by Beth Rinyu
My mind was telling me no, but my voice wasn’t paying attention to my thoughts at the moment. “Sure,” I muttered.
She stuck her key into the lock and wrestled with it in the darkness. “Sometimes it sticks. There it goes!” Her voice rose in triumph when the key finally turned and the door creaked open. “So this is the grand foyer,” she joked, as we walked into the musty smelling entryway with two doors on each side of us and a set of stairs in front of us. “We’re going up,” she said, taking the first step as I followed behind her. “Just be careful. The steps are a little—”
“Crooked.” I finished her sentence as I navigated myself up the uneven steps. How the hell did this place even pass inspection? Everything about this building screamed code violation. We reached the top of the stairs and walked down the narrow hallway, stopping at the door with the number four and a turkey made out of a paper plate on the front. Her key went in much easier than the front door. She flicked on the light, and I scanned her living room. She was right. The inside of her apartment was much better than the outside. She certainly did make the best of a bad living situation.
“Ta-da!” she exclaimed, throwing her keys on the coffee table. “I know it’s small, but it’s home. Do you want to sit down?” She motioned to the oversized love seat.
It was as if someone else was controlling my actions when my head jerked up and down in a nod.
“Oops, let me just move Clyde and Rosie out of the way.” She grabbed the two stuffed animals just before I took a seat. “I’m gonna grab something to drink. Did you want anything?”
“Umm…no. I’m good,” I replied as she walked off to the kitchen. I looked around at the beach-themed pictures hanging on her walls. In fact, her whole living room had a beach-like feel. “So, do you like the beach?” I asked as she walked out of the kitchen with a glass of water in her hand.
“Love it!” She plopped down in the chair next to me. “Someday…maybe not in this lifetime, but maybe in another one, I will own a beach house.”
I raised an eyebrow at her. “Why not in this lifetime?”
“Umm…do you see where I’m living now? Priorities!” She laughed.
“Set some goals and make it happen.”
“I stopped setting goals the day I peed on a stick and it turned positive. Now my one and only goal consists of paying the rent on time. I know it sounds crazy, but that’s just how it is. I feel like such a loser compared to you.”
“Why?” I wasn’t following her at all.
“Look how much you’ve accomplished at thirty years old. And here I am with my crooked steps, hooptie car, and an unfinished degree.” She sucked in her bottom lip before setting her mouth into a slight smile. “But every time I start feeling this way I have to stop and think. I have something money could never buy—my daughter. Different strokes for different folks, I guess.” She sighed and an awkward silence fell between us.
“I should really get going.” I was finally coming to my senses.
“Oh…okay,” she murmured, rather disappointed.
We both got up at the same time, and she followed behind me. Blatant quietness loomed once again when we reached the door. “Thanks for being so understanding about tonight. I feel like such an idiot,” she spoke.
“Not a big deal.” I suddenly realized how close she was to me. So close that I could smell faint traces of the familiar fragrance I’d inhale each morning when she’d walk through the door. It was her trademark, and right now it was an aphrodisiac, as my want for her intensified with each passing second. I swallowed hard, wanting so badly to feel her lips on mine once again. It was wrong on so many levels, but I couldn’t help how I was feeling. As we inched closer, I had no intentions of stopping what I was pretty certain was going to happen. I lowered my head as she raised hers to mine. This was going to happen again, and this time it wasn’t on a stupid dare. This time it was out of pure want on both our parts.
“Gabe,” she whispered, and I felt myself coming undone.
Taking a deep breath, I tried my hardest to reply, but I was lost under the spell she had cast upon me. What the fuck was happening to me? I never let any woman get me this way. I was always in control. Not the other way around. I finally found my voice just as my phone rang from my pocket. I hated the person on the other end of that call, and I was thankful to the person on the other end of that call. I cleared my throat, and Faith backed away as we both came to our senses. My grandmother’s name flashed across my caller ID when I pulled my phone out.
“I-I...umm. I have to take this.” Really, I didn’t have to. I could’ve just sent it to voicemail so we could pick up right where we left off, but I knew it was wrong. Faith was a funny, beautiful girl, but she also worked for me, and she had a kid. Two of the biggest dating rules I never intended on breaking.
