by Sienna Ciles
Suddenly, it clicked. This was why Bill had sent me here! This wasn't just about getting him dinner—this was learning about trends. I smiled. The handsome guy looked at me quizzically.
“What are you smiling about?” he asked.
“Oh uh, I just remembered something,” I replied. “Nothing important.”
Our eyes met, and as each of us held the other's gaze, a feeling of intense, fiery attraction burned deep inside me. Wow. I hadn't felt this attracted to a man in a very long time. It was just so unexpected though. Meeting a guy had been the absolutely last thing on my mind when I set out earlier.
“So, uh, seeing as I've never been here,” I said hurriedly, interrupting the gaze between us, which was becoming unnervingly intense, “what do you, as a regular, recommend? I'm buying dinner for two.”
“Oh, you and your boyfriend?” he asked, a little too hastily.
“No, no,” I replied, “for me and my, um, my boss.” I hadn't given away the fact that I was single—but, why hadn't I?
“Well what sort of stuff does he like?” he asked.
“Um, it's actually my first day on the job, and I've only just met him, so I don't actually know!”
He chuckled, and again I was struck by just how handsome he was when he smiled. “That doesn't help, does it?”
“Well, I would guess,” I said, “that he probably likes more traditional fare, seeing as he's in his eighties.”
“Wow, huh, he's in his eighties and still working. Sounds like my aunt. My great-aunt, actually. But ugh, never mind her. I don't really want to think about her right now, she can be quite exhausting.”
I could see that he meant that; a strange look came across his face as he said this.
“Anyway,” he continued, “don't assume that all you're gonna be able to get here will be like, green juices and fruit smoothies and salads and stuff. They do burgers, steaks, fries, curries, all sorts of stuff.”
“Really?” I was genuinely surprised to hear that.
“Yeah. And I know what you're thinking, it's gonna taste weird, bland, gross, whatever—right?”
I smiled. “You read my mind. How on earth can you make a burger without beef? How's that gonna taste?”
“Surprisingly delicious,” he said. “But I'll let you find that out on your own.”
“I guess I will have to find out on my own,” I replied. “I'm buying for myself, too.”
“Well what sort of stuff do you like?”
“I always enjoy a good burger, as I said. Pasta, Italian stuff, I love that too.”
“They have a great pesto pasta here. With plant-based Parmesan and everything. And the burgers are all amazing. The peanut butter and chili sauce one is one of my favorites.”
“That actually sounds quite interesting. What's the patty made of?”
“I don't know exactly,” he said with a grin. “Trade secret, I guess. I've heard it's a combo of black beans, chickpeas and some other stuff.”
Suddenly, my message tone sounded. I glanced down at my phone and saw that it was a Quickchat notification from my sister Alice.
“Oh boy,” I groaned. “Another Quickchat from my younger sister. That kid really needs to get off her phone.”
The guy smiled weirdly. “Quickchat, huh,” he said, still smiling strangely, as if he knew some great secret that he wasn't going to tell me.
“Yeah, all the kids have it these days . . . and uh, adults like me too, I guess,” I said.
He nodded, still grinning with that I-know-something-that-you-don't smile. “A lot of them do, yeah, or so I've heard,” he commented.
All the time we'd been talking, the line had been moving along, and now I found myself at the counter.
“Welcome to Plant Power!” said the server at the counter enthusiastically. “What can I get you?”
“I'll have uh, the peanut butter and chili burger, with fries, and pasta with pesto.”
“Anything to drink?”
“Get the blueberry and pineapple smoothie,” said the guy I'd been talking to, winking at me as I turned around.
I smiled at him and then turned back to the girl at the counter.
“Yes, two blueberry and pineapple smoothies.”
“All right, that'll be thirty-seven fifty.”
I handed her the two twenty-dollar bills and got my change and then stepped to the side as the guy ordered.
“I'll take the Power Salad and a kale smoothie,” he said.
“So, that's your recovery drink, is it?” I remarked.
“It is. It's packed with goodness,” he laughed. “I sound like a salesman for these guys. But seriously, it feels like I'm ingesting liquid energy when I drink this thing. Plenty of greens and protein in there, just what I need after a good run.”
“Excuse me, miss, here's your order,” another guy said at the takeout counter as he handed me a bag with my order in it, signaling that I had to go. I’d had such a great time talking to the guy that I realized I hadn't even managed to catch his name.
“Hey, thanks for the advice,” I said, extending a hand to him.
“Jax,” he said as he shook my hand. “My name's Jax. And your name is?”
“I'm Lanie,” I answered.
“Great chatting with you, Lanie. Maybe we'll run into each other here again sometime, huh?”
“Maybe we will,” I said with a smile.
I walked out with a nagging feeling gnawing at me, making me wonder if I should go back in and ask for his number. I was certain the attraction wasn't just one-sided. But surely if he felt the same he would have done something, said something, tried to get my number . . .
I paused outside the doorway and looked back in. He was chatting on his cell phone to someone.
I sighed with disappointment. It was probably his girlfriend or something. And if he had really felt the same intense attraction for me, he surely would have asked me for my number. Instead, it looked as if he had already forgotten me.
