COREY: TODAY

(Present Day)

San Francisco, California

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I TOSSED BACK A SHOT of espresso and stared at my digital task-board.

Everything I needed to accomplish was complete. There were no files that needed last minute attention, no meetings that needed to be scheduled, and no correspondence that needed to be sent.

On any other day, I would’ve left the office and spent the rest of my day at home, but with Hayley on campus, that changed everything. I knew she would come down to my office in a couple of hours to join me for lunch, and I knew we’d take my car to a private parking lot after work to pick up where we’d left off in the garage this morning. Still, we were just starting this phase of our relationship, and I felt as if it was going to eventually become stagnant if it remained a secret for too much longer.

I wanted her on my arm in public, I didn’t want to have to lie to my best friend about being with her, and I wanted to be the type of guy she’d always deserved.

Sighing, I pulled out my phone and typed the email I’d been dreading all morning.

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SUBJECT: RAINCHECK on the next date?

I didn’t realize your brother was treating his senior staff to the same place—on the exact same weekend, that I was planning to take you. (I found out earlier this week)

I’ll make it up to you with another trip,

Corey

PS—I’ll be over tonight around nine o’clock.

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HER RESPONSE WAS IMMEDIATE. A simple, “I totally understand” with a smiley face.

I smiled back as if it was real and leaned back in my chair. I weighed the pros and cons of telling Jonathan for the umpteenth time—assessed the risks of telling him before or after the wedding. And then I mentally repeated what I would lead with, what would make him less angry about the situation.

I have feelings for Hayley, and I’m going to date her no matter what you say. Deal with the shit.

I want to date Hayley. Period. Get over it.

I’ve had feelings for Hayley since the moment she climbed through my bedroom window in the rain, and those feelings never went away despite the fact that you’re my best friend.

The last one was definitely the better option, but I doubted he would let me get a word after “feelings” out before punching me in the face.

“Mr. Walters?” Tillie stepped into my office.

“Yes, Tillie?”

“Two things. The florist wants to know if you want to extend your daily anonymous delivery for another month, and Mr. Statham wants to see you in his office. Something about a Meyer account?”

“Tell the florist yes, and tell Mr. Statham I’ll be upstairs in ten minutes.”

“Right away sir.”

I started to leave, but Tillie returned to my doorway.

“Yes, Tillie?”

“Sorry, there was a third thing,” she said. “You told me to keep track of whenever any of the executives booked one of the sites you picked for your next weekend getaway.”

“And?”

“A couple of Mr. Statham’s top advisors just booked quite a few of the ones on your list for the next few weekends. I think it’s because the shareholders are really happy.”

“How many out of the eight locations are booked with Statham executives?”

“Six out of eight.”

Fuck it. I’m going to tell him.

“Thank you, Tillie.” I left my office and walked to the executive building, taking the elevator straight up to Jonathan’s floor.

As I approached his door, I heard Hayley’s voice.

“You better talk to her and fix whatever it is,” she said. “Claire loves you and you know it.”

“Goodbye, Hayley.” He sounded annoyed.

“I love you, too.” She opened the door and walked right into me.

I looked her up and down, loving the way her grey and navy-blue dress complemented her eyes and hugged her curves today.

She blushed as I held the door open, and I almost leaned down to kiss her, but I held back.

Closing the door, I walked over and took a seat at Jonathan’s desk.

Start with the work, then tell him about Hayley. Start with the work, then tell him about Hayley.

You just want a chance to show him that you can be good enough for her, and you ARE good enough for her.

“So...” I cleared my throat. “About the Meyer’s account. I was thinking we could investigate their backgrounds a little more before we fully commit. What do you think?”

He didn’t answer. Instead, he stared at me long and hard. Then he leaned back in his chair and placed a stack of printed emails in front of me.

“Jonathan?” I asked. “What do you think about what I said about the Meyer’s account?”

“I think I want to ask you something else.”

“Okay,” I said. “I’m listening.”

“Are you fucking my little sister?”

