by A P Gore
Alice slammed her hands on the table and stood up. Five hundred thousand dollars for ‘Marry Me Hard.’ Was he joking? That was the song she sang in her first reality show—quite a childish song, actually.
“Calm down and listen. Any way you look at this, it’s beneficial to you. Mr. Parker even reduced his fee as an agent for this deal.”
He pulled a paper out of his black leather bag and placed it in front of her. Glancing through it, she read the main terms. The music company wanted to license her song for an upcoming movie, and they would pay her five hundred thousand dollars over the next two years in five installments. And Max was right. The agent fee was listed as 1% of the deal. The bare minimum. In her previous contract, Mark had taken fifty-one percent. By industry standards, this was way too generous. But accepting it meant she would be bound to Parker Chemicals for the next two years.
That wasn’t happening.
“Then take this money and break the contract. Can we? Take all five hundred thousand dollars and let me go. I’m ready to sign away that money to Jade.”
Max shook his head as if he was rejecting a candidate from a reality show. “There’s one another way I can suggest.”
Alice stared at Max with hopeful gaze.
“The contract doesn’t require you to work only for Mr. Parker,” Max said. “Why don’t you try part-time singing gigs, or join a music show? You can earn the money required to break the contract that way.”
“No. I can’t do that.” Alice shook her head vehemently, making sure Max got the message. She couldn’t do that. Not after the humiliation she’d suffered. Singing again was out of question.
Even working with Jade for two years seemed better than singing.
Chapter 11
The crowd in front of her moved slowly through the well-lit corridor. It was always like this, a fast-paced crowd trying to get into the train station fast like their life depended on it. Pushing her hair back, she made it into the train station and smells invaded her senses instantly, reminding her of the overflowing dumpster parked at the end of her alley. Well, her ex-alley now. As she made her way toward the train, people brushed past her. Some smelled like food. Some smelled like booze.
It hadn’t been half an hour since she packed her last bag, but she already missed her apartment. Why did she have to leave it? Why did she have to go to a hotel?
“Ow, watch out!” A woman in a black dress, a scarf around her mouth and neck, and an umbrella in her hand as tall as her waist shouted at Alice for stepping on her toes.
“Sorry,” Alice whispered as she moved away from her. Just for courtesy. Why the heck was the woman traveling with that big umbrella? Couldn’t she just pack a small one in her large bag? Did she forget that millions used the subway daily?
Wiping her sweaty forehead, Alice made her way onto the correct train. Looking for a place to sit during rush hour was futile. She wouldn’t find one. Instead, she sought out a quiet corner, put her bag down, and rest her back against the cream-colored train wall.
Her mind drifted into calculations once again as the train left the station. Producing five hundred thousand dollars was impossible. She’d thought about getting a loan, but who would give her one? The condo she owned in Mexico would only fetch one hundred thousand dollars. Her savings account only had thirty thousand dollars, and her checking account had another twenty thousand, but she would be a fool to take out that money. How would she live if she gave Jace every single penny she had?
The train stopped with brakes squealing, and a huge crowd of people stepped aboard while only a few disembarked. The fresh crowd pushed her deeper into the corner and, adding to the trouble, the umbrella lady scooted closer to her.
Alice turned her face away. She hated the sandalwood fragrance the umbrella lady was spreading around. But soon the umbrella’s handle poking into her side made her eye the umbrella lady with annoyance. The lady should’ve been jailed for carrying such a big umbrella with a crooked handle.
Alice tapped on umbrella lady’s shoulder. “Miss. Your umbrella.”
Umbrella lady pulled her large shades down, revealing her dark brown eyes. She glanced at the umbrella, pulled it back, and shot Alice an apologetic look.
At least she had some sense.
“It’s crazy in the morning, isn’t it?” The umbrella lady asked.