I walked away with a strangely bittersweet sensation of both happiness and disappointment. I rounded the corner of the block, got into the BMW, and drove away thinking about the tall, handsome, dark-haired man all the while.
“Jax, huh,” I whispered to myself as I drove away. “I like that name . . . Maybe we'll run into each other again. I hope we will . . . I hope we will.”
CHAPTER 6
Jax
I’d had a good jog—seven miles—which I had managed in a respectable time. My finishing point was, as it had been for a while now, the street on which Plant Power was located. Their kale smoothies really recharge my batteries, so to speak, in a huge way, so it was a good place to end a run.
Little had I expected to run into a gorgeous girl there, so as I walked up the street and saw the familiar line extending out of the front door of Plant Power, I almost tripped over my feet when I laid my eyes on the woman at the end of the line. A middle-aged man was just getting out of his car and it looked like he was heading straight for the end of the line. I looked at the woman and then back to him. I didn't want him to get there before me, and thus block me off from a chance to talk to her.
Summoning the last of my strength, I exploded into a sprint, dashing in front of the surprised man, and managed to skid to a halt just behind her, and in front of him.
“What's the matter with you?” he grumbled as he shuffled up behind me. “Almost knocking me over just to get one place ahead of me in the line? Jerk.”
It had been a bit of a dick move, and I didn't want to start a fight.
“Sorry man, I just uh, I really need to get in here. Running late. I'm really sorry, all right?”
“Whatever,” he mumbled, taking his phone out and starting to play with it. “Young people these days . . . no manners, no damn manners at all.”
I then turned around and focused my attention on the woman in front of me. She was maybe five and a half feet tall, so quite a bit shorter than me, and petitely built. She was wearing a smart, stylish business
suit that revealed clear hints of her attractive curves. Long, dark blond hair cascaded over her shoulders—hair that I wanted to run my fingers through slowly, ever so slowly.
I had to talk to her, but I didn't know what to say that wouldn't make it blatantly obvious that I was hitting on her.
Think quick man, think quick, I said to myself in my head. This line moves fast, so you'd better come up with something.
I simply said the first—and dumbest—thing I could think of.
“Excuse me, this is the takeout line for Plant Power, right?”
She turned around, and I was floored by her beauty more than I thought I would be. I had caught sight of her face from a distance, and she had totally grabbed my attention, but seeing her up close was even better. I had to force my eyes from staring at her full bow lips and cute, slightly upturned button nose. Dominating her face were large, gorgeous brown eyes that sat beneath perfectly shaped eyebrows. A thrilling rush of pure attraction raced through me as she spoke to me.
Thankfully, she didn't say anything about how lame my opening line was. We started chatting and seemed to hit it off right away. The conversation between us flowed with ease, and every time she smiled that gorgeous smile at me I felt my knees go weak. We kept chatting and chatting, and somehow the line kept moving in front of us until suddenly she was at the counter ahead of me. It had felt like all of two minutes, while in reality it had been closer to fifteen or twenty.
She made her order and then stepped aside so that I could make mine. Panic hit me as the guy behind the counter handed over her order and she turned to go. I hadn't felt a spark like this . . . well, ever! And now this stranger—this beautiful, smart stranger who I was able to converse so easily and so fluidly with—was just going to up and disappear on me!
Thankfully, she stopped before leaving, and we exchanged names. Lanie. It was an unusual name. And that was good—it would hopefully mean that it would be easy to find her.
But as I saw her walking out, I knew that I had to do something. These kinds of connections didn't exactly come around every day. I had to get her number, I just—
My phone rang in my pocket. Annoyed, I took it out and saw that it was Pete.
“Damn it, Pete, perfect timing, as always,” I grumbled as I answered. “I'm in the middle of something now, can I call you back in two minutes?”
His voice chimed through with a serious tone.
“No man, we gotta talk now. Like right now. Are you able to get back to the office right away? I mean . . . I'm not trying to make demands or anything, but I really need to talk to you right now.”
I could tell from the sound of his voice that it was something critical. Pete never spoke in a tone like that unless it was serious. “All right, I'll come back right now. See you in a few minutes, all right?”
“Thanks, Jax. See you soon.”
I took my smoothie and salad and pushed out the door, hoping to catch Lanie before she was gone while simultaneously worrying about what was up with Pete. I got out onto the sidewalk and peered up and down the street, but there was no sign of her. She must have already gotten into her car and driven away—and now I had no way of finding her or contacting her.
“Damn,” I muttered under my breath.
I shook my head and trudged over to my Maserati. I got in, revved the engine, and drove over to the office, pushing the powerful motor hard—both because of my haste to get to Pete, and because of my frustration in not getting Lanie's number.
I pulled into my spot outside, grabbed my smoothie, and jogged inside, saying a friendly hello to the security guard at the desk and almost bumping into one of the junior software engineers we employed as I rounded a corner.
I headed straight to Pete's office and knocked on the door.
“It's open,” he announced from within.
I walked in, and was quite shocked to see the state he was in. His round face, which usually had a broad smile on it, looked haggard and pale. He was slumped in his chair, and there were several candy bar wrappers on the desk. Like me, he was very physically active and paid close attention to his diet, so munching down on candy bars wasn’t a good sign. It had to be because of whatever was stressing him out.
