They looked at each other in excitement and leaned forward. I kept going as I began violently stapling papers together.
“He’s just so miserable and acts like he is above everyone else, and then he does stupid little things to make you almost think he is acknowledging you, but he’s not really because he just walks away all the time without barely a word. Not only that but he doesn’t even look at you! Do you know how excruciatingly annoying that is when someone doesn’t look at you, ever?”
I looked up and noticed their eyes were wide as they stared at me.
No wait. They were staring past me.
The colour first drained from my face before returning ten folds as my entire body broke out into flames. Slowly, I swivelled my chair around to see Kellan standing there with none other than Dermot Banks.
I have never wanted to crawl into a hole and die more than I did right at that moment. Both men stood smiling at me, Kellan a little more smugly than his father. I sat there stunned, waiting for someone to talk.
“Father, this is our new intern, Vivian French,” said Kellan breaking the silence.
“Nice to meet you, Vivian,” Dermot Banks said, reaching his hand toward me.
I dug deep to find my voice, and prayed it would come out stronger than I felt.
“It’s a pleasure to meet you, sir,” I said shaking his hand. I smiled up at him hoping I looked somewhat recovered. Maybe he wouldn’t know who I was referring to. How much had he heard?
“I hope you like the office here so far. I see they have you working with some of our best,” he said, nodding in Lily and Ashley’s direction. They smiled in response. “Hopefully you’ll be able to come by the courts sometime and witness one of our cases during the actual trial. It would be a great learning experience for you,” he offered.
“I would love that. Thank you, sir,” I said.
“Just call me Dermot. Well I have to get back to court. I was only here to grab something briefly. I hope to see you again soon,” he said. We said our goodbyes and wished him luck. As he turned away he added, “Oh, and I wouldn’t be too insulted by my son, he ignores even me.”
And with that he walked away. Kellan was clearly fighting down his laughter. I could feel my face burning again, just when I had finally gotten it under control.
I turned around and buried my head in my hands. “I can’t believe that just happened,” I mumbled. “Why didn’t either of you saying anything?”
“You were on a roll,” said Ashley.
I sunk deeper into my hands, wishing it was five o’clock already.
“Don’t worry about it, Vi. Dermot is extremely laid back. I’m sure he’ll forget all about this. Kellan will probably rub your face in it at some point, but really what else do you expect from him?” Lily said, walking around and putting her arm around my shoulders. “If it’s any consolation, I totally agree with everything you said before you were interrupted.”
I looked up at her and rolled my eyes.
She gave me a sympathetic smile. “I didn’t really think that would help, but I thought I should say it anyway.”
“I also agree. You know, if he just ignored you like he does everyone else, that would be fine, but it’s like he doesn’t ignore you while at the same time still ignoring you. I don’t know what’s up with that. Definitely annoying, even for me and I’m not directly involved in the situation,” Ashley said seriously. “You want me to say something?”
“No,” I said through my hands again. “I just want to forget any of this happened. Forget I even said anything at all.”
Lily squeezed my shoulders. “Fine, it’s all forgotten.”
I looked up to catch Lily giving Ashley a look of warning.
“Let’s go get some lunch, and we can act like this didn’t even happen. You better not let this ruin our weekend either.”
“You’ve got to be kidding me,” I began.
“Stop!” she interrupted. “I mean it, Vi. This is something that could have happened to anyone, so don’t let it ruin your fun. Caleb won’t even be there, because he doesn’t go to social events, and Kellan is easy enough to ignore. This is not a big deal,” she continued holding my shoulders and looking me in my eyes. I nodded my head reluctantly and gathered up my things for lunch.
As Dermot walked away, he could see Kellan smiling out of the corner of his eye. Of course Kellan would find some sort of humour in this situation, but Dermot was smarter than that. He hadn’t been around for as long as he had, and not learned a few things about male and female relations.
The thought made him go back to that morning and Caleb’s manner at home. He had known there was something off, but he didn’t know what. As usual, he thought Caleb was just moody because that was how he always was, but then he noticed that he wasn’t moody, he was distracted. For once in his life, Caleb had looked like he had other things on his mind besides work and his mother.
Now that he had met the girl, he knew she was the problem. Why else would Caleb be deliberately putting himself in her company, unless he was not somewhat intrigued by her? This wasn’t like Caleb, Dermot thought to himself as he climbed into his car. He’d have to put a stop to this if something more developed, but he was pretty certain nothing would. Caleb wasn’t built for relating to people. He must have read the situation wrong, he thought. For now, he pushed the whole thing out of his mind, and concentrated on the trial.
Caleb sipped his coffee as he went over the paperwork his father had left him. His eyes went to the cup as he placed it back on the desk, his mind unwittingly going back to the cafeteria. He didn’t know what propelled him to find ways to simply be around Vivian, but he couldn’t help it.
Just the sight of her made something quicken inside him. His mouth practically salivated when his gaze roamed over her profile. He’d been walking by the cafeteria when he’d spotted her, as though his body were in tune with her presence whenever she was near.
She’d been standing in line, lost in thought, a small crease between her brows that had given him the inexplicable urge to smooth it out with his thumb. He didn’t like to see her so lost and confused.
