He hesitated. “Well.....after I shaved my name into his head, I may or may not have decorated it by spray painting neon green and black leopard spots.”
What in the world?
“I did not just hear you say that.....Goodbye Tyler.”
I hung up the phone before he had a chance to say anything else. Is this some sort of an initiation? Are they are getting paid to do the craziest things they can think to see how I handle the situation? Most likely the answer to that question was no. Somehow I think these shenanigans are a normal part of life for these boys.
Jonathan stopped by my office before he left to tell me that I had two other clients I was representing. He said he didn’t want to overwhelm me too much on the first day, so he scheduled the rest of my client meetings throughout the week, which I thought was nice.
He left a few files with me that contained some information about my new clients. One was an actress I had never heard of before name Julissa Patton and the second was a surfer named Kyle Anderson. I put their names on my search list. I swear I’m not a cyber-stalker or anything like that; I just don’t want to look stupid in front of my new clients. Okay that and I want to stay busy.....and I’m a little bit nosy.
At exactly four on the dot, I put on my coat, flung my purse over my shoulder and made my way out the door.
As soon as I got home, I traded my work clothes for a pair of gray cotton lounge pants and a long sleeve pink shirt. I walked into the kitchen and poured myself a glass of Riesling, which is my favorite wine. Grabbing a book and my glass of wine, I walked out to my balcony. Curling up into the chaise lounge, I opened my book and began to read. I was so into my book that I barely noticed that the sun was setting. All of the sudden, my belly started growling fiercely and I realized that I was starving. I looked at my cell phone and was surprised to see that it was already 6:45. No wonder I was so hungry!
I reluctantly pulled myself up from the lounge and went into the kitchen to make dinner. After spending the next fifteen minutes doing the shuffle between the cabinets and the refrigerator, I gave up and decided to just eat a bowl of cereal. After I was done eating, I decided to call Noelle and attempt to talk some sense into her. She answered after the first ring.
“Are you mad at me?” She asked.
“I’m not mad but are you? And when I say mad I mean like in a crazy sort of way.”
“It was so stupid, a big mistake. I tried to call and tell him that but he doesn’t answer any of my calls.”
“So you don’t have a thing for my brother?”
“No not even! No offense, your brother is cute and he is a nice guy and all but I don’t see him in that way. I mean this is the guy that use to put worms in our hair and pull our dolls heads off.”
Ugh, well that’s a relief!
“Alright, well I just wanted to make sure you’re okay.”
“Totally fine, mortified maybe, but otherwise totally fine.”
We both hung up. Well that was easier than I thought it was going to be.
Chapter Three
When I got into work I started going through the folder I had on the actress, Julissa, since I was scheduled to meet with her the next day. She is apparently known for being high maintenance and she has a hobby for stealing other people’s boyfriends and, in some cases, husbands. I saw something that mentioned an ex-husband or two but it didn’t say to who or why these marriages ended.
I did a filmography search on my computer to see if I had ever seen any movies she was in. She had a long list of teenage horror movie roles, that didn’t seem like anything I would ever waste my time watching. I pulled up a picture of her to see what she looked like. She was my age, but looked like she was eighteen. She was pretty with long blonde hair and bright blue eyes. She looked like someone my brother would date. I made a mental note to never let them meet if he ever comes to visit me.
“Are you doing anything next weekend Chloe?” Wes asked as I sat down with him and Skylar for lunch.
Is that a joke?
“My schedule is pretty much wide open.” I laughed.
“You should go to Barnaby’s with us. We’re going to see this great punk rock band called Fifty Three Stampede.” He said.
“You totally should,” Skylar exclaimed, “You’ll have so much fun.”
“Yeah sure! Sounds great!” I exclaimed.
I was excited to have something to look forward to. As soon as I got back to my office, I wrote “Barnaby’s with Wes and Skylar” on my desk calendar, put it into my day planner, programmed it into my cell phone and sent myself a text message to put it on my calendar at home.
