Serendipity (Inevitable) (3 page)

She worked as an interior designer at one of Manhattan’s most exclusive firms. It had been a real coup for someone so young to land such a plum job, but of course she had Gerard to thank for that. Sadly, she also had Gerard to blame for the lousy situation she currently found herself stuck in.

Gerard Landreaux had been friends with Julia’s aunt Madelyn – Natalie’s twin – since their college days at the Fashion Institute here in New York. Gerard had majored in interior design, while Aunt Maddy had studied fashion merchandising. They had remained fast friends ever since, going on thirty years now. It had been Gerard – whom Julia and Lauren had met many times over the years during visits to Aunt Maddy – who had ultimately influenced her to pursue a degree and career in interior design, convincing her it was more stable and less subject to wide changes in trends than the career as a fashion designer she’d originally considered. And it had been Gerard who had obtained the internship at his firm for her once she’d graduated from Cornell three years ago, and had offered her a permanent job after that. He had been her mentor, her friend and her boss, not necessarily in that order.

He’d shielded her from the cattiness and outright hostility displayed by his business partner - Vanessa Bradshaw. The older woman had taken an almost instant dislike to Julia, and had advised Gerard against taking her on. Fortunately, Julia hadn’t had much contact with Vanessa, working almost exclusively under Gerard’s direction.

Julia had fretted once to Gerard, not at all understanding why Vanessa disliked her so. “I mean, I can’t think of anything I ever did or said to make her mad. Why in the world does she hate me so much?”

Gerard had chuckled, shaking his close-shaven head. “Oh, sweetie pie, do you want a list? Let’s see – it’s because of your face, body, wardrobe, age, talent, personality. Oh, and let’s not forget the design award you won last month. Van’s been in this business almost twenty years and has never won a damn thing. You’re in less than a year and you’ve already got clients singing your praises and being nominated for awards.”

Vanessa was, from all accounts, not a particularly talented designer and most of her client base was referrals from her wealthy family. And it was her family money that had initially funded the design firm, the only reason Gerard had ever agreed to working with her.

Vanessa’s hostility aside, working for Manhattan Interiors had been a dream job for Julia these past two and a half years. Gerard had given her some small but interesting jobs to start with, then, as her reputation as an innovative designer became more widespread, the jobs became larger and more prestigious. When she won three design awards in two years, Julia had become even more sought after.

And then everything had changed a little less than four months ago. Gerard’s longtime lover – Theo – had left him abruptly for a younger man, and Gerard had gone a little crazy as a result. Stating very dramatically – in true Gerard style – that his heart was broken into a million pieces and that he couldn’t bear to stay in New York where there were too many memories of Theo, he had promptly sold his share of the business to Vanessa, rented out his midtown apartment, and moved back home to New Orleans to lick his wounds. Gerard had been far too emotionally wrecked when he left to smooth things over for Julia with Vanessa, and she’d been left at the mercy of the older woman, now her sole boss.

And the changes had been immediate and unpleasant. The assignments Julia now received were small, boring, and not the least bit challenging, mostly redecorating the bedrooms or living rooms for uptown society matrons. Vanessa reserved the really good jobs for herself or the two or three other designers who chose to kiss her ass, something Julia flat out refused to do. But from what Julia had overheard, some of those jobs hadn’t pleased the clients and there had been complaints. Business had also dropped off some since Gerard’s departure, and Julia knew it had been his reputation that had brought in a lot of clients.

But the other increasingly unpleasant aspect of her job in recent months had had been the frequent and unwelcome presence of Vanessa’s newest boyfriend at the office. His name was Philip and he quite frankly gave Julia the creeps. She supposed he was good looking enough, though in a dark, swarthy way with over-tanned skin and too-white teeth that didn’t appeal to her in the least. He wore too much gel in his slick-backed black hair and an almost sickening amount of cologne. Coupled with all the gold jewelry he wore, and the open-necked silk shirts he favored that displayed too much body hair, he reminded Julia of an aging gigolo. And very, very unfortunately, he was also extremely taken with Julia. Nearly every time he was in the office, he sought her out and made some very suggestive comment or worse, tried to touch her. Julia had become quite adept at evading him, or at least making sure she wasn’t alone when he was around.

