Tangled: Contemporary Romance Trilogy

by Dee Bridgnorth

  “I was told that Lena no longer works there.” Zelda tossed that into the room like a live grenade.

  I didn’t know what to say so of course the stupidest thing possible came out of my mouth. “What do you mean she no longer works there?”

  “I don’t know.” Zelda arched an eyebrow and tilted her head. “But you shouldn’t care. It doesn’t affect the closing date on your property. You close in the morning at nine o’clock sharp.”

  Fine. I was going to close, but that didn’t feel like my main concern at the moment. “But what about Lena?”

  “I don’t know. Perhaps you should try and find that out on your own time.” Zelda turned on her heel and left my office.

  My own time? What was that supposed to mean? I’d been working my ass off for the last two weeks. I didn’t have time to go in search of a hypothetical problem that I wasn’t even sure I wanted to touch.

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  Lena

  Dinner with my sister. Yay. Right? I was supposed to be excited. This was one of those social events I could always count on. My dear sister and our evening at The Cheesecake Factory when I could almost be guaranteed to listen to her berate me over something.

  At least this week there would be no doubt about what it was she was going to pick on. I think unemployment was probably the number one thing I could count on her to bring up right after this obligatory sister to sister hug we were currently engaging in.

  Eleanor always smells good. Like perfume in a way that is subtle enough to leave you wondering if you really smelled it or not. Just enough to leave a pleasing scent in your nose and a smile on your face because it was just so light and airy and feminine.

  “You smell like the gym,” Eleanor told me as she leaned away from me and wrinkled her nose.

  So much for a warm sisterly hug. I just shrugged off her words and followed the hostess to our table, which was thankfully in a quiet back room part of the restaurant’s huge maze of a dining area. “I just came from the gym,” I told Eleanor. “I imagine that means I smell like the place. That’s good. It means I worked out enough to negate every single calorie I want to eat.”

  “Is that what you’ve been doing since you walked out and quit your job?” Eleanor gave me her best Mother impression as we took our seats. “I can’t believe you did that! Who walks off the job when they don’t have anything else and are totally dependent on their income? It’s irresponsible!”

  “Really?” I shook my head at her. This was the same old argument we’d been having for years. It was just slightly askew. “Because I seem to remember that you’ve been nagging me to quit that job just about since the moment I got it.”

  “Only because I wanted you to come and work for me!” Eleanor chuffed out a big sigh. “But you quit at the worst time. It’s weird. There’s a sudden internal hiring freeze.”

  “Hiring freeze?” I frowned and wondered what that meant. “You work for a company that hires people for a living.”

  “Yeah.” Eleanor shrugged. “But right now management has decided to chill it all out for a bit. No internal hires and we’re supposed to vet candidates but hold off on offers. I’m not sure what it means. It probably has something to do with the local market being a bit depressed this time of year. End of the year. Holidays coming up. I bet the CEO, Lawrence Moss, has something big in the works.”

  “Or maybe he’s anticipating that whole hostile takeover thing,” I said with no small amount of overdramatization. I hated this topic, but at least if we were talking about Eleanor’s job we weren’t talking about my lack of one. “You know, because you’re so sure that Alvarez is selling out to some hot firm from Kansas City.”

  “Yeah.” Eleanor snorted.

  ‘”Hello ladies, welcome back!” The waitress set our iced teas on the table. “If you’d like something different to drink just let me know. I figured we would start you off with the usual just to get the night moving.”

  “Sounds good, thanks.” Eleanor beamed up at the waitress and then pointed at her menu. “I’d like the quinoa salmon salad.”

  “I’ll have the chicken and biscuits.” I actually stared at my sister while I said it. I had just spent an hour and a half in the gym. If she said one word I was going to inform her that she was getting executive chair butt disease. The one where your hips started to spread to touch the sides of your chair.

  But Eleanor never said anything. She tilted her head and looked at me as though she were dying to speak but she didn’t say anything until the waitress had finished setting our drinks down and taking our orders. I could see her bursting at the seams to talk though. She wanted desperately to mine for information on Damion Alvarez. I just didn’t know what to tell her.

  “Before you ask,” I said quickly in order to preempt her. “I don’t know anything about Damion Alvarez. I don’t want to talk about him. And I don’t know why you think that there’s something going on between the two of us so can we just dispense with the bullshit and pretend that we have something else to talk about?”

  Eleanor sat back in her chair and stared at me as though flies had just come out of my mouth and we had popped into some horror film where I was going to tell her that I was demon possessed and that was why I had quit my job.

  “Lena,” Eleanor began quietly. It was odd. For the first time in forever I didn’t feel one iota of judgment coming from my sister. “What happened? It seems like something really upset you.”

  “I kissed Damion Alvarez.” Dammit! Why had I told her that? I hadn’t meant to tell her that. It totally wasn’t in my plan. So why did my mouth just open and words come out? “Or I guess he kissed me. I don’t know. It’s not like I’m trying to blame him or anything. I think it’s just that it was a mutual mistake.”

