After lounging around the house with Kait and Ash on Sunday, I was ready for my meeting with Rhys on Monday morning. I had refrained from texting him, not wanting to appear overly eager or send the wrong impression. 

I made sure to dress to impress though. I wore my long strawberry blond hair in curls down my back. It had taken half a can of hairspray to accomplish this. I chose a soft pink lace and silk blouse that showed a decent but not indecent amount of cleavage and a black pencil skirt that made my ass look lifted and amazing. I paired the look with a pair of simple black stiletto heels and a simple pearl necklace.  

I walked confidently into the office. Margie noticed but didn't say a word. When Gwen noted my look she gave me a knowing smirk. She knew who I had on the calendar today. 

Rhys knocked on my door at exactly eight fifteen making him right on time. I loved punctuality. He was wearing a pair of black fitted trousers with a black polo shirt. It came off as professional but not performative. I stood up to greet him and watched as he looked me up and down. I could see the hunger in his eyes. I knew it wasn't fair, telling Rhys I wanted to keep things professional but looking like I did on purpose today. I couldn't help wanting to look good for him.

"You look stunning as always, Ms. O'Connor." Rhys said in his Iris drawl that made me want to come undone. 

"Thank you, Mr. Cavanaugh. Why don't we take a seat at the table over here?" 

I had a table in my office that I used to go over client's work with them. It was less stuffy than sitting across from one another at my desk.

"Can I interest you in some coffee?" I added as he took his seat. 

"Black, no sugar or creamer, please." He hadn't taken his eyes off of me. I could feel them burning into my backside as I went over to the little Keurig machine I had in the corner. I made us both a cup and then proceeded to walk back over to him. I was happy that I knew how to walk in high heels or the coffee would have wound up all over the floor.

I watched as Rhys bit his upper lip slightly. His small scar disappeared momentarily as he sucked on it. I could feel it in my loins. 

"Are you alright?" I asked teasingly, feigning innocence.

"I am trying to control my thoughts is all."

"And why's that?" I asked, coaxing him to explain what I already knew.

He looked me square in the eyes and said, "I want to remain professional with you Lennon and if I tell you what's on my mind right now, this coffee and that skirt will be on the floor."

I swallowed hard. The image he painted was now drilled into my skull and I wasn't mad.

"So you prefer my work wardrobe over  my mom uniform from the zoo?" I chuckled nervously.

Rhys gave me a wicked grin, "You look just as gorgeous now as you did then. I'd love to see you in anything, or nothing at all, Lennon."

I wanted to close the space between our chairs. I was dying to lick that scar on his lip.

"We should get to work." I said to defuse the sexual tension that was building between the two of us.

Rhys nodded and we went over the plan I had written out for his finished novel as well as the one that was a work in progress. We discussed how my being his agent would work, how the publishing industry works in America and compensation structures. He was fascinated how publishing with a smaller publisher could give him leverage to keep certain rights to his own work and how larger companies might try to buy the creative rights. 

Three hours later we had gone over every inch of his current manuscript for Déjà Vu. Rhys let me in on the plot he was thinking about.

"So in this one I am still debating about location."

"I would keep it set in Ireland. I think setting it here in the State mimics your own life a little too closely."

"That was something I had really considered. I don't want people to think this is a biographical story by any stretch of the imagination. I am just using what's happened to me as a baseline for the plot. Not even really the plot, just more of the vibe or inspiration. Does that make sense?"

It did. It also opened a window for me to casually ask about the other book. "How much inspiration did you draw on from Mattie's story for Awake?"

 Rhys' eyes darted to the ground. "More than I like to admit. I spent a lot of time wishing I could talk to Mattie again. He died so suddenly. My Da' was so glib with the details too. I flew in not just for the funeral but to find out what the fuck actually happened."

"And did you find out?"

"Not a damn thing for months. Da waited on toxicology reports to come in before even telling me that Mattie had gone out drinkin'. That little shite was double the legal limit for a person of age. He shouldn't have even been drinkin' to begin with. I still don't know how the fuck a bunch of teenagers got their hands on that much beer?"

I shrugged, "You'd be surprised how many places don't card out here. Or they'll sell to a cousin who's under age. Was the driver drunk too?"

"I never found out how drunk. Fuckin' arsehole's father had a connection with the police. They wouldn't release the record publicly."

"Did you file a Freedom of Information Act request?"

"What the fuck is that?" Rhys looked at me puzzled.

I rolled my eyes, "You Irish. In America we have FOIA. It means you can file a request for records from a government agency and unless they are sealed by a judge you can get access to them."