How fucked up was that?
He’d gotten in line behind her, sparks of awareness shooting across his chest as he stood as close to her as possible without alerting her to his presence. As much as he craved this strange new feeling, he also couldn’t bring himself to speak to her. It felt like a line that couldn’t be crossed. A step, that if taken, would put him over the edge and there would be no returning from it.
A touch…that would surely be his undoing. He couldn’t imagine feeling her skin beneath his palm. If speaking would be his downfall, to touch her would destroy him completely. How he knew this, he couldn’t explain. But there was no denying that as much as he craved Vivian French, he knew the little human had to be kept at arm’s length.
He sat back in his chair, remembering her scent as it had hit his nostrils when he’d paid for her coffee. He’d almost brushed against her then, but had kept some self-control. She’d smelled like heaven though. He chuckled to himself just thinking that. As if he would ever know what that place smelled like. But if he were to guess, he’d say Vivian was a close comparison.
Shaking his head, he refocused on his work. This was exactly why he knew he had to stay away from her. She was a temptation he didn’t need. A complication that couldn’t be afforded.
While his brothers could play with the mortals, Caleb knew it wouldn’t be as simple as that with Vivian.
One taste and he’d be lost to her forever.
True to their word, neither of the girls mentioned the incident again for the whole day. We all purposely talked about trivial things throughout the afternoon. At five I tried to gather my things and get out of there as soon as I could, hoping that Caleb would either already be gone, or working late like they normally did.
When I walked out into the fresh air, I saw his car still parked there, but he was nowhere to be seen. Quickening my pace, I
unlocked my door as fast as I could. Why did he have to park so damn close? I was tempted to smash my door into the side of his car, just to teach him a lesson. Of course, he would know right away who had done it, so that was out of the question.
First I squeezed my bag through, which took some effort, and then wondered how in the hell I was going to fit my whole person through again.
“Here, let me move my car for you,” I heard him say behind me.
I turned around, expecting him to already be in his car and reversing, but instead he stood there staring right at me.
You’ve got to be kidding me.
What, had his father told him off or something? I could feel my cheeks growing hot as I stared back, and again tried to find my voice.
“That would be great, thanks,” I managed to say.
I stepped back onto the curb so he could get out without running me over. I was stunned, yet thrilled at the same time that we had actually exchanged words with each other. Maybe he was normal after all. I doubted it. Nothing about him looked normal.
He was too good looking, and overly confident. My old hate came back just as quickly as it had faded. As soon as he was gone, I got in my car and took off. This would be bothering me all night now. He always seemed to find a way to ruin my days, and nights.
He was a curse to mankind – or at least to me.
Murray watched their exchange in shock from his desk. Something wasn’t right. Caleb did not speak to other people besides his father and brothers. The feeling in his gut intensified and he decided that a course of action was required. He knew who to call. He picked up the phone and dialled the number that had been given to him a long time ago.
“It’s Murray, I think we have a problem,” he said quickly. He knew he was doing the right thing.
The only thing.
That night I dreamt of him.
Caleb Banks was everywhere, his hands and lips running over my skin, burning me into a fever. Somehow I was aware of physically tossing and turning in my bed as I ached for him to ease the desire consuming me.
I felt connected to Caleb, as though we were one person, one soul intertwined. His lean, body crawled up mine, his muscles rippling beneath his smooth skin, those bright eyes looking through me as his usual scowl was replaced by raw hunger. His wide mouth lifted into a wicked smile as he looked down on me.
I begged him, my voice barely a whisper as my hands gripped his strong shoulders. Slowly he lowered his head, his lips hovering over mine, our breath mingling.
My eyes popped open, just as his name escaped my mouth, floating there mockingly in the quiet of my room. I breathed in deeply, my entire body hot. My sheets were in a pile on the floor, as though I’d kicked them off frantically in my sleep.
Turning over, I looked at the clock and saw it was already six in the morning. I still had another hour until my alarm went off, but I knew there was no sense in trying to get back to sleep. Flipping onto my back again, I stared up at the ceiling, willing my heart to stop racing.
Caleb Banks was officially ruining my days and nights now.
I groaned, covering my face with my hands. How would I ever be able to face him or his family after a dream like that? Shaking my head, I sat up and headed for the bathroom. I needed a cold shower, especially if I was going to make it through the day after such a lousy night’s sleep.
It was quiet the whole morning in the office. I was in a foul mood. Whatever my facial expression looked like must have been bad enough to shut Lily up, because she didn’t try once to ask what was wrong. Even when Ashley came in they continued to ignore me. Thankfully we were all so busy, there were no opportunities for either of them to ask questions anyway.
At lunchtime I told them I wasn’t feeling well and took my lunch outside to eat. I didn’t know what was wrong with me, but I was in no mood to make conversation with people today.
The afternoon was so nice that sitting outside was starting to make me feel better. I sat at one of the picnic tables on the side lawn and let the rays hit my face. Soaking in the warmth, I smiled happily to myself.
