Just before I exited the elevator i

Just before I exited the elevator into the vestibule of Waters Field & Leaman, the advertising firm I worked for on the twentieth floor, Gideon whispered in my ear, “Think about me all day.”
I squeezed his hand surreptitiously in the crowded car. “Always do.”
He continued the ride up to the top floor, which housed the headquarters of Cross Industries. The Crossfire was his, one of many properties he owned throughout the city, including the apartment complex I lived in.
I tried not to pay attention to that. My mom was a career trophy wife. She’d given up my father’s love for an affluent lifestyle, which I couldn’t relate to at all. I’d prefer love over wealth any day, but I suppose that was easy for me to say because I had money—a sizable investment portfolio—of my own. Not that I ever touched it. I wouldn’t.
I’d paid too high a price and couldn’t imagine anything worth the cost.
Megumi, the receptionist, buzzed me through the glass security door and greeted me with a big smile. She was a pretty woman, young like me, with a stylish bob of glossy black hair framing stunning Asian features.
“Hey,” I said, stopping by her desk. “Got any plans for lunch?”
“I do now.”
“Awesome.” My grin was wide and genuine. As much as I loved Cary and enjoyed spending time with him, I needed girlfriends, too.
Cary had already started building a network of acquaintances and friends in our adopted city, but I’d been sucked into the Gideon vortex almost from the outset. As much as I’d prefer to spend every moment with him, I knew it wasn’t healthy. Female friends would give it to me straight when I needed it, and I was going to have to cultivate those friendships if I wanted them.
Setting off, I headed down the long hallway to my cubicle. When I reached my desk, I put my bag and purse in the bottom drawer, keeping my smartphone out so I could silence it. I found a text from Cary: I’m sorry, baby girl.
“Cary Taylor,” I sighed.“I love you . . . even when you’re pissing me off.”
And he’d pissed me off royally. No woman wanted to come home to a sexual clusterfuck in progress on her living room floor. Especially not while in the middle of a fight with her new boyfriend.
I texted back, Block off the wknd 4 me if u can.
There was a long pause and I imagined him absorbing my request.
Damn, he texted back finally. Must be some ass kicking u have planned.
“Maybe a little,” I muttered, shuddering as I remembered the . . .
orgy I’d walked in on. But mostly I thought Cary and I needed to spend some quality downtime together. We hadn’t been living in Manhattan long. It was a new town for us, new apartment, new jobs and experiences, new boyfriends for both of us. We were out of our element and struggling, and since we both had barge loads of baggage from our pasts, we didn’t handle struggling well. Usually we leaned on each other for balance, but we hadn’t had much time for that lately. We really needed to make the time. Up for a trip to Vegas? Just u and me?
Fuck yeah!
K . . . more later. As I silenced my phone and put it away, my gaze passed briefly over the two collage photo frames next to my monitor—one filled with photos of both of my parents and one of Cary, and the other filled with photos of me and Gideon. Gideon had put the latter collection together himself, wanting me to have a reminder of him just like the reminder he had of me on his desk. As if I needed it . .I loved having those images of the people I loved close by: my mom with her golden cap of curls and her bombshell smile, her curvy body scarcely covered by a tiny bikini as she enjoyed the French Riviera on my stepdad’s yacht; my stepfather, Richard Stanton, looking regal and distinguished, his silver hair oddly complementing the looks of his much younger wife; and Cary, who was captured in all his photogenic glory, with his lustrous brown hair and sparkling green eyes, his smile wide and mischievous. That million-dollar face was starting to pop up in magazines everywhere and soon would grace billboards and bus stops advertising Grey Isles clothing.
I looked across the strip of hallway and through the glass wall that encased Mark Garrity’s very small office and saw his jacket hung over the back of his Aeron chair, even though the man himself wasn’t in sight. I wasn’t surprised to find him in the break room scowling into his coffee mug; he and I shared a java dependency.
“I thought you had the hang of it,” I said, referring to his trouble with the one-cup coffee maker.
“I do, thanks to you.” Mark lifted his head and offering a charmingly crooked smile. He had gleaming dark skin, a trim goatee, and soft brown eyes. In addition to being easy on the eyes, he was a great boss—very open to educating me about the ad business and quick to trust that he didn’t have to show me how to do something twice. We worked well together, and I hoped that would be the case for a long time to come.
“Try this,” he said, reaching for a second steaming cup waiting on the counter. He handed it to me and I accepted it gratefully, appreciating that he’d been thoughtful about adding cream and sweetener, which was how I liked it.I took a cautious sip, since it was hot, then coughed over the unexpected—and unwelcome—flavor. “What is this?”