Alice wanted to avoid answering, but it would’ve been rude. “Yes, it is.” Thank God it was her final day of using the subway. Today she would move into a hotel nearby Parker Chemicals, and then soon she’d find an apartment for herself. Though Max insisted that Jace wanted her to move into the thirtieth floor, she had no intent of doing so. She would find a small, nice apartment near the office building and move in there. No way was she going to live in the same building as Jade.
“By the way, you look familiar. By any chance are you Alice Myer from New Paltz?” The umbrella lady pulled her scarf down, exposing small pink lips and a dimple on her right cheek.
Alice stared at her for a moment, trying to deduce who was she. A familiar face popped into her mind. Medusa. But Medusa had long curly hair; the lady in front of her had short blond hair. But there was only one girl with that small mouth and cute dimple.
“Medusa, is that you?”
The umbrella lady burst into an ear to ear smile and leaned forward to pull Alice into her embrace. Her umbrella once again poked Alice’s abdomen. Ignoring it, Alice wrapped her arms around her old friend; it had been five long years since they’d last met.
After graduation, Medusa went to England for med school, and they’d lost contact. But here they were, hugging in the public train. Happiness filled Alice’s heart as she remembered the crazy high school years she’d spent with Medusa. Her hands automatically tightened around Medusa.
“Are you trying to kill me, girl, or what?” Medusa complained, followed by a loud giggle. “But it’s so good to see you Al.”
“Indeed,” Alice replied. Everyone in their high-school group had a nickname. Alice was Al, Felicity was Fe, Samantha was Sam, Olivia was Oli, and Madison was Medusa for her curly, snake-like hair.
Alice let Medusa go and stared at her with fresh eyes. She looked the same, hair aside. Slim figure, bright brown eyes, thin brows... exactly the same.
“But where’s your lovely Medusa hair?” Alice touched Medusa’s soft now-blond hair. “Even the texture is gone. What a bummer. I loved it so much.” She faked a sad smile.
Medusa chuckled and lightly slapped Alice’s arm. “Do you know how much I spent to get rid of that spiky hair? Damn, even today I shudder to think about all that money.”
The train stopped, pulling them out of their conversation. Alice glanced outside; it was her station already. Quickly pulling a pen out of her bag, she wrote her number on a scrap of paper and shoved it into Medusa’s handbag.
“Give me a call. This is my station. Let’s catch up soon.”
Medusa smiled back, her patented sweet full of dimple smile. “Of course, sweetie. Are you free tonight?”
Alice nodded as she moved away. Signaling to Medusa once again for a call, she rushed off the train. It felt good, so good that her mood improved as if she’d eaten a three-course meal in a nice restaurant.
The four years of her high-school flashed before her eyes as she made her way through the train station and toward the Parker Chemicals building. She had found one of her soul sisters. That’s what they’d called their group in high-school. Soul sisters.
“Miss Myers, you’re late again.” Jade’s voice boomed in the elevator as soon as she stepped inside. The devil had eyes in the elevators as well. What a jerk.
Chapter 12
Bright sunlight shone through the window, falling on his monitor. Annoyed, Jade closed the shutter with the remote and concentrated back on the monitor, observing Alice’s movements. When she entered the elevator, he pressed a button on his desk and sent her a nasty message through its speaker.
Startled, she almost dropped her bag and then shot a glare at the
closed circuit camera hung in the elevator. He loved doing that to her. All his other employees were used to his voice coming out at any time, but she wasn’t.
A smile spread on his face; he wanted that reaction from her. This job wouldn’t be easy for her anymore.
Then Max came along. He stepped into the same elevator, and they talked and talked and talked until the fifteenth floor came. By that time, everyone else in the elevator had gotten off. When the doors opened, Max put out a hand to hold them open and continued talking.
What the heck he was talking with her about? Hadn’t they just met a couple of days ago? When Jade first met Alice, she’d taken her sweet time to even talk to him. God only knew how much effort he’d put into get her to talk to him. And here she was, chatting with Max like they were old friends.
Were they?
