The Secrets Duet

by Brownell, Rachael

  5.

  Maggie

  “So, you’re awfully quiet. What’s the matter?” I can tell my silence is concerning him. What am I supposed to say? “The fact you own my building and can come and go as you please scares the shit out of me,” I think to myself. Telling him that wouldn’t go over very well.

  “I’m fine.” Why do I always say that? I know fine is a trigger word. I’ve been trying to find a way to eliminate it from my vocabulary, but I’m failing. Miserably.

  “Sure you are. Want to try again?”

  I guess I better go for broke and tell him the truth.

  “When did you buy my building?”

  “This morning. Why?”

  I can’t wipe the shocked expression off my face. I don’t even bother to try.

  “Why? How? It’s Sunday. I didn’t realize people did business on Sunday.”

  “Normally, I don’t. I made an exception in this case and when you are willing to pay for something you want, the day of the week doesn’t matter. For the right amount of money, people will make exceptions.”

  “Okay,” I say, dragging out the word. When he doesn’t respond I take it as my cue to continue. I’m just about to ask him why he bought the building when our waiter shows up with our salads and drinks. I wait until he’s out of earshot before making eye contact with Taylor and asking my question.

  “Why? I didn’t realize you were interested in owning real estate. Why did you buy my building?”

  “It was a business decision. I own several properties around the city, actually. Rentals can be great investments.”

  That’s not the answer I was looking for and I have a feeling there’s more to it than he’s letting on. I’ll have to mention this to Montgomery when I check in tonight. I want to know what other properties he owns.

  “Well,” I say, raising my glass of water towards him. “To great investments.”

  His eyes never leave mine as our glasses clink together and he takes a sip from his. Mine, on the other hand, is still extended towards him, midair, and my mouth is agape. The look in his eyes has caused me to freeze up. I feel trapped in the moment, caught. Has he figured me out or does he realize the overwhelming effect he has on me and is using his dashing good looks against me? Either way, I’m caught in his web and there is no hope of breaking free anytime soon.

  I regain my composure and focus on my salad. We make small talk about my position, what the company does and where they want to take things over the next few years. I keep the conversation purely work related and Taylor doesn’t seem to mind. If he does, he’s not trying to change the subject.

  I stand and excuse myself to the ladies’ room to freshen up. I need to call Montgomery and check in. I’m already almost an hour late. I’m surprised he hasn’t blown up my phone.

  “Montgomery.”

  “It’s Becker. Just checking in.”

  “It’s about damn time. I was about to send out a damn search party. I had them track your phone and saw you were with Taylor so I was giving you extra time. Don’t make a habit of this, Becker.”

  “I’ll try not to.” I hold back my laughter. I recognize the frustration in his voice, but it’s not with me. It’s because he didn’t know where I was. He was concerned which makes him angry.

  “Anything to report?”

  “Actually…” How am I going to tell him this without him freaking out? I’m not. He’s going to freak out regardless of how I say it. “Apparently, Taylor bought my building this morning.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “He purchased my apartment building.”

  “Seriously? What the fuck is he up to?”

  “I have no idea. He skirted around the question. He says he owns other properties. I thought you might want to look into it.”

  “I will.” He pauses and I know he’s not done. “Be careful, Maggie. I know you can take care of yourself, but this guy is obviously up to something. I’m sure he’s still clueless as to who you are, but there is something else going on that we don’t know about. You have to figure it out. Soon.”

  “I will. I have to go. He’s waiting for me.”

  “Enjoy your dinner, Becker.” I don’t like the way he said that. He’s gone before I can respond, though.

  Taylor is standing at the table, waiting for me. Our plates have been cleared and it looks as if it’s time to leave.

  “Ready to go?” I ask, trying to sound cheerful. I always have to fake it a little bit more after talking to Montgomery. He always reminds me of the situation I’m in, how one little action can change everything. I’m supposed to be acting, all the time. He doesn’t have to say it, my subconscious reminds me.