“Thanks for coming, man,” he said, his voice weary. “Sit down.”
I pulled up a seat next to him and took a swig of my kale smoothie before speaking.
“What's going on, Pete?” I asked. “Things don't look . . . they don't look right here.”
He shook his head. “Things aren't right. They're not right, and they're not good.”
“So, what is it, buddy? Tell me. You know you can tell me anything, right?”
He nodded, and looked at the ground. “It's my dad, Jax. It's my dad.”
I nodded. Now I understood—and now I was worried. Pete had grown up in a single parent household. His mother had been an alcoholic and had died in a drunk driving accident when he was young. He had been raised by his father, Caleb, who had been the pillar of strength and support in his life. I thought of Caleb as family, too. I had spent so much time at their house growing up.
“Oh no, Pete, what's happened?”
“He . . . he has cancer.”
The words hit me like a punch to the gut.
“Oh no, man, oh no,” I murmured. “Jeez, I'm so sorry to hear that. What . . . how . . . who told you?”
“He just called me now from New York. He was getting a regular checkup with his doctor a couple of weeks ago. He'd been coughing like crazy for months, thought it was bronchitis or something. They did a biopsy on some lung tissue—and they just got the results back. It's lung cancer . . . and it's pretty advanced.”
“Oh, my God, Pete, I'm just . . . I don’t know what to say. It's just . . . it's terrible news, man, it's terrible news. What are they going to do?”
Pete sighed and shook his head, cupping his chin in his hands.
“They're going to try chemo—an aggressive course of it—but the experts have told him that the chance of the chemo working is maybe one in twenty. And if it doesn't work he'll . . . he'll . . .”
He started choking on his words, and tears began running down his cheeks. He coughed, wiped his eyes with the back of his sleeve and continued.
“Sorry, Jax, sorry,” he mumbled. “I'm just . . . it's hard, it's real hard.”
“That's all right man, just let it out.”
He nodded, sniffing, and wiped his eyes again. “They’re giving him less than a year,” he managed to utter, and then started crying again.
I put my smoothie down and went over to him and gave him a tight, reassuring hug. “Listen, Pete,” I said, my arm around his shoulder as emotion rocked through me as well as the awfulness of the news really started to sink in. “Listen, it's not a foregone conclusion, all right? The prognosis is . . . it's not great, I admit, it's not great—but it's not written in stone, do you hear me? Nothing is set in stone. There's a chance, Pete, there's a chance that he'll pull through—and we have to have hope. We have to believe that he can, that he will pull through. He needs you—he needs us all—to be strong right now. We have to be strong, and we have to have hope.”
Pete nodded and wiped his eyes. “I know,” he said, still choked up with emotion. “It's just hard, man.”
“Man, let's take the rest of the day off,” I said. “The code can wait until tomorrow. I don't think either of us is in any condition to concentrate now anyway.”
“You're right about that,” he conceded.
“Come on, let's just go have a few beers and play some video games, all right? Distract ourselves from things for a while.”
He nodded and smiled. “Yeah, that . . . that might be good. Let's do that.”
“I'll go shut down my computers,” I said to him, “and you can come over to my place whenever you're ready. I just need to get a shower when I get home, which won't take too long, and then I'll be ready.”
He nodded.
“Send me a message when you're done sho
wering and stuff.”
“I'll do that,” I said. “And remember, Pete, you're a brother to me. Anything you need, anything at all, don't hesitate to ask, all right?”
“Thanks, Jax,” he murmured. “Thank you. I'll see you a little later.”
I nodded, gave him one more hug and then headed out to my office to shut my computers down.
As I got in, my phone started to ring. I got it out and saw that it was my great-aunt Cara. I didn't want to speak to her right now, but knew that there would be hell to pay if I ignored the call. With a sigh, I answered it.
“Hi Aunt Cara,” I said. “How are you?”
“Busy,” she said flatly. “Listen, I've arranged for you to attend a merger negotiation meeting between two big corporations in LA tomorrow afternoon. I'm a major shareholder in one of them, and am sending you as my representative. Get yourself some plane tickets and book a hotel.”
“But Aunt Cara, I—”
“Do you want to learn to become an effective CEO or not, Ernest?”
“I do, yes,” I mumbled.
“Then you'll take my advice and you'll attend this meeting as an observer. Good afternoon, dear.”
There was a click as she hung up the call, and that was that. Now I had to plan to fly to LA the next day.
“Never a moment of rest,” I grumbled to myself. “Never a moment of rest.”
But whatever else happened, this evening was dedicated to Pete. He needed my help, and I was determined to give it to him. And nobody, not even Aunt Cara, was going to stop that. I sighed, shook my head and started to shut my computers down.
CHAPTER 7
Lanie
I pulled into the driveway of Bill's place, parking the BMW in the same spot it had been parked in before. As I got out, the image of Jax's face popped into my head, and I felt a momentary flash of something rush through me. Who was this guy? I realized I didn't know anything about him, not what he did, not where he came from, not even his last name—but I just couldn't stop thinking about him.
