Awkward Meet Normal

Chapter Twenty

Annabelle:

Ryan had called; it wasn't good. One of the interns at FlyLeaf had posted a tweet from their account rather than their own.

I was not happy it was happening. But it did get me out of a dinner that had gone from bad to slightly creepy. Dash's mom had gone from not liking me to wanting to be my best friend in a matter of minutes. I wouldn't say I liked it.

When I got to FlyLeaf, a dozen or so people were gathered. No one was talking.

So I started.

"Who the fuck gave an intern twitter power?" The tweet was seen and deleted within five minutes of being posted to the company's Twitter page. But it had been retweeted a thousand times before it was deleted.

Ryan's company was a Fortune 500 company. And it was now also a Fortune 500 company with a nude meme tweeted on its page. It had nothing to do with the products they sold.

No one answered me. The room is silent.

Edine, a woman I worked with, appeared embarrassed. I was used to being embarrassed, so it was easy to see in her face and posture.

As I got closer to her, she diverted, looking at me.

"Edine," and that one word from my mouth was all it took to send her into a fit of tears.

The babbling she had said was hard to follow, but the gist was she was seeing the male intern after work hours, and he had posted the picture to the Twitter page, believing it was her own personal Twitter.

Ryan sent me a text. And I finally saw the picture that the intern had tweeted.

"Fuck" I said out loud. I looked at Edine, who was crying still. I turned to Harry, another co-worker. "He had to post a dick meme and not boobs?"

Harry looked at my phone and gulped.

We were screwed. 

The guy's group text was blowing up, and I had to silence my phone.

I wanted to scream. It was one thing to have this happen to a client of mine. But to have it be Ryan's account.

I needed a time machine.

Roman's Sport, the sub-company it had been posted to, was not trending. Yet.

Ryan called later after his date night with Sydney.

"They want a meeting first thing tomorrow." He skipped the pleasantries, which I understood.

"Do you think I save it?" I asked.

The second's tick by. He sighs. "I think it would take a miracle to save it."

I appreciated his honesty.

It was after eleven at night when I got home. Everyone had left shortly after my call with Ryan. I stayed behind and came up with a presentation for them tomorrow. I was tempted to start by falling on my knees and groveling to keep their business.

When I got to Dash's house all the lights were still on. I should have gone home. It would have been easier to wallow in my own despair. Dash didn't need to be around me, but I had driven his car. I think he knew what he was doing when he offered the keys to me.

But part of me was relieved I didn't have to return to my empty apartment. I would have felt so alone.

Alone.

Had I felt that before Dash?

I found him sitting in the living room, but he had dressed down in grey sweatpants and a black v-neck shirt. It was unfair how hot he looked. At least he was a distraction from what my mind was thinking. Ryan's account had been my most significant account, and I needed to keep them.