San Francisco Series- Complete Edition Read online

When Ivy returned, she pulled Emma around the office, introducing her to the staff and all of Emma’s direct reports. After the introductions were made and wrapped up, Ivy took Emma to a nice sushi place, and they got to know one another a little better. Ivy, it turned out, was married with three kids. She had a set of twin boys that were sophomores at San Francisco State but lived at home, and a daughter that was a junior in high school. She’d been married to her husband for twenty years. Emma thought about that for a moment as she watched Ivy sign the credit card receipt from their check. Twenty years was a long time to be with someone. She hadn’t made it more than a year with anyone except for Hailey, and that was high school.

  She wanted her own version of Ivy’s story. When Ivy spoke of her husband, she softened. The business version of her was replaced with a wife who seemed to love her husband dearly, even when she complained for a moment about his dirty laundry always being on the floor and what a big baby he turned into when he got even the tiniest cold. Emma wanted someone like that for herself. She wanted someone to brag about at work and someone to talk to her friends about like they’d always talked to her about their significant others. She wasn’t sure if this would be the time or the place to find that woman, but she hoped. She was tired of waiting.

  By late afternoon, Emma was already completely drained. If she had to define herself, she’d probably say she was a little more introverted than most. She’d much rather be working alone on her computer or at home watching TV or reading a good book than at a work event or a party. She pictured herself sitting next to an unknown woman on her small sofa in her studio. She was reading. The woman’s head was on her shoulder. If Emma had to define her perfect night, it would be just like that. They’d have dinner together, enjoy a movie, and Emma might read a little. They’d retire to the bedroom where they’d make love and fall asleep wrapped up in one another.

  Emma packed up her bag and waited a few minutes after Ivy said goodbye. She headed to the elevator then. She didn’t want the boss to think she was leaving early on her first day. She made her way to her train stop and picked up some Chinese on the way home before she crashed into her sofa alone and ate out of four cartons sprawled on her coffee table while she watched Dancing with the Stars.

  “This is not exactly the change I was hoping for,” she said to herself.

  CHAPTER 2

  Keira was running late. Keira, it seemed, was always running late. She could never figure out why. For a woman in her mid-thirties, she probably should have been able to by now, but there she was twenty-minutes behind schedule, sitting at a stop light in her car. She glared at the red light, imploring it to change as she gripped the steering wheel tightly.

  “Come on,” she said to herself and continued her staring.

  She hated this part of herself. She would swear every day that it wouldn’t happen again. She’d be on time for once. She’d placed a clock in her bathroom specifically to tell the time while she curled the ends of her long blonde hair or added mascara to her thick eyelashes and eyeliner to highlight her light blue eyes. She’d see the numbers on the clock but, somehow, she wouldn’t register them, or she’d be singing along to the song she had playing and she’d miss the time entirely.

  The light turned green. Just as she was about to press down hard on the gas pedal, vaulting her up the enormous hill ahead of her, the final pedestrian, who apparently had been taking her sweet time, was right in front of Keira’s car. Keira nearly knocked her down before she stopped her foot just in time.

  “Get out of the road,” she yelled.

  She noticed the woman turn her face toward her. Then, Keira realized she had her window rolled down. It had been a relatively warm morning for San Francisco, and she’d decided to enjoy the fresh air. The expression on the woman’s face showed outrage that she’d just been yelled at while walking across the street. Then, she was out of the road. Keira floored it to get her old Ford up the hill. The car had been giving her trouble lately due to its age but also Keira’s inability to take care of it. The hills of this city had also done a number on it. She’d been saving up for a new car for the past several years, but that money had instead been allocated to her business.