“Blueberry-flavored coffee.”
Abruptly, I was the one scowling. “Who the hell wants to drink that?”
“Ah, see . . . it’s our job to figure out who, then sell this to them.” He lifted his mug in a toast. “Here’s to our latest account!”
Wincing, I straightened my spine and took another sip.
* * *
I was pretty sure the sickly sweet taste of artificial blueberries was still coating my tongue two hours later. Since it was time for my break, I started an Internet search for Dr. Terrence Lucas, a man who’d clearly rubbed Gideon the wrong way when I’d seen the two men together at dinner the night before. I hadn’t gotten any further than typing the doctor’s name in the search box when my desk phone rang.
“Mark Garrity’s office,” I answered. “Eva Tramell speaking.”
“Are you serious about Vegas?” Cary asked without preamble.
“Totally.”
There was a pause. “Is this when you tell me you’re moving in with your billionaire boyfriend and I’ve got to go?”
“What? No. Are you nuts?” I squeezed my eyes shut, understanding how insecure Cary was but thinking we were too far along in our friendship for those kinds of doubts. “You’re stuck with me for life, you know that.”
“And you just up and decided we should go to Vegas?”“Pretty much. Figured we could sip mojitos by the pool and liveoff room service for a couple days.”

Hasil (Bahasa Indonesia) 1:

Just before I exited the elevator into the vestibule of Waters Field & Leaman, the advertising firm I worked for on the twentieth floor, Gideon whispered in my ear, “Think about me all day.”I squeezed his hand surreptitiously in the crowded car. “Always do.”He continued the ride up to the top floor, which housed the headquarters of Cross Industries. The Crossfire was his, one of many properties he owned throughout the city, including the apartment complex I lived in.I tried not to pay attention to that. My mom was a career trophy wife. She’d given up my father’s love for an affluent lifestyle, which I couldn’t relate to at all. I’d prefer love over wealth any day, but I suppose that was easy for me to say because I had money—a sizable investment portfolio—of my own. Not that I ever touched it. I wouldn’t.I’d paid too high a price and couldn’t imagine anything worth the cost.Megumi, the receptionist, buzzed me through the glass security door and greeted me with a big smile. She was a pretty woman, young like me, with a stylish bob of glossy black hair framing stunning Asian features.“Hey,” I said, stopping by her desk. “Got any plans for lunch?”“I do now.”“Awesome.” My grin was wide and genuine. As much as I loved Cary and enjoyed spending time with him, I needed girlfriends, too.Cary sudah mulai membangun jaringan kenalan dan teman-teman di kota kami angkat, tapi aku punya terhisap ke dalam pusaran Gideon hampir dari awal. Seperti aku akan lebih suka untuk menghabiskan setiap saat dengan dia, aku tahu itu tidak sehat. Teman-teman perempuan akan memberikannya kepada saya lurus ketika saya membutuhkannya, dan aku akan harus mengolah persahabatan tersebut jika aku ingin mereka.Berangkat, aku menuju ke bawah lorong panjang ke bilik saya. Ketika saya mencapai mejaku, aku meletakkan tas dan dompet saya di bagian bawah laci, menjaga smartphone saya keluar sehingga aku bisa membungkam. Saya menemukan teks dari Cary: saya minta maaf, bayi perempuan."Cary Taylor," Aku mendesah." Aku mencintaimu... bahkan ketika Anda sedang membuatku jengkel."Dan dia telah kesal secara meriah. Tidak ada wanita ingin datang rumah bagi clusterfuck seksual berlangsung di lantai ruang tamu. Terutama tidak sementara di tengah pertarungan dengan pacar barunya.Saya texted kembali, blok off wknd 4 saya jika Anda bisa.Ada jeda yang panjang dan aku membayangkan dia menyerap permintaan saya.Sialan, dia texted kembali akhirnya. Harus beberapa keledai menendang Anda telah merencanakan."Mungkin sedikit," yang aku bergumam, gemetar karena saya ingat...pesta saya telah berjalan di pada. Tapi kebanyakan aku pikir Cary dan saya perlu untuk menghabiskan waktu berkualitas bersama-sama. Kita tidak hidup di Manhattan panjang. Itu adalah sebuah kota baru bagi kita, apartemen baru, pekerjaan baru dan pengalaman, pacar baru