She bit her bottom lip and gave a quick nod. I wasn’t sure if I sensed sadness, regret or relief in her eyes. Maybe it was a little of all three.
“Oh yeah, sure.”
“Hold on one second,” I answered, putting my grandmother on hold, making sure I hit the mute button. I raked my hand through my hair, fighting with my mounting sexual frustration. “I’ll see you on Monday.”
“Yup! See you Monday. Have a great Thanksgiving!” she exclaimed, her enthusiasm less than believable.
I opened the door and took a step out. She gave me one last smile and wished me a good night before closing the door behind me. The sound of the chain on the door sealed the deal. The crazy notion going through both our minds just moments ago wasn’t going to happen. Never. That was a line that should never be crossed and definitely would have if my grandmother hadn’t cock blocked me with her phone call.
Chapter 18
Faith
I survived Thanksgiving Day at my parents’ house without Cole. I survived my mother’s and Natalia’s “I told you so” lectures. I survived breaking the news to Joey that Cole would no longer be living with us. I even survived feigning civility to Cole for Joey’s sake when he would come to pick her up or drop her off. But I wasn’t sure if I’d survive Gabe’s cold, no nonsense I’m the boss demeanor ever since our almost kiss.
I tried to tell myself it was the effects of the alcohol that night, but I knew it wasn’t. I thought about him...a lot. Too much. In ways one shouldn’t think about their boss. I wasn’t sure if he was embarrassed. I wasn’t sure if he was angry. I wasn’t sure if he was feeling guilty. All I did know was he definitely wasn’t having the same thoughts about me as I was having about him. In the two weeks that had passed, I had been initiated into the Gabe Samuels is a dick club. Like it or not. He barely spoke to me, choosing to correspond via email most of the time. His office door was shut more than it was open, and he even snapped at me a few times for minor mistakes. I knew he was under a lot of pressure to meet his deadline for the software he was rolling out in the beginning of the year. But something told me his intolerance had a lot more to do with what had happened the night before Thanksgiving and not the deadline he needed to meet. I’d finally had enough. I wanted out of the club. I wanted things to be the way they were before Gabe got all freaked out over one stupid, meaningless kiss.
Gabe had just come back from his morning meetings and was immersed in something on his computer screen.
“Hey.” I knocked lightly on his door.
“What’s up?” He gave me a quick scan before shifting his eyes to his computer.
“I was just going to grab something for lunch. Did you want anything?”
“No. I’m good. Thanks.”
I stood silently, waiting for him to acknowledge me.
“Did you need something else?” He finally lifted his head.
“Yeah, actually I do. I need to know what the problem is here.”
“No problem.”
His smugness was pissing me off. I refused to back down like the rest of the employees, who would do as he said and then talk behind his back and make up stupid, childish clubs. I had seen the compas
sionate side of him before, so I knew it existed.
“I kinda think there is, because you’ve been going out of your way to ignore me.”
“Well, I’m sorry about that, but I’m a little busy here!”
“You’ve been busy from the first day I started here, and you’ve never acted this way. It’s because of that night. It’s because I kissed you. Isn’t it?”
He looked down at his desk and didn’t respond.
“Look, I said I was sorry. We both know it didn’t mean anything. It was just a drunken stupid dare. You said you wouldn’t hold it against me, but you are. You’ve made me a member of the club, and I don’t want to be in it!”
Did I seriously just say that to him?
“What club?” he asked, now giving me his full attention.
“Just forget it.”
“No. What the hell are you talking about?” He wasn’t letting it go.
I groaned in defeat. “The Gabe Samuels is a dick club,” I mumbled.
He smiled and chortled.
“You think that’s funny?” I was appalled that he found humor in that.
“Faith, do you think I care about what they think of me? I’m not here to make friends with any of them.”
“Why not?” I creased my eyebrows.
“Umm...because they work for me, and that’s all.”
“Yes, but don’t you think it’s important to have a good rapport with your employees?”
“No. They have a job. They’re getting paid to do that job. Why do I have to be friends with them?”
