In the Company

One hour into the party, I was already thoroughly enjoying myself. I was sitting at our booth with Jon, Max, and Claude, just talking. The rest of the boys had left, finding themselves dance partners, all while under the watchful eyes of myself, Ry, and our lovely, slightly inebriated boss. I couldn’t help but notice Ry checking over her shoulder every few minutes as she talked with an executive from the agency. Who was she looking for?

“What do you say, ma belle?” Max’s voice brought me back to our table.

I sighed. I was finding it very annoying to be sitting at a table with three, French speaking men and me speaking Spanish. “That depends on what you said, mi amigo.” I propped my chin up on my hand as I sipped a glass of champagne.

“Dance with me?” he gestured to the busy dance floor.

Laughing good naturedly, I tried to let him down easy. “I don’t think so. I’m happily taken and this alcohol may or may not have blurred thought process.” Or not.

“God, Kaner’s gonna hate you,” Jon shook his head. “You’ll be cock blocking him left and right.”

“Well if you consider my job cock blocking, then yes, I will be,” I said standing up from my seat next to him. “I’m headed to the bar. Anyone need anything?”

“Round of shots!” Giroux piped up. “Something strong. Get one for yourself too.”

In the back of my mind, I felt like it was a bad idea. But I decided not to worry, as I knew I wouldn’t get out of control drunk or anything. The party was certainly crowded and I could see Ryleigh stalking across the room towards a darkened corner. The same wary part of my brain was telling me to go after her and make sure everything was alright, but I was much more interested in getting drinks.

Waving the bartender over, I placed an order for our shots and waited patiently. But soon, I realized I wasn’t alone.

“Having fun?” I asked without turning my head. I knew who it was.

“Mhmm,” Patrick’s voice responded. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see him giving me the ‘up-down’. “A lot.”

I rolled my eyes. “Stop checking me out, Kane. It’s creepy.”

“Why?” I asked leaning against the counter alongside me. “You got yourself a boyfriend?”

“As a matter of fact,” I slammed my hand down on the counter. “I do and he’s an amazing guy. And if you weren’t slightly drunk, I’d most definitely put you in your place. But odds are, you won’t remember it in the morning and that would be a waste of a perfectly articulated rant.” I leaned over the counter. “Where the hell is that bartender?”

“If he’s so amazing,” Patrick continued. “Then where is he? I don’t see him by your side tonight, keeping us ‘creeps’ away.”

“He… He had a work function he couldn’t get out of. We’re both incredibly busy and our schedules are hectic,” I was turning on the professional tone to try and get him to knock it off.

The moment the bartender returned with a tray, I slapped down money, not bothering to dig out the company card. Making my get away as fast as I could in heel and carrying a tray, I turned my back on the blonde quickly.

Getting back to the table, I found that Ryleigh, Brayden, Taylor, and Tyler had joined our party with their own drinks.

“You were so creeping on her, dude,” Tyler guffawed. “It was hilarious.”

“It was not,” Ry huffed. “It scared the shit out of me. I felt like I was being stalked.” I assumed that she had found a now blushing Brayden in the corner earlier. She nodded towards me. “You okay there, Rose?”

I nodded. “Fine, yeah. Just keeping away from Patrick.” I set the tray down and Max, Claude, Jon, and I all picked up our small glass cups. Together, we downed them and replaced them on the tray.

“He giving you trouble?” Jon asked, furrowing his brow. It had become quite apparent that he was most certainly the ‘Captain Serious’ that Patrick had referred to him as.

“Just being a dick,” I shrugged. “Oh my god! I shouldn’t say that about a client! Um, he was…”

“Being a dick,” the whole table agreed.

I blushed. “Yeah…”

“Let me know if he gets out of line,” Jon’s voice dropped to a level where I could only just hear it above the roar of the room. “I’m only a few hours away by plane.”

“You really take your job as captain seriously, huh?” I smiled. “But thanks. I should be alright, though. He just needs to be put in his place.”

Our conversation ended then and I was able to watch Claude trying to hit on the waitress while Ryleigh convinced Brayden out onto the dance floor. He seemed a little hesitant at first, but once he was moving with her, he seemed right at home.

Before the night was over, I knocked back a few more drinks and a couple of small finger foods to try and offset the alcohol. By the time one a.m. had rolled around, Tyler and I were sharing a slice of cheesecake.

“I just don’t get why it’s called Boston Crème Pie,” he mumbled around a bite of dessert. “I mean, it’s more cake than anything.”

“Beats me,” I shrugged, stabbing my fork into the creamy slice. “You know what I should make? I should make my mama’s tres leche cake.”

“What’s that?” he asked.

“Only the most delicious thing ever!” Ryleigh leaned over the person sitting between her and me, Brayden. “AH! You should make it tomorrow.”

“We have work,” I yawned. “Shit! We have work!”

“But it’s Friday,” she whined. “Or Saturday. I don’t know what time it is.” It was quite clear that she was a smidge on the drunk side. But then again, so was I.

“We’re going in to put together plans for these buffoons, remember?” I sighed, stifling a yawn of my own.

Ryleigh moaned before dropping her head to the table. “Life sucks.”

“Yeah, tell me about it,” I stood up, dropping my fork to the now empty plate alongside Tyler’s. “Come on, cranky pants. Time to go home.” I tugged her up from her seat and we linked arms. “You boys should follow suit.” It wasn’t quite a suggestion, more of an order.

And if they knew what was good for them, they would do just that.

*****

The next morning, around 11, Ry and I were still sitting in our offices. Saturdays usually left the agency pretty empty, just a few people here and there. Most weeks, we didn’t come in on Saturdays, opting to work from home or taking the subway out to Jersey. But now that we were so involved in a massive project, I could feel the seven day work weeks coming on.

“Have you read Pat’s file yet?” Ry yawned from her desk.

I glanced up from where I’d been skimming through Max’s. “No. Should I have?”

The look my friend gave me was enough to tell me to get on it. I set the Philadelphia player’s file down and retrieved Patrick’s from the file. Ry and I had dived up the work when we’d gotten to the office. I would specifically read Max’s, Tyler’s, and Claude’s. She was to look over Pat’s, Brayden’s, and Taylor’s.

It didn’t take me long to see exactly why Patrick had been sent to us. There were plenty of instances of drunken problems, including a Stanley Cup parade and a night ending in an injured cab driver. It seemed like all the guy did was party. He needed to find himself a good girl and settle down, at least a little bit. I shared my thoughts with my partner, only to have her smirk at me devilishly.

“Maybe that girl should be you,” she said it all innocent.

“What is your problem with David?” I sighed. It seemed like we had a conversation like this all the time.

“You know perfectly well why I don’t like him,” Ryleigh didn’t bother to meet my gaze. “It’s just a matter of time before you see it for yourself.”