Violets are not Blue

by Melissa Toppen

  “Sorry.” His smile doesn’t falter.

  “Something funny?” I arch a brow, irritated by the pearly whites glistening at me.

  “My mom used to always say that to me when I was younger.”

  “Say what exactly?” I question, my attitude all kinds of major right now. I don’t know why I’m always so curt to him. I guess I want to make it known that I’m not like every other girl in our company. I don’t think he hung the moon and I sure as hell don’t want to sleep with him.

  Even if that last part is only partially true.

  But I would never do it simply because I wouldn’t want to give him the satisfaction of knowing that he got me.

  While he may think he’s god’s gift, I do not.

  “That I had selective memory.”

  “And do you?” Hannah chimes in behind me, a smile in her voice.

  “Only when it comes to certain things.” He winks at me and for some reason it leaves me with a weird feeling in the pit of my stomach, like I’m missing something.

  “So Harris,” Hannah steps around me so she’s standing next to me rather than behind me, “what brings you to our little Friday gathering. We don’t usually see you at these things.”

  “Robert.” He hitches his thumb backward in the vicinity of where Robert is standing, talking to a couple of the ladies that work in software testing. “He insisted that I come. Actually, he didn’t really give me much choice.” He chuckles to himself, turning his attention to the bartender as he sets a beer on the bar in front of him. “Thank you.” He nods, picking up the frosted glass.

  “Well, don’t let us keep you. I’m sure there are plenty of other people that you would like to talk to.” I give him an over exaggerated smile, not missing the hint of amusement that passes over his face.

  “That I do.” He fights against his own smile. “Hannah.” He nods to my friend next to me. “Blue.” His gray eyes come back to mine. “Always a pleasure.”

  “For you, maybe,” I mutter under my breath after he’s already turned and walked away.

  “What the hell is wrong with you?” Hannah slaps my arm, pulling my full attention back to her.

  “Ow.” I rub the spot she hit. “Why are you hitting me?”

  “Why are you so mean to him?”

  “Because he’s an arrogant, pompous asshole,” I say like it should be that obvious.

  “Okay, yes. There’s something about him that screams arrogance, but have you ever sat down and had an actual conversation with that man? I happen to think he’s pretty nice.”

  “Nice.” I cough at the absurdity. “Please tell me you’re joking.” I shake my head at her.

  “I’m serious. Maybe if you stopped being so mean to him and avoiding him at every turn, you’d realize he’s not that bad.”

  “Maybe I wouldn’t avoid him if he wasn’t such a sleaze bag.”

  “I think the proper term for it is player.”

  “I think the proper term for it is douche canoe.”

  “I think you’ve secretly got a thing for him,” she fires back, giving me that ‘I know you look’ over the rim of her wine glass.

  “I think maybe you do,” I spit back.

  “Maybe I do.” She shrugs indifferently. “After all, he is gorgeous. And god, look at those arms.” Her gaze slides past me, and even though I’m tempted to follow it, I keep my eyes locked on her. “But alas, I don’t think I’m his type.” She lets out a heavy sigh.

  “Pretty sure everyone is his type,” I disagree.

  “Or maybe that’s just what he wants people to think.”

  “Now you’re giving him too much credit.” I shove her shoulder playfully.

  She takes one last look at him before her eyes come back to mine. “You’re probably right,” she concedes. “Wishful thinking.” She takes a sip of wine. “I’d probably still bang him though.”

  “Oh my god.” I cover my mouth to quiet my laugh. “You are something else, Hannah Baker.”

  “And you wouldn’t have me any other way.”

  “No, I certainly would not.” Finishing off the remainder of my wine, I set my empty glass on top of the bar. “I need to run to the ladies.”

  “Okay.” She finishes off her wine and sets her glass next to mine. “Want me to order you another glass?”

  “No, I might grab another in a few.”

  “Okay. Well, I’m gonna go over there and say hi to Cassie and the girls.” She points to a table close to the door. “Meet me over there when you’re done?”

  “Sounds good.” I adjust my purse strap on my shoulder before taking off in the direction of the bathroom.

  Chapter Three

  Harris

  “You don’t like me very much, do you?” I ask, sliding up next to Blue at the bar.

  She turns to look in my direction, her wavy blonde hair brushing the tops of her shoulders as she does. She studies me for a long moment, her blue eyes locked on mine. Then she smiles at me. The kind of smile that says she knows something I don’t.

  “Now what would ever give you that idea?” she asks, looking past me to where Hannah and a few other women from the office are huddled around a high-top table.

  “Call it a gut feeling.”

  “Well, you know what they say about gut feelings.” She shrugs indifferently, turning her attention back to the bartender as he sets a glass of wine in front of her.

  “And what’s that?” I ask, watching her take a long drink of the red liquid.

  “That you should listen to them.” She sets her glass down, her slender fingers wrapped lightly around the stem.

  “You know what I can’t figure out though.” I turn, angling myself closer to her. “What exactly I did to make you dislike me so much?”

  “Well if you have to ask, you clearly aren’t very self-aware.” She keeps her gaze forward, lifting her glass to her lips for another sip of wine.

