Daddy Issues

Part Fifteen: Jensen Hotel

He hasn't even looked at me since I spilled the coffee on him in the elevator. I feel so terrible but another part of me is angry that he reacted so terribly about it. Now, Alex is wearing a baby blue shirt with his black tie that happened to be left untouched. Baby blue isn't a color Alex wears but he still manages to make it look good.

I'm sitting in on the meeting between Klaus and Alex, taking notes on the office provided Mac book and struggling to adjust to the keyboard since I've never used a Mac book in my life, but I'll manage.

The two men are talking about hosting New York fashion week at Alex's hotel, but fashion week isn't until September and it's only July.

"In the meantime, I want to release my newest collection during the end of the month and I want to do it in the conference room at Jensen," Klaus tells him, but Alex seems hesitant.

"That's short notice, Conrad."

"I'm sure we can make it work," Klaus adds, "It'll be good publicity for you and I'll book 100 of your rooms for the staff and models. After the show we can close down the bar for drinks on me. Fair?"

Alex takes a moment to think of the offer and although he doesn't seem extremely thrilled about the idea, he agrees, "Okay. But the 30th is my son's birthday, so that day is out of the question."

Shoot. Patrick's birthday really was quickly approaching which meant an end to a lot of things.

"Okay, the 23rd it is," Klaus chimes in, writing it on a sticky note and passing it to me, "That gives us a week. Avery, that means you will need to bust your butt and get the invites out before you leave this evening. I want Kayla to give you the list of socialites I want invited with their contacts. It will be very intimate, no paparazzi."

He wanted me to deal with all of this? A week seemed to be pushing it a bit, there's no way people will show up with a week's notice.

"Mr. Conrad..."

"I'll have my designers work on the sizes and have models ready, so you'll have to work with Alex to prepare the dining hall," He adds, "That won't be an issue, will it?"

"Of course not, sir. But aren't you worried it's a little short notice?"

"No one in their right mind will miss our on a Klaus Conrad show," He responds confidently before questioning me, "Would you?"

I shake my head, "Absolutely not. Your shows are incredible."

"Exactly. And lets not make this one any less, okay?"

No pressure.

My eyes look across the table at Alex who is already looking at me. He clears his throat and begins to roll up his sleeves, "I will stick around for a few hours to go over restrictions in the hotel, I also need a timeline planned out before I leave so I know how long the dining hall is needed."

"Perfect, I'll leave you two to it," Mr. Conrad says as he stands up from his seat and begins to fill his briefcase with the documents he brought with him, "I'm counting on you for this, Avery. I'll have those contacts emailed to your work email."

"Thank you."

As Klaus gathers his things, he walks out of the boardroom, closing the door behind him. Alex and I are left in awkward silence until finally, Alex clears his throat and begins to talk.

"I'll reserve 100 rooms for the 23rd, Conrad's card will need to be charged 24 hours prior to confirm payment since the bill is going to be large," He begins scribbling notes on his notepad, refusing to look at me. I can't help but wonder why, is he really still mad about the coffee spill?

I nod my head, "Of course. Uh... I suppose we should reserve a room for the models to get ready."

"I can manage giving them boardroom number 3. It's the one closest to the dining hall where the runway will be set up," He continues to write this all down, "Should I give the bill to you or Conrad?"

"I suppose I can take the bill, I don't want him to think I'm incompetent," I manage a small laugh but Alex doesn't react to the joke, instead I notice him roll his eyes. I can't help but huff at his reaction, "Are you really still upset about the coffee? I said I was sorry, Alex."

"Lets focus on the job, okay? Enough about the damn coffee."

"I just can't think about that when it's clear you're upset with me," I tell him. He's having more of an affect on me than I would like to admit, but I know work needs to be the priority here so I attempt to push the thought aside, "Can we do some work at the hotel and will you be able to provide me with floor plans, please?"

Alex keeps it simple, "Yes."

He stands from the chair he's occupying and grabs his keys that's lying there. I'm confused since he had just told Conrad that he would stay for a few hours to go over things and now he's leaving.

His eyes land on me once he pushes his keys into his pocket, "Are you coming?"

"Where?"

"Did you not just ask to get floor plans? We're going to the hotel."

He walks out of the boardroom and I hurry behind him, unsure if Klaus would even allow me to leave. What if he needs me here? I try to get Alex's attention but he doesn't stop.

"I need to run it by Mr. Conrad first," I tell him, looking around the office space for Klaus but he's nowhere to be seen. I can't just leave. It would be a horrible thing to do on a first day.

I take out my work phone and text my boss to let him know that Alex and I are heading to Jensen to work on the floor plans and I can only hope that he will understand or be okay with it.

"Please don't fire me," I whisper to myself before following Alex into the elevator for the second time today, "Huh, Deja Vu."

Alex narrows his eyes at me and I can see him holding back a smile which quickly forces its way through his grumpy demeanor. He presses the lobby button and leans against the elevator wall, "You are a handful."

"You say that like it's a bad thing," I manage a small smile.

"Not necessarily, but I'm not used to someone being so..."

"Wonderful?" I joke with a grin.

Alex chuckles, shaking his head, "I was thinking more along the lines of difficult."

My grin quickly fades away and I tilt my head curiously at his words, "Why do you think I'm difficult?"

"You're taking it wrong, Avery. I mean you're difficult as in strong-willed, difficult to sway from your stubborn personality. In most cases a new intern wouldn't be so passive-aggressive with me," He explains.

My first reaction is to comment about our relationship being a little more different than the average intern and superior work acquaintance, but I hold back on reminding him of how fucked up this relationship is.

"Good job," Alex says, "I know you're biting your tongue and that's impressive for you."

For me? This guy is unbelievable.

Once the elevator doors open Alex leads me to the underground parking lot where he parked his Mercedes. As we approach the car he uses the key fob to unlock the doors and he opens the driver's door, turning to look at me.

"Did Conrad get back to you?"

I check my work phone to see a message from Klaus, reading: 'I appreciate your ambition, see you tomorrow.'

"Yeah, he's okay with me leaving," I tell Alex as I slip the phone back into my purse.

"Good, get in the car."

As I make my way around the car to the passenger's side, I take a deep breath realizing that Alex and I are headed to the place where everything started - this entire mess. I also know that a car ride along with Alex will be far from easy, but I don't know which version of him to expect.