  Keira didn’t normally drive into the city, but that morning the BART station closest to her house had been closed due to maintenance. She made it up the hill and into the parking garage. She pulled her bag and her binders out from the back seat and tried to straighten the white button-down she’d chosen with the black vest over it. She stared into the window of her car and realized how much she looked like a cater waiter. How hadn’t she seen that at her apartment? She unbuttoned the vest so it at least appeared like she was a casual cater waiter and straightened her hair a little before she remembered yet again that she was late. She rushed to the elevator of the garage and hurried across the street to get checked into the building and make her way up the elevator to her destination.

  “I’m here to see Mrs. Beasley. I’m Keira Worthy,” she said to the receptionist at the front of the open floor.

  “I’ll let her know you’re here,” the woman replied and picked up her phone.

  Keira stood anxiously at the desk awaiting the woman. They’d met twice before to make plans and once before that when Keira’s company won the project, but she’d been late to the second meeting. She was now late to this one. Keira had won the project, but she’d taken a big hit on her fee with the idea that getting it this year would be enough to launch her company in a much better direction. If she did well, she could get the event next year and use the event to market herself as the planner in the city. Keira had worked for the planner in the city or rather the region for five years prior to breaking out on her own. She’d always wanted to be her own boss, and she thought she had great ideas, a work ethic, and the people skills to make it all come together.

  “You can go on back,” the woman told her, pulling Keira out of her thoughts.

  Keira clutched her binder to her chest and headed in the direction of the office. She passed the offices on one side and the cubes on the other as she hurried along. She knew she was late. The ten extra seconds she’d gain by rushing wouldn’t make much of a difference, but it was all she could do to at least feel like she was doing something. She arrived at the open door of the office and knocked on the door just beneath the placard that indicated Ivy’s name.

  “Come in,” Ivy called. “Wait. Actually, don’t,” she added and looked up from her computer with her glasses at the bottom of her nose. She pushed them up and stood. “We’re in the conference room today.” She grabbed a notebook and a pen off her desk before meeting Keira at the door and escorting her down the hall into a conference room. “Emma Colton, this is Keira Worthy, our event planner.”

  “Shit,” Keira said out loud before she could stop herself.

  “I’m sorry?” Ivy turned toward her as they stood just inside the office.

  “I think she said shit,” the woman Ivy had identified as Emma said and lifted one eyebrow to clearly indicate that she recognized Keira. “Nice to meet you, Keira,” she added and looked toward Ivy.

  “Am I missing something?” Ivy questioned and took a seat opposite Emma at the ovular conference room table.

  “No,” Emma answered before Keira got a chance.

  Keira could at least be grateful that Emma didn’t rat her out about nearly hitting her with her car about fifteen minutes earlier.

  “Let’s get started. I have another meeting in twenty minutes,” Ivy stated.

  “Sure.” Keira sat next to Emma and dropped her binder to the table and her bag to the chair on her other side. “First, I apologize for being late. I’d offer an excuse, but I don’t have one.”

  “It’s okay. Let’s just get down to it,” Ivy replied. “Emma is our new Director and will act as your liaison from now on since I’m taking on a couple additional projects and need to focus on those. I trust that since most of the event is planned out, it won’t be a problem adding her in this late.”<
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  “Oh, sure. Okay,” Keira replied feeling a little cornered. “Should I take you back through everything or have you already been brought up to speed?” she asked Emma and turned to her.

  “I just started yesterday. We can probably do that later though and save Ivy the time,” Emma replied.

  Was Emma being rude to her because of the car thing? Was she being rude unintentionally? Was she being rude at all? Maybe Keira was just reading into Emma’s stiff posture and direct tone.

  “Of course. I’ve got everything in here.” Keira pushed the binder in Emma’s direction. “You can keep this. I have another copy,” she added. Emma’s fingers grazed her own as she took the binder and placed it in front of herself. Keira felt a slight jolt of static electricity hit her at the contact and said, “Sorry.”

  “It’s okay,” Emma replied.

  “We’ve reserved the space in the park early in the day to begin setup.”

  “I’ve secured the permits,” Ivy shared. “And the lunch for the top donors?”