  “Why don’t you enlighten me?”

  “You really want to know?” She turns toward me, leaving her glass on the bar top.

  “Yes, I really do.”

  “Normally I wouldn’t say this to someone I work with, but given your persistence I think I’ll make an exception.” She licks her bottom lip and my groin tightens.

  Whether she likes me or not, it doesn’t change how attractive she is. In fact, I might even go as far as to say that it makes her more so. You know what they say about a chase. And I have no doubt this woman would give me a run for my money.

  “I think you’re an arrogant, know it all, who spends more time groping his co-workers than actually working with them.”

  “So that’s what you don’t like about me?” I bark out a laugh. “Because I’m flirtatious.”

  “What you do goes far past flirting and we both know it.”

  “Are you calling me a womanizer, Ms. Daniels?”

  “No, I’m calling you a whore.” She crosses her arms in front of her chest and hits me with a pointed stare.

  “If you didn’t look so damn sexy saying that, I might be offended.” I smirk.

  “And there is my case in point.” She shakes her head, turning back toward the bar.

  I settle in next to her, resting my elbows on top of the bar.

  “So is your problem that I’m a whore, as you so eloquently put it, or that you’re jealous because I’ve never made a pass at you?”

  “Why on earth would that make me jealous?” she spits, nearly choking on the words.

  “Because maybe deep down you want me to.”

  “I hate to break it to you, Mr. Avery, but that couldn’t be further from the truth.”

  She says my name with so much disdain it’s hard for me to contain my smile. I can’t help it. The more irritated she becomes the more I think maybe I made a mistake in keeping my distance from her.

  It wasn’t by choice, of course. I felt an instant attraction to her the first time she walked by my desk in that tight little pencil skirt. But it was made very clear to me in the
very beginning that she was off limits. In fact, Robert threatened me within an inch of my life if I so much as went near her. Apparently, she’s like a daughter to him and he didn’t hold back his anger when he caught me staring at her from across the room.

  Normally, I’m not one to take orders from anyone, but Robert was so adamant and given that I really need this job to stick, I didn’t push the issue. There are plenty of fish in the office sea. But that still hasn’t stopped me from finding reasons to put myself in the vicinity of her desk nearly every day so I could get a glimpse of her. You always want what you can’t have, or so the saying goes. I’m starting to think that maybe feigning disinterest and keeping my distance from her has made this game a lot more interesting. Too bad she still has no clue that we’re playing.

  What she doesn’t know yet, is that Robert is announcing his retirement next week. Which means, that once he’s gone, Blue will be fair game.

  “Now why do I find that so hard to believe?” I ask, leaning in close.

  “Maybe because you think no woman in this world is immune to your charm.” She inches further away, but for every inch she pulls away, I move in closer, our shoulders now touching.

  “And you are?” I whisper, not missing the way a shiver runs through her as my breath dances across her neck.

  “Most definitely.” She straightens her shoulders and turns her head toward me, her gaze hard and unreadable. “You may have everyone else fooled but I see you, Harris Avery.”

  “And what do you see, exactly?”

  “Blue?” An unfamiliar voice washes over us and we both turn in unison.

  “Bruce.” Blue smiles, making quick work of wrapping her arms around the man’s neck and pulling him in for a hug.

  “Sorry I’m late. I got caught up at the gym.”

  “No worries.” Blue adjusts her purse on her shoulder.

  “You about ready?”

  “You have no idea.” She throws me a sideways glance.

  “Hi, I’m Harris. A friend of Blue’s.” I step up, extending my hand to the man that I tower over by a good four or five inches. He’s muscular, I’ll give him that, but I can’t see the attraction. Blue is so far out of his league it’s laughable.

  “Co-worker,” Blue interjects a little too forcefully. “We work in the same department,” she explains, more composed now.

  “Bruce.” He gives my hand a shake before quickly releasing it.

  “Are you saying we aren’t friends?” I take a step back, my gaze sliding to the sexy little blonde next to me.

  “We should probably get going, Bruce.” She ignores my question, looping her arm through his as she attempts to cart him away.

  “It was nice meeting you, Bruce.” I nod before turning my attention to Blue. “I’ll see you Monday.” My words hold a hint of a promise.

  Without commenting, Blue turns, pulling Bruce alongside her toward the door.

  Chapter Four

  Blue

  “So I was thinking.” I look up from my computer screen to see Harris leaning against my cubicle wall, his hair disheveled and the top two buttons of his shirt undone. I internally roll my eyes and quiver a little all at the same time. “I think you and I got off on the wrong foot.”

  “I have work to do, Harris, so unless you need something...” I let the statement trail off.

  “You really are a tough egg, aren’t you?” He seems amused by this fact.

  “Do you need something or did you just come over here to torture me?” I feign disinterest, but I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t at least a little curious about what he wants.

  “You heard about Robert?”

  “I did.”

  “I just got out of a meeting with Tom. Apparently they’ve decided not to replace him which means they will be splitting up his workload to other members of the team.”