My frustration was mounting. As much I didn’t want to think he was the pompous ass everyone made him out to be, he sure was acting that way right now. “I’m not saying you have to be friends with them, but maybe…oh, just forget it.” I dug my heel into the floor and did an about-face out of his office.
“Maybe I should just what?” he shouted.
I shifted around once I reached the doorway. “Loosen up a little and stop being a...”
“A dick?” He smirked.
“Well...yeah.” My voice wavered.
He stood up and moved around to the other side of his desk, leaning back on the edge with his hands in his pockets. This was it. I was going back to cleaning toilets and peddling chick sticks.
“And how do you propose I stop being a dick?”
His stance was intimidating. My legs trembled and my throat tightened. “I-I don’t know. Just chill a little. Stop taking yourself and life so seriously. You’re all into eating healthy and going to the gym every day. Why? You’re gonna die of a heart attack from the stress you put yourself under anyway. Life’s too short. So eat that big greasy cheeseburger and live a little.”
“I’m a vegetarian,” he replied with a playful grin.
“Well, then...drink a giant chocolate shake!” I threw my arms up in defeat.
“I like vanilla better.” He laughed, the situation clearly amusing him.
I tried to hold back a smile, but failed. There was no getting through to him. He was so set in his ways. As long as I knew our working relationship could survive that kiss, that was all I really cared about. I wouldn’t even bring up the almost kiss that almost happened right before his phone rang. Maybe it was all conjured up in my mind. I was under the influence after all. But even with the effects of the alcohol, I felt something pass between us as we stood at the door, saying our goodbyes that night. Obviously he didn’t. Why did he have to be so damn handsome? Why did he have to be so damn arrogant? And why the hell did he have to look at me with that intense gaze that made my heart rate accelerate and my knees buckle?
“Hey, Faith. Are you ready?” Chad bellowed, interrupting the staring contest going on between Gabe and me. Chad eyed us up questionably. “Am I interrupting something?”
“Oh, there’s the founder of the club now,” Gabe joked with Chad, but I could still sense a hint of cynicism in his voice.
“What?” Chad was totally aloof.
I cleared my throat. “Nothing. I just have to grab my coat.”
“Gabe Samuels...it’s been a while!” a loud, obnoxious voice shouted.
I turned around and immediately began to assess the person behind it. Dark hair. Dark eyes. He looked to be about the same age as Chad and Gabe. And if I had to rate his looks on a scale of one to ten, it would probably be a six point five. He didn’t possess the adorable boy next door looks of Chad or the CQ looks of my boss. He was somewhere in between. Average—or maybe slightly above.
“Has it?” Gabe’s tone was a little sharper than usual.
“Faith, this is Max Reily. He’s an old college buddy of mine…and Gabe’s.” Chad was hesitant with the last part of that sentence.
“Oh, hey. It’s nice to meet you.”
“Likewise.” He lifted my hand to his lips, taking me a little off guard.
Gabe was less than impressed by his greeting. In fact, his expression let me know he was pissed.
“Do you care if Max joins us for lunch?” Chad asked.
“Oh no. Not at all.” I gave an uneasy smile.
“I’m honored. It’s been a long time since I’ve had lunch with such a beautiful lady like yourself.”
Gabe’s eye roll caused an internal giggle. I was feeling the same way over this guy’s clichéd mannerisms around women.
“Faith? How long are you gonna be? I need to go over some things with you.” Gabe was speaking to me, but he never broke his penetrating glare from Max.
Now all of a sudden he needs me? After ignoring me for the past week and a half? Something told me his urgency didn’t have to do with work but more with the person I was having lunch with. Part of me was actually thankful for this diversion. I didn’t even know this guy, but my first impression of him wasn’t so good.
“Umm...I was just gonna take my usual hour. Is that okay? If not—”
“Come on, Samuels, stop being such a slave driver and let the girl have lunch,” Max interrupted.
Gabe’s growing irritation was evident, and I immediately sensed these two had some kind of bad history.
“I can come back sooner if you need me,” I responded, trying to ease the looming tension.
