Executive Decision: A Romance Novel

by Mandy M. Roth

  “Paige went to get drinks. Megan’s finding a table. Your mission is to have fun tonight. And you, Dale, are charged with seeing she does.”

  “I thought I already did that,” Dale said, smiling wryly at me.

  Lauren tossed her hand up and shook her head. “I’m sensing trouble in paradise and I, for one, am not willing to step between the two of you. The sexual tension you two normally walk around with is bad enough. This is too much for me.”

  “What sexual tension? We do not have tension.”

  Lauren didn’t answer, she simply walked away. I looked around the club, its vaulted ceiling and odd track lighting gave it a disco feel. It was of my favorites to come to. They were prone to playing music from just about any era and I loved that. So did Dale. It was extra nice because the DJ’s knew us and seemed to slide our favorites in as often as they could.

  The club was different but not unattractive. It was done in deep blues and maroons. There were four large half rooms that spun off the main room in each direction. One had pool tables in it and a dartboard. Another had a large cushioned seating bench with a padded back that ran all the way around the room.

  Tables sat in front of it with individual chairs at each one. The other two rooms had high, dark maroon round tables with tall swivel, padded vinyl stools surrounding them. The absolute best part of Fever was the Disc Jockey’s booth. It sat along the back wall with the dance floor in front of it and was huge. Mirrors were all over behind it. The part I liked was the silver love beads that flanked both sides of the booth. After I had enough alcohol they always look like gems under the ocean when the lights hit them just right.

  Hey, I’m entitled to resort to age ten any damn time I feel like it.

  “Are you tired, Liz? Do you need to call it a night?” Dale asked from behind me. “I’m sure there’s a bed out there that’s very empty right now.”

  I turned to face him extremely unimpressed about how he was handling the Charles thing. Crossing my arms, I gave him a hard stare and didn’t move. “Let me have it, Dale. I know you’ve got at least a billion smart ass comebacks for me. So spit them out so we can be done with this. We’ve been arguing for hours over this and we never do that. I don’t want this between us.”

  Dale grabbed my hands and spun me around until my back was pressed to him. My arms were crossed and he held tight to each hand. He began to move us, swaying with the slow techno mix. He put his chin on my shoulder and sighed in my ear. “A year, huh? That’s a long time to lie to me, Elizabeth. And, yes, it counts as lie. Just thought I’d point that out since you like to split hairs and all.”

  “I’m sorry, Dale.” Against my better judgment, I leaned back into him. We’d danced together so many times before, but I’d never once thought about how well we fit together. My body seemed to anticipate every move he made. Had we always been like that?

  Dale asked me something, but I didn’t hear him. I was too busy concentrating on how he felt pressed against me now.

  “Do you, Liz?”

  Coming out of my fog, I tilted my head so I could see his face. “Do I what?”

  “Do you honestly think what we did doesn’t count as sex?”

  Sorry I asked.

  Opening my mouth, I tried to answer him but ended up closing it again. I thought about it again. “I ... err ... I don’t know. We never really talked about it so I wasn’t sure exactly what it meant.”

  “Ohmygod, you’re sleeping with him too?”

  The minute I heard the sound of Helen Endsley’s voice, I wanted to hit something. Preferably her. I held back. Mostly because Dale still held my hands. I’d also just had my nails filed and she so wasn’t worth the effort.

  Helen, also known as Vincent Walter’s left hand wench, stood there with her hand on her hip, giving me a disgusted look. Her pale green eyes raked over me as her lip curled. “So now you have all your bases covered, Rogers. If you’re extra good in bed, Corbin might do all the work for you.”

  The tiny maroon Gucci dress she had on was stunning. The cut out pattern on it was something Megan would just love. Helen had the body to wear it. Even I couldn’t deny that. The only thing that took from that was the fact she seemed obsessed with keeping her hair whacked off to the point there was next to nothing left. Helen then proceeded to slick that short amount of hair back, giving her an androgynous look. Yet, she still managed to come off as feminine.

