by Pamela Yaye
Autumn’s mouth opened and snapped shut. The Glacier raised her hand as sharply as a traffic cop and moved her chilling stare from Autumn to the studious-looking man immediately to her left. “Mr. Papakostas, the update, please.”
Autumn lowered her head. She wanted to sink into the ground. This had to be the most humiliating point of her career. It couldn’t get much worse than this. Getting caught daydreaming and then being chastised in front of your colleagues by your boss was a nightmare come true. Autumn would never forget this moment and she knew The Glacier wouldn’t, either. There was no doubt in Autumn’s mind that there would be some sort of consequence for disrespecting her boss and she shuddered at what it might be.
Retrieving her scattered papers and her pen, she coughed quietly to clear the big ball of embarrassment jammed down her throat. But the more she coughed the harder it was to breathe. She tried a sip of her soft drink, but the ice-cold soda didn’t squelch the heat rushing up her neck and face.
It was difficult, but Autumn managed to listen to every word of Nickolas Papakostas’s report. The assistant director spoke with a lisp and had a squeaky voice that climbed at the end of every sentence. He droned on and on about Morrison’s spiraling payroll, the direction in which the new management team was taking the million-dollar company and the projected yearly budget. Autumn waited patiently for her opportunity to contribute, but each time Nickolas deferred to her, The Glacier cut in. After several failed attempts, Autumn gave up. She refused to be humiliated anymore.
“Thank you for your comprehensive report.” Ms. Barstow’s eyes moved around the table before resting on Autumn. “Some of us here have to pull up our boots. We are a team, people. A team! That means everyone must put in the same intensity, dedication and focus. Expect even busier days and a heavier workload in the coming weeks. That will be all for now.” The Glacier shoved her glasses back up her pointy nose, swiped her files off the table and marched out of the conference room.
No one moved until she was safely out of sight.
The group broke into conversation as laptops were packed up, chairs pushed back and files shuffled into portfolios. Autumn watched her colleagues file out of the room, still stewing from The Glacier’s abrasive treatment.
“Hellooo?” Olivia Zimmerman waved her hands in front of Autumn’s face. “Are you all right? You’ve been in a world all your own all day.”
Autumn was slow getting to her feet. “I’m restraining myself from charging after The Glacier and gripping her throat with my hands.” She cracked a small smile when Olivia giggled. “In addition to being rude, The Glacier is heartless and mean and I’m sick of working for her.”
“Don’t let her bother you,” Olivia advised. “No one is impervious to her wrath, so don’t take it personally. Just yesterday she told me I was costing the company millions in office supplies because I made an error and had to reprint a five-page report.”
Autumn hurled pens, highlighters and her notepad into her jam-packed briefcase.
“Want to grab a bite to eat?”
“Thanks for the invite, but I’d rather finish up here and go home. I’m exhausted and there’s no telling what trouble I could cause driving around the city.”
Autumn followed her co-worker out of the conference room. Swallowing a yawn, her thoughts shifted from her frustration incited by The Glacier to the unfinished paper-work crowding her desk. Autumn had several pages to read about WebTech, the new company she had been assigned, but was struggling to keep her eyes open.
“Maybe we can get together this weekend?” Olivia asked.
“I’ll hold you to that. What about the Bamboo Club for drinks on Saturday night? The house band is terrible, but the cocktails are cheap.”
“I hate clubs. Most of them are fire hazards, you know. A cramped space filled with loads of people and clouds of smoke. Not my idea of a good time. If a fire should break out…”
Autumn turned her eyes to Olivia. Is she for real? At twenty-six, Olivia Zimmerman was the youngest senior accountant at Monroe, but at first glance she looked like a middle-aged woman. She had saucer-wide, black-rimmed glasses that eclipsed half her face, and wore unflattering outfits that were two, sometimes three sizes too big. She had a slight mustache, which made her the butt of office jokes, and she had few friends in the company. Autumn studied her co-worker’s face. Olivia might not have it going on in the looks department, but she was one of the most affable and intelligent people at the firm. And with a pair of colored contacts, a shopping spree at the mall and a pinch of self-confidence, the redhead could be a real looker.