After work I changed into jeans and a green striped sweater and decided to go for a walk. I walked to the sidewalk and glanced down both ends of the street before deciding to head off to the left. My new neighborhood was pretty cute. There was a coffee shop that had a couple of bistro style tables and chairs outside. Across the street from the coffee shop was a cozy little Italian restaurant called Leonardo’s. I could smell their food from across the street and it was making my mouth water.
I walked a little farther down and found a clothing store. I walked inside and was instantly glad I left my wallet at home. The clothes were really cute and I could easily blow a month’s salary in here. I made two laps around the store and left with a mental list of things I intended to go back for. The delicious aroma of meatballs wafting from the Italian restaurant was making me hungry. As I walked up to the door of my building, Tyler and Noah were walking out.
“Let me get the door for you beautiful.” Tyler said.
“Thanks.” I said as I stepped through the door. I wasn’t sure if I should stop and talk so I kept walking. When I go closer to the elevator, I turned around and watched the two of them walk towards the coffee shop. It was kind of funny seeing the two of them together. With Tyler’s blue Mohawk and Noah’s bright red hair, they almost looked like clowns. For a moment I wondered what they were doing and whether or not I was going to get a phone call about it in the morning.
~*~
I walked into my office the next morning and saw a gorgeous, blonde haired, blue eyed, tiny waisted woman sitting at my desk. I immediately recognized her from my research the day before.
She looked at me and narrowed her icy blue eyes.
“You’re late.” She said sharply.
“I’m sorry Julissa, but weren’t we supposed to meet at 11:30? It’s 8:45.”
“We meet when I am ready.”
“Okay, well let me tell you a little about myself I.....”
She held up my hand to stop me. “No time. Next time you be here when I come in.”
She got up and started to walk out.
I was standing there trying to figure out what just happened when Jocalyn walked in.
“Hi Chloe, Jack Riley stopped by and asked me to give this to you.”
She handed me a flyer for a show that Subzero was playing this Saturday night at a bar called Stoaked. Julissa turned around and snatched the flyer out of my hands. Jocalyn looked at Julissa like she had lost her mind before she turned to me.
“Are you going? Can I go with you?” Jocalyn asked hopefully as she reached her hands up and pushed her hair behind her ears.
“Yes she is going. She is going to introduce me to Jack. He’s positively delicious.” Julissa said. She looked Jocalyn up and down. “You are NOT going with us.”
Julissa stood in front of me and looked me straight in the eye. “Do make sure you are there when I arrive.” She gave Jocalyn the once-over again, scrunching her nose up in obvious disgust before she turned and walked out.
“Ew.....What’s up her ass?” Jocalyn asked.
“I have no idea, but it must be very sharp and uncomfortable.” I said.
“So are you going?”
“Probably not.”
She gave me a disappointed look and went back to her desk. I sat down in a chair, closed my eyes and pinched the bridge of my nose with my thumb and index finger. I
t was barely 9:00 and Little Miss Horror Flicks was already giving me a headache. At that moment, Wes and Skylar came barging into my office.
“We were wondering if you were going to get the diva!” Wes laughed.
“You guys knew about this? Thanks for the warning.” I said sarcastically.
“When Joanie left, some of her clients were getting moved to different publicists in the office and some were going to you. We weren’t sure who was getting stuck with her.” Skylar explained.
“So is she always like this?” I asked.
“Yeah she is quite the bloody pain in the arse.” Skylar said.
“Yeah it seems that way. She pretty much demanded I take her to Stoaked and introduce her to one of the guys from Subzero.” I said.
“Fun place, good band,” Wes said nodding his head. “Just remember, there are three things Julissa Patton cares about - herself, money and who can make her look better.”
I sighed as Wes and Skylar walked out. This ought to be interesting. First of all, I had no interest in hanging out with Julissa and second, I am not introducing her to Jack. I’m not playing matchmaker with my clients and even if I was, I didn’t want to match someone like Jack with someone like her.
