by Rebel Carter
“That sounds great. I’m in,” I told her. I could use a little more of Tiffany’s warm demeanor in my day-to-day.
“I know a great little Korean barbeque spot in Queens. We can check it out and stuff ourselves on the all you can eat meat dinner special.” Tiffany bounced on her toes, practically radiating energy and excitement. She looked so happy and eager at that moment and I knew dinner would be a fun night.
“You had me at all you can eat dinner special. I’m free any night since,” I gestured around the coffee shop with a circle of my finger, “coffee is an early bird game.”
“Perfect! Are you free Thursday night?” she asked.
“I am.”
Tiffany pumped her fist in the air with a grin. “It’s a date! I’m so excited. We are going to have so much fun.”
“What’s going on over here?” Gus asked, leaning against the counter to watch while Tiffany broke out into a mini dance.
“Honey and I are going out on a date. It’s going to be awesome.”
Gus nodded his head and smiled, watching Tiffany hop around. “I’m glad you two are getting along. Friends are important,” he said and then he looked my way, “which brings me to this morning. Can we talk a minute, Honey?”
I bit my lip and gave him a quick nod. A wave of uneasiness swept through me but after a reassuring smile from Gus, I forced my shoulders down and took a step towards him. “Sure thing, Gus.”
“I just wanted to say how sorry I am about this morning.”
The breath I hadn’t been aware I was holding left my lungs with a little whoosh and I came forward until I was at the counter. I set the clipboard on the shiny quartz and shook my head. “It was a lot, please don’t worry about it.”
He held up a hand and shook his head sadly. “I do worry, and it wasn’t okay, not at all. That woman was out of line, Honey. I’m so sorry you had to put up with that and in front of your fiancé of all people.”
The little tightening in my stomach that accompanied a lie came to life but I batted it to the side and gave Gus a practiced rueful smile. I’d perfected this one the summer I had turned eleven and my mama had refused to pay ‘one more dollar for useless activities’ when I’d been set on playing softball in the summer city league. All of her cash was to be spent on getting herself ready for a tour she was certain would be her big break. My slightly embarrassed, definitely sympathy-inducing smile had worked to stave off my coach’s inquiries over league fees for the entire summer. I’d proven to be a pinch hitter that couldn’t be beat, which had been the perfect motivation my coach had needed to ignore my ever increasing balance of dues owed.
I turned that look on Gus now and watched as he softened. “It isn’t your fault. It’s just one of those things,” I told him.
“It is, but even still. That woman should not have been comfortable coming in here and acting that way. She’s banned. I just wanted you to know that.”
“Banned?” I asked, eyes wide in surprise. I hadn’t expected that.
“Yes, banned. I want you to feel happy and safe coming in to work here when you can. You’re Tiffany’s favorite and you’re amazing with the customers. I love having you in the shop.”
“Thank you, Gus. That means a lot.”
“Anytime,” he said, giving the counter a tap. “You are always welcome here. I want you to know that.”
I made a mental note to scoop up any shifts at A Different Brew, each and every one that I could get my hands on. “I do, thank you, Gus. I like working here.”
“Maybe one day I can convince you to take on a permanent spot.”
Unease settled in my chest at his words. I knew he meant them, but settling down wasn’t something I knew how to do. I’d never learned. I held up a hand and waved him off. “Oh, I don’t know, Gus. I like my freedom.”
“My offer stands if you ever get tired of all that freedom.”
“She can’t take on a spot here,” Tiffany butted in. “She’s gotta keep the paps on their toes, Gus. If she locks in here she’s going to blow her cover.”
Gus blinked. “Her what?”
“Her cover, duh,” Tiffany said, waving a hand at him and then pointing out towards the street. “She’s Lawson Sokolov's fiancée, remember? Can you imagine what Page Six will look like if they know where she works?”
I rolled my eyes at her. “I don’t know about that, Tiff.”
“It’s true and you know it. And you’re going to tell me all about it, over all you can eat meat.”