  Taylor nods and steers me out the front door, his hand at the base of my back. I control my body’s need to shudder from his touch until he’s removed his hand. I like how he makes me feel, how his touch ignites something deep within my soul, but I know it’s also dangerous to allow myself to feel this way about him.

  I watch as the buildings pass by in a blur of colors. I’m staring out the passenger window, thinking about the many reasons why I can’t fall in love with Taylor, trying to remind myself how he can’t be the one for me, when I feel his hand on my thigh.

  I turn to face him as the car comes to a stop. We’re outside his apartment building, not mine. He’s looking at me for permission. I know what he wants. I know what he’s thinking, but I can’t bring myself to say anything. I can’t even bring myself to nod my head. I’m at a loss for words. I feel like I’m struggling to catch my breath.

  His body is having the same reaction as mine. There is uncertainty and hope. It’s in his eyes. He wants me. He wants all of me. What he doesn’t know is that 90% of what I tell him is the truth. The other 10% is all secrets and lies.

  My body is closing the gap between us. His body is moving towards me. I feel his breath on my lips. He softly grazes kisses along my jaw and I arch my head back to give him access to my neck. I hear his swift intake of breath as I let out a soft groan. His lips feel magnificent against my skin.

  He’s making his way back up my neck, across my jaw and to the corner of my mouth. He kisses me delicately, sweetly. I want more. I need more.

  I turn towards his lips and open my eyes. When our eyes connect, what I see causes me to pull back. The storm which was raging earlier is back in full force. His hand is trembling against my thigh. He’s losing control. His restraint is buckling.

  “I think I should take you home,” he whispers.

  “Okay.” I want to say more. I want to say no. It’s the only thing I can get out. My senses are on high alert. His proximity to me right now is causing me to feel lightheaded. I can’t believe he’s having this kind of effect on me. It’s nothing compared to the effect I’m having on him, though. As far as I can tell, I’m driving him crazy and I’m not even trying.

  Montgomery is going to be happy with that little bit of information.

  Why am I thinking about him right now?

  Oh yeah! I’m working. This is work. This is not supposed to be a “real” date. It’s not supposed to be for fun. I’m working, and this is part of my job.

  Taylor returns to his seat, puts the car in drive and we’re off. I resume looking out the passenger window for fear of what I might see in his eyes. I’m trying hard to fight my feelings which are making a valiant attempt to break the surface right now.

  The plan was to get his attention. I’ve got it. Nowhere along the way am I supposed to fall in love with him. Date him. Sleep with him. Kiss him. None of that. I’m just supposed to keep him interested in me until we have the information we need. Information which I am supposed to get somehow.

  Tomorrow. It all starts tomorrow. Eyes and ears open. Totally focused. Tomorrow.

  Now I just have to make it through this car ride home. Without molesting him. Without thinking about molesting him. Shit!

  This is going to be harder than I can even begin to imagine. I have to see him every day. I can
’t even make eye contact with him right now because of the reaction my body is having to him. How in the hell am I going to be able to get through an entire day at the office? How am I supposed to stay focused on the task at hand if I can’t even stay focused right now?

  It will be different. It has to be. He can’t openly flirt with me at the office, can he? He can’t continue to look at me the way he does with other people around.

  Why am I so worried about him? I need to be worried about how I react to him, his presence and his proximity to me. If I can stay at least five feet away from him at all times I should be able to do this. As long as I can’t smell his intoxicating scent. Like right now. Right now I want to jump his bones.

  Oh my God! Did I just think that? I’m in so much fucking trouble. I need to talk to Montgomery. He’ll set me straight.

  I glance at the clock on the dash and see that it’s after ten o’clock here. That means it’s past midnight where Montgomery is. I don’t want to wake him up. I’ll have to remember to get one hell of a pep talk tomorrow before work. He better have some good material on hand. I’m going to need it.