I clicked back to my search engine and typed in Kyle Anderson. It seems Surfer Boy Kyle has quite the reputation as a party boy. I was just thinking I should introduce him to Julissa when I scroll down a little farther and found out that they actually had a quickie marriage two years ago. They were only married for forty two hours before he filled for an annulment. They got married after knowing each other for three weeks.
Suddenly I found a growing interest in Julissa’s past relationships, so I decided to search her a little bit more. Aside from her extremely brief marriage to Kyle, she was also married to a hip hop dancer for six months the year before. Her list of ex-boyfriends was quite large an impressive. She’s dated half of England. Her laundry list of guys ranged from young playboys to recording executives to actors to musicians and, not surprisingly, an eighty year old billionaire. He apparently died before she could fully sink her teeth into him.
Just as I was turning off my computer Jonathan dropped by to remind me of our meeting with Kyle tomorrow. I put on my coat, turned around and saw Jocalyn standing in the doorway with a surprisingly timid look on her face.
“Ummm, I’m off tomorrow and I just wanted to ask you something before I go.” She said.
“Sure, what’s up?”
“I know you said you weren’t going to go to Stoaked Saturday night but I was wondering if you would ring me up if you changed your mind.”
“Sure.” I said giving her a smile. I had no intention of going, but if I did change my mind, I certainly didn’t want to go by myself.
“Great, thanks!” She said grinning from ear to ear. She thrust a piece of paper into my hands and bounced off down the hallway.
I grabbed my purse and headed off to home and a large glass of Cabernet Sauvignon.
~*~
Jack and Tyler walked out of Jacks apartment the next morning just as I was leaving for work. I quickly locked my door and was turning to head towards the elevator with them when I stumbled backwards. They both stifled a laugh as I looked down and realized I had shut part of my coat in the door. I freed myself and hoped they had walk away, but unfortunately they waited for me.
“All caught up there eh?” Jack laughed.
I shot him an annoyed look. “Funny.”
“I thought so.” Tyler said.
“Did the girl at the desk give you the flyer for our show?” Jack asked me as we walked outside.
“Uh, she did but I’m not sure if I can make it.”
Jacks face fell and my heart fluttered as I realized he was disappointed.
“Oh.....well maybe another time.” He said.
I nodded and turned around to head off towards the subway station.
“Have a good day at the office my dear.” Tyler yelled out after me.
I laughed to myself and shook my head.
Halfway through my subway ride into work I realized I hadn’t eaten breakfast yet. By the time I got to work my stomach was growling so loudly, I’m pretty sure everyone in a ten mile radius could hear it. That was one nice thing about working in a building that has a cafeteria. I popped in real quick and grabbed a peppermint hot chocolate and a French toast bagel with cinnamon sugar cream cheese. I think they used half a tub of cream cheese on my bagel but I ate it all anyway. I’d have to be mad to waste perfectly good cream cheese so I made a mental notation to go for a walk later. Besides, I felt like I earned it once I got into my office and listened to my voicemail.
“Good morning, this is Marleigh Tomkins with The Journal. I’m calling to speak with you regarding the rumors that Noah Walker and Dean Marshall from Subzero broke two barstools and a man’s leg doing back flips off the bar at Tomfoolereys. If you could please.....”
I sat there in amazement. Really? Seriously.....this has got to be some sort of a test or something right? Let’s see how far we can push Chloe like they are a bunch of two year olds testing their limits with a new babysitter. I glanced at the clock on my computer. I had a client coming in any minute so this was just going to have to wait until later.
Just as surfer boy Kyle was walking in, a young singer was walking out of Skylar’s office. Kyle looked her up and down. “Well hello there gorgeous!” he said to her with a wink.
The girl gave me a look that clearly said “Is this guy for real” and we both shook our heads.
He watched her and her mom walk away and then he looked at me and nodded. “Sup?”
“She’s like sixteen, that’s ‘sup.” I said.
