What causes people to make wrong decisions? That was a question Natalie Mallory thought about every time a decision she made blew up in her face. It didn�t seem to matter if her choices were about life, a man, or her job the decision always backfired. Today�s bad choices didn�t cost her the latest guy she�d been dating; no today�s judgments might have lost her the million-dollar account she�d been working on for months.
She had hoped to become a partner in the advertising agency she�d worked at for the last ten years. Right now, it didn�t bother her that she wasn�t a partner; she was a partner in every way except that her name wasn�t on the logo of the company. But when she had heard that Mr. Lawrence was going to retire and sell his share of the business she saw it as the perfect opportunity to make her move. To buy into the company, and finally get the partnership she wanted.
She set up a meeting with Mr. Jenkins, the other owner of the agency, and sat down to discuss her proposal. She offered Mr. Lawrence�s selling price, plus a huge chunk of cash to re-invest into the company. It had been her life�s savings. Mr. Jenkins had seemed impressed and she had thought her dreams were going to come true. She had always wanted her own agency or to be a partner in a large firm. The meeting had been over a week ago and during that week, she couldn�t help but thinking the partnership was going to be hers. That was until this morning when she received an unexpected visitor; Mr. Jenkins. He had news for her. A decision had finally been made.
Needless to say, neither the decision nor the rest of the day had gone as she had planned and that�s how she ended up at Gillies an Irish Pub she and her best friend Emily often frequented. She�d been angry, as well as hurt, and wanted to drink and talk out her frustration. Talking to Emily always helped, so she called her as soon as she�d left work.
Emily had readily agreed to meet her at their favorite Pub, she was always willing to get out and have a good time. Emily was the sort of person who loved going out to drink, dance, or party. Emily had a steady beau, but both Emily and Dillon went out without the other often and neither seemed to mind. Natalie wasn�t sure how their relationship worked, but she never questioned it. Natalie would never butt her nose into the relationship unless she thought Emily was going to get hurt. Usually she kept her opinions on things to herself unless directly asked what she thought about something, then watch out because you never know what she might say.
Natalie had gone into the pub and found their usual table open. She had fallen in love with Gillies the first time she�d stepped foot inside the doors. The place was spacious and bright, with loud music blaring and good times happening at every table. The people who worked there were the friendliest you�d ever meet and they knew Emily and her by name.
Natalie had given the bartender, Joe, her order before taking her seat. When the waitress, Sally, brought out the drink, she asked if everything was okay. Natalie knew she had asked because of the vodka tonic Sally had just delivered to her, usually she only drank beer. Natalie smiled at the woman, she appreciated her concern, and was touched that she would think to ask, but she told her she was fine.
Natalie was working on her second vodka when Emily joined her. She yelled over to Joe to send her a draft and took a seat across from Natalie. �Hey woman, not working late tonight?�
Looking at her watch, Natalie saw that it was only seven. Usually she worked until after eight, probably closer to nine. She realized how predictable she�d become, and the idea depressed her, she had become an old shrew at thirty-one. Truthfully, she substituted her personal life with work; she�d done it for so long it was now a habit. She didn�t have a man in her life to worry about if she was home early or to worry if she worked too hard. Her family lived across the country in New York, and even though they talked regularly, they had no idea what she did everyday or if she kept a regular schedule. She basically thought the only person who would miss her if something were to happen to her would be Emily.
Shaking her head, she tried to rid herself of the depressing thoughts. She was miserable enough over what had happened at work; she didn�t need to think thoughts like that. She shrugged and took a sip of her vodka, wishing its effect would hurry and wash over her and make her numb. �No reason to stay late anymore.�
�What�s wrong? You didn�t lose the big account you were working on did you?� Emily didn�t know what Natalie had gone through, she was only trying to lighten the mood; her huge grin was indication of the fact.
Natalie smiled, it was hard not to, Emily had always been able to make her laugh. She knew Emily was trying to get her to lighten up now. Emily knew how good Natalie was at her work, and any comment about her losing a client was meant to be a joke.
Natalie was the kind of person who saw something and went for it. She always got what she set her mind to and the thought of failure killed her. So the idea that she might have lost the company she was representing was torturing her. She�d never lost a client before, at least until today. �Close,� she finally answered. �I royally pissed off someone I thought was the client.�
�What�s new about that?� Emily asked on a laugh. �What do you mean thought was the client?�
�There�s nothing new, you�re right. Unfortunately though, I thought the man I told off was the president of the company I�m representing, Blueboar, who came to check on the finished ad. He didn�t like it and tried to tell me how to change it, which of course pissed me off, so I told him a thing or two. Instead he turned out to be the new partner of the firm.�
�Partner?� Emily asked with genuine shock.