  I wasn’t the least bit surprised to see Paula Seraphim come walking up to stand beside Helen. They were partners in crime. Paula was Vincent’s right hand and on again, off again girlfriend. Why it was fine for the two of them to date even though they worked together but I wasn’t allowed to was beyond me. I don’t think they thought about double standards in their ‘how do we make Liz feel like crap meetings.’

  Helen gave me a wry look. “Paula, Elizabeth and Corbin are an item now too. We better hide the rest of the men at the office or she’ll have herself a bakers’ dozen by the end of the week.”

  Paula scanned me as thought she were smelling something bad and laughed. “They’re just friends. Corbin wouldn’t stoop that low. ” Rubbing her fingers over her turquoise necklace, she let a slow smile spread over her narrow face. I wasn’t entirely sure what her goal was when she selected her outfit, but she looked vaguely like a pirate dunked in shades of blue.

  The head to toe silk ensemble came equipped with an A-line skirt that went just below her knobby knees. The swirl pattern let the eye move non-stop, creating a headache. The white puff sleeved, silk shirt she wore was something I would have selected for myself as well but having seen her in one I’d never dare buy one.

  I tried to move out of Dale’s grasp but he held me tight. Pressing his lips to my ear, he whispered to me. “Hmm, would you like to take this opportunity to tell them they’re right about everything? Or, would you like to give them something to talk about?”

  I turned into him with the intention of whispering into his ear. When I found our lips almost touching, I visually traced a slow line up Dale’s smooth face and found his emerald green eyes watching me intensely. For a moment, I forgot exactly why I’d turned to face him. Then it hit me. “Mmm, you pick. I’m tired of it all.”

  Dale glanced towards them and then back at me. He gave me a mischievous smile before directing his attention back to Helen and Paula. “Tell me, ladies. Why does it matter so much who Liz is and is not seeing?”

  Suddenly, they looked like deer caught in headlights as they stared at one another. Paula went to speak but stopped, clearly hoping Helen would have a great explanation. Helen had none. She huffed and turned to Paula. “Come on, let’s try to have a nice time tonight even though we have to share space with that workplace whore even more than we already have to.”

  My blood pumped wildly. Who was she calling a workplace whore? I tried to jerk out of Dale’s grasp but he held tight to me. “Let go.”

  “No, I’m not spending the night bailing you out of jail because you beat the living crap out of the world’s most jealous women.”

  Helen and Paula turned slowly and looked at us. I knew they’d heard his comment, but they made no attempt to comment on it.

  Dale couldn’t leave well enough alone. “Remember when you were teasing me about the women I chose to date being stupid enough to fall for the German measles thing?”

  My stomach turned. “You dated them?”

  Dale wrapped his arms tight around me and rocked me back and forth, laughing softly in my ear. “No, I was--,” he did a fake cough, “--too sick to go.”

  I lost it. I laughed so hard that I snorted again, making Dale laugh too.

  Megan came running up to us, smiling as her breasts and hair bounced. “Come on you two. We’ve got a table full of drinks, the need to dance, a DJ willing to accommodate all our needs, and the desire to find some hot guys to entertain us tonight.”

  Dale nodded but held me to him. He pressed his mouth to my ear. “We didn’t get a chance to finish our conversation.”<
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  “Huh?”

  “Do you, Liz?”

  I tilted my head so I could see his face better. “Do I what?”

  “Do you honestly think what we did doesn’t count as sex?”

  Sorry I asked. again.

  Opening my mouth, I tried to answer him but ended up closing it again. “I ... err ... I don’t know. I didn’t think you wanted Charles to know about your sex life and I’m fairly sure you’d rather Paige not hear it either.”

  “Yeah, maybe filing that incident in the bathroom away and keeping it between us is for the best. It would just make things awkward around everyone else and girls I date might get jealous because I’m still friends with you. Kind of messes with my image.”

  Girls he dates? Messes with his image?

  I gripped his hands as I soaked in the words. It wasn’t like I expected anything from him. We agreed to not let it change our friendship and I’d made sure to stay detached. Knowing all of this didn’t make the thought of Dale being with someone else hurt any less. It was none of my business that he wanted to see other people.

