Player

by T. N. King

  She tried avoiding Tristan most of the day to avoid the awkwardness between them, but he wasn’t having that. He asked her to sit in on the morning meeting and take notes, the whole time watching her and flirting with her. He asked her to go over some campaigns with him in his office and then he scheduled a project to be completed the next morning.

  “What project?” she asked a little nervous. She grabbed her schedule book and thumbed through the pages but she didn’t see anything about a project.

  “It is the Hillel project.”

  “Damn. I don’t see it in here.”

  “I haven’t told you about it yet.”

  “But… it’s due tomorrow. Why is this just coming up now?” she asked.

  “Is there a problem?” He sat back and looked at her.

  “Well, it seems like everything is piling up all of a sudden and it would have been nice to have some time to put this together. Was this just approved?”

  “No.” He didn’t offer any reason why he waited until the last day to let her know about it. She knew she was going to have to work late and it made her angry that he did this. It seemed very intentional.

  When she got back to her office with her lunch, she put her phone on Do Not Disturb and tried to relax. A soft knock on her door made her angry. She was ready to tell Tristan she wasn’t working during her lunch when Jensen popped his head in making her smile immediately.

  “Jensen,” she breathed. “Thank God.” She got up and walked toward him.

  “Everything okay?” he asked, putting his arms around her and hugging her.

  “Yeah. Tri… my boss seems to be really piling the work on me today. It’s a little stressful.”

  “Awe, I’m sorry. I’ll make you feel better tonight.”

  “I would love that. What brings you here anyway?”

  “I had a little extra time this afternoon and I was hoping to take you out for lunch. Wrap that up and have it later.” He looked at the sandwich she had started to open on her desk.

  “I really don’t have the time today. I have to take a quick lunch and start on a project due tomorrow. I’m going to be here late as it is.” Her phone buzzed and she scoffed at it.

  “Phone ringing off the hook?”

  “Just with Tristan.”

  He nodded and walked over to her desk by the phone. She pressed a button and leaned down into the phone.

  “Yes?”

  “I want to start the Hillel project after my meeting. We should be….”

  Megan waited for him to finish, but he didn’t.

  “Say that again? I think you cut out.” When she didn’t hear anything she looked down at the phone and saw that Jensen had unplugged the cord from the phone and was twirling it around in a circle. “Jensen.” She reached for the plug but he playfully pulled it away from her, just out of arms reach. “Jensen!” she whispered loudly. “Stop being childish and plug it back in!”

  “Kiss me first.” She reached for it again and he grabbed her hand, putting the cord around his neck and leaning in for a kiss.

  “What the hell is going on in here?” Tristan stood in the doorway, his arms crossed and his nose flared. He raised his head up when he saw Jensen. “What the fuck are you doing here?”

  “Just visiting my girlfriend on her lunch break. You got a problem with that?” He stood tall and faced Tristan.

  “Oh, I have a big problem with that. You aren’t welcome here and I am only going to ask you once to leave.” He stepped toward Jensen and Megan’s stomach twisted.

  “I have a right to see Megan when she is on her break. I don’t give a shit what sort of low life she is working for. In fact, her lunch hour has already started, I am taking her out.” He grabbed her hand and started around the desk toward the door. Tristan stepped closer and put his hand out.

  “I gave her half an hour today. She is needed in an important lunch meeting in less than twenty minutes. You will have to have your little rendezvous another time.”

  “I don’t know who the hell you think you are, but if you don’t get out of my way I am going to put you on the floor.”

  “Guys, guys, guys,” Megan stammered. She stepped in between them and put her hands out. “There is no need for this immature fighting.”

  “There is nothing immature about this. It has been a long time coming, and this asshole needs to get what is coming to him.” Jensen said, his jaw flexing tightly. He moved Megan out of the way with one swoop of his arm and stepped toward Tristan. “I don’t know what you are up to, but I swear on….”

  “Jensen, please!” Megan got in between them again and this time she was angry. “This is ridiculous. We can have lunch another time. It was just bad timing. It’s fine.” She stood her ground as the two men stared at each other, huffing and puffing until Jensen scoffed and turned away.

  “Fine. That’s just great.”

  “I’m sorry,” she said, rubbing his arm. He put his arms around her and glanced at Tristan before kissing her fervently.

  “I will see you after work? We’ll do dinner at my place.”

  “Yes. Okay,” she said, relieved that a fight was diverted. “I will call you when I get ready to leave here.”

  “I’ll be here to get you then.” He kissed her forehead then walked out, pushing past Tristan and hitting him with his shoulder on his way out.

  Tristan grinned, pleased that his plan worked.

  “You want me to sit in on your lunch meeting?” she asked. “Did you tell me this earlier?”

  “No. I just decided on it.”

  Megan looked at him curiously. She never sat in on his lunch meetings. They were usually just reviews with the department heads.

  “What do you need me to do?”

  “Take notes. I’ll need them put into your computer and emailed to me before the end of the day.”

