Conflict of Interests

by Denean Dawson

  “Hi, Denise, I’m pleased to hear from you. Are you calling about the merger?” Melissa asked.

  “Yes, Jake would like to schedule a meeting with you to discuss the details.”

  Melissa was ecstatic, everything was coming together just as she’d hoped. She tried to keep the elation out of her voice as she set a meeting for the following day at 2 p.m. Scribbling the information into her daily planner, she thought about what she should wear to the meeting—something professional of course, but she wanted Jake to notice her. Her red blazer would probably do the trick.

  Melissa was sitting at the desk of the makeshift office she had created in her hotel room. She spun around and looked out of the large windows that took up one wall of her room. She had been fairly confident Jake would agree to the merger. Her research on the process had been extensive, and though her firm was smaller, she knew the prospect of attracting international clients would be difficult to turn down. With Jake by her side, Melissa could take the accounting world by storm. In her mind, she was already on the Forbes’ list of the country’s most successful “40 Under 40.”

  For the rest of the day, Melissa took in Madison Heights. She hadn’t seen the sights of her youth in many years, and she had missed the city desperately. Moving to the UK had been a blessing and a curse; she had been ripped from her life with her friends, with Jake, but she had gotten into Oxford University and would likely be in a very different place if she hadn’t received such an excellent education. Though she would have chosen to stay if the choice had been hers, her life had been good so far, only lacking one thing: Jake.

  Although her parents had told her at the time that she was too young to know what true love was, she felt deep in her heart that Jake was the one for her. She knew better than to expect anything to happen between them right away. But she was sure that Jake still felt something for her, the look on his face when she had walked into his office proved that much. Before she left the UK for this trip, she had thought about calling ahead to warn him she was coming, but decided that shocking him would be more fun. She was not disappointed. It might take some work, but eventually Melissa would have the life she had always dreamed of.

  Before going to sleep that night, Melissa lay out her outfit for the meeting the next day. She decided to pair her red blazer with a sheer white blouse and a navy pencil skirt that had been tailored to fit her curves perfectly. Underneath, she would wear the cream-colored lingerie set she purchased in France a few years ago; the delicate lace on the bra would be just visible through the fabric of her top. It was impossible to tell how sheer her blouse was with her blazer on, which would allow her to remain professional, but, if she managed to get a moment alone with Jake, she could find an excuse to slip it off. She would complete the ensemble with the same perfume she’d worn to see Jake the first time, Au de fleurs et citron. She had known it would drive him wild because it smelled just like the scent she had worn the first time they’d had sex.

  ********

  Melissa was used to waking up alone in her bed, but, as she thought about the day ahead, she couldn’t stop a smile from growing on her face. She needed to keep her excitement in check, it would do no good to come on too strongly, and she didn’t want to jeopardize the merger by forcing Jake to move too quickly. He had always been the type of guy who made decisions carefully, and once his mind was made up, he rarely changed it. Melissa had wanted to date him since grade school, but they only got together in high school. Once they began dating though, their relationship had progressed rapidly. The way Jake had loved her so strongly was something Melissa had never moved on from. He had been her best friend, her lover, and her supporter. Losing him was the hardest thing she had ever gone through.

  Although she tried to work through her day as normally as possible, she couldn’t stop herself from checking the time every couple of minutes. “You have business to focus on, stop acting like a child,” she scolded herself as she sat staring blankly at her laptop. The time ticked by impossibly slow. Finally, after she ate a few bites of her lunch, too wired to feel hungry, it was time. Melissa freshened her lipstick, dabbed her wrists, neck, and between her breasts with perfume then packed up all her material for her proposal and headed out of the hotel. She had called ahead for a cab so it was already waiting for her by the curb when she stepped outside. In the back seat, she pulled out her notes to go over them one more time before she arrived at the Jamyson & Jamyson office.

  When the building came into view, Melissa felt a little overwhelmed by how impressive it was. Jamyson & Jamyson only occupied two floors, but Jake owned the whole building, leasing the remaining floors to other businesses. He had done incredibly well for himself, which wasn’t a surprise; Jake had always been brilliant and hard-working. She walked into the building clutching her bag in her hands as she waited for the elevator.

  When the doors slid open at the top floor, Melissa walked into the small lobby area that offered one of the best views of the city. The whole office was floor-to-ceiling windows; it was as if she were floating in a glass bubble.

  “Hi, Denise,” Melissa said amiably.

  “Hi, Ms. Downing. It’s good to see you. Let me show you to the room Jake has arranged for the meeting,” Denise said as she stood and led Melissa out of the office, back into the elevator, and down a level. They walked into a spacious conference room with a long, solid oak table dominating its center. “He’ll be right with you. Can I get you anything?” Denise asked and indicated for Melissa to take a seat.

  “Oh, a cup of coffee would be great, thank you,” Melissa replied with a smile.

  “Perfect, I’ll bring that right down.”