“Why don’t we go shopping one afternoon at Georgetown Parks?” Autumn suggested as they passed the receptionist’s area and turned the corner to the senior accountant offices. “They have a lot of neat boutiques and trendy stores that have reasonable prices.”
Olivia moaned. “Anything but shopping.”
Autumn half listened as Olivia nattered on about feeling claustrophobic in malls, arenas and anywhere where there were large crowds. She was about to recommend Olivia see a therapist when her co-worker gripped her forearm. “Who’s The Glacier talking to in front of your office?”
Autumn took her eyes off Olivia and redirected them to the two people standing by her office door. What the heck? She shut her eyes and counted to ten. When she opened her eyes, not only was L.J. still standing there, but he was staring at her. His deep-brown eyes bore into her, robbing her feet of movement.
“What’s the matter? You look like you’re going to faint.”
“I’m fine,” Autumn lied. She was as far from fine as a person could be.
“I hope so, because they’re watching you.”
Autumn told Olivia she would see her later. She took short, measured steps down the hall. An overwhelming urge to escape the situation made her legs quake and her pulse beat out of control, but instead of bolting past L.J. and The Glacier and into the open elevator, she continued down the narrow hall.
Chapter 9
“I’ve been looking all over for you,” L.J. told Autumn when she pulled up beside him. “Luckily, I found a friendly face to show me to your office.”
A friendly face? The Glacier? Her boss? Autumn restrained herself from laughing. She’d have had an easier time believing her boss used to be a lion tamer for the circus than believing she had extended kindness to someone. Friendly? Please. The Glacier didn’t even know how to spell the word.
“I ran into Mr. Saunders as I was heading out, and he asked if I could point him in the direction of your office. We got to talking while we waited for you to surface from the conference room.”
Autumn was tempted to look over her shoulder. The Glacier had never sounded so normal. Or genial. Autumn shifted her gaze from her boss to L.J. He smiled.
“I was just telling Mr. Saunders what an asset you are to this company.”
Autumn blinked. Had The Glacier just paid her a compliment? No way. Ms. Barstow rarely handed out compliments. And when she did, they never came Autumn’s way. Suddenly, everything made sense. This was a joke. A prank. A spoof. Any second now, the host of Bloopers and Practical Jokes would pop out from the ladies’ room and tell her she had been had. When a minute passed without any exaggerated surprise, Autumn wondered how long this joke was going to run.
“L.J., what—” Autumn changed her mind in mid question. She didn’t want to sound rude in front of her boss, even if he was trying her patience, so instead of asking him what the hell he was doing at her workplace, she asked, “What were you and Ms. Barstow discussing when I came over? It looked as though you were having a pretty intense conversation.”
“Ms. Barstow wanted to know how we met, and so I told her about the unusual circumstances behind our meeting. Your boss was just telling me that she met her husband in a similar situation. Her car broke down on a cold wintry night and her husband gave her a lift into town.”
“Husband? You have a husband?” Autumn asked before she could catch herself. When Th
e Glacier shot her a stone-hard look, she retracted her query. “What I meant to say was, isn’t that something?”
The tale around the office was that The Glacier had been married once before and her husband had skipped town with a busty masseuse. Autumn couldn’t wait to share this news with her co-workers. She wasn’t one to gossip, but this was just too juicy to keep to herself. Autumn could see eyes popping, jaws dropping and tongues lagging now.
“And guess what? Ms. Barstow and I know some of the same people,” L.J. explained. “She used to live in Tallulah, a city just to the west of Vicksburg, and her husband used to own the general store in town. I remember him giving me free bubblegum and five-cent candies. He was a nice man who adored children. If I’m not mistaken, he was from Europe. I remember him showing me his hometown on the dusty old world map he kept on the back door.”