“What?” I was caught completely off-guard. What are you—”

“It’s a yes or no question. Are. You. Fucking. My. Little. Sister?”

“It’s—It’s not like that.”

“Yes or no.”

I sighed. “No, not—”

“Yet? You plan on fucking my little sister?”

“Jonathan, man...It’s not what you think it is.”

“For your sake, I would hope not.” He narrowed his eyes at me. “When the fuck were you going to tell me about this shit? Or were you just going to keep pretending that the man I was looking for, wasn’t you?”

“I wanted to tell you weeks ago, but I knew how you would react to this...What I have with Hayley is nothing like what I’ve had with any of the women in the past. It’s still new, and we’re still working on it, so if you would just listen to me, I would appreciate it.” I was talking a mile a minute. “I’ve had feelings for Hayley for a long time, and she wasn’t lying about climbing through my window when she was younger. That’s how we became close. We stayed in contact for years without saying much to you about it, but—” I stopped.

He looked as if he wasn’t listening to a single thing I was saying. He looked as if he was seconds away from punching me right in the face.

“I would never hurt her, Jonathan,” I said. “I swear.”

“Get the fuck out of my office, Corey.”

“Don’t do this, man. Just—”

“I can only deal with so much bad shit at a time, so excuse me if I don’t want to talk to the man who is days away from fucking my little sister over and hanging her heart out to dry. Just get the hell out.”

He turned around in his chair, and knowing he wasn’t going to listen to another word I had to say, I stood up and left his office.

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I WAITED IN MY OFFICE for a few hours to see if Hayley would stop by like she usually did, so I could tell her that Jonathan knew about us, but she didn’t show. Unsure of if he’d managed to get to her first, I sent her a text message.

ME: Hayley, can we talk? Can you come to my office?

She answered me within seconds.

HAYLEY: Can we do it tonight? I’m out getting something special for later. You’ll see it when you come over. :-)  (Sorry I didn’t tell you I wasn’t stopping by for lunch today)

ME: Hayley, I need you to pick up the phone or call me ASAP. This can’t wait until tonight.

HAYLEY: It’s going to have to. I have to turn off my phone for a few hours. See you tonight :-)

Fuck.

I pulled out my tablet so I could locate wherever the hell she was at the moment and make her listen to me. Just as my app was pinpointing her location, Jonathan walked inside my office and slammed the door shut.

Glaring at me, his eyes were bloodshot and his face was a ghastly shade of white.

“It’s bad enough that me and Claire are having last minute issues of our own,” he said, his voice tight. “But I never thought, that out of all the people in my life, you would pull some shit like this. I would’ve never guessed that you would go behind my back and blatantly lie to me. That you would keep secrets about my own sister, who you know is the only real family I have left.”

“Jonathan—”

“This isn’t a discussion.” He cut me off. “This is an ultimatum.”

I crossed my arms.

“You’re no longer the best man at my wedding—If there is a wedding.” He shook his head. “We’re no longer friends, and I don’t fuck with you anymore.”

“Jonathan—”

“This is not a goddamn discussion, Corey.” He stepped closer to me, seething. “Shut the hell up and let me finish.” He let out a long breath. “Deep down, I know we have way too many years of friendship to just throw down the drain, so I’m willing to consider getting us back on track after some time. But only if you do what you know is right when it comes to Hayley.”

I felt a sinking feeling in my chest. “You want me to break up with her?”

“No. You want to break up with her, because if you don’t and she ends up like any of the other women you’ve led on over the years, I’m going to break you.”

I shook my head and tried to think of something that would calm him down, but it was no use.

“You don’t know shit about Hayley,” he said. “You may think you do because you hung out with her a few times when I left Ohio, but you don’t know her like I do. You don’t have feelings for her, you’re just enamored with her because she lived with you for a while and she’s a genuinely good person.”

“Jonathan—”

“And I blame myself for ever suggesting that she live with you, so this isn’t completely your fault.” He paused, stepping even closer to me. “I really just can’t believe you, Corey.” His punch came straight to my right eye before I could block it. “She’s my little sister.”