Down to Business (Business Series)

by Alexander, J. C.

  When I stepped out of the bathroom, I found him on the phone again. When he noticed me, he quickly told the person on the other end that he had to go. He slid his phone into his pocket and smiled at me. “Did you like the movie?”

  Maybe if it wasn’t full of interruptions.

  “Yeah, it was okay,” I answered honestly. “I thought the acting was kind of cheesy but the action scenes were good.”

  “Yeah,” he agreed. I could tell his pleasant mood was forced.

  We headed out of the theater with the rest of the crowd. The sun had already set and the cool evening air seeped through my sweater and thin pants. I crossed my arms wishing I had my jacket.

  “I’ll go grab the car and pull up to the curb so you don’t have to freeze your ass off,” he offered.

  “That’d be great.” I said, relieved.

  “Okay, wait inside for me.”

  I stepped back inside, keeping an eye on the curb. It took less than ten minutes for him to pull up. I hurried to the passenger door and he leaned over and popped it open for me. I slid into the heated leather seat and released a long sigh of satisfaction.

  “Thanks, that was really sweet of you,” I said putting on my seat belt.

  “No problem,” he replied as we pulled into stop and go traffic.

  In a matter of moments the temperature went from comfortable to stifling. We both reached over to adjust the heat at the same time and our hands collided.

  “Sorry.” I laughed, turning the knob.

  “Don’t be,” he said with a smile and his hand dropped to the gearshift.

  “You were popular this afternoon,” I said crossing my legs. “Do you always get that many phone calls?”

  He checked his mirrors as we merged onto the freeway. “Not usually. Could you grab my glasses out of the glove box? The glare is killing me.”

  “Sure,” I removed his glasses and passed them over.

  He slid them on his face and flashed me a smile. “Thanks.”

  “Yep.” I leaned back in my seat. “So, do you have dinner plans tonight?”

  He paused before answering me. “Yeah, I might.”

  “You might?” I asked, feeling my stomach clench.

  “Vivian and I… might be doing dinner. I don’t know yet.” He explained warily.

  It felt like someone sucker punched me in the gut. “But, I thought you didn’t like being around her?”

  “Well, I don’t usually, but she called me earlier and she wants to do dinner when she gets off. She was crying on the phone and I felt bad…so I said yes.”

  “Why was she crying?” I asked in the most caring voice I could manage.

  He shifted gears as we moved with the pace of traffic. “She’s just emotional sometimes. She has been wanting to get back together for a while, but I just don’t know.”

  I stared at him. “So there is a chance you might get back together?”

  He shrugged. “I don’t know. Maybe.”

  My stomach turned to lead and I looked away. She was obviously jealous because he took me to the movies and felt threatened. Just when I thought he was perfect, I found my reason to think he was an idiot.

  “Do you think going to dinner with her is a bad idea?” he asked, stealing a glance at me.

  “I’m not one to give relationship advice, but I do know that people don’t change overnight. I’m sure she was just jealous that we went to the movies and now she feels threatened.”

  “Why would she be? You and I are not together. It was just two friends going to the movies.”

  Another sucker-punch to the gut, and this time my throat tightened.

  Oh God, please don’t start crying!

  “Yeah, you’re right.” My throat felt like it was full of sand when I tried to swallow and I looked out of the passenger window to hide the tears in my eyes. “I hope you have a really nice time, Vinny.”

  I remembered her perfect hair and her giant boobs spilling out of her shirt. No wonder he only looked at me as a friend and her like he did. I had nothing on her. I sulked as I imagined them eating dinner and him staring at her gigantic boobs the whole time. He probably would kiss her goodnight or more.

  Silence fell over us and I didn’t say another word until he pulled into the apartment parking lot.

  “Thanks for the ride,” I called, avoiding eye contact.

  I grabbed my purse and reached for the door.

  “So are you happy?” he asked.

  “Not really,” I answered, unable to help it.

  “You’re not? Why?”

