by Zavarelli, A
“Is that going to be a problem?” Nicole smiled sweetly.
He mulled this over for a moment before giving a dismissive wave of his hand. “Fine.”
As we walked out of his office, I had conflicting feelings about my new job. Though my self-preservation was relieved at the prospect of an income, my indignation won out. He’d just treated me as if I was trash, and I couldn’t keep my mouth shut any longer.
“He’s kind of rude,” I whispered to Nicole as soon as we were in the clear.
She shot me a defensive look and shook her head in disappointment. “He’s really not. So I would withhold your judgments about him until you get to know him.”
Chapter Three
“You’ve put all these labels on wrong!” Stacey screeched, reaching for another handful of TUMS from her ever-present bottle.
She was a forty-something woman who wore a perpetual frown on her face, and I marveled at the fact she hadn’t succumbed to a heart attack yet. Between the entire pots of coffee, menthol cigarettes, and antacids she ingested on a daily basis, I could only imagine what her blood pressure was like.
“You told me they were supposed to be numerical,” I reminded her.
“No, I specifically said alphabetical,” she barked.
I knew she didn’t, but there was no point arguing with her. Something I’d learned quickly over the last two weeks at The Bennett Corporation. I was a lowly intern, and my job consisted of menial duties I was certain to mess up every opportunity I got. Or at least that’s what Stacey thought. All of the other interns were having a blast, but they were the smart ones. Me? I got saddled with Suffering Stacey. Yes, that’s what they called her here. And while everyone else I worked with was really nice, I couldn’t find it in me to like this woman, no matter how hard I tried.
I suspected that she was intentionally pushing my buttons to get a reaction out of me. She obviously didn’t know me very well. I’d grown up with far worse as a mother, and I learned a long time ago which battles to fight and which to let go.
“I’ll fix them.” I shrugged out of my cardigan and settled in for another long night.
She lingered over my desk with twisted lips, no doubt looking for other ways to torture me. “That’s right you’ll fix it,” she snapped. “You’re on thin ice as it is, Miss Valentine.”
I bit my tongue and nodded, waiting until she walked away to let out a sigh of relief. My fingers started to work while my thoughts drifted elsewhere. I was halfway through my mental composition of Brayden’s next letter when a voice interrupted me.
“Hey, need a hand?”
I glanced up to see Matt leaning against my desk with a grin on his face. He was another intern on this floor, and he claimed to be completely dedicated to the job. Though, I suspected by the way he tossed flirtatious smiles around the office that wasn’t exactly the case.
“Sure.” I slid over to make room for him. “If you feel like staying late again.”
“What else do I have to do?” he teased. “Not like I have a life outside of this place.”
Nicole was on her way out, and she stopped by my desk to say goodbye. It was her little ritual to ask what I wanted for dinner or what my plans were for the evening. But tonight, she looked like she had something else on her mind.
“Hey.”
Her and Matt looked at each other and then away. The temperature in the room ratcheted about a thousand degrees, and I couldn’t believe I hadn’t noticed this before.
“Hey,” Matt replied.
His face had grown serious, and in place of his usual carefree smile was a look of pure agony. He caught me staring, so he dragged his attention back to the files while I spoke to Nicole. She looked just as miserable herself as she regarded the back of his head, and I wondered what was going on between them.
“Is Stacey keeping you late again?” she asked.
“It’s fine,” I told her. “I made a mistake, and I offered to stay behind to fix it.”
She frowned and then gave Matt one last glance as she clutched her purse against her. “Well, I’ll get you some sushi for dinner if you want.”
“Thanks.” I nodded. “That would be really nice.”
Nicole padded off to the elevators and Matt’s shoulders fell. I wanted to ask him what the deal was, but I didn’t know him well enough to pry like that. So instead we spent the next two hours bantering about nothing in particular, which made the work go by fast. By the time I glanced at the clock, it was already seven pm. Most of the workers had gone for the day, and we had the entire floor to ourselves.
When Matt applied the last label to the file, I sighed in relief.
“Huh,” he muttered.
“Huh, what?”
“Well, don’t look now,” he said beneath his breath. “But we have an audience.”
I didn’t have to look to know who he was referring to. Ryland was always here on nights that I had to stay behind. The man was a certified workaholic. And even though I often felt someone’s eyes on me, I’d been too chicken to turn around and check for myself.
“He seems to have taken quite a liking to you,” Matt observed.
“Don’t be ridiculous.” I laughed. “He doesn’t even know I exist.”
“There’s a rumor going around the building that he pulled you into his office on the first day.”
I glanced up at Matt in confusion, noting his eyes held a hint of concern.
“Nicole said he likes to meet all the interns.”
Matt shook his head and laughed darkly. “Of course she did.”
“What are you saying?” I asked. “Isn’t that normal?”
“Let’s just say that I’ve been here for six months, and I’ve never once seen him bring any other intern into his office for an introduction.”
His words made my stomach flip, and I had more questions on the tip of my tongue. But a shadow passed over my desk, and I could have sworn a gust of cold air moved through the room. When I looked up, Ryland Bennett was standing over us, his expression unreadable.