Philip’s presence in the office earlier today had, in fact, been the reason why she had been in Starbucks this morning. She’d seen him enter the office and had hastily grabbed her things and exited through a back door. When she had returned over an hour later he’d mercifully been gone.

Between the lousy assignments she’d been getting, Vanessa’s hostility, and Philip’s unwelcome attentions, Julia was more than ready to move on. She had, in fact, recently begun to polish up her resume and started researching other firms both in New York and other parts of the country. She loved New York and had thoroughly enjoyed living here the past three years. She adored the shopping, the restaurants, the museums and shows, the almost constant hum of activity and excitement. She had loved Manhattan since she was a small child and had paid regular visits over the years to her grandparents and Aunt Maddy. It had always been a cherished dream of hers to live in Manhattan, and that dream had become a reality after her college graduation from Cornell in upper state New York. And even though her apartment on the Upper East Side was teeny tiny, though still outrageously expensive to rent, she loved it.

But she was also homesick for her family home in northern California, and for her parents, sister and friends. Her parents lived in Carmel, where Julia had grown up, and Lauren had a small cabin in Big Sur where she lived when she wasn’t traveling all over the world for her job as a National Geographic photographer. Julia wouldn’t mind in the least if a new job brought her to San Francisco or Los Angeles so she could be closer to home and see her family more often than three or four times a year. And she had never been crazy about East Coast weather – cold and snowy in the winter months, hot and humid in the summer, and somewhat unpredictable the rest of the time.

As she walked slowly down Park Avenue towards the bus stop, she couldn’t help but keep a watch out for the gorgeous man. But even though she’d known it to be a long shot, Julia couldn’t help the overwhelming sense of disappointment she felt when he didn’t appear and hoped that he hadn’t already left town. It would be just her bad luck to have squandered the perfect opportunity to talk to him earlier today, and then to never see him again. One of these days, perhaps, she would finally learn to act on her instincts, maybe even to be impulsive once in awhile. Julia vowed that if she was lucky enough to see Mr. Gorgeous again that she would definitely act on her impulses this time around – impulses that were compelling her to wind her arms around his neck and plant a long, slow kiss on that very sexy mouth.

Chapter Three

“Hey, Nathan. You’re having dinner with us tonight, aren’t you? Dave made reservations for eight of us at Tao.”

Nathan glanced up from the tumbler of scotch he’d been sipping at the sound of Rick’s voice. “Sure, why not? That sounds great. Let’s end our week here with an awesome meal.”

Rick clapped him on the shoulder. “That’s the spirit. Come on, let’s get another drink before we head out. Might as well enjoy the free booze while it lasts.”

They were attending the cocktail party that marked the official end of the five-day convention. Nathan was more than a little sorry to see the week draw to a close, for it meant a return to the daily grind of his job and the various stresses that accompanied it. He loved his chosen profession, was proud of co-owning a very successful firm, and grateful for all of the opportunities that had come his way. But all that success came with a price, and sometimes he wished he could take a few steps back to more fully enjoy the fruits of his labors.

However, his well-deserved break was nearly over and tomorrow he’d be flying back to San Francisco and his normal, hectic routine. At least he would have Sunday to sleep in, unpack and relax before the work week began anew. Unless, of course, Cameron already had expectations to go out somewhere on Sunday, plans that she hadn’t yet shared with him. That was a particular habit of hers, one he didn’t like at all, and something she tended to laugh away, claiming she was so busy that he couldn’t possibly expect her to keep track of so many appointments and social events.

He was finishing up his third drink and starting to feel pleasantly mellow when his phone rang. He scowled slightly when he saw it was Cameron, but began to walk to a quieter corner as he answered the call.

“Hi, babe!” she greeted a little too enthusiastically, and he groaned inwardly. It was the cheerful, almost over the top tone she used when she wanted something.

“Hey, yourself,” he replied neutrally. “What’s going on since I talked with you – oh, let’s see – about five hours ago?” He had given her a quick call at lunchtime.

She giggled, another sure sign that she was getting ready to butter him up for something. “Nothing special. I just missed you. Thinking I should have come along on this trip after all.”