“Your memory serves you correctly, Mr. Saunders. My husband was born in Spain and moved to America when he was in his late teens.”
L.J. shook his head, disbelief all over his face. “It really is a small world.”
Ms. Barstow gave a nod of assent. “Sebastian will be tickled pink when I tell him I met someone from Vicksburg. We just loved living there. The people were so kind and welcoming. From the day we moved to town, they made us feel like a part of the community. Our last winter there was a real eye-opener about how generous small-town people can be. We woke up one morning in February to discover that the car was buried in snow and so were we! We were trapped. No food. No supplies. No wood for the fireplace. But some of our neighbors…”
Ms. Barstow’s voice softened like whipped butter as her mind drifted back almost twenty years. When she finished her story, Autumn saw her do something she had never seen her do before. She laughed. And not a girlish giggle, either. She tossed her head back and opened her mouth so wide, Autumn could see her tonsils.
“Why did you leave Tallulah?” L.J. asked her. “It sounds like you enjoyed living there.”
“We did, but my husband’s business crumbled and we had to move on. Sebastian was too busy visiting with the locals and giving away food to run a business.” Ms. Barstow paused reflectively. “But I do miss the slow pace of Tallulah and the warmheartedness of the people.”
L.J. rifled around in his pocket, and pulled out a handful of quarters. He extended his right hand to Ms. Barstow.
She arched a perfectly curved eyebrow. “What is this for?”
“The money for all those free packs of bubble gum and candy!”
Ms. Barstow’s head rolled back in laughter. Employees standing nearby stopped what they were doing and stared bug-eyed at their boss.
“Well, it is time for me to go. It was a pleasure meeting you, Mr. Saunders,” a composed Ms. Barstow said, her tone taking on its usual formality. She glanced at Autumn. “Ms. Nicholson, you are more than welcome to bring your friend to the company appreciation day at Greenbelt Park.” She turned back to L.J. and smiled warmly. “There will be barbecue and games and prizes for participants. I hope to see you there, Mr. Saunders. My husband would love to see a friendly face from back home.”
L.J. snuck a look at Autumn, fully expecting her to reply. When she remained mute, he said, “If I’m free that day and Autumn doesn’t mind me tagging along, I’d love to go. Thank you for the invitation.”
With a nod and a smile, Ms. Barstow marched away.
Before Autumn could recover from what had just happened, L.J. was in her ear. “I got your message and since you couldn’t get away, I decided to bring dinner to you.”
Autumn looked away at the sound of her name being called. Several of her co-workers waved as they piled into the overcrowded elevator. At the close of the day, the offices of Monroe were no different than the halls of any American high school. Autumn waved them off, spun around and stamped into her office. She didn’t want the big-mouthed receptionist, Hilary, to broadcast what was about to happen. Eavesdropping was as natural as breathing for the pregnant brunette, so Autumn worked hard to keep her name out of the office rumor mill.
When they were safely in her office and the door was closed, Autumn said, “You shouldn’t have come here.”
“Why?”
“I don’t appreciate you barging into my office like you have every right to be here. That’s why.”
L.J. rested the wicker basket and his suede jacket on the small oak table at the back of the room. “I brought you supper, after you cancelled on me at the last minute and you’re angry?”
Autumn wasn’t made of stone. She was touched by the gesture, but she didn’t like the way he was forcing himself on her. She wasn’t used to this much attention and his constant intrusions and advances were upsetting. L.J. was flirtatious, but in an unexpectedly disarming way, which made her suspicious. He was doing and saying all the right things and the picture of him forming in her head was particularly unflattering.
Just last night, she had watched a news segment about devilishly handsome men preying on single women and as shocking as it was, L.J. fit the profile. He was a smooth talker, educated and was going to great lengths to win her over. Just like the half-dozen convicted felons featured on the special report she watched on the television the night before. Falling for L.J. Saunders or any man like him could prove to be downright dangerous and Autumn wasn’t willing to take the risk.