  “You know, come to think of it, it would be nice to find someone to take care of things for me the right way.”

  The right way?

  The wicked bitch of the west branch just had the house drop on her. I stopped moving with him and he had to force me to go at all. There were so many things I should have said. I said nothing.

  “It’s a good thing that the one time we lose our minds was substandard to say the least. Can you even imagine if it actually ranked up there in our best of category? It’d be really hard to get over that.” He pressed his mouth to my ear and whispered, “I can assure you that nothing will change between us because I’m over it. Thanks for the roll about though. It was amusing to say the least.”

  Substandard? Roll about? Amusing?

  He let go of my hands and I stood still. I didn’t let the anger in me surface. It was odd to feel so calm when I was so angry and so hurt. Turning, I looked at Dale. I carefully kept my face void of emotion. “Dale.”

  “What, do you disagree? Am I wrong, Liz? Let me know, I’d hate to piss you off.” There was something in his tone I couldn’t put my finger on. I didn’t care to evaluate it. He wanted to pick a fight, and I wasn’t in the mood to take the bait.

  I locked eyes with him. “Dale, I’m not upset with you. I’m disappointed in you. Resorting to this isn’t something I ever thought you would do. I am truly sorry that I was a ‘lame lay’ for you. And I’m sorry that I told you I wouldn’t let it change things between us.”

  Dale moved to touch me, but I shook my head no. He stopped, but he wasn’t happy about it. “You’re disappointed in me? Huh, that’s rich considering what you’ve been up to for a year.”

  “I’m not going to take the bait and argue with you. You’re hurt and angry so you’re lashing out at me. If you’re having issues dealing with what happened and you regret me wasting your time that’s fine. I don’t share your opinion on it being substandard, but I’m biased, I’m the woman in question. You didn’t hurt me tonight, you hurt us. I will move your things to Paige’s tomorrow morning.” I put my hand out to him. “I’d like my key back now.”

  His face fell. “Liz, are you throwing me out?”

  “I’m simply helping you to eliminate all the substandard aspects of your life. Good luck with all you do.”

  Dale tried to pull me to him, but I backed away and put my hand out again. “My key, please.”

  He reached into his pocket and pulled his keys out. I watched with a stone face as he slid his key to my apartment off his ring. Looking down at my outstretched hand, I noticed the Gucci watch he’d given me. I brought my hand back and Dale looked relieved right up until I unclasped the watch and removed it from my wrist.

  “Liz, that was a gift.”

  “I know and I loved it, but every time I look at it I’ll be reminded of the ugly things you said to me. I trusted you and let you close to me. That was my own mistake. I should have learned my lesson the first time around.”

  “First time around?” Dale asked, slowly handing my key to me.

  I ignored his question. He didn’t deserve an answer. I took it and placed the watch in his hand. “I think it’s safe to assume that I’m going home to Ohio alone. I do thank you for having offered. You didn’t have to do that.” I took a deep breath before I delivered the killing blow. “I’ll speak with Charles about moving you off my team while I’m on vacation. I’m sure with the right persuasion he’ll do as I ask and not think it substandard.” I turned to walk away. Dale caught hold of my arm and held me in place.

  “Liz, I didn’t mean any of that. I was hurt. I don’t think—”

  Putting my hand up, I stopped him and peeked over my shoulder. “You said what you meant. I just find it funny that your anger for Charles started this between us and now he’ll be the one to clean it up. And, Dale, he’s never been anything but kind to me. Can you say the same?”

  Yanking my arm free of his grasp, I walked back towards the entrance. I not only needed air now, I needed to apologize to Charles and be sure Dale’s job was secure. I made my way out of the front door and stepped to the side. Unzipping my handbag, I grabbed my phone out and turned it back on. It took a minute for it to sync up with the satellite. Scrolling through missed calls, I found Charles’ number and hit the enter button.

  “I was wondering if you’d call back,” Charles said as he answered. “I thought you might.”