  “Donors?” Emma asked.

  “It was Keira’s idea,” Ivy said and nodded in Keira’s direction.

  “We partnered with a few non-profits that deal with relevant issues like the NFL and Play 60, which is–”

  “About getting kids active for sixty minutes a day,” Emma completed. “I know. I watch a lot of football.”

  “Oh.” Keira smiled at the comment that was slightly personal and made her feel at least a little better. “There are a couple more, but there are activities throughout the day that they’ll put on. They have top donors that we want to recognize. We decided to do a lunch for them in one of the side tents, and then they can go enjoy the rest of the day’s events.”

  “Can you two take care of this?” Ivy asked as she stared at her buzzing phone. “Something just came up.”

  “Sure,” Emma answered.

  Ivy stood to leave the room. Emma nodded, and once Ivy was gone, Keira decided this was her chance.

  “I’m so sorry about before.” She turned to Emma. “I swear my foot wasn’t on the gas. I wouldn’t have like hit you. I was running late and–”

  “It’s okay,” Emma interrupted. “I should have been paying attention. Let’s just get to this. I have a few more meetings to get to today, and I’m still trying to get settled in.”

  “Of course,” Keira replied.

  She wasn’t sure why but she felt dejected now. This was a business meeting. And Emma had accepted her apology. There was nothing wrong with Emma wanting to get back to work. Keira should want to get back to business too, because the success of her entire business and basically her entire life came down to this one event.

  “I’ll read this tonight, but what do you need from me? I don’t know what Ivy was doing or what I should help you with now,” Emma said.

  “Ivy and I have had weekly meetings. I assume you and I will meet next week, and the week after maybe a few times since it’s the week of the event.”

  Emma’s long hair was down, and she used a finger to slide a rogue piece behind her ear. Keira couldn’t help but watch as she did and got a better look at her face; the pale skin and soft yet dark brown eyes. She wore only a small amount of makeup. And now that Keira wasn’t nearly hitting her with her car or concerned about Ivy’s impression of her, she could recognize Emma’s intense beauty. She gulped at the thought of her recognition. It had been a long time since she’d been this struck by a woman. She’d had crushes and had been attracted, but she’d never been this taken aback.

  “What else?” Emma turned a few pages in the binder as she continued to look at it.

  “Oh.” Keira cleared her throat and her mind. She couldn’t afford to have those thoughts right now. She needed her entire attention on the job. “You’ll need to approve the vendors I have lined up. All the prices are within the budget Ivy gave me, but you’ll need to review those. And the caterer for the event hasn’t been chosen yet. I’ve narrowed it down to three. I’ve worked with two of the three, and those are both good. The third came highly recommended from a friend of a friend. They’re within budget. I thought I’d put them in the mix.”

  “How do we decide?” Emma asked.

  “Food tasting is the best way to find the right caterer. I can set something up for this week. We should decide soon so they have time to prepare on their end.”

  “Okay,” Emma returned.

  “We have Tanya Cruz set up to host the raffle and silent auction,” she said to a confused looking Emma. “Channel 6?”

  “News?” Emma asked.

  “You don’t watch it? Tanya Cruz is an anchor.”

  Emma shook her head and replied, “I just moved here. I haven’t decided on a news source for local stuff yet. I mostly just surf online.” Emma finally glanced up from the binder in her direction.

  “She’s very popular and is a big promoter of living a healthy lifestyle,” Keira said and caught Emma’s eye. “Where did you move from?”

  “Chicago.”

  “Never been. I’ve heard nice things though.”

  “Chicago’s home,” Emma stated but looked down at the binder.

  “What brought you here? The job?”

  Emma looked back up at her and replied, “It was a good opportunity.” Then something seemed to hit her, and she shook her head almost imperceptibly and returned her eyes to the binder. “I have an assistant named Mason. I think you’ve met him.”

  “I met him last time I was here. He’s helped coordinate a little.”

