Bait: The Wake Series, Book One(46)

“Hey, Case. How's Chicago?” He laughed over the line. “Did she tank another one?” He continued to chuckle. To this man a spade was a spade. I'd informed him about our Austin meeting and I was sure he'd spoken to Aly, so there wasn't any point in sugarcoating it. We both knew she probably wasn't cut out for sales.

“No. She didn't go this morning, and we actually wrapped up everything. They gave a verbal go ahead and I'll have the office send over the paperwork for their billing when I get back.” The meeting went great, and the deal was well worth the trip, but at that point there was no need for another night in Chicago.

I didn't want to spend another night there like the previous one. I could use a long weekend.

“That's my boy. You're doing great out there. I'm glad we bought the building across the street and went ahead with ordering the new machinery. All these new orders already have us working at maximum capacity. I never thought I'd say that, kid. Hell, I might even get to retire,” he added with a laugh.

“Yeah, you will. Hey, I changed our flights to head home today. Since the deal is already wrapped up, there really isn't a good reason to stick around here.”

“Yeah, that sounds great. You gonna come in or are you taking tomorrow off?”

“I think I'm going to take it off. I've got a big week coming up. Is that okay?”

“No problem. Aly coming back, too?”

“I changed her ticket, but…” I didn't know how to say this, other than to just lay it out there, “I think you should call her and tell her.”

He sounded concerned when he said, “Everything all right?” I didn't want him to worry. Everything was all right. She probably felt pretty dumb about it. I still needed to talk to her about my phone, but I'd have plenty of time on the plane. That conversation wasn't going to be the easiest, so I was thankful we’d be parting ways for a few days afterward.

“It's all good. Aly and I had a disagreement last night. I'd rather you call, if that's okay.” If he called, she wouldn't be able to argue. She switched my key without feeling too bad about it, I supposed I could change our flights and she'd just have to deal with it. Fair was fair.

“Yeah, what time do you fly out?” he asked, thankfully not inquiring for more details.

“Have her meet me downstairs at five thirty, please. That will give us plenty of time.”

He said that he'd tell her and asked again if everything was okay. I hated not telling him the whole story; it probably made it seem much worse than it really was. But I did care about Aly and I didn't want to embarrass her.

I had to get to the bottom of the phone thing though. I almost had myself convinced that she'd contacted her and that that was the reason Blake never called. I still hadn't heard from her. I needed to know if Aly knew why. But I wasn’t confident, if she had done anything, that she'd even tell me.

After my call with Marc, I took my time, cleaned up my things and packed them away, readied myself to go home. I brought my bags down to the lobby. I'd planned on having a drink at the bar until it was time to leave. When I saw that Aly's bags were already sitting on a cart by the reception desk I knew I'd find her doing the same.

She was facing the bar, away from me, when I walked in. I caught her reflection in the mirror that hung behind the glass bottles. She lifted her glass to me when she saw me, too. The bartender, who'd seen me come in, headed in my direction as I sat next to her.

“What are you drinking, Aly?” I said as I perched on the stool to her left.

“Vodka martini. Three olives.” She sounded like she'd already had a few, but it wasn't my business. It might actually work out well for me that she was a little buzzed. Maybe she'd tell me what the f*ck happened.

“Vodka martini with three olives and a Gin and Tonic.” He nodded and busied himself with making the drinks.

“Thanks,” she said, finishing down the last of her current cocktail.

“What happened yesterday?” I went out on a limb with what my gut had been telling me. “What did you say to her?” She audibly exhaled and stretched on her stool.

“So she can't leave you alone either, then? I guess you two talked?” she asked guiltily, looking at me from out of the corner of her eyes. I watched her in the mirror looking straight ahead.

I didn't answer, only thanked the bartender when he placed our drinks in front of us on napkins.