Nathan had actually been the one to suggest she accompany him to New York, especially after she’d made a big deal out of his being away for almost a week. Cameron loved New York – the shops, restaurants, night clubs and Broadway plays – but she hadn’t wanted to see all of that by herself while he was occupied with convention business. She had also had a previously scheduled show at the art gallery that she – well, technically her parents – owned and had felt obliged to attend.

“Well, there’ll be other trips. Like Hawaii in a couple of months, for example. Look, I don’t mean to rush you, Cam, but I’m supposed to leave for dinner in a minute with a group.” Nathan in fact could see Rick motioning to him that they were ready to leave and he mouthed “I’ll meet you guys there in a few minutes.”

“Okay, babe, I won’t keep you long. I just wanted to let you know there are still seats available on the 7:30am flight out of JFK tomorrow morning. You could be here by noon and still have plenty of time to attend the hospital benefit with me. I know you’re headed out but I’d be happy to change your flight for you if you just give me your info.”

Nathan was dumbfounded. After all of the conversations and arguments they’d had on this particular subject, here was Cameron still on it less than twenty-four hours before his flight left.

He closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and replied as calmly as possible. “Thanks for checking, but I’m not going to fly out that early. We’ve discussed this like – a dozen times at least. I’m flying out at 2:00pm tomorrow and that’s it.”

There was silence at the other end for long seconds before she finally answered. “You seriously wouldn’t suck it up and give up a few hours sleep to catch that earlier flight? Babe, you know how much I want to attend this event.”

He sighed, running a hand through his hair. “There’s no reason at all you can’t attend alone. Your parents will be there, your sister, a bunch of your friends.”

“Yes, and everyone will have their spouse or a date. Think how I’m going to feel being the only one there alone.”

“I’m sorry, Cam, but this isn’t anything new. I arranged to attend this convention a long time before you ever mentioned this ball.”

“But it’s important, Nathan,” she whined. “This is one of the top social events of the year. I’ll look pathetic if I show up alone.”

Nathan pinched the bridge of his nose, feeling the beginnings of a headache coming on. “You won’t look pathetic, for Christ’s sake. And frankly, every damned event you want to attend is one of the top ones of the year. You’re going to have to start resigning yourself to the fact that you aren’t going to be able to attend them all.”

“And what’s that supposed to mean?” she demanded. The mounting anger in her voice was evident. “You think that once we’re married we should sit home every weekend like a couple of old people and rent movies and eat popcorn? How boring does that sound?”

In actuality, it sounded great to Nathan, vastly preferable to getting dragged to another black-tie event where the only purpose in attending seemed to be impressing Cameron’s friends with her latest gown and flaunting her handsome boyfriend.

“Cam, this really isn’t the time to have this discussion, okay? I’m going to be late for dinner if I don’t leave now. I’ll call you from JFK tomorrow before my flight leaves, all right?”

He was again met with a stony silence for long seconds until she finally replied in a brittle tone. “So that’s your final answer, huh? You’re still going to take the afternoon flight?”

“Yes,” he answered in a tired voice. “I’m probably going to be up late tonight and no way can I get up early enough to make a 7:30am flight.”

“Fine,” she snarled. “Thanks for nothing. Good night.”

Nathan cursed vividly beneath his breath as Cameron abruptly disconnected the call. Angrily, he shoved his phone into his jacket pocket, still in disbelief that she had called him on this matter yet again. He knew she was royally pissed off, and would be sure to let him know about it when he got home. At the moment, though, he really didn’t give a shit. Cameron had pissed him off, too, and he was getting damned tired of always being the one to concede and compromise in this relationship.

He was angry enough to order yet another drink before the bartender could close things up for the reception, and bolted it down in three quick gulps. Rick and the others had left over five minutes ago so he headed for the hotel exit as swiftly as possible, his quick pace fueled by the simmering anger he still felt at the call from Cameron. He really, really disliked being manipulated or controlled, and he had begun to notice more and more as of late that Cameron was trying very hard – in her own subtle ways – to do both of those things. He was starting to re-think this whole idea of the engagement, wondering not for the first time if it had come about for all the wrong reasons. Probably because he hadn’t had a lot of experienced in this whole long-term relationship thing, he’d allowed her to take the lead on far too many things and he was starting to feel hemmed in and resentful. When he got home it was going to be way past time to iron out some important details and assert himself more forcefully in this relationship.