  I snorted and rolled my eyes. “What do I have to be happy about? You just led me on by taking me to the movies and now you’re getting back with your ex.” I pushed open the door, attempting to make a graceful exit.

  “I meant about getting the job.” He said, his tone derogatory.

  I froze with one of my legs hanging out of the car, and felt my cheeks catch fire.

  Oh yeah, that.

  I found the courage to twist back around and look at him. “Yeah, I’m happy about that part. Thanks again. I’ll see you tomorrow in class.”

  Just as I turned away, he caught my shoulder.

  “Autumn wait,” he said, gently drawing me back into the car.

  I looked over at him, biting down on my lip as I fought to keep a neutral expression.

  “I just want you to know that it wasn’t my intention to make you feel led on. I had a good time with you last night, and today, I really did. I’m just not ready for…more than friends.”

  “Yeah,” I nodded quickly, cursing the tears that were burning my eyelids. “I wasn’t looking for anything more either, but why would you ask me to the movies if you just wanted to be friends...?”

  “Because I like you, you’re a cool girl and I don’t want to mess that up with us dating and getting intimate. I don’t wanna hurt you.”

  “I understand. It’s fine...” I said, unable to look at him anymore. I turned and climbed out, hearing him call out to me.

  “Autumn, I hope you don’t think I am not attracted to you.”

  I looked over to see him leaning over the console to look at me with sympathy in his eyes.

  I wanted to shout I hope he got an STD and slam the door in his face, but instead I settled for, “Have fun at your dinner.”

  “I’ll call you.”

  I swung the car door closed with a rough shove and headed for the staircase, refusing to look back at him. As I walked, I thought of all the things I should have said to him about how wrong he was to lead me on and how stupid he was for giving in to his ex. By the time, I got to the front door, my whole body was trembling, half from cold and half from being pissed off. Once I unlocked the door, I finally cast a glare down at the parking lot where he was still idling. He waved and I wanted to give him the finger, but I refrained.

  The first thing I saw upon entering the apartment was Lindy and Tyler cuddled up on the sofa watching TV under a blanket. They both looked over and I glared at them. The last thing I needed to see was them being all mushy.

  “Autumn, are you okay?” Lindy asked, pulling the blanket off herself. The morning came flooding back to me when she had practically kicked me out and I turned my anger on her.

  “Oh, now you suddenly care?” I said, storming past the sofa. “Don’t bother.”

  I went into my bedroom, slammed the door, and flipped on the light.

  “Fuck!” I yelled and chucked my purse at the wall, sending all the contents spilling to the floor. I leaned back against the door and pressed the heels of my palms against my burning eyes.

  Don’t you fucking cry.

  Chastising myself was useless, deep rolling sobs poured from me in a wave of built up disappointment and anger.

  I kicked my shoes into the corner and threw myself down on my bed, wailing into my pillow. I was content to be alone the rest of the night, but unfortunately, Lindy showed up at my bedroom door only a few minutes later.

  “What!” I snapped in reply
to her knocking.

  “Can I come in?”

  “No,” I answered, rolling onto my side and pulling my pillow over my head when I heard the door open.

  She sat down on the bed near my feet and rubbed my ankle. “Why are you crying?”

  I pulled my foot away as a flood of fresh tears burn my eyes. “Because my life sucks.”

  “That’s vague. What happened, why does it suck?”

  “It doesn’t matter. I’m going to be moving out soon so you don’t have to worry about it.”

  She stared at me. “What? You’re not serious.”

  “Yes, I’m serious.” I sat up and faced her, hugging my pillow against my chest. “You told me that if I didn’t like how shit was around here, I could leave, so I am.”

  She frowned at me. “Auti, I’m sorry about this morning, I was still pissed at you over last night. You scared the shit out of me.”

  “It’s not just that. I can’t live here with you and Tyler anymore. He’s come between us. It will be better if I move out rather than stay and ruin our friendship over a stupid guy.”

  She frowned. “I don’t think he’s come between us, but he’ll be moving out soon anyway and it will be back to normal.”

