Corporate Secrets

CHAPTER 6

ANNE

I'm thankful that the event was yesterday, Friday. It gives me the entire weekend to recover from his harsh words. For a man who most people call brilliant and smart and clear-sighted, he gives me whiplash.

One moment he's all happy and smiling and talkative, and the next he's snapping at me like I hit a dog or something. I spend the day cleaning my already clean apartment just to take my mind away from everything.

By Sunday, I'm a lot better. Celine sends me loads of pictures to ask me what she should wear for her graduation. We narrow it down to two, but I tell her that I can't choose between the hot pink and the dark purple.

"I wish Cole wasn't an idiot." She finally snaps, taking down the pictures of herself in the dresses and leaning back against her headboard

I can't stop my heart from pounding when she mentions his name. I've known this would come up sometime soon. Not telling her that I'm now working with her older brother is definitely the worst decision I've made in my life.

"Why is he an idiot?"

"Because he hasn't called me in months! And I called him the last two times."

"I don't understand. Do you like keep tabs on how often you guys talk and who calls whom? That's just crazy, Celine."

"No, it's not," she replies, tossing her hair back and tapping a finger on her chin. "I don't do it every time, but Cole and I had an argument the last time we talked. He's always so busy, and he never calls. I just want him to pick up the phone and call me once in a while. Is that too much to ask?"

I love my friend, but even I am not blind to her faults. Celine is the classic 'high-maintenance' girlfriend everyone warns guys about. Her standards are incredibly high, and when she finally does go out with a guy, she expects him to move heaven and hell for her. And if he doesn't do it the way she wants and doesn't get it exactly right, then he's in for a wild time.

And not in a good way.

I think it's because of how spoiled she is. Her parents give her everything she asks for and do things for her that would make people surprised.

Last year, when she told them that school work was getting tough and she couldn't handle taking care of her apartment all by herself, they got a service to employ a maid, cook, and driver for her.

It's surprising how well-adjusted she is considering all of that, actually. Maybe attending a public high school like I did brought out some of the humanity in her.

She wasn't supposed to come to our school. But when she told her parents that she didn't want to go to some fancy prep where she had to wear uniforms and the rules were too strict, they allowed her to come here instead.

"You know, he might be busy. Have you ever considered that? I mean, he must have a lot of work on his plate." Which he does. I've had to start leaving for work half an hour later just so that I can beat him into the office.

He always has something he's doing, and by the end of the day I'm so exhausted with all the meetings he scheduled and all the documents he needs to be prepared, that I'm ready to drop

And then we start all over the next day.

"I'm his sister! I should be more important than any work he's doing."

It takes a lot of effort to stop myself from snapping at her the way I want to. Instead, I sigh and say, "Maybe you should just consider calling him, okay? I mean, you want to ask for his opinion on your dress, isn't it?"

"No, I'm not going to call him." It's astounding how she still looks so beautiful with her face all scrunched up in annoyance. "And you should be on my side, you know. You shouldn't be defending him! You're my friend, not his."