“Matthew.” He glanced at his watch. “Shouldn’t you be getting home?”
Matt looked like he wanted to argue, but thought better of it. He gave him a stiff nod before he stood and glanced back at me with a smile.
“Still on for tomorrow night?” he asked.
“Yeah.” I shrugged, my eyes darting back to Ryland. “Just text me.”
Matt nodded and walked to the elevator bank, leaving me to gather up my things under Ryland’s sharp gaze. I didn’t know why he was still standing there, hovering over me. It took me three attempts to get the zipper on my bag shut, and I ended up knocking over a jar of paperclips in the process.
I moved to clean them up when Ryland stopped me.
“Do I make you nervous, Miss Valentine?” he asked. “You seem to be in the habit of dropping things around me.”
My gaze swung to his, and there was a hint of a smile on his face. He was teasing me, and I couldn’t stop my own lips from curling in response.
“Maybe a little,” I admitted. “I guess I didn’t expect to be seeing so much of you here.”
He leaned back against my desk and scrutinized me with an arched brow.
“This corporation is my lifeblood, Miss Valentine. You can’t accomplish anything in this world without the right amount of motivation.”
“I can see that.” I massaged the tension from my neck, unsure what else to say. I was only highly motivated not to be sleeping on the street.
Ryland surprised me as he reached for my arm and pulled me closer. For a moment, he just let his eyes roam over my face. I wanted to ask him if he remembered, but I couldn’t find the words. And when he swept my hair over my shoulders and wrapped his fingers around the nape of my neck, I forgot them completely.
I shivered beneath his touch as he started to massage the tension from my muscles. His fingers were warm and strong, just like I remembered, and they sti
ll made my legs feel like jelly too. I hated that part, but I couldn’t admit it while he was touching me. His breath was hot on my skin, and I was afraid that if I opened my eyes, his lips would be right there. Teasing me of memories past.
He didn’t say a word as he did it, and neither did I. Truthfully, I was a little shocked by his inappropriateness. Why he would risk such behavior in the workplace was beyond me. He acted as though he couldn’t help himself, and yet he pulled away a moment later, leaving me more confused than ever.
“You’re finished for the evening, Miss Valentine.”
His voice cut through me like butter, and when I glanced up into those blue eyes, a jolt of longing hit me hard and swift. He looked like he could use a good massage himself, and for a moment, I wanted to be the one to give it to him. It was crazy, but I had all sorts of hormones surging through my body. A product of my inexperience? I hoped so. God help me if it was like this with all men who showed a slight interest in me.
I gathered up my things and scurried from the building before I could do something stupid.
***
“Will you please come with me?” I begged Nicole. “A bunch of the other employees are going.”
Nicole was so engrossed in whoever she was texting I doubted she’d even heard me. But I continued on anyway.
“Matt will be there,” I added, hoping this might entice her. “And he asked me if you were coming.”
This earned me her attention, and something weird passed over her features as she shook her head minimally.
“Then I’m definitely not going.”
“C’mon, why not?” I pushed. “I can tell there’s something going on between you two. I think he really likes you.”
“Well, I’m not interested,” she huffed.
I knew that wasn’t true, so I kept at it.
“Well, if you went tonight, maybe you two could talk and get to know each other,” I suggested. “No pressure or anything. But I’ve seen the way you look at him, Nicole…”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” she snapped. “I said I wasn’t interested.”
I flinched at the harshness of her tone and held up my hands in a gesture of defeat. She was always so happy and easy going, I’d never expected to hit a nerve like I just had.
She sighed, turning away from me as she walked to the window. We had one of the best views in the city from this apartment. The floor to ceiling glass and extended balcony framed the entire bay area. I was sure it came with a hefty price tag, but according to Nicole the Bennett Corporation was footing the bill.
Again, it didn’t make much sense to me, given that Nicole was a program coordinator and not upper management. But when I started to ask questions she got a little funny about the whole thing, so I dropped it.
The place was nicer than anything I ever could have expected to live in. It had a loft style feel and three huge bedrooms. The walls were all pristine white, and the floors cherry hardwood. It was bright and airy, and yet empty somehow. Nicole flitted around the place like a ghost, coming and going without a sound most of the time. I had only lived with her for a couple of weeks, but it seemed like she was becoming increasingly distant. I wasn’t sure why, but I wanted to fix it.
“Look, I’m sorry,” she said softly. “But there are some things I haven’t told you. I’m still trying to recover from my last relationship and I’m not ready to date yet.”
“Oh.” I slid from the barstool I was propped on. “I’m sorry Nicole, I didn’t realize. But you know I’m here if you ever want to talk about it.”
She gave me a tight smile before turning her attention back to the city below.
“And I understand if you don’t want to go tonight,” I added. “It was silly of me to keep pushing the issue.”
“Thanks.”
Her phone rang, and she frowned at the screen before glancing back at me. “I have to take this.”
