The Immortal Mark

by Amy Sparling

  “Hello,” I say softly. I give a little wave.

  The first one, a tall man with the stature of a soldier and red hair shaved short, gives me a polite nod. “I almost forgot we were getting new girls today. Welcome to the team.”

  As they walk toward the front of the plane, the sound of heavy footsteps on the stairs make me pause. Another guy enters the plane, this one dressed in dark jeans and a black leather jacket.

  My heart catches in my throat.

  “What the hell are you doing here?” Theo says.

  Chapter 11

  I’m in such a great mood, I don’t notice the hint of anger in his voice. “Theo?” I say, trying—but failing—to hide my grin. I’ve spent the last few days wallowing in self-pity because I thought I’d never see him again. And now here he is, somehow more handsome than I remember, standing right in front of me. “What are you doing here?”

  “I asked first.” He steps closer to me, his broad shoulders making an impassable wall in the narrow aisle of the private jet. His arms fold over his chest and my eyes go right to the veins on his forearms, the taut muscles beneath them. I want to slip inside his arms and feel them wrap around me again. “Cara, why are you here?”

  “I’m getting a job,” I say, blinking in an effort to slow my rapid heart. The last thing I need to do is melt into a puddle of lovesick goo right here in this expensive airplane, but seeing him after the last few days of missing him is doing crazy things to my insides. My mouth still tastes like that heavenly drink, but my throat is dry and I’m pretty sure my heart has lodged itself somewhere in my sternum instead of where it’s supposed to be.

  Theo hasn’t shaved at all since I saw him on my birthday, and the shadowy scruff of a new beard makes him look dark and sexy. His hair hangs low over his brow, which pulls together while he studies me.

  “Cara.” His voice is hard. He grabs my shoulders but it’s not at all like the passionate embrace we had on the pier. “Turn around and leave.”

  “What?” I blanch. “No way. I’m here for a job. It’s a good job. I need this.”

  I need you. But I don’t say that part out loud.

  A muscle in his jaw flinches. “It is not a good job. You can’t work here.”

  He says something else, too, but I don’t hear it. I’ve become afflicted with tunnel vision, and all I see are his dark pink lips, twisted into a scowl.

  And then I’m thinking something dirty.

  I bet I could turn that frown upside down.

  Desire takes over, forcing all rational thoughts out of my mind. It doesn’t matter that I’m on a plane, wearing business attire, in the middle of a job interview. I launch myself toward him, my hands grabbing his shirt and pulling him forward. He freezes. I kiss him anyway. When my lips press to his, I feel his entire body loosen, tight muscles relaxing.

  He sighs.

  Somewhere in the back of my mind, I know this is weird. There’s a tiny little voice telling me my new employers are at the other side of this plane and if they walk down here they’ll see me with Theo, doing very inappropriate things for a new employee on her first day.

  But it doesn’t matter.

  I. Can’t. Stop.

  “Kiss me,” I whisper, my words hungry, my thoughts wrapped in desire for him and only him.

  “Dammit,” he whispers against my lips. Then he lifts me a little bit of the floor and pushes me backward, through a tiny door at the end of the hallway.

  It’s cooler back here than in the rest of the plane. I take a moment to look around, keeping my hands flattened on Theo’s chest. I’m afraid if I let go, he might disappear on me again. I can’t go another moment without being near him.

  We’re in a small bedroom. Well, the only small thing about it is the room size. The mattress in the middle of the space is huge, overflowing with cream colored silk sheets and fluffy overstuffed pillows with golden trim. The walls are curved, with a strand of lights built into them, giving the place a romantic glow. There’s a mini fridge and a little television on the wall.

  I turn back to Theo and slide my arms around his neck. That little voice that’s been dancing around shouting warnings at me is back. She tells me that Theo’s body language is that of someone who doesn’t want to do this. He’s standing rigid, his jaw tight, brows pulled together in a crease on his forehead.