  “You think you’ve got me all figured out, don’t you?” I asked in a playful tone.

  “I’d like to think I do. Now, do you want to tell me what’s wrong?”

  “Charles, we both know you don’t care ... hey, how did you know something is wrong?”

  He chuckled and I could just imagine him laying back on his bed, half out of his suit as he talked to me. “I know you better then you like to believe, Elizabeth.”

  “I guess so.” I laughed and twisted away from the door more to be able to hear Charles better. “I’m sorry I had to cut you off earlier. It was a little hard to hear.”

  “I had no idea Corbin could be that loud.”

  “Ignore him, we all do.” I did a silent prayer that Charles would let the Dale situation go.

  “We? So, you’re out in a group?”

  “Yep, I have three of my girlfriends and one of them, Paige, is Corbin’s sister.” I could almost hear his relief over the phone. “I told you that before. You just don’t listen to me.”

  “I’ll admit I was a bit concerned you and he were an item.”

  I picked at the brick next to me and thought carefully about everything I was saying. When I realized I was ruining my French manicure, I stopped. “Ah, no, Corbin, as you like to call him, and I have never been an item--we were close friends at one time but a difference of opinions ended that. I’ll be honest, I thought for a brief period there that there was something more but he made it abundantly clear I’m not his type. Everything happens for a reason. The only reason I’m telling you this is so you don’t dare fire him or take out your anger on him. He can be an ass at times, but he doesn’t deserve you gunning for him for no reason.”

  Charles laughed from the gut. “I can’t believe you’re not his type. I’ve just gone from being jealous to feeling bad for him.” He was quiet for a moment. “Did it upset you that you weren’t his type?”

  I stood there thinking about Charles’ question. “Promise you won’t use anything I say against him and then I’ll give you an honest answer.”

  “I promise.”

  “Yes, I think I did wish I would have been his type. But you can’t force what isn’t there. Well, I should get back into Fever and find my friends before they get paranoid and have the DJ page me.”

  “Elizabeth, come over tonight. Stay with me. You’ve never spent more than a few hours here.”

  “Charles, not tonight. Thanks for asking though. I think I’d like to just spend the evening with the girl
s. We could meet for coffee in the morning if you want. I’m going shopping with the girls to find a dress for my reunion and I’m having dinner with everyone later.” I leaned against the wall and clicked my heel nervously on the ground. Someone laid on their horn and I flinched. Gotta love New York.

  “Coffee sounds perfect.”

  “Hey, before I hang up. Thank you.”

  “For what?”

  “See you in the morning.” I hung up and looked out into the night. It’s true what they say. The city never does sleep. There were as many people out and about as there was during the middle of the day.

  As I turned to go back into the club, I ran smack into Dale. I looked to find his face blank. Wonderful, I loved emotional crapshoots. “I had a feeling you were coming out to call him.”

  I tried to side step him and failed. I thought about stomping on his foot but liked his black leather boots too much to cause them harm. “Excuse me please, I have nothing further to say to you.”

  “But you have plenty to say to him.”

  Was it wrong that I no longer wanted to hit him, now I wanted to kick him?

  I resisted the urge to injure him. Instead, I did something neither of us expected. I ran my thumb or his lip and cupped his cheek as I looked up at him. “Just because you think I’m barely worth a quick roll in the bathroom, doesn’t mean I think that of you. I called Charles to ensure you had a job Monday morning, Dale.”

  “You didn’t ask him to move me off your team. Why?”

  “Because when I meet him for coffee in the morning I’m going to put in my resignation and recommend you for my position.” I tried to move again, only to find myself being pulled into his arms.

  “Dammit, Liz, I know I screwed up and you’re mad but don’t destroy your career over it.”

  Pushing on his chest, I put distance between us. “How is finding a new position ruining my career? I should have never gotten involved with my boss. Regardless of how hard I work people believe he plays favorites. I’ll start over. Wipe the slate clean. Hopefully it will be somewhere close but honestly, I’ll go wherever the wind takes me. Now move.”