“No. It’s fine.” Gabe finally broke the death stare he had on Max, directing one last angry gaze at Chad before turning around and walking into his office, slamming the door behind him.
“Someone didn’t take their happy pills this morning.” Max tried to come off as joking, but it was anything but.
Chad shrugged his shoulders. “Ready?”
“Umm…yeah, sure,” I whispered, feeling as if I were betraying Gabe in a weird way by having lunch with this guy.
I was happy I decided to drive myself to the restaurant. I used the excuse that I had to be back in exactly an hour, but the truth was, I didn’t feel like driving in Max’s Mercedes, which I’m sure was an extension of his manhood. Funny how I didn’t view Gabe’s Porsche in that way, but there was something about this Max guy that didn’t sit well with me.
Over lunch, I learned that Max was a big corporate attorney. He lived in New York City and had a penthouse on the Upper East Side, a fact he mentioned several times in the short time since we had sat down. Chad and Max reminisced about their college days while my mind was still back in Gabe’s office, imagining him standing in front of his desk looking hot as hell.
“So, Faith, how long have you been working for Samuels?” Max asked, startling me from my impure thoughts.
“Oh, um...” I cleared my throat and pushed my hair behind my ear. Bless me, Father, for I have sinned...I’m thinking about my boss in that way once again. “About two months.”
He looked at Chad and raised an eyebrow.
“Yeah, she’s an anomaly,” Chad responded.
“Well, I don’t see it that way. I think Gabe’s a pretty awesome guy.” I rushed to his defense. Even if he had been acting like a jerk to me, something told me Max was an even bigger jerk. At least Gabe wasn’t afraid to admit he was one.
“So are you married?” Max blurted out nonchalantly.
“No. I’m a single mom and my daughter is my world.” Hopefully that was enough to scare him away just in case he was getting any thoughts.
“Wow! You have a kid?”
“Yup, I do,” I replied proudly as I took a sip of my water.
“How old?”
God, this guy was relentless. “She’s five.”
“What were you, fifteen when you had her?” He chuckled.
“Um…no, actually I wasn’t.” My tone was sharp. I was done with his inquisition. I couldn’t even believe Chad was friends with someone like him. I was so thankful when my phone beeped with a text message. I didn’t care who it was, I was going to use it as an excuse to get out of there. I pulled my phone from my purse, happy to see a text from Sylvia letting me know she was home. She had been at her sister’s in Florida since Thanksgiving. She only planned on being there for a few days, but those days turned into weeks when her sister had to have emergency surgery. I missed our chats, and I knew Joey was missing her just as much.
“Oh, you know what? That was Gabe. I need to get back.” I reached into my wallet for some money, and Max put his hand up to stop me.
“I’ve got this, beautiful.”
Ick! If there was ever a rulebook for men, one of the top rules in that book would be to never call a girl beautiful if you’ve only known her for a minute. It comes off as cheesy and insincere.
“Thanks.” I stood up and put my coat on.
“Will I see you at the wedding next month?”
Chad’s wedding. If I hadn’t already mailed back my response, I would seriously be having second thoughts right now. “Oh, um...yeah.”
“Well, then. We shall meet again soon.”
I forced a smile. Lucky me!
Chapter 19
Gabe
Max Reily. I couldn’t think of another human being whom I despised more than him, and he knew it. I couldn’t believe he had the balls to even show up here. He was always good friends with Chad back in college, while I barely tolerated him. The guy was a total fuck-up who skated his way through college. If partying was a major, he would’ve been at the top of the class. His family was well connected to the school and donated a ton of money, which in turn helped their son get by with minimum effort. He loved to brag about himself and his family’s money. After we graduated from college, Chad would invite him to hang out with us from time to time and his boasting had switched gears to the cushy job he had waiting for him after he graduated law school. What he failed to mention was that cushy job wasn’t going to be based on his own merits and hard work. That cushy job was because a lot of people owed his father favors—the same reason he had gotten through college, and I’m fairly certain, the same reason he’d gotten accepted into law school. My family had money, but my father always instilled in me I would earn my own living by taking school seriously and working hard. I did just that by doing well in college, pursuing my master’s degree, and building a successful company all on my own.