  Taylor pulls up to my building and puts the car in park. I reach for the door handle, but his hand on my elbow stops me. He exhales and whispers something so softly that I can’t hear him.

  I turn and see his eyes are closed. He looks like he’s thinking rather hard. I wonder what’s on his mind. If only I had some super human powers. I would give anything to know what goes on in his head sometimes, right now being one of those times.

  “What is it?” I try to sound concerned about whatever it might be that he’s about to say.

  When he opens his eyes, I’m met with an expression I’ve never seen before. It’s all emotion. Which emotion, I can’t tell. It looks like a cross between sorrow and confusion. That doesn’t make any sense.

  “I’ll see you in the morning, Magdelyn. Sleep well.” He never breaks eye contact with me as he lifts my hand and kisses it gently.

  I’m at a loss for words, again. I say nothing as I propel myself out of the car and into my building. Once I’m safely inside I reach for my phone to call Montgomery when I remember Taylor now owns this building. He could be watching my every move right now.

  6.

  Maggie

  My day has been shit so far. It started off bad and keeps getting worse. It’s not the job. I know I can do this job. It’s everything else.

  I woke up ten minutes before my alarm so instead of attempting to go back to sleep, I got up. No big deal, right? Wrong. I went to make a pot of coffee and couldn’t find the pot. I searched the entire kitchen before finally waking up both my roommates to ask them. Apparently, they broke it.

  Starting my day off without my standard two to three cups of coffee was going to be hard for me, but I would make it work. I had no choice.

  I showered and dressed. I plugged my hair dryer in to try and tame the wet and wild mane I had going on and apparently it was broken too. I can deal with that, though. A little gel and a lot of hairspray. No big deal.

  Why I kept having the thought my day would get better was beyond me. It’s like the world was working against me, testing me, all morning long.

  I stopped for coffee on my way into the office and you’ll never guess what happened? Yep, spilled it down the front of my blouse. My brand new white, silk blouse. I’m not a klutz so how did I spill it? Well, I almost ran into the man standing in the middle of the sidewalk and while trying to avoid him, my phone rang and I tilted my coffee just right while I was digging in my purse for it.

  Montgomery. Of course. He couldn’t call me at our scheduled time, could he? He had to be twenty minutes late. That’s twenty minutes less of a pep talk that I was going to get.

  “Becker.”

  “Hey. You on your way in?”

  “Yep.”

  “Are you ready?”

  “Nope.” I didn’t even try to hide how nervous I was. I should have tried to at least sound confident, but I didn’t.

  “You will be fine. Good luck.”

  Click.

  Really? That’s my pep talk. I needed more than that this morning. I was planning on a much longer, much more involved talk, with tons of advice. Not today apparently. I also needed a new blouse. That had to be my first priority before I arrived at the office.

  I walk in with five minutes to spare. The receptionist welcomes me with a smile and motions for me to take a seat. Once she’s finished on the phone she walks around her desk and shoves her hand practically in my face.

  “Jessica,” she says enthusiastically.

  I take her hand and slowly stand up. “Maggie. It’s nice to meet you.”

  “You too. Since it’s your first day I am going to get you set up in the conference room so you have a place to fill out your paperwork. By the end of the day I should have your office ready for you.” She starts to walk away from me before she finishes speaking so I follow. “Mr. Taylor had me order some furniture for you on Friday. I wasn’t sure what you wanted so I went with a contemporary feel. I hope that’s okay.”

  She smiles at me over her shoulder but doesn’t wait for my reply before she walks into the conference room and continues. “The stack of papers on the desk is everything I need from you right now. I need to get you into our system before you can do any actual work. I will be around in a little bit with some more stuff for you to fill out. There’s an order form on top of the pile for office supplies. I’ll get everything ordered for you this afternoon and it should all arrive sometime tomorrow. If you…”

  “Wait.” I felt bad for cutting her off, but she was talking a mile a minute and I couldn’t get a word in. I had questions. “I have no idea what I will need to order today. I need to see what’s in my office already. I need to have an idea of what I will need and I won’t know that until probably the end of the week. Do I have to order today?”

