by Leanne Davis
Lloyd once asked her to dinner after work, and for the first time, she accepted. It was fine. She had a chance to hear in depth about how Lloyd got started. He discussed all the financing he procured as well as his steps for success. He told her he used to have a partner but eventually managed to buy him out. There was a smattering of late-night dinners over the next three months. But none of them meant anything at all.
On their third time out of town, they went to the same building site, although it was now under contract.
Lloyd had a few drinks and the hour was well past dinner. This time, their rooms were on the same floor. “Did you do that on purpose?” Julia asked accusingly.
Lloyd’s hands shot up as if he were under arrest as he proclaimed his innocence. “Judy Ann arranged them. I swear. You can ask her.”
“I will,” Julia said, raising her eyebrows as a smile shadowed her lips.
But later that night, as the evening ended, he walked with her to her room. After opening her door, he said her name. “Julia?”
“What?”
“I arranged the rooms.”
She kicked at his leg. He jumped back shocked. “We talked about this, Lloyd.”
He rubbed at his calf. “I know. I deserve that. I think… I really like you, Julia. In ways I can’t remember ever liking anyone. No one. Man or woman.”
“So?” Her eyebrows rose up.
“So I… I’m asking for permission to kiss you.”
“No.”
His shoulders dropped. “Of course.”
“Then why do you ask?”
“Because I feel something about you I haven’t anyone else.”
She rolled her eyes and went into her room.
The subject was dropped between them until she walked back onto Chris’s site.
****
Chris didn’t glance up from where he was scribbling on a file. “Where have you been?”
“Medford.” She mumbled, ordering herself to hold steady and not let his cool disdain make her cower before him. She had done nothing wrong. He had.
“Let me guess Lloyd needed your expertise in the hotel again?”
Shocked, her mouth popped open. After all the grief he’d given her over it, and then himself, he dares start with that? “Yeah, Chris. I work. There. Here. What is so hard for you to believe about that?”
“I’ll just bet,” he muttered, turning his chair around to grab the calculator behind him. He brought it back around and starting typing into it as he kept his gaze focused on the sheet before him.
“This again? Really? You want to go through this again?”
He didn’t answer.
“Chris?”
“Julia, I don’t have time to hold your hand today. I got purchase orders due to Walter before the end of the day and this stack to finish. Maybe Lloyd can show you something for once.”
Stunned, she didn’t bother to respond before she spun around and left. How dare he? What was he? Twelve? Bent out of whack because she’d been on a work trip? How dare he? And all it did was confirm he wasn’t the friend she’d first believed he was. He wasn’t even half the quality of person she’d believed he was. Moreover, it hurt more than all the other men’s chauvinistic or sexist statements combined. Because Chris was supposed to be different, better. Instead, he betrayed her after pretending to be her friend and on her side. Whereas with all the other men she’d understood from the start where she stood so she’d had her guard up. With Chris she hadn’t and now? It caused damage that no other man could have.
****
It was a week later, when Lloyd called her on her cellphone, after hours. Not at work. They talked for a while. She kept waiting for the reason he was calling. He didn’t give one. He called four nights in a row. Flowers showed up at the house. For her.
“You don’t think flowers will get me do you?”
“No. But what about dinner with me? This weekend?”
She hesitated. “Nothing to do with work? You won’t tell anyone about it?”
“No. Never. Never at work. No one finds out.”
“All right. But no one finds out. This has nothing to do with work, Lloyd. Got it? At work, we are assistant to manager. Anything outside of it has no bearing on that. Agreed?”
“Agreed.”
He’d whooped with excitement. She’d found herself grinning at his enthusiasm over her.
She met him at the fancy-assed restaurant of his choice. No way was she letting him come near her parents damn house! There had been candles and soft music and all the clichés. She had a good time, however. He walked her to her car, opened the door and then asked, “May I kiss you goodnight?”
