Chapter 4: Another Anniversary

Royce

“Good morning, Mr. Steele,” my assistant greeted me at the elevator as always, and we began walking to my office.

“Good morning, Mandy. How was your night?” I replied, reading my email.

“The usual. We stayed in and watched another episode of Law and Order SVU.” Mandy pulled a singular piece of paper from the stack in her arms and held it out to me.

I laughed at her, taking the paper and returning my phone to my back pocket. “Mandy, that’s why you keep having nightmares. You can’t give your subconscious a reason to turn on you.”

We kept walking, Mandy’s heels clicking on the floor as we went. “Royce, it’s the only thing Andi wants to watch these days. We decided it was better to go with it than against it.”

I looked over the paper Mandy handed me. “How does Nate feel about it?” I was looking for a specific signature, but with so many on the page, I hadn’t found the right one yet.

“Nate is the one who showed her SVU in the first place. Besides, it may give me nightmares, but it really is a fascinating show.”

I cocked my neck to the left, holding back shivers. Sometimes, it was hard to believe people enjoyed watching terrible shows like that.

Especially with what we were doing.

“Mandy.” I stopped abruptly, so Mandy did, too, but almost ran into me. “Did we get that signature from Mr. Hong in the Japan division? I see his co-workers have signed but don’t see Hong.”

Mandy looked over at the paper. “I was assured that he’d be signing the paper. That’s why you sent it back to their offices, right?”

I nodded. “I had the luxury of speaking to his translator yesterday at lunch. He didn’t seem to understand that we’re still having bugs. Mr. Hong would help us with funding, but if he doesn’t sign this paper, we might as well look elsewhere for the rest of the funding.”

Mandy looked through her stack of papers. “Oh, I’m sorry, I missed that there was a second page, but I have it! His signature is the largest on the page.”

She handed me the paper, and I nodded. “What would I do without you?” I mused, continuing to walk again.

“Talk to yourself all day,” she joked. “Anyways, good. We will get the funding for the rest of the app. I have your day mapped out in the office, most of which will be in front of the computer.”

I rolled my eyes, pretending to be upset. “Oh darn, on my computer trying to program the app I’ve been fixing for years now.” I took the stack of papers from my assistant.

“Oh, also, Remy called again.”

I let out a groan. “Tell me you took a message?”

She nodded, apprehensive. “That you’d return his call as soon as you had the chance.”

“And how did that go?” I knew the answer, but I was hoping I was wrong.

“He and Coral want you to be at dinner tonight.”

I slapped my forehead in frustration. “I don’t know why they think I can just drop everything for them every time they call.”

“My guess?” Mandy looked around the office before tucking a piece of hair behind her ear. “It’s just a difficult time of year for them.”

“And not for me?” I didn’t mean to snap, but that time was just as hard for me to deal with every year. I shook my head. “Sorry. I’m sorry, Mandy.”

She put her hand on my arm, stopping me from entering my office. “Royce, you never have to apologize for this. Or your parents. I can’t imagine how you handle this every year.”

I walked into my office and sat in my oversized chair. Mandy stood still in the doorway.

“I deal with it by working on the app. By making sure Kit’s legacy is everything we always knew it would be. Not by wasting time eating dinner with my parents like we’re a normal family again.”

Mandy nodded. “Kit would be proud of you. I know she would.”

I gave a curt smile. “Thanks, Mandy. Close my door?”

She nodded and closed the door without another word.

I put my head in my hands, trying to work through what to do.

Yesterday was the anniversary of Kit’s death, and I had gone into Southern Charm intending to drink my sorrows away. Mandy had canceled my afternoon without telling me. She’d seen how stressed I was, but I still had to call Mr. Hong.

His translator had tried to tell me that Hong wasn’t interested, but I knew from talking to Hong myself that it was a load of bullshit.

When I hung up, the waitress had made me laugh on a day I didn’t expect to.

She was sent on her break right after she’d served me. I didn’t want to miss talking to her again, so I waited.

The other waitress had served me a late lunch, but I ate slowly. Of all the days in the year to meet Carrigan, it had to be yesterday. Spring had always been tough, but Carrigan somehow made me smile. I didn’t remember the last time that had happened.

When she came back, she seemed surprised and stopped in her tracks to look at me.

“You’re still here,” she’d stated.

“I’m still here,” I parroted.

I didn’t know what to say to her. I think I was intimidated. She was absolutely beautiful. I’d never seen such beautiful strawberry-blonde hair in my life, and I didn’t know what I hoped would happen.

All I knew was I wanted to talk to her more.

“Can I get you anything else?” she’d asked, grabbing empty glasses that others had left behind.

I actually took a moment to look at Carrigan. She was wearing all black, but I noticed how short she really was, probably as tall as my thirteen-year-old cousin. She was washing down the counter again when she made eye contact with me.

“Royce?” she asked.

I had forgotten she knew my name, and I ran my hand through my own mop of hair, suddenly incredibly nervous.

“Yes?” I heard my voice jump an octave, but I didn’t want to look like it’d happened, so I just looked at her.

“Do you need anything? A box? Another whiskey? Water?”

She wasn’t trying to be impolite; I could tell. Her green eyes were studying me, obviously trying to figure me out. But I wasn’t ready to be super honest with her.

“Yeah, I’ll get the check.”

She surprised me when she put the black book inside with my check, smiling at me. I didn’t think I’d see that from someone I’d just met.

“Hope you’ll be back in,” she nodded.

She excused herself as the other bartender came back. I quickly pulled out my card and cash for the tip, signed my receipt, and left the money under the plate.

When I left Southern Charm, I leaned my head against a flagpole outside, utterly embarrassed.

I couldn’t even tell her what I wanted. I mean, I’d just met her, but I’d also never looked at someone and felt the tingling I did. I looked down at my receipt to see how much that whiskey cost.

But I didn’t end up looking at the whiskey price. Carrigan had written her phone number on the receipt.

To Royce: In case this is what you were looking for? PS: I haven’t given out my number in years, so I hope you feel special.

She had no idea how special I felt.

My office phone began to ring, and I sighed, the memory floating away as I grabbed it.

“What’s up, Mandy?” I asked her.

“Royce, I have Dr. Nico Keating on line one. Do you want to take that call?”

I smiled. “Send him through. Thanks, Mandy.”

I wondered what my best friend would think about getting the bartender’s number. I guess I’d have to ask.