  But I tell that little voice to screw off because I don’t have time for her right now. Plus, every time I kiss him, he melts right into it. He can’t deny me just like I can’t deny him.

  “I missed you,” I whisper, pulling up on his shoulders so that our bodies are pressed together. I need him. I need him so badly I can’t stand it.

  I run my tongue across his bottom lip. He pulls it into his mouth, then kisses me deeper. His hands, rough and calloused, slide up under my satin blouse and over my ribcage. I shudder, wrapping my arms around his neck to bring him closer.

  Closer.

  Closer.

  I need this.

  I need him.

  Theo breathes in deeply, then sighs, pulling me back a few inches. “Cara,” he says, his voice deep and penetrating. Those gorgeous amber eyes meet mine. “They gave you a drink, didn’t they? The gris.”

  I don’t know what that word is, but I know he’s right. I nod, then go in for another kiss. “It’s delicious. But it’s not as good as kissing you.”

  A small groan escapes his lips. His head leans back as if he doesn’t want to make out right now. But that can’t possibly be the case. We’re made for each other. He has to want me too, right? Pain slices through my chest. Theo is still resisting me. I frown.

  “What’s wrong?”

  “Cara…” He breathes in and lets it out slowly. “We can’t do this. You’re not thinking right.”

  “I’m thinking perfectly right,” I say, taking a step back.

  But now that there’s some space between us, my mind is whirling. My heart beats quicker and that little voice I’d been ignoring is suddenly screaming at me, jumping up and down and freaking out.

  “Oh my god,” I say, eyes wide. “I can’t believe I did that. I’m on a freaking job interview!”

  I cover my face with my hands. What’s going on outside of this room? Are Henry and Kyle and everyone else watching, waiting for us to come out? Will I be fired on the spot? Riley will get to travel to Austin and be a trophy employee and I’ll be stuck here.

  And she can’t even help me out with money because she won’t get paid for a full year.

  “Oh my god,” I say. How could I have been so stupid? What sort of insane lovesick idiot am I that I can’t even wait until after the interview to pounce on him?

  Theo takes my hands, his thumbs tracing circles in my palms. “It’s okay. Breathe. The gris is a special drink. It lowers your inhibitions.” He chuckles. “That’s probably why you threw yourself on me.”

  “Yeah,” I say, forcing a smile. It all makes sense now. The drink, the warm soothing feeling I got with each sip. That’s why I did this just now. That’s why I threw myself at this guy and forced him to make out with me.

  “Well…” I run a hand through my hair. “I wasn’t making out with any other guys I saw,” I say. “It was just you. Because well…”

  “Because we have a connection,” he says, his voice filled with sorrow.

  “A connection,” I say, feeling a warm tingle rise up in my stomach. “I like that.”

  He shakes his head. “Cara—”

  I can tell whatever he’s going to say is probably something I won’t like. I don’t have time for that now. “Why did they give me a drink that made me act like this?”

  “It gets you to loosen up so you tell the truth in your interview.”

  “I guess that makes sense. Now how do I get out of here without looking guilty as hell? I need this job, Theo. I can’t screw it up on my first day.”

  “Oh, yes you can. You’re not accepting the job.”

  I back up, my heels touching the base of the bed. “Um,
no. I am taking the job.”

  “No, you aren’t. You’ll go back out there and say thanks but no thanks and leave.” Theo’s expression has shifted from soft and romantic to stern. There’s something in his gaze that frightens me, just like when he’d yelled at those drone kids on the pier. Something in him has changed. “How did you get here?”

  “A friend drove us,” I say, my voice much weaker than I want it to be.

  “Us?”

  I shrug. “Me and Riley. We’re both hired.”

  His jaw flexes. “I’ll drive you both home. Let’s go.”

  He turns, reaching for the small handle on the bedroom door.

  “No!” I grab his arm, digging my nails into his flesh. “I’m not going home. I’m staying here. I need this job. We can be together.”

  He rips my hand off his wrist in one quick motion. “You are not taking this job.” He glares at me. “You and your friend are going home. And we can’t be together.”