  “Why was it a mistake?” There it was again. No judgment. Just compassion. That was it. My sister was a victim of the body snatchers! “It seemed like the two of you really had some chemistry going on. And you seemed to really like him, Lena.”

  The words pressed on my tongue until I opened my mouth and let them out. “I did.”

  “So why was the kiss bad?”

  “I just feel like I don’t want this to become every other guy I’ve ever met. Men are fine to know. They’re fine to hang around with or be friends with. When you get into a relationship with them things change. There are all of these expectations and rules and then the bullshit starts to make you regret ever agreeing to go on a date with them to begin with.”

  “Whoa!” Eleanor held up her hands. She reached for the sweetener packets in a little tub in the center of the table. Carefully selecting one, she opened it and dumped it into her drink. By the time she was stirring it seemed like her brain was ready to finish her thought out loud. “I’m not sure you’re thinking about that in the right terms.”

  “Excuse me?” I snorted and took a long drag of my tea. It was unsweetened. I didn’t add anything to it. I just drank the bitter stuff and left it. “What do you mean the right terms? You’re the ice queen. You should be telling me that intimate relationships are nothing more than chemicals and hormones and that I should be glad to be so practically minded about this.”

  “No. That’s not what I’m thinking at all.” Eleanor gave me a withering look of irritation. “You always make me sound like this raving hell bitch. But I think that you and Damion Alvarez seemed to have a real connection. And I’m just trying to make the point that all of that stuff you were saying about enjoying his company and just being okay being around him should not change because you start a relationship. It’s all the same. That’s how people have fulfilling relationships to begin with. They marry their friends.”

  I didn’t want to be rude, but it felt like I was talking to a greeting card about my problem. And why did my sister seem so touchy-feely supportive right now anyway? I was suspicious of her motives. “Is this because you want me to get you an in with Damion Alvarez?” I asked Eleanor. “Because I don’t care if I were to marry that man tomo
rrow, I’m not going to tell him to give you a job.”

  Eleanor made a low sound of irritation. “I wouldn’t do that!”

  “Well, I’m never sure these days.” I sighed and felt empty inside. I felt like I could have eaten the entire plate of chicken and biscuits I could see heading my direction from the kitchen without getting anywhere on how empty I feel. “I don’t understand why I got so angry with Damion after he kissed me,” I admitted to Eleanor. “Truthfully, Ellie, I acted like a total bitch. I got panicky. I started prying into his life, but I made it sound like a joke. You know, like whether or not he has a collection of porn, whether he’s into freaky stuff in the bedroom like Karl Kitson was, that sort of thing.”

  “You didn’t!” Eleanor actually covered her face with his hands. “Oh, Lena, did you explain?”

  “No!” I was mortified. “Like I’m going to tell him that my previous boyfriend tried to hook up a three way and that I’m kind of paranoid that this is what all guys secretly want? That would be embarrassing.”

  Eleanor facepalmed and then chuffed out a heavy sigh. “Yeah? Well, the poor man probably thinks you have a totally low opinion of him.”

  “Maybe,” I allowed. “But I just can’t help but think that the man is rich and eligible and totally hot.”

  “Yeah, I guess that would be really intimidating,” Eleanor agreed.

  I felt better that she could at least understand where I was coming from on this madness. Because it was madness. I wondered if I should tell her the rest. About meeting his parents and freaking out that he had made a point of telling me that his parents liked me. It was intimidating. I hadn’t been kissing up or anything. I hadn’t even intended to meet his parents.

  Our food appeared. The waitress set the plates down and then bit her lip. This was not the usual manner of delivering food. She wasn’t smiling and she looked uncomfortable. I had to pull myself out of my personal morass of doubt and dark thoughts and pay attention to what was going on in front of me.

  “So,” the waitress began slowly. “I’ve seen you two in here almost every single week. I’ve waited your table before, but I’ve never seen you with any other people.”

  Eleanor glanced at me and then nodded at the waitress. “Yes? If you ask my sister here, it’s because I’m a total creature of habit.”

  “She is.” It wasn’t like I was going to argue against that. “Is that a problem?”

  “Not exactly.” The waitress glanced behind her and I saw a certain couple standing at the front doors. “But that couple just requested to join your table. They claim to be really good friends of yours. I just wanted to come and ask before we do something like push two tables together or seat them anywhere near you.”

  “Oh my God!” I whispered.

  Eleanor was squinting to see the front entrance thanks to the glare from all the windows. “Is that Karl Kitson?”

  “Yes!” I moaned. “Karl and Trinity.” I look at the waitress and wished that the earth would just open up and swallow me whole. “I realize that this is going to sound insane. All right?”

  “Okay?” It was plain from the poor woman’s expression that we were already well past insane.

  “Yeah, so that guy is my ex-boyfriend and the chick he’s with is the stalker ex-girlfriend of another male acquaintance of mine.”

  “No shit?” The waitress put her hand over her mouth. “I’m sorry! It just slipped out! It’s so…”

  “Weird. Right?” I bobbed my head. “They decided that they were going to use each other to try and make the two of us super jealous for some reason. But it would be super helpful to me if you could just seat them somewhere far away.”