untuk kami berdua. Kami dari elemen kami dan berjuang, dan karena kita mempunyai banyak tongkang Bagasi dari masa lalu kita, kita tidak menangani berjuang baik. Biasanya kita bersandar pada satu sama lain untuk keseimbangan, tapi kami tidak punya banyak waktu untuk yang akhir-akhir ini. Kami benar-benar diperlukan untuk membuat waktu. Up untuk perjalanan ke Vegas? Hanya Anda dan saya?Fuck ya!K... lagi nanti. Ketika saya dibungkam telepon saya dan menempatkan itu pergi, pandangan saya melewati sebentar bingkai foto kolase dua di monitor saya — satu diisi dengan foto-foto dari kedua orang tua saya dan salah satu Cary, dan yang lain diisi dengan foto-foto saya dan Gideon. Gideon telah mengumpulkan koleksi kedua sendiri, ingin saya untuk memiliki pengingat dia seperti pengingat ia saya di mejanya. Seolah-olah saya membutuhkannya. . Aku mencintai memiliki gambar mereka orang-orang aku mencintai dekat oleh: ibu saya dengan topi nya emas ikal dan senyumnya bom, tubuh melengkung hampir ditutupi oleh bikini kecil saat dia menikmati French Riviera Yacht ayah tiriku; ayah tiriku, Richard Stanton, mencari regal dan dibedakan, rambutnya perak yang anehnya melengkapi tampak istri muda banyak; dan Cary, yang ditangkap di semua fotogenik kemuliaan-Nya, dengan rambut cokelat yang berkilau dan berkilauan mata hijau, senyum lebar dan nakal. Bahwa wajah juta dolar mulai muncul di majalah di mana-mana dan segera akan rahmat papan reklame dan halte bus iklan Grey Isles pakaian.Aku memandang melintasi the strip lorong dan melalui dinding kaca yang terbungkus Mark Garrity kantor sangat kecil dan melihat jaket tergantung di atas kursi belakang Aeron nya, meskipun manusia itu sendiri tidak terlihat. Aku tidak terkejut menemukan dia di ruang istirahat cemberut ke dalam cangkir kopi nya; Dia dan aku berbagi ketergantungan Jawa."Saya pikir Anda punya menguasainya," kataku, merujuk kepada masalah dengan pembuat kopi satu cangkir."Ya, terima kasih kepada Anda." Mark mengangkat kepalanya dan menawarkan senyum apik bengkok. Ia berkilau kulit gelap, langsing Tateh jenggot, dan mata coklat lembut. Selain menjadi mudah pada mata, ia adalah bos besar — sangat terbuka untuk mendidik saya tentang bisnis iklan dan cepat untuk percaya bahwa ia tidak punya untuk menunjukkan padaku bagaimana untuk melakukan sesuatu yang dua kali. Kami bekerja sama dengan baik, dan aku berharap itu akan menjadi kasus untuk waktu yang lama untuk datang."Coba ini," katanya, meraih Piala mengepul kedua yang menunggu di meja. Dia kemudian memberikannya kepada saya dan saya menerimanya syukur, menghargai bahwa dia telah merenung tentang menambahkan krim dan pemanis, iaitu bagaimana aku menyukainya. Aku mengambil seteguk berhati-hati, karena panas, kemudian batuk atas yang tak terduga — dan tidak diinginkan — rasa. "Apa ini?""Blueberry-rasa kopi."Tiba-tiba, aku sedang cemberut satu. "Yang sih ingin minum itu?""Ah, melihat... itu adalah tugas kita untuk mencari tahu yang, kemudian menjual ini kepada mereka." Ia mengangkat nya mug dalam bersulang. "Di sini adalah ke rekening terbaru kami!"Sambil mengernyit, aku meluruskan tulang belakang saya dan mengambil lain sip.* * *I was pretty sure the sickly sweet taste of artificial blueberries was still coating my tongue two hours later. Since it was time for my break, I started an Internet search for Dr. Terrence Lucas, a man who’d clearly rubbed Gideon the wrong way when I’d seen the two men together at dinner the night before. I hadn’t gotten any further than typing the doctor’s name in the search box when my desk phone rang.“Mark Garrity’s office,” I answered. “Eva Tramell speaking.”“Are you serious about Vegas?” Cary asked without preamble.“Totally.”There was a pause. “Is this when you tell me you’re moving in with your billionaire boyfriend and I’ve got to go?”“What? No. Are you nuts?” I squeezed my eyes shut, understanding how insecure Cary was but thinking we were too far along in our friendship for those kinds of doubts. “You’re stuck with me for life, you know that.”“And you just up and decided we should go to Vegas?”“Pretty much. Figured we could sip mojitos by the pool and liveoff room service for a couple days.”