AMB~she~OUS

TWENTY EIGHT [I]

"Shall we get the appetizers out maam? Most of the guests have arrived." Paloma asked me the minute I walked into the kitchen to grab a glass of scotch.

I was going to need it if I was going to spend my whole Saturday afternoon entertaining a bunch of misogynistic assholes, who also happened to be most of the company's investors. A small part of me regretted ever suggesting such a thing to my absentee husband because giving his son the go-ahead to help me with this had been a huge mistake. It meant I couldn't back out at the last minute like I wanted to.

My head nodded at whatever Paloma had said, I really didn't care, I was just hoping to get through his event as quickly as I could. My feet carried me out to the patio at the back of the mansion. A few tables were set out with little chairs and stools for the guests to sit on. Moving about were hired servers holding trays with glasses of different beverages.

I scanned the crowd for familiar faces and was quite surprised that I knew half of the population that had decided to show. There were a couple of Craig's business associates who had been present at our wedding, others I saw on business trips and a handful I was not quite familiar with.

My eyes unintentionally set on Nick. Dressed in some khaki chinos and a button-up black shirt, he was smiling widely at something some lady said. He looked handsome like he always did every other day. It was infuriating how much I noticed such trivial things like his looks or how good he looked with his hair casually ruffled up.

I downed the rest of the contents of my glass and forcefully tore my eyes away from him. In a room full of people, he easily stood out, I didn't know if it was just me or the fact that he was just that noticeable. I averted my eyes and tried to find something to distract me, anything that would keep me from looking over in his direction.

Forcing my feet forward, I moved in the opposite direction to greet some of the guests. My hostess skills sucked this afternoon because neither Craig nor Alex was here to keep me in line and force me to at least be nice. Their absence was probably the reason why an hour into the event I still hadn't officially welcomed anyone.

"Katherine dear." A voice called out to me just as I was about to disappear into the house.

I spun on my heels with a large smile and faced Trevor and his awful wife.

"Trevor, I'm glad you could make it. Hope you're finding the party to your liking." I put as much enthusiasm as I could in my voice and leaned for a quick hug.

"You've outdone yourself as usual. Is Craig not joining us?"

"He said there was a problem with one of the construction contractors. I thought you were aware." Is what I was supposed to say.

"Um, he had a very important commitment. Outside work, I mean." I said instead.

Here I was covering for my husband who was probably out there w--.

"He's probably tired of seeing the same old face- I mean faces every day."  Erin snickered beside her husband.

If it was any other day I would have retaliated with a snarky comment of my own but today was not that day for a special reason. For once Erin wasn't far off about my husband and it wasn't about the various business people he was used to seeing like she had made it seem.

I brushed off her statement with an eye roll which earned me an apologetic look from Trevor. He was such a nice man and I didn't know why he married such a horrible woman.

"That young man has been doing wonders ever since he took over from Craig, no offence to my friend." Trevor laughed and I did too.

"Yeah, Nick is good at what he does." I agreed with a slight nod of my head.

"And you are too. I have seen the reports, our sales are through the roof, higher than they have ever been. You two are definitely something together." He said with a warm smile before steering Erin away into the crowd.

A sense of warmth spread through me at his words. I was indeed a hard worker but it was something people rarely acknowledged out loud. To have someone see my worth to the company felt incredibly good. I had barely had time to see our reports because I had been so consumed with my personal life and it was a pleasant thing to know that they spoke for themselves about how much work I was putting in.

Suddenly this party didn't feel so dull anymore. Everyone in the room knew that I was a valuable asset to the company, something only a few had seen. But nowhere was something I couldn't "sleep my way through"  and numbers didn't lie. I was more than a wannabe businesswoman whose husband was responsible for all her success. I could finally point out something I achieved on my own.

I smiled at that. I was going to make it, gender stereotypes be damned, I would make a huge name for myself and if I couldn't run this company maybe I would start my own.

It wasn't something I had thought about before but it was definitely an idea. I shook my head before I could start getting ahead of myself, I still had so many problems at the present moment that I needed to deal with. But I made a silent promise to revisit that thought when everything had settled.

With a newfound glee, I held my head up high and went on to greet more of my guests, making sure to steer clear of Nick. I didn't want to deal with him today...not yet.

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A short update cause I kinda wanna set the tone for part two of this chapter which is going to be reaaaaalllllyyyy interesting. Stay tuned!!!!

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