“Overprotective. I dig it.”
“I take it your Kyle Anderson.”
“You are correct foxy lady.”
Seriously? Who does this guy think he is? Kyle sat down and we talked for about twenty minutes, which was about as long as I could take him. It took everything I had not to ask him about when he married Julissa. If he had stayed any longer or if Jonathan wasn’t there I may have asked him.
After Kyle left, Jonathan and I went down to get some lunch. Lunch with him was kind of awkward. Jonathan is a nice guy and all, but he’s my boss and I had no idea what to talk to him about. After forty five minutes of forced conversation about work, we headed back upstairs. I had been back in my office for about five minutes when Jonathan popped his head in.
“You know seeing as it is your first week and it is Friday, you can head out early. Get an early start on your weekend.” He said.
“Thanks Jonathan,” I said with a hint of surprise in my voice,” That would be great, just let me know when I should go.”
“Chloe, go.....now.....start your weekend. Meet people and have fun.” He said with a smile.
“Are you sure? Thanks!” I said as I grabbed my stuff.
“Have a great weekend.” He said.
“I will, you too and thanks again.” I said as I walked out.
I got home and wondered if maybe I should have stayed at work. I had no idea what I was going to do with my evening, let alone my weekend.
First things first, I wanted to get out of my work clothes. I headed into the bedroom and changed into a pair of jeans and a tan and pink striped sweater. I tried to thinking of something I could do that would pass time. I grabbed a puzzle out of my hall closet and sat down on the living room floor. I got the entire outline of the puzzle put together when the most depressing thought of my life hit me. I was twenty five years old and I was sitting at home...alone...on a Friday night...doing a puzzle. Why did I even have this? I couldn’t figure out what my thought process could have been when I packed this. I looked around the room and a piece of paper sticking out of my purse caught my eye.
I grabbed the piece of paper, opened my cell phone and punched in a phone number.
“Hey Jocalyn, its Chloe are you still free tomorrow night?”
Chapter Four
I w
oke up the next morning and immediately started to panic. I couldn’t believe I agreed to go tonight. For a split second I considered calling Jocalyn back and faking an illness, but she was so excited when I called her last night. There’s no turning back now, I’m just gonna have to buck up and go. Besides, I know if I call her and bum her out, I’m just going to end up feeling bad and calling her for a third time to say I’ll go. So I might as well save myself the headache and show up. It can’t be that bad right? I glanced towards my closet and decided that this called for a new outfit.
I took a quick shower, made the decision to let my hair air dry because, if I am being completely honest with you, I was too lazy to bother with blow drying, and pulled on a pair of jeans, a long sleeve white shirt and a gray t-shirt. I swung by the kitchen on my way to the living room to pour myself a glass of orange juice and grab a banana muffin. Grabbing my laptop and plopping down onto the sofa, I pulled up the internet and looked at a couple of local clothing stores while I ate my muffin.
I wasn’t really sure what kind of a look I was going for tonight. The only thing I knew was that I didn’t want to look like I purposely went out to buy a new outfit, even though that was exactly what I was doing. After I was done eating and online window shopping, I went into the bathroom to check my hair. It was dry enough, but looked absolutely frightening. I guess that is the price you pay when you forgo the blow dryer. This definitely called for a hat. I pulled on a gray knit cap and added a matching long scarf just to show that I could slightly accessorize. I grabbed my purse and after giving myself a final smile in the mirror, I walked out the door and down the street to that cute little store I found the other night.
Excitement coursed through my veins as soon as I walked into the store. Shopping has always been one of my most favorite things to do. I got the same feelings when I saw a clearance sign as I did the first time I let Mikey Beaumont get to second base when I was in twelfth grade. Okay, so maybe it was third base and it wasn’t the exact same feeling but it’s still an exciting moment nonetheless. I made a lap around the store, grabbing things as I went along and then made my way to the fitting room.
Fall into my Heart (The Subzero Series, #1) Page 3