She stared up at him, noticing his salt and pepper hair seemed more silvery and the smile on his face made her stomach flutter with jumpy nerves. She nodded her permission. Curious. Unsure. Intrigued. He leaned in and his lips touched hers. It was a good kiss. He knew how to gently press his soft lips on hers, shifting his body to get closer without hovering. He started slow before he let his tongue gently touch hers, filling the kiss with hot passion and energy only after she reacted.
It was so nice. Decent. She got turned on too. She stopped it though, right there.
She went on several more dates with him and several more times they kissed. But never during business hours or in the office. And neither of them ever discussed it.
After a half dozen such dates, Lloyd suggested Julia come to his place. It was a ritzy condo that faced a nine-hole golf course. The chemistry between them had been building for a while and something more seemed inevitable. They listened to some mellow music before they started kissing. Lying on the bed together, it didn’t take long before they were naked and having sex. They kept the affair quiet, which was fine as far as Julia was concerned. She didn’t care to spend a lot of time talking about it either. Lloyd tried to ask her a few times about more personal things but Julia always stopped him. They worked together, and maintained their mentor/apprentice relationship, but also went on dates and sometimes had sex. Julia could not deny her attraction to Lloyd, which culminated to the point that she wanted to see what it felt like. But she also was unwilling to define or obsess over it.
She was unwilling to call it a relationship. Nor did she consider it sexual harassment or anything close to Lloyd using her. Ha. She had complete control of when they met up, how often and where. He often tried to buy her things, most of which she refused and rejected. Except for the dinners. She let him pay for the dates. As long as they were tasteful and not ridiculous.
It was flattering and fun. It wasn’t however, love. Nor intimacy. Nor her future. But it passed the time for now.
And Chris? He didn’t know.
She did nothing at the office or in the hotel in Medford when they traveled there every other week to check on the job. Anytime she went to Medford she simply avoided speaking to Chris or going to his site for a few days after. It cut down on the attitude, anger, and all around jerk-off statements from the one person whose opinion she cared about. No matter how much she tried to tell herself she didn’t care, she knew that was a lie.
****
One Wednesday, when the building was half finished, Julia was working beside Chris and Lloyd. They were having trouble interpreting the plans so they decided to drive out to the site to see if they could figure it out. The three of them were standing around, deep in discussion over where to place the entrance ramp in relation to the parking structure. Julia experienced a peculiar ripple of awareness that seemed to jolt through her. Glancing to her right, she saw Lloyd’s face drawn in concentration. A forelock of silver hair bounced off his forehead. Lloyd used just enough gel to create some buoyancy in his hair.
Chris was holding an iPad with a digital copy of the plans in view. It was loaded and expanded, and he kept turning it around to compare what they were looking at. His head was shiny, and well-shaped. He lifted his startling, blue eyes that never failed to pierce her heart, suddenly aware that she glanced his way.
He always seemed to sense when she watched him, and he knew when she was about to speak, which was almost any time he gave her his full attention. Julia had an uncanny, déjà vu moment. Lloyd and Chris were staring at each other. Blue eyes to blue eyes. A striking, powerful shade of blue shone in both sets of eyes, which were equally wide with dark lashes. Wow, thought Julia, they were so similar. She shook her head, assuming she was attracted to both men probably because she could see their obvious similarities.
She also liked blue eyes.
She began to feel squished between them, and even dwarfed by them. They were talking across her to each other. The conversation was well beyond her technical knowledge, which still happened more often than not. She listened but her heart thrummed with something compelling that she noticed between them. Shaking it off, Julia stepped back. She removed herself to get out of their line of sight, as well as from between them, literally. It wasn’t just in her head, being between them, either. She didn’t like getting between anyone. She was working with both of them. That was it.
Besides, Lloyd wanted her outside of work, Chris didn’t. They were simply friends and they worked together. End of story. There wasn’t anything else to tell.
“Hey, do you have a sister?”
Glancing up from her reverie over whom she most wanted to date, Julia seemed startled when they both stood right there looking at her and one of them didn’t even want to date her.
“What? Oh, I have two sisters. Why?”