  Melissa prepared herself for the meeting, laying out all of her notes along with her laptop. She needed to be ready for anything. Melissa’s nerves increased as she waited, and she wondered what kind of reception she would get from Jake. He had been stiff the last time they’d seen each other, but that was to be expected after they had been apart for so long. She hoped he would be warmer toward her today, now that he’d had time to get used to the idea of her being back.

  Denise soon returned with a cup of coffee on a tray with milk and sugar. “Jake is on his way,” Denise said before leaving once again.

  Melissa stirred some sugar into her coffee just to keep herself busy until Jake arrived.

  “Good afternoon,” a familiar deep voice said behind her.

  Melissa hadn’t heard him come up and as she snapped her head around to look at him, she almost spilled her coffee in her lap. Jake entered the room and watched her straighten herself as he sat down on the opposite side of the table. She met his eyes and smiled. It seemed that the red blazer was working its magic on him.

  Jake, embarrassed to have been caught staring, broke the silence by saying, “Thank you for agreeing to meet with me today,” in an oddly formal tone.

  “My pleasure,” Melissa replied, thrown off by Jake’s formality.

  The atmosphere around them was tense as they spoke. Melissa could see that he was holding himself back, clearly trying to keep things professional, while she was consumed by memories of their past together. She hadn’t expected herself to feel so overwhelmed by seeing him again. She watched in silence as Jake read through the material she brought. Melissa was confident in her work, but she was growing less confident about Jake’s feelings toward her. She began to think winning him back might not be so easy after all.

  “It seems as if you’ve thought everything through,” Jake said finally, looking up at her.

  “Yes, I thought long and hard about this. I had to make sure all my bases were covered because I built my firm from nothing. The last thing I want to happen is for everything I’ve built to crumble,” she replied passionately.

  “I appreciate that. If we do this, I need to make sure it works. I have no intention of ruining the life I’ve built for myself.”

  Melissa was sure there was something else behind his words, but she didn’t as
k. She had been hoping Jake would want to catch up with her, but he seemed laser focused on business. She had made the first move by walking into his office unannounced the other day, so the ball was in his court. “Great, we’re on the same page then.” Melissa smiled uncertainly.

  “I guess we are. So, now that we’ve got that sorted. How have you been? It’s been years since we last spoke,” Jake pointed out as he leaned forward and crossed his arms on the table.

  Relief washed over Melissa. This was what she’d been waiting for. Jake must just be serious about not mixing his business with his personal life. If she were being honest with herself, she would admit that it was a little awkward being around him. It wasn’t because they hadn’t seen each other in so long, but because there were so many feelings she had pushed down that were bubbling at the surface now. She had come to him with the merger proposal because he would be more likely to agree than a stranger, not just because she wanted him back in her life, but as soon as she had seen him the other day, she resolved to win him back. This was the man she was meant to be with.

  Gathering her thoughts, Melissa answered, “I’ve been good. There’s so much I could tell you, but I’m sure you don’t want to hear all about my boring life.” She let out a small laugh.

  “I highly doubt you’ve had a boring life. Knowing you, moving to the UK and going to Oxford were the least exciting parts,” Jake smirked.

  If he knew she’d gone to Oxford, he must have been looking at her social media pages. That proved to Melissa that Jake must still have feelings for her.

  Jake and Melissa sat in the conference room long after their meeting was over catching up on each other’s lives. They fell into their old way of bantering after the initial awkwardness and, just as she had planned, Melissa found an excuse to slip off her blazer. She leaned back in her chair so that her blouse became taut around her breasts and caught Jake looking toward her cleavage more than once.

  Chapter Five, Creating Boundaries

  Jake hadn’t intended on spending most of his day talking to Melissa but once the business section of their meeting was over, he couldn’t stop himself from asking what she had been doing during the last decade. It felt good talking to her again, like old times. He found himself feeling jealous that he hadn’t been around for any of her exciting experiences. He didn’t blame her for leaving, no one in their right mind would have passed up the opportunity to live in Europe and study at a prestigious university. He did wish she had stayed though and imagined how different their lives would be if they had not been separated. But Jake also realized that he wouldn’t have Jonathan or Caroline if they had stayed together. He believed his life had worked out the way it was meant to, and he had everything he wanted at that moment. He was happy.

  “This was really great. I missed talking to you Jakey, and I’m excited about the merger,” Melissa said when their conversation finally petered out.

  In the back of his mind, Jake knew that being around Melissa could make things difficult for him in the long run. There were unresolved feelings between them that threatened to make things complicated. They had already spent far too long talking about things that were not work related. He justified this to himself by thinking that it only made sense to catch up with Melissa. People change, and it was important to know the person he was going into business with. Melissa hadn’t changed that much though. She was still driven, still passionate, still beautiful. That had to be it, they had done enough catching up. Jake would limit his contact with her from that point on, and keep his promise to Caroline that his interactions with Melissa would only be about work. He suspected that Melissa was after something more.