No way. Jade took a sip from his mug. The bitter taste of the Americano lingered on his tongue. Circling the tip of his tongue, he moistened his lips.
Max stepped out of the elevator and walked a step away, but just before the doors closed Alice put her palm in between them and stopped them again. Smiling brightly, she stepped out a little and waved a flirty goodbye to Max.
What the hell happened between them? What were they talking about? And why?
Shocked, Jade accidently brushed his finger against the corner of the paper he wanted Alice to make hundred copies of.
Sharp pain jolted through his finger, and red appeared on the corner of the paper. “Damn.” The curse slipped out of his mouth as he threw the paper away. Enough of this. He was supposed to be punishing Alice, but instead he was getting punished.
Jade was about to move across his desk when Alice entered his office. She looked breathtaking in her pitch-black skirt and peach colored blouse. It matched beautifully with the shade on her lips.
Not again.
Jade shook his head to pull himself out of Alice Myer’s spell. Once again, his resolve had wavered as soon as she walked in his office.
She walked swiftly across the black carpet. “Mr. P—” Her smile twisted into a pained grimace as her gaze landed on his blood-dripping finger.
“Jade, are you all right?” Dropping her bag on the ground, she hurried around the desk. “Where’s your first aid kit?” She grabbed his hand.
Sweet sparks erupted from his fingers and traveled to his core as her soft fingers brushed against his, breaking down the walls of anger and hatred he’d built around his heart over the years.
Instinctively, he pulled his hand away.
Gasping, she stepped back and put her hands behind her back.
The disappointment in her hazel eyes gave him pause. This girl. God. This girl could melt him with one touch. God, no. He stepped back, forcing his eyes away from her.
“I’m... sorry,” she said, disappointment palpable in her voice.
Was she angry at him? The thought pained him. “No, I’m sorry. I’ll get the first aid kit.”
“Wait, let me get that for you.” Alice raised her hand to his chest. “It’s my job after all.”
Jade bit his lower lip. Hard. what was wrong with him? Why was his heart wavering for her? “Third door on the left.” He steeled his voice, hiding any and every shake of his heart from it.
ALICE WISHED THE EARTH would swallow her right now and never let her go.
What the heck was wrong with her? Touching his hand like it wouldn’t affect her? Had she gone mad? Or lost all the sense in her brain? She was doing all the things she wasn’t supposed to do.
As she entered in the room, cold disinfectant-laced air blew over her, chilling her already frozen hands. Quickly moving away from it, she leaned back against the wall, letting the coldness of the wall radiating into her spine and then into her palpating heart. Patting her chest slowly, she released the breath she was holding.
Man, that was close. Touching him was like putting her hand into molten lava. It instantly seared her heart and kindled all sort of desires. Desires she had hidden away six years ago. Desires that she’d never let surface for anyone else.
Tapping the back of her head against the wall behind her three or four times, she let the pain wake her up.
It was a mistake. Nothing else. If Medusa’d had a bloody finger, she would have acted the same way. But then those crazy tingles across her body, would those come too if she touched Medusa?
Her heart rate quickened once again. Her eyes widened, and her lips tightened—there was no way Medusa will give her those tingles.
She rubbed her eyes and a slow growl slipped from her. This wasn’t happening. Please, no.
God, what the hell? She was supposed to be getting him a Band-Aid, not wallowing in her useless emotions. He must be in pain. Once again, her heart trembled at the thought of his bleeding finger.
She grabbed her ears and rocked her head to get out of the loop. Being a secretary meant she had to attend her boss and patching his finger took top priority.
But while applying the bandage she might touch his finger again.
No, no. She slapped her cheek lightly.
“Miss Myer, are you inventing the bandage or waiting for me to bleed out?” His voice echoed through some hidden speaker.
Alice stomped her foot and glanced around, suddenly composed once again. This was all a lie; she couldn’t have any feelings for the man she hated the most. It must be because of her lingering memories of their golden times.
Yes, that must be it.
