Starry-Eyed Love (Spark House)
“You need to tell us all about it. We ordered Thai takeout and it just got here,” Harley says as she pulls me toward the employee entrance.
They usher me inside, and we get comfortable in our office. I’m not all that hungry thanks to the charcuterie board Jackson ordered. I likely wouldn’t have eaten any of it, but he kept slathering crackers with different cheeses and chutneys and jams and fruit combinations, insisting I try them. I didn’t want to say no and offend him, so of course I ate every bite. It wasn’t much of a chore since everything was delicious, but I’m still full.
I shake my head when Avery tries to pass me a spring roll. “Seriously? These are your favorite, and you’ve been gone all day. That must have been some meeting.”
While they eat, I pull out paper strips and start folding them into stars. I’d wanted to do that all throughout my meeting with Jackson. “So remember how I said the CEO definitely wouldn’t be sitting in on the meeting?”
Harley stops with a forkful of green curry chicken halfway to her mouth. “Did you meet Jackson Holt? Is he as hot in person as he in pictures?”
“I did, and he’s hotter.”
“Holy shit. What was he like? I want all the freaking details!” Harley is pretty much bouncing in her seat.
I explain what happened, how he just appeared out of nowhere and decided to stay for the meeting and asked that we plan a charity event for Holt Media.
“No way! That’s beyond awesome.” Now it’s Avery’s turn to be excited. “The whole influencer campaign is fantastic, especially if it helps us gain more clients and sponsors, but this is beyond. They have that social media guru woman on retainer, so you know that charity event is going to get serious press. This could really put us on the map.”
“It’s pretty amazing, isn’t it?” I don’t think the reality of the whole thing has truly hit me until right now. My stomach churns with a mixture of nerves and excitement.
“If this goes well, we could look at expanding in the next couple of years,” Avery muses, eyes glinting. “And we could get started on the kitchen expansion as soon as my wedding is over!”
She’s right, we could do those things, but I wish I shared her enthusiasm over growing even more. While I love Spark House and the way it keeps us connected, expanding means my limited spare time will likely dwindle further. “We’ll have to hire someone or more than one someone if that happens. We’re barely managing as it is with the three of us.”
“Once my wedding is over, it’ll be fine. I know I’ve had a lot of stuff going on outside of Spark House the past few months, but I’ll be back to business as usual.”
Harley and I glance at each other. “It hasn’t been business as usual since before you got engaged, though,” Harley says.
“And we’re not getting any less busy,” I add.
“Well, I think we have things under control right now, and I don’t have much left to manage for the wedding. Besides, I don’t think we need to yet, so the subject is closed.”
I decide it’s not worth getting into a fight over right now. We have no idea how this whole thing with Holt Media is going to work out yet, and I’m hoping that we’ll reach a point where Avery doesn’t have a choice but to concede. Hopefully one of us doesn’t have to have a nervous breakdown for that to happen.
Harley clearly wants to alleviate the tension, so she changes the subject. “Back to Jackson Holt. I want to hear more about him.”
I toss another star on the table to join the small constellation I’ve created. “Do you remember that guy who asked me out at the bar a few months back?”
Harley frowns, and Avery taps her lip with her spring roll before she says, “Oh! Do you mean the bearded dude who paid for our drinks?”
“That’s the one.”
“Sure, but what does that have to do with Jackson?” Harley seems annoyed by my apparent topic change.
“They’re the same person.”
Harley’s fork clatters to her plate and green curry splatters her chin. She wipes her face with her napkin. “Come again?”
“Jackson Holt and the man who asked me out are the same person.”
“No. No way.” Harley grabs her phone and quickly pulls up Jackson Holt’s social media profile, squinting at the picture on the screen.
I wait for her to come to the same conclusion I did. That they are in fact the same person, one Instagram ready, the other post-two-week stint in an Airstream camper in the Colorado wilderness.
“I can’t believe it’s the same guy. I mean, the eyes are really the thing that stand out, aren’t they? He was so beardy and here he’s so … refined. This is awesome! Did you tell him you’re still single?” Harley asks.