The business I’d hoped to carry out while at the event was impossible. The man I wanted to meet had something come up in the last minute, and he couldn’t make it. Neither could any of his associates. The whole place was crowded because I wasn’t the only one with the same idea, and the man I was after was sought after. It didn’t affect the company too much, but it was still annoying, because it felt like I’d failed.
That was something easily solved, though. If we didn’t get one deal, we could try to get another deal. If it was anything that important, I wouldn’t have waited a whole month to try and deal with it, so it wasn’t a do or die situation. Still, I was in a bad mood because it was something I failed at, and I hated that.
Whatever had Brooklyn in a bad mood didn’t make things any easier for me, though, and it was even worse that it was a man. I’d had some self-confidence when I asked Brooklyn to come to the wine event with me. I had ulterior motives, but I’d genuinely wanted her to have fun. And now, some nameless man had made that much impossible.
“This wine tasting isn’t going as planned,” I muttered to myself.
“Sorry,” Brooklyn apologized again, her voice sounding smaller.
I sighed again. “Why are you the one apologizing? I was the one to ask you to come here, if I’d known you wouldn’t be having much fun here, I would have taken you someplace else.”
“It’s not that I hate it,” she said quickly. “It’s just…”
“You met someone you didn’t expect to meet?” I guessed.
She nodded her head slowly, meting my eyes. “His name is Paul.”
“And how do you know him?” I asked.
“He’s currently seeing Nora. She’s back in New York thinking he’s out on a business trip, and the guy is over here seducing some poor young girl. He’s probably going off to give her some excuse now that he’s been found out. I hope she dumps him,” she added with a sneer.
So, he’s Nora’s boyfriend.
I felt relief flow into my chest. For a moment there, I’d thought he was someone connected to Brooklyn, not her best friend. Worried, was more like it, actually, so this was a lot better. Thinking back on it, I seemed to remember Nora mentioning a Paul when I met them at the bridal shop, so it was probably that guy.
Knowing made me ease up a bit, and I reached for her hand, patting the back of it gently.
“I’m really sorry,” I said sincerely.
“I just know she’s going to be devastated when she finds out,” Brooklyn said fretfully. “I need to think about how to tell her. And what to tell her. I don’t think that bastard will say anything and in a few days…”
She cut herself off, meeting my gaze before looking away. I wondered what she wanted to say, but I decided not to ask.
We tucked into the food, and Brooklyn didn’t lift her head once as she continued to scarf down her food. When she didn’t look like she was full, I ordered some desert for after. Wine came with the food, and I made sure she didn’t drink more than a glass. I would be driving later, so I’d only been taking sips of the different wines since we arrived.
After food, we got up to walk around. We weren’t allowed to walk into the vineyard, but the grounds were big, and we went to an area with the fewest people. The afternoon sun was getting excessively warm, and I slipped off my sports coat and folded it over my arm instead. It really was a lot warmer here than back home, and it felt especially good with the light breeze.
“Have you come to a decision yet?” I asked.
“Not yet,” she murmured.
Brooklyn stood facing the rows and rows of berry trees, and I stood behind her and to the side. I tilted my head to see the side of her face and saw that she was frowning and looking upset and troubled. I didn’t care about that man, Paul, but because he’d bothered Brooklyn, I suddenly wanted to go and look for him and punch him out. I didn’t get that good a look at him, though, and I didn’t think seeing him would make Brooklyn better, so I kept that thought to myself.
“Do you still want to stay for the event?” I asked after a few moments of silence.
She looked over her shoulder at me. “Didn’t you have something to do here?”
I arched my eyebrows. “Excuse me?”
“I mean, you probably had some business objective attached to this, maybe? Don’t tell me you didn’t. I was so sure…”
My lips quirked in a little smile. “Well, it wasn’t anything that important. I wouldn’t have come at all if you’d said you didn’t want to, but I figured I might as well, while we were here. I can figure out something else for work so don’t worry.”
It would mean more work once I got back to New York. I would have let go of this deal already. The guy wasn’t someone easy to persuade, and even if I met him personally, there was no guarantee I would get the deal. The only reason I was still on it after a month was because the board wouldn’t easily let it go, and were putting in more resources into this than I thought was wise, but even though I was the CEO, I still had to listen to them. I had failed today, so someone else would try or I would get a chance at another meeting later.
“Then, why don’t we do this? I don’t want to meet up with that bastard again, because I’m sure I’m going to embarrass you, so why don’t we go back to the inn?”