Butterflies in Honey (Growing Pains #3)(50)

“It was a great catch,” Bill from Chicago said, nodding.

Krista and Georgie each took a step back. This was the final throw. If Krista caught it, they would get the point.

“Ready?” Georgie called.

“Okay—no, wait.” Krista did a dance like a boxer right before a fight. She shook out her hands and returned to the ready position. “Okay, go. Easy, Georgina! Be nice to me!”

“Just hold out your hands like I showed you and cushion it when it comes. No sweat.”

Krista groaned loudly. Everyone around her was smiling. Everyone around Georgie was engaged, looking like they were the ones doing the throw.

Georgie gave her up a nice, big lob.

Krista started repeating, “Oh crap, oh crap, oh CRAP!”

The balloon fell into her hands, bounced once, wobbled violently—everyone sucked in their breath—then settled.

“I did it!” Krista shouted with glee.

She turned to Sean, her smile jubilant.

“You would think we won the Super Bowl!” Georgie said as he walked up.

Krista gave him a big hug.

“I’ve never made it through one of these. It is BIGGER than the Super Bowl!” Krista laughed.

Georgie and Krista started walking back to the hotel after the crowd, everyone collectively in a good mood. Sean fell in beside them immediately.

“That was big time Krista! Nice work,” Georgie said.

“Thanks Georgie. Seriously couldn’t have done it without you. You’re a pro. But I’ll tell you—I probably wouldn’t have seen it to the end if I wasn’t so worried about it splashing on me and exposing my pink bra.”

“I’m married, Krista, don’t tell me those things. Question for ya—why do Sean and Marcus call you Geegee?”

“When I found her…” Sean began.

“Met me, Sean. All you had to do was open your eyes in the copy annex to find me.”

Sean looked from Krista to Georgie, and then said, “Like I said, when I found her…” Sean grinned and Georgie laughed. “She was the only Researcher that actually worked. The Research department where we used to work had a bunch of antisocial, incompetent employees, not to mention boring and fairly hideous. Anyway, after she joined my team, Marcus started calling her Geek Girl, for obvious reasons. It was Geegee for short.”

“And we started calling him Captain,” Krista joined, “because he wasn’t technically our boss, but we were supposed to do whatever he said—at work, obviously.”

“Nice slip up.” Georgie chuckled. “So is it true? You two were…or are…an item?”

Krista looked at Sean. He looked around. There were a couple people in earshot, but they were arguing about football. “We were for a short time at the end of her employment at the last company. There has been nothing between us since. She made the move and got this position on her own. I got mine on my own.”

~*~*~*~

Krista felt a stab of pain and looked away to hide it in case it showed on her face. To hide her discomfort, she said, “Don’t lie—you got your position by sleeping your way to the top. I hope you thanked Emily for sharing Tory!”

Georgie laughed as Sean snorted.

“Well,” Georgie said, “You two are holding up well. I’ve had to work with an ex before. It was torture. You guys work really well together. I’m surprised.”

“Honestly, it is torture,” Krista said quietly. Sean looked at her in surprise. “But Sean treats me like a person, whereas the rest of this company—well, you’ve been on the ‘I hate women’ bandwagon yourself, so you know.”

Georgie looked mollified. “Yeah, sorry about that. Change is tough. It’s no excuse, but I did legitimately think you were schtooping the boss to get where you are. You have risen really fast.”

“It would be Tory that I was schtooping,” Krista said, “He’s the one responsible for my promotions. And if that were true, Emily would have assassinated me by now.”

Georgie huffed. “I looked through your packets. Bob thinks Sean is doing the work. I know better. That ain’t Sean’s style. He might make the deadlines further out, but not do it himself.”

Sean, who was silent up until then, finally spoke up, “So what you’re saying is, she must have done it herself because I’m too lazy?”

Georgie and Krista both laughed and said, “Exactly!” at the same time.

“But here’s what I don’t get, since it’s on the table,” Georgie said as they walked through the hotel door, “Krista was working for our company for a while before you showed up, Sean. Then you show up as a VP. Doesn’t make any sense.” Georgie glanced at each of them, must have seen a blank look, then continued, “What I mean is, if you broke it off, Sean, then you would’ve been glad she moved away. If you didn’t, then you obviously wanted her back. But, and correct me if I’m wrong Krista, but showing up as her boss as a big surprise isn’t really the greatest approach. Doesn’t make sense.”

“Yeah,” Krista said lightly, desperately wanting to talk about something else, “and you think women are crazy?”

“We didn’t plan to split,” Sean said seriously. “She had to move for other reasons. I showed up thinking she would be happy to see me.” The way he said it, it was obvious he realized it was a big error.