Gus nodded at her, even though I could tell he had zero idea what she was talking about. “I’ll take over that, Honey. You’re out of here now, go enjoy the day and all that sunshine.”
“Sure thing.” I handed the clipboard over to him and made for my purse and hoodie. As much as I liked A Different Brew, I was eager to start my ‘day off’. He was right, it was a beautiful day outside, one that would be perfect for a stroll and window shopping. I might even treat myself to something and splurge in one of the little shops I loved so much. Things were tight with my budget but not that tight, not anymore. I could treat myself. I shouldered on my bag and turned, waving goodbye to Gus and Tiffany who returned it with goodbyes and waves of their own, while Tiffany shouted out about how we were going to eat our weight in Korean barbeque. I paused in the doorway and looked over my shoulder at the pair. Tiffany was chatting while Gus restocked.
He obviously had no clue what she was going on about. Still. But that didn’t stop them. This was a daily occurrence, maybe hourly even from what I had seen while on shift, and I smiled at the familiar little dance the two of them did together.
It was a sweet picture. One that I was glad to recognize as familiar, one that I was a part of if only occasionally. And it was with a smile that I set off to enjoy the day’s sunshine.
Chapter Three
LAW
“Why are you brooding?” Adelaide asked.
“I’m not brooding,” I replied, not looking away from the spreadsheet on my computer I was reviewing. I heard Adelaide scoff, blowing out a sigh before she tsk’d at me. I kept my eyes on the figures in front of me, even if I had been reviewing the same line for the fifth time. None of the shit I was supposed to be doing was coming easy or making sense to me that morning and I hated every last second of it.
Nothing was making sense since that morning.
Since the barista.
No, not the barista. Honey. Since fucking Honey.
“You are too brooding,” Adelaide said. She marched up to my desk, her high heels clicking on the marble of the floor and stopped in front of me.
“Addie…” I growled, hand going tight on the pen in my hand.
She sucked on her teeth and laughed. “Oh, it’s Addie now? Trying to distract me, I see.”
I looked at her and frowned. She was smug, arms crossed with her planner tucked close and she tipped her head to the side, brown eyes considering me. I had picked the woman to be my assistant for a reason. She was damn good at her job and part of that job was reading me. Normally, her uncanny ability to see past whatever walls I had up was a blessing, but right now…
“Who is she?” She asked.
Right now I fucking hated it.
“Addie,” I gritted out. “I have to finish this,” I gestured down at the spreadsheet and then flicked a finger at her planner, “if we are going to make all the appointments you have in there.”
“There’s plenty of time for me to dissect exactly why you have your panties in a twist.”
“I don’t wear panties,” I replied.
She rolled her eyes, tossed her planner onto my desk and took a seat in one of the leather backed chairs in front of my desk. “Whatever, boss. You know what I mean. Someone---no, not someone, some woman, has you twisted up in knots and I want to know who she is and where you met her.”
I opened my mouth to tell her she was wrong, but Addie shook her head. “No lying boss, secrets don’t make friends.”
I sighed, pinching the brid
ge of my nose. How the hell had this happened? I’d left the coffee shop and returned to my office, a cup in my hand and my mind squarely on the woman that had made the coffee. That had been hours ago, the coffee long gone cold, sitting untouched on the corner of my desk. If I drank it...well, I didn’t fucking know what it would mean, but I was reluctant. If I did then I would have to throw away the cup—all reminders of that morning would be done and gone.
Honey would be gone.
A sharp pain shot through my chest. I held in a growl. What the fuck. My eyes landed on the damn cup and my lips pressed into a thin line. What the actual fuck was I doing? Feeling? Not drinking coffee? Holding onto paper cups as a goddamned memento from some chance meeting with a woman I didn’t fucking know?
“Eyes off the cup and on me, boss man,” Addie ordered.
My eyes snapped up to meet hers and I sighed heavily. “I’m not looking at a cup. I’m looking at the spreadsheet.”
Addie hummed. “So it happened while getting coffee. Interesting.”
Shit.