  Her eyes tell me she hates me already. I’m a pain in her ass. I’m an inconvenience to her. Too damn bad.

  “Whenever is convenient for you. Mr. Taylor gave me specific instructions to make sure you were settled in quickly. He won’t be in the office until later this week and he didn’t want you to have to wait on him. So, if you don’t need anything to get started that’s fine. I can place your order whenever you want me to.”

  There’s something about her tone which strikes a nerve with me. I can’t pinpoint it exactly, but maybe it’s…wait! He’s not here? He’s not going to be here until later this week? What am I supposed to do until then? I’m his assistant.

  “When do you expect him back? I have no idea what he wants me to work on until then.”

  “I don’t know. He said later this week. He left town to take care of a personal matter. As far as what he wants you to work on, there is an envelope sitting in your office for you. I assume it has directions for you.”

  “Can you show me to my office so I can get the envelope?”

  “No.” Why is she being so firm with me? “Mr. Taylor said to have you take care of all of this first and then to show you to your office. I know he’ll be calling this afternoon to check in with you. You can ask him anything you like then.”

  She turns on her heels and walks out of the room. Well, I have a feeling we are not going to be friends outside of work. Or at all. I wonder if she has a thing for Taylor and knows he has a thing for me. That would explain her behavior. Well, not entirely but a little bit.

  I settle into the massive chair and start to work on my paperwork. So much information. Too much. I fill it out, knowing if they go back and search my answers they won’t find any inconsistencies since I am me. Agent or not, all of this is about me and that is who I am “pretending” to be.

  Jessica stops in an hour later to pick up the paperwork I’ve finished and to drop off some more. She also informs me that my office is ready once I finish what I have left. Why can’t I go now? Something doesn’t feel right.

  I quickly work through the pages of information
, answering what feels like the same questions over and over again. I wait a few minutes for Jessica to return but when she doesn’t, I go in search of her. I’m almost to the lobby when I hear her voice. She’s not at her desk, but I can hear her whispering to someone.

  She must be on the phone because I don’t hear another voice when she pauses. I turn to walk back to the conference room when I hear my name. Really? What could I have possibly done to have her talking about me behind my back already?

  “I swear to you, she has to be an agent. There’s no other way to explain her behavior. You need to tell me, Montgomery.”

  Montgomery? My Montgomery? Well, not mine, but my boss. Why would she be talking to my boss? Unless…

  “No. I’m serious. If she’s not working for us then she’s working for someone… He’s out of town again… I’m not sure. He took off before I came in this morning… I have no idea where he went. It’s not like he left me his itinerary or a trail of bread crumbs… I’m sorry. I know I was out of line but…”

  She’s silent for a long moment. I don’t wait around to hear more. I already know everything I need to. She’s working for us. Why Montgomery didn’t tell me is beyond me. He had said that he thought one of our agents had gone to the other side. I wonder if it’s her.

  I fix myself a cup of coffee while I wait for her to return. It doesn’t take long. Her fake smile is plastered on her face before she walks through the door and I smile back at her. If only she knew we were supposedly on the same team. If I thought I could trust her, I might share what I know. The simple fact is if Montgomery didn’t tell me about her, he must not trust her. She obviously doesn’t know about me, but she suspects. I’m going to have to be extra careful when she’s around.

  “Ready to see your new home away from home?”

  Wow! Even the tone in her voice has changed. I wonder what Montgomery said to her. I’ll have to remember to ask him later.

  I nod and follow her down the hall. She gives me a tour of the floor, pointing out other offices, attaching names to them which I don’t know and won’t remember, pointing out the bathrooms and finally pointing out Taylor’s office. Mine is right next door to his. Of course it is. I’m his assistant after all. It’s not for any other reason.