  “What the hell?” I say, rubbing my arm from where he’d grabbed me. “Obviously you work here, right? It’s perfect.”

  He doesn’t answer, he just keeps his gaze fixed on me. If I didn’t already know him, if I hadn’t seen into his soul that night we’d first kissed, then I’d be scared shitless looking at him now. But I stand my ground and try not to let him intimidate me. “We have a connection, you said it yourself. So why don’t you want us working together?”

  I laugh deliriously and throw my hands in the air. “Theo? I mean what the hell? This is perfect. We can be together. I can be your trophy assistant.”

  He scowls. “You will never be my assistant.”

  His words slice through me more painfully than a weapon ever could. Tears sting my eyes and I don’t have the energy to hold them back.

  “I don’t understand.”

  “And you won’t,” he says, his expression softening. “Cara, I think you’re amazing. And believe me, if there was another way, I would be with you. I swear to God.” He touches my face, his thumb wiping off the tear from my cheek.

  “So be with me,” I whisper, glad to have the sweet side of him back.

  And just as quickly as it arrived, it disappears again. Theo straightens. “That can’t happen. You’re going home.”

  My stomach drops. And then I get angry.

  “I get it now. You already have a trophy girlfriend back in Austin. Is that it?”

  His scowl doesn’t change, but there’s something behind his eyes that tells me he’s in pain. I shake my head, disgusted. “You’re a fucking asshole. You probably pick up some girl in every town you travel to, all while your real girlfriend is back at home waiting on you.”

  “Cara—” Theo sighs. “Please don’t do this. You need to leave.”

  “No, you need to leave.” Pain radiates throughout my heart. I can’t believe I let myself get tricked into thinking Theo and I were perfect for each other. I can’t believe I fell for a guy who only wanted one night with me.

  I am an idiot. But I won’t let that ruin my future.

  “Get the hell out of my way,” I say, reaching around him and yanking open the door. To my relief, no one is in this part of the plane. There’s a loud conversation taking place up near the cockpit, with laughter and the sounds of wine glasses clinking together. Maybe they didn’t even notice I was gone. I’ll say I went to the bathroom.

  I turn back to Theo. For a split second, that pain in his eyes spreads onto his whole face. He looks like a broken man.

  I decide to break him even more, hoping he will hurt the way he’s hurt me. “If you’re lucky, I won’t tell your girlfriend what you did,” I hiss, and then I turn back around.

  “What did I miss?” I say, doing some world class acting to make it seem like I’m fine and like nothing happened back there.

  Riley hands me my wine glass. Her cheeks are pink, her eyes sparkling. The gris looks wonderful on her. “Kyle was telling me about this girl who wanted to work for them last year but she was terrified of airplanes and never got off the runway.”

  “Wow,” I say, pretending like that’s even remotely interesting. “That’s a stupid excuse to turn down such a great job.”

  “Our pilot is amazing,” one of the other guys says. “You don’t need to worry at all.”

  “There he is,” Henry says, his attention toward the back of the plane. “Theo, come say hello to our newest employees.”

  Theo walks slowly, that cool carefree expression back on his face. Just like me, he’s acting. Acting like things are fine. Pretending he didn’t cheat on some girlfriend back at home.

  “I’ve had the pleasure of meeting Cara already,” he says, taking me by surprise. When he looks at me, I look away. “I gave her a tour of the plane.”

  “Great.” Henry nods. “This is Riley. She’s best friends with Cara and we have the pleasure to have both of them on our team.” To us, he says, “We work a lot, girls. So that bedroom back there is yours if you want it. We never sleep, do we?”

  Some of the guys laugh and nod in agreement. I sneak a glance at every other guy here and none of them seem suspicious of me or what Theo and I just did back there. Good.

  My reputation is still intact. I turn to Riley and hold up my glass. “Let’s toast to the kindness of our new employers.”

  “Yes,” Riley says. “To you all.”