“Nothing happened,” I snapped, and when she crossed her arms with a smirk, I cleared my throat before I went on in a calmer voice, “Nothing happened, Addie. Drop it.”
“Drop it?” She inclined her head and held up a finger. “That means something definitely happened. Who is she?”
I sighed and leaned back in my chair. “Is the conference still happening at the end of the week?” The best way to change the topic was to throw work at Addie. She loved it, thrived in bringing order to the chaos of the constantly changing day-to-day of Law Acquisitions. I’d built the company from the ground up and kept it moving forward through a grueling work schedule and sheer determination. We were growing by the day, a feat for the largest acquisitions company in the city, and Addie at my side was one of the major reasons we were continuing to grow at our current pace. Driving her attention back to work was the key to getting her away from her line of questioning.
“I know what you’re doing.” She said with a scowl.
I arched an eyebrow at her. “Work is what I’m doing. What we’re both supposed to be doing.”
She sighed heavily. “You’re no fun when you’re in a grump funk.”
I wasn’t even going to touch on that. “Work, Addie. I need an update on the conference.”
“Oh, all right,” she sighed, snapping open her agenda book. “It’s still on. You have meetings starting first thing tomorrow morning.”
I relaxed at her words. Good. “First thing is good,” I said. If I was busy with work, then I wasn’t going to be thinking about a barista, or the way her name rolled off my fucking tongue like it was a name I had said a million times before--like it belonged there. I didn’t like the taste of that shit.
Not one fucking bit.
I rose from my desk and grabbed the tablet to the side of my desk. “We need to go over the numbers for the Kinishewa merger.” I was off and walking, already having crossed half of the room when I heard Addie stand from her seat with a heavy sigh.
“I’ll get those right to you, boss.”
I gave her a jerky nod and continued forward. “Good. I need to speak to Williams about an invoice. I’ll meet you in five.” Addie made a noncommittal sound and I knew she didn’t like my decision to skip her topic of choice, but that she was at least on board with work. I opened the door, holding it for Addie to pass by me and then I set off towards Williams’ desk. It wasn’t completely true. I’d already seen the invoices and triple checked the figures for the Kinishewa merger, but that didn’t matter. What mattered was a convenient get away which, for better or worse, was for a man like me.
I almost grimaced at the thought. A man like me….what the fuck did that even mean anymore. All I did was work, eyes focused on tomorrow. I was driven to never see the bottom again, but the more I grabbed the more I wondered why.
Why any of it really?
I didn’t have to work. Not another day in my life if I didn’t want. But if I did that I’d be going soft. My lip curled at the thought. Soft. Turning into some paunch-bellied out of touch idiot that spent more time on a golf course or throwing their weight around at an overpriced bistro while they fell into an existence that was equal parts irrelevant and self-loathing.
Soft.
That was never going to happen, not if I had a damn thing to do with it. I’d rather fight every damn day of my life than be that kind of man. Money was nothing if there was no power behind it, and power came from respect. If I had to work every last day of my life it would be worth it to stay at the top. And that was why I worked the hours I did, why I turned away from any comfort or attachment that might weaken me.
Why I had to stay away from a woman like Honey.
She was gentle and soft. I could see it, even if she tried to hide it. Knowing that she made an effort to keep it close and secret had me wanting to protect her, let her be as soft and gentle as she wanted. Because there was nothing to fear with a man like me at her back. If she was my woman, my little girl…there would be nothing in the world that wouldn’t be hers. The bitchy blonde’s face swam back into my vision and I gritted my teeth.
She’d treated Honey like trash. Like she was beneath her. If I hadn’t been there things would have gone south for Honey. I knew down to my bones the big mouth blonde would have caused a scene until Honey was forced to bend and break.
But would it have happened at all if you hadn’t been there?
I huffed out a breath, walking faster. Honey had gotten shit from the blonde for flirting with me. If I hadn’t been there, she would have been safe from a Karen’s power trip.
Would she have been?