  She wasn’t very pleased that he kept piling her up with work before she was even able to start the project he wanted done by the next morning. When he left her office, she quickly finished her lunch and grabbed her laptop, note pad and pencil. She was hoping she could take notes right on her laptop to avoid having to retype them after writing them. Then she could just send them to him after the meeting.

  As she sat next to him, she didn’t know what she was supposed to take notes on. Everything the department heads talked about was review on things they had already discussed or completed. Was Tristan keeping her busy to keep her from Jensen? She watched him as he spoke, his eyes moving from one person to the next. She took a few notes, but mostly as reference points that she would use to go back and reuse the notes she already took in previous meetings. After the meeting she went back to her office and started the Hillel project that was due the next morning.

  Her afternoon whizzed by as she worked diligently on spreadsheets and graphs.

  “Hey girl.” Megan looked up from her computer just as Lorena poked her head into her office. “I brought your case. Sorry I am so late.”

  “That’s okay, as long as I have it before the end of the day.”

  “Well, two minutes before the end of the day is technically before the end of the day,” she grimaced. Megan looked at the clock on her computer and saw that it was almost five.

  “Wow. I didn’t realize how late it was.” She opened her case and pulled out a folder. “Oh you are a life saver. Thank you so much.” She scanned the contents into her computer and saved it. “Why are you so late anyway?” Megan had a feeling there was a good story to be told.

  Lorena smiled shyly and looked at Megan. “I started out around lunch time with good intentions.”

  “But?”

  “I met this guy on the way over here.”

  “Of course you did,” Megan teased. “Why didn’t I expect that?”

  “Sorry.”

  “It’s okay. I owe you big. How about we go shopping later in the week?” Megan pulled out her company discount card and waived it in the air.

  “You don’t have to ask me twice.”
She grinned as they high fived each other.

  “So, tell me about this guy.”

  “I don’t know much about him, but he is gorgeous. His name is Ryan and he travels all over the place. We had lunch together and spent the afternoon together. He said he wanted to see me again.”

  “If he travels, why would you want to waste your time with him?”

  “I’m just having fun. It’s not like I want to settle down and get married or anything.”

  “I didn’t mean it that way.” She got up and picked up the folder, putting the contents back inside and closing it up. “If you want to stick around for a few minutes, I am just about finished with this project. Jensen is picking me up. He can take you home if you want.”

  “Sounds great.”

  “Kool. Grab a seat. I’ll be right back.” She stood up and walked toward the door. “I have to take this to Tristan and then I’ll wrap everything up.”

  “Ohhhh, you have to let me come with you.”

  “What? Where?”

  “To your boss’s office. I want to see just how hot he is. Introduce me.”

  “Lorena, no. I don’t think it’s….”

  “Oh, it will be fine.” She took Megan’s hand and pulled her toward the door. “Come on.”

  Megan sighed and smiled at her roommate, amused at just how boy crazy she was. She led her down the hallway and knocked lightly on Tristan’s partially opened door.

  “Come in,” he said without looking up from his work.

  Megan walked in and smiled when he finally looked up at her and Lorena.

  “Tristan, this is my roommate, Lorena. She stopped by to drop off my case for me. Here is the folder you needed.”

  Tristan did not even regard Megan or the folder she handed him, as he stood and smiled warmly at Lorena, holding his hand out toward her. “It is a pleasure to meet you, Lorena.” His voice turned velvety and his eyes sparkled the same way they did when he was alone with Megan. Lorena’s mouth dropped open as she took his hand. He turned it over and kissed her palm. “Lovely.”

  She smiled weakly and mumbled to Megan. “I’ll wait for you in the hallway.”

  “Maybe we can have lunch sometime?” he called out to her.

  Lorena turned toward him and forced a smile. “Maybe.”

  “Here’s my card.” He flipped the card between his fingers and held it out toward her. She walked back to him and took it, her eyes locked on his. “Call me when you are free.” He winked at her and smiled again.

  “Will there be anything else?” Megan interrupted. She was irritated at Tristan and his lack of professionalism.

  Tristan shook his head; his eyes still on Lorena.

  “I am just about finished with the Hillel project. I’ll email it over to you and make any changes first thing in the morning.”

  “Oh, yes. I forgot to tell you. It isn’t due until next week now.”

  “What?” Megan huffed.

  “Yeah, they called and they have some changes so the due date is pushed.”

  She had a few choice things to say to him, but knew it wouldn’t do any good so she started walking out then turned back toward them. “Lorena? Are you coming?”

  She turned away from him and followed Megan out into the hallway.

  “What a jerk,” Megan mumbled. When Lorena didn’t chime in she looked at her and noticed something was wrong.

  “You okay?”

  “Why?” Lorena’s voice was very bland.

  “You are acting really strange.” She stopped in the hallway but Lorena kept walking until she got into Megan’s office. Megan followed her in and stopped at the door. “Lorena?”

  “I’ve seen him before,” she said, keeping her back to Megan.

  “Well, he is a pretty popular guy and he is always in the papers.”

  “Maybe.” She picked up her purse and hugged Megan. “So, I’ll see you tonight?”