  “I went looking for a place to live.”

  “You’re seriously leaving me?” she asked, her eyes glazing over.

  “Not yet…I’m still looking, but I got a job.” I looked down at the pillow on my lap.

  “You did? Where?”

  “Mazzolas.”

  She arched her brows. “Vinny’s restaurant?”

  “Yeah. Vinny called me and invited me to have breakfast with him, and to make a long story short, I told him I was looking for a job, so he got me an interview today and I got the job. I’ll be serving tables part time from 6 to 11.”

  “Oh my god, that’s awesome!” she said slapping my thigh.

  “It’s in Manhattan and it’s a forty minute train ride…but…” I shrugged wishing I was still excited over it, “I only wanted it because I like Vinny. But he friend zoned me tonight and I’m thinking I should probably quit while I’m ahead.”

  “He friend zoned you?”

  “Yeah. We went to the movies after the interview, but now he’s going to dinner with his ex-girlfriend, Vivian, and he told me he just wants to be friends.”

  She frowned. “I’m sorry Auti.”

  “I’m sorry too. Sorry I ever cared. I can’t believe I’m being this stupid over some guy I just met yesterday. What the hell is the matter with me, Lindy?”

  She made a pouty face and leaned over, pulling me into a hug. “Nothing is wrong with you, you’re just falling hard for the wrong guy.”

  “This is why I didn’t want to even look at guys, because I always pick shitty ones.”

  “There’ll be other guys,” she assured, patting my back.

  “All I know is that last night we almost kissed in his car and again at the movies, and we just have this really great chemistry…I don’t know happened. And I don’t know if I want to work at Mazzolas anymore. I don’t know if I can pretend everything is okay when I see him.”

  “Don’t give up so easily. So what if he’s going on a date with Vivian. That doesn’t mean anything. If you really like him, you have to fight for him.”

  I scoffed. “With what? Have you seen Vivian? I can’t compete with that.”

  “So what, she might have big boobs and look good, but looks aren’t everything, Autumn. You said you guys had chemistry, so there has to be some attraction. I mean, you guys spent the whole day together right?”

  I nodded, combing some hair behind my ear.

  “Well that means he’s interested in you, he’s probably just nervous. You just have to keep doing what you’re doing and make him see that you might be someone he wants to be more than friends with.”

  I stared at her, wondering if she was right. “But I don’t know what I’m doing and by the time I figure it out, I’m sure Vivian will find a way to get him back.”

  “Not if you get him to forget about her.”

  I rolled my eyes. “Yeah right. How do you suggest I do that?”

  “Send him a sexy text.”

  I laughed. “No way.”

  “It works. Trust me. When I first met Tyler I used to text him something like, ‘I can’t wait till you get done at the gym so I can give you a Jillian Michaels work out you will never forget.”

  I laughed. “That is so not sexy.”

  She giggled. “It turned him on.”

  He was also a dumb jock.

  “So what do you think would turn Vinny on, talking about his sausage?” I mocked.

  She laughed. “Yes! Tell him you can’t wait to taste his hot Italian sausage.”

  I threw my head back and laughed. “You are so disgusting. Why should I bother? If he wanted me, he wouldn’t have said he just wants to be friends.”

  “Ugh! You are so stubborn. You do what you want but I don’t want to hear it when he settles for Vivian because you’re too scared.”

  I sighed and laid back down, curling into my pillow. “Whatever. I don’t want to talk about it anymore.”

  “Tyler and I are going to make some popcorn and watch a movie, you want to join us?”

  “No thanks.”

  “Okay,” she said giving my butt a pat. “I love you, and you’re not moving out. I’ll barricade your door while you sleep.”

  I smiled some. “Goodnight, Lindy.”

  She turned my light off and shut the door. Silence filled the room and I released a deep sigh wishing the last twenty-four hours was a bad dream. I closed my eyes and let the day replay in my mind. It had about ten alternate endings before I finally drifted off to sleep.