From now on, I wasn’t going to let any boy ruin my day – or night. I was so done with boys, I could practically see my spinsterhood in the not so distance future. Despite Amanda’s best efforts, cats were starting to look mighty appealing. After another ten minutes I stood up to head back in. I walked to my desk and immediately got back to work.
“Thank God tomorrow is Friday,” Ashley said as we got ready to leave.
Lily and I hummed our agreement. When I got outside, Caleb was standing by his car again. My steps faltered for only a moment, before I straightened my spine and walked by him, keeping my gaze away from his.
I could feel his eyes on my back as I made my way to my car. What was he doing out here? Surely he wasn’t waiting for me?
Get real, Vivian, my inner voice scolded.
God, I was starting to get way ahead of myself. Just because I happened to have a hot dream about him, didn’t mean Caleb was suddenly interested in me. My cheeks flamed as I quickly unlocked my door.
As I got in, I did my best to not glance in his direction. He was still standing there. I don’t know how I knew it without looking, but I did. My hands shook as I shoved the keys into the ignition after multiple attempts, and backed out of the space. As I drove by him, I couldn’t help but sneak a look.
Sure enough, he was watching. His eyes were now hidden behind reflective aviators, but I knew they were on me. The prickling sensation on the back of my neck confirmed it. Letting out a shaky breath, I pulled out of the parking lot and headed home, thankful for every inch of space I put between us.
I saw Blake that evening and told him about all my problems. He would be the only boy I didn’t ignore, since he wasn’t really like a boy to me. Blake was just Blake. I loved him too much to ignore him.
We lay together on the porch swing and he comforted me the best he could.
“This is probably all just a game he’s playing,” he said.
“Well I don’t like it,” I grumbled.
He chuckled. “No, I don’t suppose you do. I wouldn’t let it get to you though. So what if the guy is super-hot and has a starring role in your dreams?”
I groaned, hiding my face. I should have left that detail out. Blake chuckled.
“Don’t be embarrassed, Vi. We all have those kinds of dreams. Consider yourself a normal girl with hormones.”
“Ew, don’t say hormones. I think I might die of embarrassment. This is worse than having ‘the talk’ with my mom.”
He laughed again. “Hormones. There. I said it. You have them, I have them, and I’m pretty certain hottie Caleb Banks has them. And it sounds to me like they’re zeroing in on you.”
I wiggled so I could turn and look at him. “Are you even listening to my stories? The guy doesn’t want me. He’s torturing me.”
“He’s doing what he can to get your attention, and it’s working,” he argued.
“He’s making me want to pummel him, nothing else.”
He snorted. “If you say so. Look, you already know how I feel about his type. Just be careful, Vi. And know that no matter what, I will always beat-up a guy, even a fine-ass one likethe Banks, if they do anything to hurt you.”
I smiled, snuggling in against him. “I know,” I said.
Things felt better Friday morning after Blake’s visit the night before. It was nice to have gotten everything off my chest with someone who really listened to me. When I got to work, I was in a much better mood than I had been the day before, and it seemed like both girls had forgiven me for my previous behaviour. Neither of them bothered to ask what had happened, which I appreciated more than I could say.
We all went on with our day, trying to get it over with because it was Friday. I started looking forward to the event tomorrow, simply because it was something to do. I actually welcomed the thought of having my mind momentarily distracted from its regular routine. Once I was at the club I would focus all
my energy on having fun and letting loose.
I didn’t see any of the Banks boys that day, thankfully. Apparently the case had really picked up and everyone was super busy. They were probably all at the courts, so it was peaceful at the office. Before I knew it, five had come around and we packed up to go home. As we were leaving, Lily got a text message on her phone from Kellan saying they would pick us each up from our houses between nine-thirty and ten. The two girls squealed in delight, but I suddenly got more nervous. I wondered if I fully realized what I was getting myself into.
I didn’t think I did.
“How do they know where we live?” I asked, confused.
“They are the most powerful family in the city,” replied Ashley, laughing, “I’m sure they could find Osama Bin Laden if he were hiding somewhere around here.”
Blake and Amanda came over that night to watch a movie in my bedroom. Amanda couldn’t shut up about the next night and how excited she was. Blake was clearly disappointed that he couldn’t come, but I knew it was his weekend to go see his mom who lived further away. I promised him next time, if there was ever going to be a next time, I would bring him along for sure. He seemed cheered by the idea, and started discussing how we were going to do our hair and what makeup we should wear.
After they were both gone, I ran upstairs and wrote what he’d said down on a piece of paper so I wouldn’t forget. I had to try to look the best I could, and hope against hope that I wouldn’t look eighteen. Once we got there, I would probably feel like I looked sixteen, I thought nervously.
It was going to be fun, I reassured myself for the hundredth time. And Caleb wouldn’t be there so that made it a thousand times better.
I spent the next day helping my mom clean so she wouldn’t get on my case for staying out late that evening. She knew I was going out with two of the girls I had befriended at work, which made her very happy. She’d been sending me her worried looks the last couple of days, so she was probably dancing on the inside when she found out I was actually going somewhere and behaving like a regular teenage girl.
Balance (The Balance Series Book 1) Page 5