  “Okay,” I draw out, waiting for him to make a point.

  “Some of that workload has been passed onto me.”

  “Good for you?”

  “Well actually, it is good for me. You see, they’ve given me his client accounts which means you and I are going to be working together more frequently.”

  I try to ignore the whoosh that runs through my gut. Please God, no.

  “Tom wanted me to touch base with you today so you can catch me up on where we stand with everything. I was thinking maybe we could do a working lunch. What do you say? We can hit up the little Thai place on the corner.”

  “Actually, I’m really busy. I’ll probably just eat lunch at my desk.” It’s the first excuse I can think of. “If you want to sit down for a meeting, you can schedule one like everyone else does.”

  “You’re not going to make this easy on me, are you?” He smirks, amused by my unwillingness.

  “Nope.”

  “Okay then.” He nods, mulling something over in his head. I can physically see the wheels turning. “For the record, I’m not so easy to get rid of.”

  “For the record, I’m not that easy to get into bed.” My jaw goes slack as I realize what I just said. Shit. Shit. Shit. Totally unprofessional.

  “So you have thought about it then?” He smirks.

  “Thought about what exactly?” I play stupid.

  “Having me in your bed.”

  “What?” I blurt out, my voice a little louder than I intended for it to be.

  “It’s okay, Blue. I’d be more than happy to give you what you want.”

  “Oh my god.” I feel the heat creep up my cheeks. I’m not sure if I’m more embarrassed, angry, or frankly, turned on. I refuse to believe the latter. “Was that all?” I look back at my computer screen, pretending to read something, trying to put an end to this conversation before it goes any further.

  “For now.” I look up moments later to catch his backside as he walks away.

  Not five minutes pass before a notification pops up on my desktop, informing me that an overview meeting has been scheduled for this afternoon at one p.m. When I open my calendar, I’m not at all surprised to see who the organizer is... Harris Avery.

  Fuck my life.

  ——

  “You made it.” Harris looks up from the head of the meeting table where he’s sitting, files spread out in front of him, his laptop open to his left.

  “Not like I had a choice,” I grumble under my breath, closing the door behind me.

  “I’ve been looking over the processes you have in place for testing and development and I gotta say, you’re spinning your wheels a little.” He jumps right into business before I have a chance to sit down.

  “How so?” I ask, sliding into the seat to his right before popping open my laptop.

  “Well, for example, the Developers are pushing things into production without them going through the proper IT channels. Which would explain why you’ve had so many client complaints recently.”

  “How do you know we’ve had a lot of client complaints?” I arch a brow, surprised by this professional side of him. I expected this entire meeting to be full of sexual innuendoes, him insinuating that I want to sleep with him. I’m relieved to see he’s actually taking this seriously and wants to work.

  “Because a lot of those complaints come through Robert, and now, me. I’ve been reviewing all his files and I’ve come to one very important conclusion. We need to come up with a more efficient way to push things through production using the proper channels.”

  “Okay, so what do you suggest?”

  “I’ve already talked to Mike.”

  I’m shocked. Mike is the VP over IT, though he’s rarely ever in the office. He splits his time between this office and the office in Atlanta, and he’s extremely difficult to pin down, which is why I’m a little surprised that he’s already spoken to him.

  Harris continues, “He agrees that some changes need to take place to create a more streamline process. One that must be followed. We can’t have our developers doing whatever they want. The testing team is there for a reason.”

  “
I agree.” I nod my head. “I’ve brought this concern up several times but as a BA, no one listens to me.”

  “Well they’re going to start listening. As of today, we are going to rework the testing processes. From the moment you receive the client’s specifications to the final product being pushed to the client, there will be a step-by-step guide. Every step must be completed before we can move on and everyone must sign off on each step. That way if someone starts skipping steps, they can be held accountable. What are your thoughts on this?”

  “I think this all sounds amazing,” I say, impressed by his eagerness to jump in and take the reins. Robert is an amazingly sweet man, but with that comes his downfalls. He’s the least assertive person I know, and because of this most people take complete advantage of him. It’s difficult to make change when there’s no one willing to enforce said change.

  But Harris doesn’t strike me as the type of person to let things slide. Maybe working with him won’t be so bad after all.

  “I’m going to schedule a meeting with Peter and Robin this week. Once we have the developing manager and IT manager in the know, we can move forward. We will need their help in coming up with this new strategy. I’ll want you in that meeting as well.”

  “Why?” I question, having never really been included in this aspect of the business.

  “Because you’re smart and you know what’s going on around here. You also see the changes that need to be made. Not to mention, you’re where the process begins and ends. It only makes sense that you be a part of this. At the end of the day, you’re responsible for the client. You can’t do your job if the developers and testers aren’t doing theirs. So instead of working against each other, we are going to pull together and work as a unit.” He shuffles some of the papers in front of him before sliding one in my direction.

  We spend the next forty-five minutes making a list of suggestions we both have on how the functionality of our department could improve. By the end of the meeting, I find myself questioning if maybe I misjudged Harris. But just as the thought takes hold, it immediately goes right out the window.