�Yeah partner. Want to hear some shit?� Natalie continued at Emily�s nod, �Mr. Jenkins showed up at my office first thing this morning explaining that he�d decided not to take on a new partner yet, and offered me the Vice Presidents position.�
�That doesn�t sound bad, Vice President is a step in the right direction.� She said, and took a drink of her beer. She had that look in her eyes as though she was mulling something over, �What I don�t understand is the partner part. Didn�t you just say Mr. Jenkins told you he wasn�t taking on a new partner?�
Nodding, Natalie answered, �Yeah, that�s what he told me. I had accepted the Vice President�s position, thinking like you did. It wasn�t until later when Jim, you remember him, right, the president of the company?� Not waiting for an answer she continued, �anyway, Jim told me that our new partner Mr. Anderson, was the same man I told off today.� Natalie stared at the glass she had in her hand, turning it, watching the liquid move inside the tumbler. She continued, �So basically I was lied to by Mr. Jenkins. Jim gave me hell about what I said to Anderson; I may lose the account I�ve been working so hard on. Great day huh?�
Emily didn�t try to placate Natalie, instead she had more questions, she needed more facts. �Okay, but you�ll be the Vice President, that�s something.�
�Humph, Anderson now owns seventy percent of the company. Apparently, Jenkins was hard up for the money and sold part of his shares for cash. Therefore, Anderson will have the majority of the say so. Besides, he comes from our biggest competitor, Cat�s Eye Agency, and he�s bringing over his
own clients and staff. He�s planning on doing major lay offs and staff changes. After the way I laid into him today, I�m sure I�m one of those to go.�
�What Jenkins did was low, but��
�He�s a jerk!�
�Okay, so Jenkins is a jerk and you�ve had a bad day, but you know you won�t lose your job. You might not be Vice President, but you�ll still have your job.� Emily held up her hand to stop Natalie�s interruption. �You�re the best damn account rep in the agency. You bring in more money than anyone else on the payroll, hell, your name alone brings in new clients.�
Natalie knew what she was saying was true. Her income showed her abilities, no other account rep brought in six-figures a year. And no other account rep could push their superiors around as she did. She did what she wanted, when she wanted to do it. She got what she wanted with no questions ever asked. Her job was so privileged the company had tried to make it so she couldn�t leave. Everyone she worked with knew her advantages and knew how hard she worked for them, everyone except Mr. Anderson. Natalie thought what upset her the most about Lyn Anderson taking over the partnership was the loss of those rights. She didn�t like being deceived but the loss of a title she never really had didn�t bother her as much as the possibility of losing her privileges.
She knew that if the company were stupid enough to fire her, she could find another job easily. Her main concern was that they would start dictating her every move, monitoring what she said and rob her of her creative juices.
�So what�s really bothering you?� Emily asked breaking into her thoughts. �I know you�re truly not afraid of losing your job, that�s ridiculous. So what�s wrong?�
Wasn�t it wonderful when someone knew you so well? Emily knew all Natalie�s nuances as Natalie knew all of hers. It was why the friendship worked so well. �I�m not sure�� Natalie shrugged taking a sip of her fresh vodka that Sally had just delivered to her. She wasn�t sure how to express her doubts without sounding like a spoiled brat who�d just lost her favorite toy.
�You know, Jim mentioned that I should take a vacation.� Natalie decided to change the subject for now. �To get away from everything that�s been going on. Do you know how long it�s been since I�ve been on a vacation?� She did, it�d been over three years. Since she took the job as an account rep and gave up life as she knew it. She didn�t mention that she didn�t have anyone to go anywhere with, specifically a man. Emily knew that better than anyone, she had made it her goal in life to find a man for her.
�Dillon and I are going to an island that belongs to a friend of ours. You should come along with us.� Emily blurted as though she�d just thought of it.
Natalie would have bet that Emily had planned to ask her the moment she agreed to go to the island. She�d only been waiting for the perfect opportunity. Apparently, this was it. �Island?� She couldn�t help sounding skeptical. She felt it.
�Yeah, Dillon and I have a friend, Cameron Falconer, who has invited us to go on vacation with him. His family owns an island that they only use for family getaways. There�s a house on the island that everyone will be staying in for the nine days.�
�Nine days?