“She would have been fine,” I muttered out loud, but the words sounded hollow. That’d only be true if Honey didn’t have the mind to flirt with anyone that morning. There was nothing to stop her from turning her smile on someone else and still catching shit.
I felt my eyes narrow. A spark of anger coming to life in me at the thought Honey might give anyone else even half the attention she had sent my way that morning.
She shouldn’t be flirting with anyone else but me. The anger roared to life like a wildfire and swept over me in a rush. If another man got close to her... They wouldn’t lay a single finger on her beautiful tanned skin, her smile, her body...her fucking body was for me and me alone. If she even fucking looked at someone else I would put them through the wall.
“She’s mine.”
Those two damn words came out of my fucking mouth before I could stop them and I let out a silent prayer of thanks I was alone. It was bad enough I’d said the fucking thing. I didn’t need anyone knowing I was losing my mind over a woman I had met that morning and spent less than 15 minutes with like a lovesick pre-teen.
I scrubbed a hand over my face. “Get it together. Stop talking to yourself,” I growled. “Forget her.” I straightened my shoulders and set off down the hallway. I went to Williams’ office even though I already knew what the numbers would be.
Anything was better than thinking about her, or the fact that I hadn’t bothered to throw away the coffee cup that still sat on my desk.
Chapter Four
HONEY
I climbed the stairs to my apartment with a groan and a roll of my shoulders. I was soaking wet from the early spring downpour I’d gotten caught in and I shook out my drenched hoodie. I hadn’t planned on staying out as long as I had, but there’d been no way around it with the way my jobs had been spaced out that day. Uptown, midtown, hell I had even been clear out in Brooklyn before finally coming home.
Rain had only made it all worse. Rain in the city always made things inconvenient, toss in a couple of shitty shifts I’d picked up on BaristApp and it was downright exhausting. These gigs hadn’t been the highest paying, but I’d been desperate. Usually my week was filled out with a nice selection of shops and shifts to pick from, but for whatever reason today had been a straight up bust.
It hadn’t been the weather. Rain always meant p
eople calling out of work while potential customers looking for a cozy place to wait out the rain went up. I usually made bank on rainy days, but today hadn’t gone to plan. I grimaced looking down at my shoes. Black sneakers with a heavy sole. Perfectly sensible attire for being on my feet all day, but terrible in the rain. They squished with every step, my socks soaked through enough that I wondered if I’d have blisters from my long walk back from my subway stop.
The tips hadn’t even been worth it. Between four shops I had barely managed to pull in sixty dollars, which was unheard of. Sixty dollars was my usual take from one shop on a slow day. Today hadn’t just been slow though. Today had sucked. I shoved my key into my door and turned it with a jerk of my hand.
“I just want to lay down,” I murmured, shouldering open the door and slipping inside with a sigh of relief. I kicked the door shut and slid the lock home before I started yanking off my shoes. I kicked them aside and stripped off my soaking hoodie, tossing it onto the coat rack by the door.
“I need tea.” I made a beeline for the kitchen, hopping out of my jeans as I went and before long I was standing in my kitchen in my underwear and putting on a kettle to boil. “I need to get dry,” I whispered a second later when I had gotten the kettle nice and piping hot. In my hurry to get dry, I hadn’t exactly thought about staying warm. I turned, dashing towards the thermostat and flipped it on, the ancient furnace kicking to life with a rumble that told me I’d soon enough have a semi-warm apartment.
I was luckier than most with an apartment as old as I had, the damn thing had been built in the early thirties as tenement apartments but had been thoroughly renovated, not enough to give me creature comforts like central air, shiny appliances or floorboards that didn’t creak and groan with every step, or you know windows that weren’t prone to drafts—but I did have a pretty reliable and powerful heating system that went beyond wall radiators. So what if the crown molding was missing in some spots or if the paint was a little chipped here and there? Scuffed floorboards and doors that didn’t quite shut when closed were small potatoes when it came to living in this city. What my apartment did offer me was a warm and dry place---a safe warm and dry place where I could rest easy knowing my neighbors weren’t going to break in and take what little valuables I did have.