She walked out of the room, talking in hushed whispers, and I tried to ignore the weird feeling in my gut. Nicole had been taking a lot of private phone calls since I moved in, and she was never too happy about them. I wanted to ask her who was on the other line, but again it felt like an invasion of privacy.
So instead, I dragged myself to my room to get ready. I didn’t have a large selection of clothes, so I settled on the one pair of cute jeans I owned and a simple black tank top. The benefit of hanging out with Matt was I didn’t feel the need to impress him. We were friends, and that was it.
When I walked back out to the entryway fifteen minutes later, Nicole was waiting for me. She was dressed in designer jeans and a cute little sparkly top, and she had her purse slung over her shoulder.
“I changed my mind,” she announced. “I decided I want to go after all.”
I nodded and bit my lip, deciding not to say anything as we stepped into the hallway together. Because even though she was dressed to go out, Nicole looked like she’d rather do anything else.
Chapter Four
We met at a bar that was supposed to be an ironic trailer trash theme. The irony wasn’t lost on me as we stepped inside. My life in a trailer park was never this glamorous.
It was at this point I realized I was now living in an alternate universe. Since I’d moved to San Francisco, I’d somehow ended up living in a luxury apartment and working for a billion dollar corporation. I’d hardly had time to blink, and yet everything was changing before me. Now here I was, socializing with people who thought it was fun to venture to the low class for entertainment.
I couldn’t blame them, but it made me feel like I had to keep my real identity hidden away. Most of my co-workers came from well-to-do families who had racked up generations of Ivy League Diplomas. The only one who I thought might have been closer to my side of the spectrum was Matt.
He greeted Nicole and I at the bar, dressed in a black leather jacket and blue jeans. Simple and casual, and much more suited to his personality than his daily business attire.
“Good evening, ladies.” He winked and handed us a couple of menus. “Pick your poison, drinks are on me.”
Nicole pursed her lips and tried to hand it back. “I’m not drinking anything.”
Matt gave her a tight smile and took the menu from her hand. “Fine, then I’ll order you whatever Brighton’s having.”
He turned to me, and I tried to hide the smile behind my menu as they continued to bicker.
“I guess I’ll try the Kool-Aid cocktail. Sounds like my style.”
“Perfect.” Matt flagged down the bartender. “Two Kool-Aid cocktails coming right up. Why don’t you ladies grab us a seat somewhere.”
To my surprise, Nicole didn’t argue him on this point, and I followed her towards the back of the bar. There were groups of other employees scattered about, but she didn’t seem too eager to mingle with them. Instead, she chose a dark corner in the back.
Once we sat down, she dug around in her purse and retrieved a pill container.
“Are you sure you’re okay?” I asked, my eyes lingering on the pill in her hand.
“I’m fine.” She gave me a weak smile. “I get a little anxious sometimes, that’s all.”
“Hey, Brighton, Nicole. Nice to see you here.”
I glanced up to see one of the other employees from the Bennett Corporation standing over us. I’d seen him around a few times, but we didn’t work on the same floor, so I was surprised he even knew my name.
“Hello.” I smiled politely.
“It’s Tom.” He pointed at his chest. “I’m afraid we haven’t had much time to speak to each other at the office.”
Nicole ignored him as she pulled out her phone, leaving me to fend for myself.
“No, I guess we haven’t,” I agreed.
He gestured to one of the empty chairs next to me. “Do you mind if I join you?”
“Oh.” I shifted in my chair and snuck a glance at Nicole. “Of course not.”
He to
ok a seat beside me and started to chatter away about work. After a few minutes, I relaxed. Tom seemed happy to steer the conversation, so I just followed his lead. When Matt returned with our drinks and sat down, he furrowed his brows when he saw that Tom had joined us.
Still, he made an effort to keep up the conversation and be polite. They both peppered me with questions about my life and what I thought of San Francisco. Every time the waitress came over they ordered us another round of drinks. The danger was that mine tasted like juice, and judging by the way my head was spinning I may have had a little too much fun.
I didn’t like to feel out of control, which is why I’d never gotten drunk before. I may have been twenty-one, but I certainly didn’t act like it. When you have an addict for a mother, it tends to dissuade you from pursuing such forms of entertainment.
When I told Tom I was done drinking for the night, he didn’t look too pleased about it.
“C’mon, one more isn’t going to hurt.”
“She said no,” Matt warned. “So let it go.”
Tom held up his hands and sighed. “Okay fine, fine. You’re done drinking, I get it.”
He leaned forward on his elbows and slid a tiny bag of white powder across the table. “So how about something to take the edge off instead?”
Matt cracked his knuckles and leaned forward too, his biceps stretching the leather of his jacket to its breaking point.
“Are you fucking kidding me right now?”
Nicole grabbed his arm, and something passed between them. She looked like she was pleading with him, but for what, I couldn’t understand.
“Don’t let Matt tell you what to do,” Nicole spoke in a wobbly voice. “If you want to try it, Brighton, I’ll do it with you.”
“What?” I stammered, my eyes darting to the powder as I shot up out of my seat. “No, I’m sorry, but I don’t… I think you have the wrong impression of me. I don’t do that stuff.”