Lloyd pointed over her head. “Because I think that must be one right there.”
Julia turned, her heart freezing. No. Oh, hell no. It couldn’t be. It wouldn’t be. Not only had she not told Lloyd about Kylie and Ally, if either of them had shown up, Lloyd would not have guessed they were her sisters. Because they did not look at all like Julia.
Nope. Only one person did.
Somebody looked like her twin. From a distance, that is. Until one got up close enough to see her spider-vein capillaries and tucked-in wrinkles.
Fucking Vickie. Her mother.
But how? How could she be there? Julia hadn’t seen or spoken to her mother in years. She would never have told her where she worked. Did Tracy? Gretchen? Who told her? What ass would have given Vickie the bad idea to come there? Julia gnashed her teeth.
Chris whistled. “My God. She looks exactly like you.”
“Not up close,” Julia retorted angrily because she was so pissed off.
“She’s not your twin?”
“No, Lloyd. She’s not my twin, she’s my fucking mother.” Sneering after her curse, she flipped her mouth into a disgusted expression.
Vickie spotted them and instantly began strutting towards them. She wore ridiculous four-inch heels and tight jeans that covered her long, trim legs like a coat of paint. Her blonde hair was recently curled and puffed, looking like a cloud. Vickie was taller than Julia, and her silicone, and bigger, boobs bobbed and jiggled all around as she shuffled and strutted across the uneven site. She appeared so inappropriate to her surroundings. She could have looked more natural if she were a swan standing in the middle of a herd of buffalo.
“Julia?” she called out in a phony, cloying tone while waving at her. Julia shook her head, fighting the urge to turn around and walk away fast. Chris pressed his lips together and she saw him restraining a laugh.
Lloyd, however, was riveted, staring with undisguised lust and mouth-watering interest at seeing so much bobbling boobage and hair. She elbowed him in the gut. “She’s your fucking age, Lloyd. I guess that makes it more appropriate.” Then she hissed, “But she is my mother.”
Lloyd immediately snatched his gaze off the walking sex monkey on heels and looked back at Julia. Contritely rubbing his stomach, he took her arm in his hand. Lloyd never dared to touch her on job sites. But he did then, and he kept rubbing her arm gently. No one except Chris suspected they were sleeping together. And he didn’t really know. He had no evidence, but he suspected it. Obviously.
Julia jerked her arm free.
“I can’t believe she came here.”
Vickie was standing there. Right before them. Julia scowled. Vickie beamed.
“Julia!” She said her name in a twinkling, feminine voice. Julia didn’t respond at all. Vickie ignored her rudeness and turned to address Lloyd and Chris.
“Hello, Vickie Stratton, Julia’s mom,” Vickie said, putting her hand out towards Lloyd.
“Glad to meet you, Vickie. Lloyd Cartwright, Julia’s manager.”
Julia chewed on her lower lip, stressed to hear him say anymore. She did not want Vickie knowing anything about her, and especially that. Oh, Vickie would have loved hearing Julia was having sex with an older man. An older man that was her boss. That was so, so Vickie! Julia shuddered, wishing she had considered that possibility before she did it. But she didn’t. And now, she had created a situation that was so reminiscent of what her flaky, awful mother liked to do with any man. Men and Vickie. The magnetic draw never ceased. Like now. Vickie licked her too-red lips way too suggestively as she held her hand out, and Julia noticed she rubbed her long, red nails on Lloyd’s index finger as they shook hands. Julia grabbed Lloyd’s wrist and jerked his arm away, unlatching his hand from her sex-obsessed mother.
Oh, Vickie caught that move and Julia immediately chastised herself. Way to give Vickie some dirt. Damn it.
“She is not my mother. My mother is Tracy Lindstrom, Vickie’s sister,” Julia said, smiling sweetly at Vickie, acting all fake and fluttery just like Vickie sounded and acted.
Vickie didn’t even bat a fake eyelash at her insult. Turning to Chris. “Well, aren’t you the muscle-bound stud? Who, may I ask, are you?”