  “Hear, hear!” one of the guys says. They all raise their glasses and we toast. Well, everyone except Theo, who is brooding in the corner.

  Just to spite him, I turn to Henry. “So boss, when do we start?”

  Chapter 12

  Up until now, Henry’s personality had been a little dry, his demeanor nothing but professional and polite. But now he’s joining in on the enthusiasm from the rest of us. “You’ll start tomorrow. I’ll fetch the contracts.”

  The three other guys on the plane introduce themselves to us, but I’m not really paying attention, other than noticing their names. Well, I catch one name. Russel is the guy with short red hair who looks like he walked right out of the army and into this company. He kind of looks like a first class asshole, but he seems nice enough.

  I might be the only one who notices Theo slip off the plane. His fists are balled at his sides, shoulders tight. The plane shakes a little as he stomps down the stairs and disappears from my view. I try not to think about it. He may have played me for a fool on my own birthday, but that’s over now. I’ve seen his true colors and I’m still deciding if I should tell his girlfriend when I inevitably meet her.

  I probably won’t say a word. This job is more important than revealing that one of my coworkers is a slime ball. Besides, maybe the girl already knows it. Maybe she’ll break up with him on her own accord.

  Riley and I are given a black leather folder and a heavy ball point pen. “You’ll sign both pages and keep one for yourself,” Henry explains. The folder is yours to keep as well.”

  “Sweet,” Riley says, opening her folder. I open mine too and find that the contract is even shorter than the waiver to use the internet at the public library. I guess that’s a good thing. This company is pretty straight forward with their amazingly awesome job opportunity.

  Rosewater Industries

  Employee Contract

  I, Cara Blackwell, hereby agree to a contractual employment with Rosewater Industries, starting July 25th, 2017 and ending July 25th 2018, unless I choose to renew for another year.

  I will keep all company business confidential.

  I will keep all rules, regulations, etc to the best of my ability.

  It’s kind of vague, but Riley scribbles her signature on the page so quickly I don’t think she’s even read it all. I sign my name too, and hand the top page to Henry.

  “Welcome aboard,” he says. “You can go home tonight, pack up any belongings you want to take with you, and we’ll send a car to pick you up in the morning.”

  “Awesome,” Riley says. She turns to me. “A car,” she says, wiggling her eyebrows. I know exactly w
hat she means. We’re already living a life of luxury and the ink on our contract hasn’t dried yet.

  “Girls,” Henry says as we stand up. “Be sure to tell everyone you know that you’ve accepted a new job assignment.” He smiles, but it looks more like a warning. “We don’t want anyone reporting you missing.”

  * * *

  The car isn’t just a car. It’s a limo. Black and shiny, with a chauffeur who’s even wearing a suit and hat. He opens the door for us and then drives us to Good Grace so Riley can pack up her stuff first.

  The only luggage she owns is a duffel bag, so I help her stuff her remaining clothes into old grocery bags I find in the kitchen.

  “Wow,” Riley says when we’re finished. One black duffel bag and three grocery bags rest on her bed. “When you put it all together like this, I don’t really have much stuff. My entire life fits in just a few bags.”

  She exhales and then bends behind her bed, yanking her phone charger from the wall. “Oh well. New adventure awaits.”

  We stop at Margret’s office to tell her goodbye. She’s sitting at her desk, wearing red reading glasses and frowning at the documents in front of her. She brightens when she sees us.

  “Hey girls, what’s up with the bags?”

  “I’m moving out,” Riley says. “Cara and I got a job.”

  “Wonderful!” She stands and pulls us both into a hug, her floral perfume washing over us. “Where at?”

  “It’s in Austin,” I say. “We’re assistants for some huge company.”

  “Sounds great. Austin is beautiful.” She pulls Riley into another hug. “I’ll get you checked out from here. You call me if you ever need anything.”

  “That went well,” I say as we leave the home and walk back to the limo. The pristine car looks all out of place parked here in the old, run down part of town. Our driver gets out and opens the trunk, loading up our bags for us.