  “Let me close my computer down and I’ll walk out with you,” she said, watching Lorena’s face. She followed her out of her office and they walked down the hall together. “I texted Jensen and he will be here in about twenty minutes.”

  “What are your plans tonight?”

  “He is going to drop me off at the apartment, then we are having dinner later tonight.”

  “So, I’ll see you tomorrow?” she smiled.

  “If all goes well.”

  They walked out of the building and Jensen was sitting in his car, talking on his cell phone. Megan smiled and went to his window. “You’re already here.” He put his finger up as he finished up his call.

  “Okay, make it tomorrow around two and I will be there…. Yes…. Yes…. It will be finalized by then. Make the call and I will see you tomorrow.” He hung up the phone and looked at Megan. He wasn’t smiling. “I wanted to apologize for earlier today. About what happened up there.”

  “Don’t’ be. It’s fine.”

  “No, it really isn’t.”

  “What happened?” Lorena asked.

  “Jensen and Tristan got into a bit of a heated argument in my office. I thought I was going to have to dodge fists the way it was going.”

  “Damn,” she exclaimed. “What were they fighting over?”

  “Her,” Jensen interrupted, pointing at Megan.

  “Look at you go,” Lorena teased. “Having two absolutely gorgeous guys fighting over you. Hell, I can’t even get one of them to remember who I am.”

  “It’s not quite how it happened,” Megan defended.

  “You can’t possibly stand there and tell me he isn’t increasing your work load because of me,” said Jensen.

  “I… honestly don’t know why he is.” She turned to Lorena. “What do you mean you can’t get one to remember who you are? You have guys swooning over you, no matter where you go.”

  Lorena pressed her lips together and looked down at the ground. “Remember earlier when I said I’ve seen him before?”

  “Yeah?”

  “He was at the club that night.”

  “What night?”

  “The night that you and I went and met up with Jensen.”

  “He was?” Megan was surprised she didn’t see him.

  Lorena nodded but didn’t look happy about it.

  “You can’t expect him to remember you from one night at the club. There were tons of people there.”

  “Megan,” she leaned toward her and whispered. “He’s the guy I met there.”

  “The guy that you went into the bathroom with?” Megan’s eyes grew wide and she just stared at her. “You fucked my boss?”

  Lorena nodded. Megan put her hand over her mouth and just stared with amazement.

  “Now you see why I’m a little pissed that he doesn’t remember me?”

  “Yeah, I would be angry too. I’m sorry.”

  Lorena shrugged. “No biggie.” She opened the car door and slid into the back. Megan knew it bothered her but she didn’t want to make a big deal of it.

  “Don’t let it get you down,” Megan said, getting into the front seat. “If it makes you feel any better, he is shallow and egotistical.”

  “Yeah, I guess.”

  “You saw what he did to me just before we left.”

  “What the hell did he do?” Jensen spat. Megan looked at him. He was tense, and seemingly very angry as he looked up at the building toward Tristan’s office.

  “He knew how hard I had to work on the Hillel project thinking it was due tomorrow morning. The clients called and changed the due date to next week. He never told me.”

  Jensen’s jaw clenched and there was fire in his eyes.

  “It’s fine,” she said, touching his arm. She couldn’t understand why he was getting so angry. “At least I found out early enough so that I didn’t have to work late.”

  Her attempt didn’t ease his tension a bit.

  Chapter 9

  They pulled up in front of the girls’ apartment and Jensen looked back at Lorena.

  “Thanks for the ride,” s
he said, opening the door and getting out.

  “Any time.”

  Megan leaned toward him to give him a kiss and he pulled away from her. “Come with me.”

  “I have to get my overnight bag. I thought we weren’t doing dinner until later?”

  “There has been a bit of a change in our plans. I need to show you something very important before we do anything more.”

  Megan looked at him, curious and worried that something was wrong. “Jensen? What is going on?”

  “Just stay in the car and shut the door.” She could hear the agitation in his voice.

  “Okay,” she said, keeping her eyes on him. “Lorena, I will see you a little later.”

  “Yeah, sure.” She backed away from the car. “Call me as soon as you can.”

  Jensen pulled away from the curb and didn’t say much as he drove toward the boulevard.

  “What is going on, Jensen? You are starting to worry me.”

  He didn’t say a word as he picked up his cell phone and hit a few buttons before putting it back in its holder.

  “Elle, hello…. I am going to head over to the club. Are you going to be there…? Okay, good. You can expect us there in about fifteen minutes. See you then.”

  Megan was puzzled. “Why are we going to the club?”

  “Lorena said something that triggered what happened that night at the club.”

  “About what happened to me?”

  “Yes.”

  “What did she say?”

  “She was with Tristan, which puts him at the scene of the crime.” He looked at Megan and waited for her to connect the dots.

  “No,” she said flatly. “You think Tristan had something to do with drugging me? Why would he do something like that? What could possibly be his motive?”

  “I don’t know but I am going to find out.” His voice was sharp and full of anger.

  “It probably wasn’t even him. She could have easily mistaken him for the guy she was with. It wasn’t like she got his name and number or anything, and she was completely wasted that night.”

  “How long was she with him?”