  She was wearing that perfume again. He didn’t know why he had such a strong reaction to the smell, but he was sure it was an intentional move on her part. She was also dressed to kill, which couldn’t be an accident either. Melissa never did anything without a good reason. Near the end of their conversation, he had told her about Caroline, and she hadn’t been able to hide her look of disappointment. Jake had to set some very clear boundaries between himself and his new business partner.

  “It was nice to talk but, listen Mel...Melissa, I just want to be sure we’re on the same page about keeping our relationship strictly business related,” he replied.

  He could see the defeated look on her face and regretted his words immediately. He didn’t want to hurt anyone, but he had to prioritize Caroline and Jonathan’s feelings over Melissa’s. They were his family, not her.

  “Why? Can’t we be friends?” Melissa asked softly.

  “Things are different now. So much time has passed. I have a son, a girlfriend,” he said, ending the sentence gently. He regretted leaving Caroline out of the conversation for so long. He hadn’t meant to lead Melissa on; he had just been so caught up in their conversation. He also felt bad because, on some level, he had waited to mention his girlfriend intentionally, wanting to relive the way he used to feel about his first love for a short time. He couldn’t treat Caroline like that though. She hadn’t given up on him when he had tried to push her away, and she had changed his life for the better by encouraging him to open up. He owed it to her to be honest with Melissa, even if that hurt her.

  “Oh, I see. I understand,” Melissa replied. She avoided looking at him, her eyes downcast. She stood abruptly and began gathering the papers that were spread across the table back into her briefcase.

  Jake could see that what he had said affected her, more than he had expected, but he didn’t want her to think that they could just pick up where they had left off. They had both grown up; they weren’t lovestruck teenagers anymore. “I’m sorry. I just think it will be better for both of us to focus on the merger. Honestly, it’s been great catching up with you, but I don’t want Caroline, or anyone else, to get the wrong impression,” Jake said.

  “Okay, I understand,” Melissa said, but her mood did not lighten.

  Melissa stood to leave. Jake knew that she would respect his decision, but she did not look pleased about it.

  “I hope we’ll be able to continue the merger this way,” Jake said, rising from his own seat.

  “Oh, of course. That is why I came here, after all,” she said with false enthusiasm, her smile not reaching her eyes.

  “Well..,” Jake was at a loss for words. He was afraid he had made things awkward, but he stood by the way he had handled the situation.

  “Well, enjoy the rest of your day. I’ll see you tomorrow so we can get started with the official paperwork,” Melissa said curtly.

  “Right, yes...see you tomorrow. Uh, enjoy the rest of your day too,” Jake said.

  He walked her to the elevator and allowed her to leave first, not wanting to prolong the awkwardness by sharing the cramped box with her. He stood uncomfortably as she stared back at him from inside the elevator before the doors slid shut. It felt like she held his gaze for an eternity, and, for the first time, Jake’s resolve faltered. Had he made the right decision?

  He wasn’t surprised to find Jack waiting in his office. “How long have you been waiting here?” Jake asked.

  “Oh, not long. I asked Denise to text me the minute Melissa left,” Jack replied with a wink.

  Jake grunted in response. Of course, Denise would involve herself in the situation with Melissa. The rest of the office might not know who Melissa was to him, but because of Jake and Jack’s almost life-long friendship with Denise, she was aware of their past together. She also had a stake in Jake’s relationship with Caroline because she was her aunt and the person responsible for introducing them. Jake didn’t want anyone else finding out about his past with Melissa though. As far as his employees needed to know, Melissa was simply the head of an accounting firm. He didn’t want anyone to think that he was getting involved with her business just because of their past and not because it was a good idea.

  Reading his mood, Jack asked cautiously, “So...how did the meeting go?”

  Ignoring the questi
on, Jake blurted, “I don’t want people to know about my past with Melissa. This is just business, understand?”

  “Of course, I understand. The past is the past,” Jack replied with a confused shrug of his shoulders.

  Jake sat at his desk and opened his laptop, intending to send some emails while he briefed Jack on the meeting. When he looked up, his brother was staring at him incredulously.

  “Do you know what time it is?” Jack asked with raised eyebrows.

  Jake looked at his brother, confused, but when his lock screen lit up, the time flashing back at him, he understood. It was 5:15 pm, which meant he had been talking to Melissa for about three hours. He had completely lost track of time while he was with her. No wonder Jack had been waiting for him. “Wow, I guess the day is done then.” Jake closed his laptop and got ready to leave. He had missed out on a lot of work, but he would catch up on everything when he got home. Caroline wouldn’t be happy that he was taking work home, but he had no other choice. Everything had to be in order for the upcoming merger. Jack was still hanging around his office, looking at him expectantly, and he realized he hadn’t told him about the meeting yet. Jake couldn’t remember the last time he had been so distracted.

  “So?” Jack asked.

  “The meeting went well. We’ll get started on the official paperwork tomorrow, but we’ll have to have a staff meeting and call all the clients before anything goes through.”

  “Good, good. That’ll be a lot of work, but it’s still pretty standard stuff. What the hell did you talk about in there for three hours?”