A little smile appeared on Chris’s face. His dimple showed. His white teeth were flashing. Julia clenched her jaw tightly to keep the inner sneer from being vocalized into angry words. Chris looked smitten. Utterly enamored. With her mother? How dare he?
“Chris Vaughn, on-site supervisor.”
“Vickie, for God’s sake. I’m working, in case you didn’t notice. Stop it right now. What do you want?” Julia snapped.
“Simply to talk. You won’t take any of my calls. I tried stopping by but Tracy always hurries me away. I need some time with you. Please, Julia. Give me a chance. It’s been five long years. Please?”
“No.” Julia didn’t elaborate. Vickie, her aberrant behavior and her unending pleas for “one more chance” were over for Julia. She always blew her shot and hurt those around her. Julia was the one she hurt the most, however.
“Julia… I…” Vickie reached out towards her.
“No. Stop it. Just leave. Fuck off!” Julia snarled as she retreated from her hand and simply stomped off. She had to get away from her mother’s pathetic voice. She did not fail to miss the stunned expressions she saw on the faces of both Lloyd and Chris.
Fine. She was ready to let them have the train wreck for a mother that never raised her. Then she could see how nice they treated Vickie. Vickie, who always played the victim so well in these familiar scenarios. They always ended like this. Julia became the evil villain, while Vickie remained the poor, innocent, and vulnerable victim. Vickie performed best in front of an audience, who invariably assumed Julia was so horrible and nasty by not responding to Vickie’s pleas. Oh, the manipulation. The ceaseless cries for help and the subsequent helplessness. No. Julia vowed to herself that she was done with Vickie forever and she intended to do just that.
Julia slapped her cheeks as the tears rolled down her face. Damn Vickie. She no longer had the power to make Julia cry. Julia entered the job shack, relieved to find it empty before she flopped down at the table to cry, burying her head in her hands.
Minutes later, she felt hands touching her shoulder. They were pressing, rubbing, massaging, and kneading all the tight muscular contraction and knots. Glancing up, she was expecting to see Lloyd.
No.
It was Chris.
His giant hands stopped rubbing her shoulders, and re
sted on her. Her tone was hollow as she said, “Vickie puts on a good show. But she doesn’t mean it.”
“I believe you,” Chris said simply.
“She had Lloyd going. God. She’d have taken either one of you in here and…”
Chris sat down near her, his big legs alongside hers, his knees touching her. He kept a hand on her lower back. She felt his support. His hand was warm. “Nah. She’s not my type. Too… red.”
“Red?” Julia repeated, sniffling and rubbing her eyes. “What the hell does that mean?”
“Yeah, red. You know, red. Red lips. Red fingernails. Red cheeks. Too red for my taste.”
Julia scoffed. “You’re just trying to make me feel better.”
“Maybe. Is it working?” He smiled and her heart flipped around. That still happened sometimes with him during the rare occasions when he wasn’t discussing work, but almost flirting with her.
She smiled through her watery eyes. “Yes. I became the typical girl out here. Crying on the job. And all because of my mommy’s visit.” She shook her head.
He pretended to punch her arm in a friendly gesture. “Nah, anyone can be brought to their knees by their mamas. You haven’t met mine yet. Ever see a grown man crying? You would if I disappointed her.”
Julia let out a weary laugh. “I can’t believe she can still get to me. Or even that she came here.”
“Has it really been five years since you two spoke?”
“Really. Don’t lecture me either because she’s my mother. You don’t have a clue what it was like being her daughter. She likes to have sex with guys she’s just met, and meanwhile I’d be freaking waiting for her to pick me up. Once, when I was thirteen, she attended a parent/teacher conference with my science teacher because I was nearly flunking. Mom and Dad couldn’t make it, so Vickie offered to come. She openly flirted the entire time with my teacher, do you know why? She tried to bribe him into giving me a better grade. I couldn’t even make eye contact with that teacher for the rest of the school year.” She let out a slow breath. “Anyway, I don’t like her very much.”