She pushed off the wall, finding the huge hanging cabinet occupying one wall of the room labeled ‘Medicine’ without any trouble. Going through some boxes, she finally caught a glimpse of neatly packed bandages. There were hundreds of them, stocked as if this were a hospital.
“This is it, jerk. I’m going to apply the bandage and not waver,” she whispered.
Chapter 13
The copy machine once again cracked with a thundering boom. Moisture formed on her forehead despite the chilly, air-conditioned environment.
Man, she should have packed a jacket.
“Miss Myer, how much time are you going to spend with the machine? Did you develop feelings for it?” The devil’s sharp voice echoed through the speaker in the tiny copy room.
Alice stared at her black hands, painted by whatever the sticky black liquid coming out of the copy machine was. Fumbling with the toner cartridge, she tried to push it in with all her might, but it refused to budge even by an inch. The pile of ruined paper sitting next to the copy machine mocked her for not even knowing how to operate the damn thing, and the oily stains on her blouse would probably never come out.
God, she so wanted to hide her face in her hands and cry, but she couldn’t afford to lose what was left of her dignity.
Was she completely useless? Not even able to operate a copy machine? It wasn’t rocket science. It wasn’t science at all.
What was she doing here? Instead of lifting a mic, she held a dirty toner cartridge and a bunch of ruined paper.
No, Alice. No. She had to get this done as soon as possible. She couldn’t let the boss smile at her naiveté. Jade had asked her to make one hundred copies, and she hadn’t even produced a single one.
A wave of frustration washed over her, chest constricting until it was difficult to breathe. Slumping in an office chair, she closed her eyes. She wanted to slap herself for doing so, but that would ruin her non-existent makeup.
When Max told her about the amount of money she needed to break the contract, she felt hopeless. She thought about it a lot and came to the conclusion that she would have to go through with the contract term. The contract said the music company would deposit one hundred thousand dollars in her account every five months. With the money from the music company, the proceeds from selling her condo, she would be able to break the contract in a year’s time. That’s what she’d discussed with Max on the elevator. He was such a nice guy, to help her wholeheartedly for just the promise of a meal some weekend.
So, at the first ray of sunlight
today, she decided she would give her everything to do the job properly and get it over with. But here she was with a broken copy machine, and her boss shouting at her.
No, this was not going to work. She needed to get these copies done as quickly as possible. Not for the devil, but to boost her own confidence.
Steeling her nerves, she cleaned her hands with the already ruined paper. When her hands didn’t make any new paper dirty, she grabbed the original document and left the creepy copy room. Returning to Jade’s office, she found him behind his desk, as expected.
“Boss,” she said, waving the paper in her hand to attract his attention. “The machine is broken, so I’ll get the copies done somewhere else.”
He just waved his hand and signaled her to go away.
What the heck? How could he be so rude? Was it so hard to be a decent human being?
With a sneer, she stormed out of the office.
SEEING HER GOING THROUGH the mess was fun, but when the black liquid poured out of the copy machine and spilled on her hands, his heart skipped a beat. He imagined himself in her position. He would die of a heart attack if something like that happened to him. Thank God it was Alice on the receiving end. Copy machines were terrible. That’s why he went digital. Technically, there was no copy machine at Parker Chemicals. When he’d asked his personal security guard, Mr. Mason, to find a broken machine and set it up in the tiny pantry room attached to his reception area, Mr. Mason’s eyes had remained wide open for almost twenty seconds.
Drumming his fingers on his wooden desk, he laughed wholeheartedly when Alice finally gave up and sat on the chair in the tiny room. His gambling had paid off.
It was finally getting fun.
Or, at least it was until she stormed out of the room, her hair disheveled, her face tomato red, and her blouse stained with black oil.
His heart slammed against his rib cage. He feared it would jump out any time. How could a dirty woman be so breathtakingly beautiful? No, this was all wrong. Instead of being in shock, his heart was filled with excitement to see her scattered hair, ferocious hazel eyes, and beautiful scowl.