"It wouldn't shock me at all if that twat's parents had it sealed. They were so tight lipped. Blamed everything on everyone else but their own kid. First they tried to say the other kids in the car were distracting him. Then they said it was the other driver's fault. Said he wasn't looking or some shite."

I ventured to ask but didn't want to pry too hard, "Did the other driver make it?"

 Before Rhys could respond there was a knock on the door. Gwen popped her head in with a stack of papers in her hand. 

"Came to bring over the contract for you two too look over. If you are ready to sign Mr. Cavanaugh we can get Margie in here to be a notary. Do you want to have a lawyer look it over or do you feel confident enough to read through it on your own?"

Rhys let out a small chuckle to himself, "Unless you two are planning to take me to the cleaners I think I will be okay without a lawyer."

Gwen laughed and set the contract down. A copy for each of us. Margie came in and we went line by line what the contract entailed. Rhys would be a client of ours for the next twenty-four months. We had that amount of time to help him find a publisher for his first novel. He had the next six months to finish his second and if we felt like it was ready for the next phase we had the right to shop for a publisher for that one as well or use the same publisher as the first book. We would take a commission for helping him find a publisher and for coordinating a book release and possible tours depending on the sale numbers of the book. We also would take a small percentage of the sales for the next five years on both books. If Rhys decided to part ways with us then we were still entitled to those commissions and percentages. If we released him from his contract under certain clauses then we were in the clear. Under other circumstances then we had to pay me out a fee. I would be his agent for the next two years. There were circumstances laid out for if I left the company, who would take over as his agent. The contract went over almost any scenario known to man to make sure the company was covered and that Rhys was taken care of financially for his work.

An hour later and Rhys had signed all the papers and we were both mentally exhausted.

"You ready for a beer?" I asked even though it wasn't even one o'clock yet.

"Fuck yes." He responded in kind. Margie left us alone and we walked out to the parking lot. 

Rhys suggested that we take his car. We made it to the local Chuy's. I ordered a margarita and Rhys ordered a Guinness. I started to eat my weight in queso. 

"You know, Darlin' I do like me a lass who can hold her own in drinkin'. Course, I'm not a huge one myself here lately."

Darlin'. I knew Rhys wouldn't know that was what Cameron always called me. It sounded so different coming out of his mouth. His Irish twang was the antithesis of Cam's Southern drawl. Still it made me shudder to be called it.

"I bet all the girls in Ireland love you Rhys. Such a charmer." I said to defuse my own nerves.

Rhys shrugged, "I wouldn't know. I moved there at 15 with a southern accent that had Irish mixed in from spending summers with my grand parents and found a lot more people wanted to make fun of me instead of befriending me." 

The thought of a young Rhys getting made fun of for something he couldn't control made me want to tear up.

"Is that why you have more of an Irish accent now?"

He nodded, "I worked on sounding more like the locals and less like me."

"I know that feeling. I don't fit in with the locals here either."

"Where are you from Lennon? You don't act like the girls I've met out here. You definitely don't dress like them either."

I rolled my eyes. "Dallas. I grew up there. When I was fourteen my mom ran off with a coworker. She's somewhere out in Nevada. When I was eighteen I moved out to Commerce for school. I had planned to high tail it back to Dallas as soon as I graduated but Dad moved out here when I was twenty one. I met Ash's dad and I found myself stuck there in Quitman. It swallowed me up like a blackhole."

"Your ex or the town?" He wasn't judging, only curious. 

"Both. He was an enigma. A magnet. You couldn't help but love him and hate him at the same time. He was hell bent on being the star of the show everywhere he went but he loved to make sure everyone else felt the glow. I've never met anyone else be such a walking oxymoron."

"And the town?"

"My family has lived here since before Texas was a state. It's where all of my roots are. I planned on coming out here a few times a month to visit my dad with my husband and kids. It was never supposed to be a permanent spot to call home. Now, it's all I have left of him. Every April I'm reminded that he's gone."

Rhys eyes widened like something had connected in his brain. "You lost your ex in November?"

I nodded slowly, "Yeah, the twenty-first. Right after my birthday. You remembered me saying it was six months apart?"

Rhys' face looked pale. "You never mentioned his name, your ex. Is Ash named after him?"

Again I nodded, confused this time, "Ash's full name is Asher. It was Cameron's Middle name. Cameron Asher Galbraith. I always loved it as a first name."

Rhys looked like he was going to be sick. He sat there stunned, unable to put into words the bomb he was about to drop on me. It donned on me what it was after a moment.

"Mattie." Was all I said. I knew I didn't need to say more. The reason our loved ones were dead were tragically intertwined. Mattie had been in the car that had collided with Cameron.