Work Wife

Gala

I was pulled away from the check-in table when the elderly woman in the sequin jacket came over to complain that the food line was taking too long and that I needed to do something about it. Apparently, Susan was just releasing random tables to the buffet instead of going in the order we agreed upon. There was confusion around the ballroom and I saw many people were just joining the line with no clue that there was a system.

I allowed the elderly woman to cut in front of a younger couple and as soon as I got that sorted I had a guy from the waitstaff tell me guests were complaining about the satin napkins. I tried to sway Susan from using satin weeks ago but she wanted everything to shine. Luckily the caterers had a stash of simple black cloth napkins that I quickly dropped at the end of the buffet line and then another guest approached me to whine over the starting prices for the silent auction items.

"Really, I could buy the whole trip for half the price through my agent," the woman complains and I glance around the wall of the silent auction vacation offers and reply, "Well, this is a fundraiser. Remember where you're money is going if you win!" I try and offer her a dazzling smile but she eye-rolls me and heads off toward the bar. I agree the five-thousand-dollar starting price for a weekend in Aspen was a bit absurd, but I figured there might be someone here wealthy enough to bid on it as a tax write-off.

I am about to head toward the food line to get myself a plate when my phone buzzes against my thigh. My dress might be simple but it has pockets so at least it's practical. I slide my phone out and see it's Chase. I flit my eyes up and look around the ballroom. With nearly two hundred guests milling about the mood-lit space, it's hard to pick him out. I glance at the text and groan when I see it's to inform me that Logan is here and was wondering what table he's at.

I am about to text him back when I hear my name being called out. I snap my focus away from my phone to see Ainslee sauntering over to me with Chase and another man.

"I just texted you," Chase tells me and I wave my phone out, "Just saw." He gestures toward the man beside him and adds, "Was wondering where to put Logan here." I do a double take and Logan laughs.

"Bet you don't remember me," he says and then sticks his hand out. "I'm Logan, a friend of Chase's." I want to laugh and tell him the Logan I remember looks nothing like the Logan standing before me. Last summer, Logan had long blondish hair that he tied messily into a bun on top of his head. His face was covered in a dark, unkept beard that brushed his shoulder line. He wore beer shirts with cut-off jeans and had stacks of beaded bracelets adorning his tan wrists. This Logan has short hair, still styled a bit messy, and blends in with his neatly trimmed facial hair. His broad shoulders fill out his tailored navy suit and he's wearing a nice silver watch that matches his tie pin. The colorful gemstone bracelets are gone and so is the arrowhead on a string he wore around his neck.

"No, I mean, yeah... I do remember you. We threw your launch party last summer," I tell him and he nods in agreement. "I just...you were a bit more...Boulderish, the last time I saw you." He tosses his head back and laughs but before he can say anything, Chase says, "Logan here finally grew out of his college clothes."

"And man-bun," I add with a smile and Logan runs his hands through his short hair. Ainslee reaches up like she's about to run her fingers through it too when she stops short and says, "It's so wild to think you used to have long hair." She glances at me and says, "I've only known CEO Logan."

"CEO Logan?" I ask and am grateful when a cocktail waitress strides by and we all snatch champagne flutes off her tray.

"We joke that there's stoner Logan and CEO Logan," Chase says with a laugh and they are all so vibey with each other I can tell Ainslee is already in with Chase's friends.