“I’m entitled to change my mind, aren’t I? And as I told you on your voice mail, I’m busy. Do you see all this work on my desk?” she asked, holding her hands out at her side. “Does it look like I have time to go out for dinner?”
L.J. couldn’t keep the lid on his frustration anymore. “Save it, Autumn. No one was forcing you to work this evening. You cancelled our date because you were scared we’d have a good time. You’re attracted to me, and that scares the hell out of you.”
Autumn was a breath away from telling Mr. Arrogant to get out, when he said, “You know what? You’re right. I shouldn’t have come here. Packing up a picnic basket, driving halfway across the city and braving the evening traffic to spend time with you was a stupid thing to do. I sincerely apologize for ruining your evening. Just give me a minute to grab my stuff and I’ll be on my way.” With a sneer he added, “Please don’t call security.”
The sound of his injured voice made Autumn’s conscience spring into action. You have a part to play in this, too, you know. It’s not his fault he’s falling for you. You’ve been leading him on. Encouraging him, even.
Autumn thought for a moment. She had agreed to go into the Hamiltons’ house for that drink, well aware the chemistry between them was fiercer than a tropical storm. L.J. hadn’t held a gun to her head to make her kiss him back, and she hadn’t uttered a single word of protest when his hands had stroked her flesh. And if she dared to be honest with herself, she had secretly hoped he would touch every square inch of her body. Moreover, she had agreed to go out with him and then cancelled at the last possible minute. L.J. had more than enough reasons to be angry with her, but instead of coming over here to curse her out, he had brought her dinner.
In the space of a few seconds, guilt overshadowed Autumn’s anger. She let her arms fall to her side and wiped the hostile expression off her face. Her voice was soft and tender when she asked him to stay.
“Why? So you can insult me some more?”
“You’re right. I should be the one apologizing, but instead of appreciating your thoughtfulness, I’m snapping at you.” Autumn closed her eyes and drew strength from a place deep within. This was all new to her. Thoughtfulness and kindness had never been a part of her relationship with Tyrell nor with the few guys she had dated before him. Aside from her father and her brother, men didn’t do things like this for her. “Not that it’s an excuse, but I didn’t sleep more than a few hours last night. I’m kind of crabby. And I’m overwhelmed with everything that’s going on around here right now.”
L.J. didn’t respond. He just stood there, watching her.
“I’m usually not this mean,” she admit
ted, trying to make light of the situation, “unless it’s first thing in the morning and I haven’t had my cup of coffee.”
She laughed but he didn’t.
“I truly am sorry for the way I reacted. I didn’t mean to hurt your feelings.”
L.J. started to take a step towards her, but stopped. He couldn’t just sidle up to her desk and kiss her. That would be asking for trouble. For the past four days, L.J. had tried pushing all thoughts of Autumn from his mind. “Reading” Sports Illustrated didn’t help. Watching music videos with half-naked women didn’t take his mind off her. Drinking beer didn’t dull his emotions. And talking to Peter only made him want her more. L.J. just couldn’t seem to shake his fascination with her. He was startled by his affection for her, and like the engineer of a derailed train, he didn’t know what to do.
The blinds were open, revealing a blue-black sky dotted with enough stars for two skies. Autumn looked incredibly sharp against the backdrop in her all-white man-styled suit paired with silver accessories and jewellery. It was her elegance and sophistication that L.J. was most attracted to, but it didn’t hurt that she was absolutely stunning, as well.
L.J. searched through his feelings, and came to a decision. He was going to stop pursuing her. If he continued down this road, she was just going to keep putting up more walls, and that was the last thing he wanted. He had to tighten the reins on his desire and stop forcing things. He would allow things to happen between them naturally or not at all.
“No more apologizing, okay?” Then, “I won’t ask you out anymore, or show up here uninvited. I get the message loud and clear. And after tonight, you won’t have to worry about me calling you anymore. I promise. I’m as good as gone.”