  “Can you set up whatever you need with him? He’ll let me know when and where I need to be.”

  “Oh, sure.” Keira knew she sounded disappointed, but she wasn’t sure if that disappointment was because Emma was clearly giving her the brush off and it could impact her business or because Emma was clearly giving her the brush off and it hit Keira somewhere else entirely. “I have his contact information already.”

  “Great.” Emma slid the chair back and stood.

  It was then that Keira got the full picture. Emma was about her age; maybe a year or two younger. She was wearing black dress slacks and a steel gray sweater with the sleeves rolled to her elbows. Her body, or at least what Keira could see of it, looked good. It looked more than good, actually. Keira found herself wondering if Emma was into women. She shook her head to push that thought away as well. Emma, gay or not, clearly wasn’t a fan of Keira’s for whatever reason and wanted things between them to be strictly business. That was for the best. Keira didn’t need a distraction right now anyway.

  “I guess I’ll see you later?” Keira asked as she stood and found herself to be about an inch or two taller than Emma.

  “Sure,” Emma said with what appeared to be sadness in her tone and expression.

  Keira nodded in reply. Emma carried the binder, her own notepad and a pen with her out the door. Keira stood in the conference room for another moment before heading toward where she believed Mason’s desk to be. She let him know that she’d be reaching out. She turned to go and caught Emma sitting behind her desk through the glass wall of the woman’s office. She was turned toward the back wall slightly and was staring out the window. The sadness Keira had witnessed earlier hadn’t disappeared from her face. Keira found the same emotion sweep over her momentarily before a phone ringing in one of the cubicles pulled her back to reality. She said goodbye to Mason and moved back toward the elevator.

  CHAPTER 3

  Emma’s day had not gone well. She’d woken on time, readied for work on time and left on time. She’d been rewarded for that effort by nearly being sideswiped by a car as she crossed the street. She’d been put in charge of an event that was mid-way through the planning process and coming up fast. She’d rushed through that meeting with the event planner because of her mood. That was likely a mistake because she felt even less prepared now and she’d probably appeared to be a bitch to Keira. Emma hadn’t meant to act like that. She’d even been rude to the barista who asked her how to spel
l her name.

  She’d gone through the motions all day. That was terrible for her second day at a new job, but she couldn’t get herself out of the funk. It was this day. Every year on this day she found herself in the same mood. She’d tried to push to start work a week later just to avoid feeling this way her first week, but Ivy had needed her to start. She’d agreed and tried to push the feelings away to no avail.

  “Hey, how’s the new job?” Hailey asked when Emma called her after making herself a spinach salad for dinner and sitting down with a glass of wine.

  “It’s good. It’s still very new, but it’s good so far,” she replied.

  “I figured you’d call,” Hailey said after a long moment of silence. “How was it this year?”

  “Better, I guess.” Emma rested her head back against the sofa as she held the phone to her ear. “It’s always hard to remember exactly how I felt the year before, but I think it’s getting better with time.”

  “I was going to call you earlier, but I thought I’d give you some space,” Hailey shared.

  Hailey and Emma had once been so close and so in love that Emma felt as if they’d shared a soul. That was the intensity that came with first loves. She’d assumed everyone had had a first love like Hailey Grant, but the older she’d gotten and the more women she’d dated that told her their first love stories, she’d discovered that hadn’t been the case. She’d been lucky to have Hailey. They’d broken up because Emma went off to college, but they’d remained in touch on and off for years until they reconnected officially, attempted to date again and decided to remain friends instead.

  “I was at work, trying to not think about it. It gets harder and harder to remember him every year he’s gone.” She sighed. “I guess that’s normal though, right?”

  “I remember him,” Hailey stated confidently. “I remember how amazing he was and how comfortable he made us feel when we came out and told him we were together. I remember all the dinners I had at your house and him throwing popcorn at us when we watched movies together.”