  The next morning, my phone alarm beeped at me from my bedside table. I opened one blurry eye, pressed snooze, and dropped my head back down on my pillow. I dozed off until it beeped again, then I rolled over and forced myself out of bed.

  I stumbled to the bathroom and realized that I slept in my clothes. My reflection looked unrecognizable with the dark mascara smudges around my eyes. I also had some horrible bed head. I made my shower extra hot and let the scalding water it rinse away all of my old makeup, disappointment, and left over resentment from the previous day.

  After my shower, I felt much better physically and mentally. I brushed my teeth, straightened my hair, and went back to my room to get dressed. I decided on a white camisole with a loose knitted black sweater over it since the color reflected my mood, and jeans. I slid my feet into my new black suede boots and quickly applied some new makeup. When I came out of my room, Lindy was already waiting for me with Tyler’s keys in hand. We left the apartment with her trailing a few steps behind me. Once we got to the car, I noticed she was still dressed in her pajama pants and fuzzy bear slippers.

  We didn’t have much to say during the drive, neither of us were morning people. Once she pulled up to the curb, she gave me a hug, told me to have a good day, and that she’d be back to pick me up. I thanked her and headed to the last place I wanted to be, Business 101.

  Butterflies beat their tiny wings in my stomach as I pushed open the classroom door. Thankfully, Vinny hadn’t arrived yet so I took my seat and watched my other class mates begin filtering in.

  Vinny was one of the last to arrive. He stepped in carrying a single notebook and a pen in hand. His hair was damp and he wore a simple long sleeved black thermal shirt and loose fitting jeans. I realized our outfits sorta matched and my cheeks burned. I refused to smile when he looked at me, but my heart beat a little faster when he walked past me and sat down at his desk. I couldn’t help but breathe in his clean scent, a scent that reminded me of my heartache.

  Like the time before, I was aware of every move he made as we took notes on our lecture. As hard as I tried, I couldn’t keep my mind off him. I wondered how his night with Vivian went. I wondered what he ate. Did he kiss her goodnight? Did they have sex? Were they back together again or did they get into a fig
ht?

  Once class was over, I took my time putting my notes and pens back into my backpack, anticipating the chance he’d say something to me. To my dismay, Jace stepped over to his desk and began raving about the party he attended last night. Disappointment curdled in my stomach. I stood up, swung my backpack over my shoulder, and headed for the door.

  Just as I stepped out into the hall, someone tugged on my backpack.

  “Hey, not so fast!” he called behind me.

  I turned around, feeling a pathetic pang of elation wind through my heart.

  “Hey,” I said, trying to remain neutral.

  “How are you?” he asked, his eyes studying my face.

  A part of me wanted to tell him I was miserable and I thought it would be best if I never saw his face again. Nevertheless, my stupid hormonal girl side, the one who fell for him in the first place, spoke up first. “I’m fine, why?”

  “I don’t know, I thought you were mad at me. You seemed pissed when you left yesterday.”

  I was pissed. I was still pissed, but why couldn’t I tell him that?

  The frustration I felt over it finally spilled over. “Why would I be pissed? I barely know you enough to care about you.”

  Okay, that came out a little more elaborate and bitchy than I expected.

  He shrugged. “I know, I just….” he looked down at our feet then back up at me. “I wanted to make sure that everything was okay. I felt bad about last night, yanno?”

  “Yeah, I’m fine.” I started to get that annoying lump in my throat and I cleared it with a cough.

  “Are you getting sick?”

  “No. I just had something in my throat. Did you have fun on your date?”

  He arched his brows. “Yeah we did, but were not back together or anything. I don’t want anything serious, at least not right now.”

  My pathetic heart felt a pang of relief. “Oh yeah? How did she take that news?”

  He half-shrugged. “She was a little upset, but she will get over it. She said she’d wait.”

  “Maybe you should tell her she already blew her chance and you met someone better.” My cheeks burned the moment the words left my lips.

  He gave me a lazy grin. “Someone better, huh?”

  “Yeah,” I said, my blazing cheeks reminding me that I was an idiot.