mattered.

Standing amongst the racks, Ryleigh and I perused the choices. There was so much to decide on and we didn’t have much time.

“Found it!” she shouted triumphantly.

“Your dress?” I asked not bothering to look up.

“Nope,” she popped the ‘p’. “Yours!”

I stopped pushing clothes around and turned to face her. Seeing the dress on the hanger she held, I busted out laughing.

“No way I’m wearing that,” I gasped in between fits of laughter.

It wasn’t that it was ugly. In fact, it was quite beautiful. It resembled the dress Robin had worn on How I Met Your Mother in the ‘Heads or Tails’ episode and I knew it would hug every curve I possessed. It was red with a ruffled v-neck and would hit me just above the knee.

“Just try it on,” Ryleigh insisted. She threw the dress into my arms. “Now,” she clapped her hands. “Find me something.”

Demanding, isn’t she?

I scanned the racks around me. Nothing purple. With most people, that wouldn’t be a problem. I could have just given them something else. But Ryleigh had made her mind up about wearing purple yesterday, which meant she would be just as adamant about it today.

Leaving her where she stood, I wandered through a few more rooms before I found a few purple options. One was floor length and I knew she would like it. The other was long sleeved and woolen, much too wintery for a summer gathering. But the final one seemed like it would work. It was one shouldered, rouched, and would hug her body just right. Checking sizes, I grabbed the only one that would fit her and all but ran back to Ryleigh. We were running low on time and we still had to decide whether they were our dresses.