  “Yeah. No problem.” The waitress sucked in a quick breath and I knew she was preparing herself to go face to face with wacko. It was never a pleasant experience.

  Eleanor was gazing off toward my stalker as though she were trying to see inside his head. “I don’t get it. They kind of look cute together.”

  “What?” I nearly swallowed my tongue. “Are you out of your mind too?”

  “No. Be honest with yourself.” Eleanor shrugged. “There’s nothing wrong with crazy stalkers becoming one with other crazy stalkers. At least they’ll both be into that insane behavior. Right?”

  “Right,” I said dully. “Because that is always how I like to think of things. At least the crazy lunatics who make my life a living hell can find someone to love and be happy with.”

  “Oh, would you stop!” Eleanor actually started laughing. It was rather demoralizing. “You’re always making this so dramatic. It doesn’t have to be dramatic. You already told me that you really like Damion Alvarez.”

  “Yeah, that’s not going to work.” Funny how I had already decided that in my mind.

  Eleanor gave me a look. No. The look. “You’re letting the fear of failure keep you from trying. How much easier is it to talk about some nameless, faceless person than to possibly have someone real in your life? You can whine and moan and groan all you want about how you can’t find someone. But I can see right now that you did find someone and you’re too much of a coward to just reach out and go for it.”

  I think my mouth actually dropped open. I had never been so shocked or—well, just shocked I guess. It was hard to say what I was feeling. It was like having someone hold up a mirror and force me to look into it. Was that really what I was doing with this non relationship with Damion? Was I running away from how I really felt because I was just afraid of getting burned?

  “I know what you’re going to say,” Eleanor continued.

  No. No, she really didn’t.

  “You’re going to say that I have no room to talk because I run away from every relationship in my life. Family. Friends. Boyfriends. And I’m not really that oblivious. I know I’ve got—well, I’ve got issues. All right? There are things…” She shook her head. “But this isn’t about me. It’s about you. And I don’t want to see my little sister miserable just because she can’t accept that she’s falling in love with a guy who just might be perfect for her.”

  My appetite was gone. My mouth was permanently open and gaping. And right now I wasn’t sure if I wanted to kiss or kill my sister.

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  Damion

  There is a distinct problem when it comes to finding someone you don’t actually have a reason to find. Well, not a business reason. Or even really an ironclad personal one. It wasn’t like Lena and I were old high school friends and I was going to stalk her on social media until I found out where she was living. This was more complicated. And of course it was complicated even further by the fact that she had been covering her tracks for several years while attempting to keep herself away from Karl Kitson.

  I did occur to me that the best way to try and find Lena would be to just go tap Karl and Trinity on the shoulder and ask for an address. I had other reasons—good ones—for not engaging in that behavior. After all, I didn’t want them to think that I was actually seeing them in their blatant and frequent attempts to get my attention.

  It was kind of odd. I’d had a few days—no, at least a week without seeing either of them. And suddenly they were back with a vengeance. If you can call constant displays of public affection vengeful. But the fact that it was probable that these two individuals were only mauling each other in public because of their mutual hatred for Lena and I was disturbing on multiple levels. So far they had spent almost the entire afternoon in my parking lot

  “Hey, Boss?”

  I looked up from my computer screen with no small amount of the dazed and confused on my face I’m sure. At least that was what my IT guy’s expression suggested. John was a good guy. He was pretty much the quintessential nerd. The only thing lacking was the pocket protector, but since our society didn’t really use pens anymore I think that was an understandable change in the uniform.

  “I’m sorry, John. Did you find that address?”

  “I did.” John came the rest of the way into my office and ran
his fingers through his thinning brown hair. “It looks like she doesn’t live far from here.”

  “Okay.” I wondered what the issue was. John’s manner suggested there was something else. “What else is on your mind?”

  “I was sort of digging, you know? Because you gave me her email address. And then I have this program that we set up to catch messages from that other email address.”

  “Trinity’s email address?”

  “Yeah.”

  I had a really bad feeling in the pit of my stomach. “What did you turn up?”

  “Trinity has been sending a lot of emails to Lena Schulte’s email address.”

  I exhaled a huge sigh. That wasn’t really a surprise. There was no doubt that Karl would have felt the need to hand out Lena’s private email address so that Trinity could really lay on the harassment. “How bad were they?” I asked John. This was what I was worried about.

  “Pretty disturbing actually.” John flushed red from his collar to his forehead. “Graphic. Yeah. That’s the word I would use.”

  “Graphic?” Oh, for pity’s sake! “You mean like detailing sexual acts?”

  “Yeah. Trinity describes everything that she and her new boyfriend have been doing. This guy Karl is a freak.” John bobbed his head and looked momentarily distracted. “Like the guy thinks he’s some kind of bondage expert or something. I guess he likes to tie people up. And if Trinity’s emails aren’t a load of horse hockey, he’s also really into sex toys.”

  I was now pinching the bridge of my nose between my thumb and index finger. It’s not like this was a big surprise, but it did shine a new light of understanding on some of Lena’s nervousness. Did she really believe that all men were perverts?

  A thought occurred to me. “Could you tell if Lena was reading these emails?”