Acts of Desperation(9)

“Mornin’,” Dee said as I stepped off. Dee was Bernie’s secretary and the general office manager. She was from Kentucky, had a big gray bouffant, and was perpetually dieting to get rid of those pesky thirty pounds she couldn’t lose. She was always bubbly and friendly, and I absolutely loved everything about her.

“Morning.” I smiled.

Dee handed me a small stack of messages and after a quick round of pleasantries, I headed down to my office. It was one of the smallest on the floor, but I didn’t mind because it had two huge windows that gave me a great view of the city. The short end of my faux wood, L-shaped desk hugged the wall and was where my computer sat, allowing me to look out my windows while I worked. The long end of my desk was faced with the only other chairs that adorned my office and was where my clients normally sat. I had a tall green fake fern, which my mom bought me shortly after I landed the job, tucked away in the corner. And, my degree was prominently displayed on the textured beige wallpaper that, for some reason, reminded me of the beach. I loved my cozy little space.

I passed most of my morning away working on a case but was interrupted by a knock on my door. When I looked up to see who it was, I felt all the color drain from my face.





Chapter Five


“Hi.”

It was him, the guy from Saturday night, standing at my door in a perfectly tailored, deep black suit, and silver tie, looking more handsome than he had Saturday night. Had he followed Liz and me home and somehow found out where I worked? It would be a little crazy, but if someone that looked like him were obsessed with me, I could probably get over it.

He stepped into my office. “I’m Jax,” he said, grinning and giving me a close-up of his perfectly aligned, pearly whites. He chuckled, and I knew from that chuckle that he recognized me too.

I walked around my desk and reached for his hand. “Sember,” I said, but I was confused, and my expression read like an open book.

“From the New York office. Bernie’s grandson,” he said.

Then it hit me. I remembered Bernie mentioning on Friday that his grandson was transferring, but with everything that had happened over the weekend, I’d completely forgotten.

“Oh! It’s nice to meet you,” I said, feeling a blush rising to my cheeks.

“It’s nice to meet you too,” he said.

After that, I half-listened to everything he said. I plastered a smile on my face while I replayed the scenes from Saturday night. I hoped I hadn’t made a complete idiot out of myself in front my boss’s grandson. I went through my hazy memories. I didn’t stop at anything too embarrassing until I came to when Liz and I danced to Salt and Pepa’s, “Push It”. I cringed, remembering bumping our booties together and doing some suggestive poses—probably not one of my proudest moments. I’d had a sufficient amount to drink by that point, but I couldn’t recall if he was at the bar when we did that dance. My thought was halted when I realized he was staring at me, expectantly.

“I’m sorry…” I said, hoping he’d repeat whatever it was he said.

“I said, how’s everything been going here for you?” he said. “Bernie mentioned you’re our newest associate.”

“Yeah, I guess I am. Things are going pretty well. I’m doing what I love and am working with great people, so I have no complaints.”

“Good. Well…” He ran his fingers through his hair. “I just wanted to say a quick hello. I’ll let you get back to what you were doing.” He gave me one final killer smile, but before he walked out, he added, “You’ve got nice moves by the way.”

I bit my lip. “Thanks,” I said and smiled.

He gave me a raise of his brows and walked out into the hallway, chuckling. I went back to my desk with a racing heart. I continued about my morning and talked with a few clients then, when my stomach growled, I knew it was time for lunch.

Down at the coffee shop, I picked up a ready-to-eat Greek salad and a diet Coke—I needed a dose of fake sugar and caffeine to compliment my healthy salad. I took a seat by a set of large windows that looked out onto the busy city streets. I listened to the rumble of the diesel engines going by and horns honking as I scrolled through my newsfeed, blindly stabbing bundles of lettuce. I was caught off guard when a picture of John popped up. One of his friend’s had tagged him in a photo that had been taken over the weekend at one of our local watering holes. He was laughing with his arm draped over a random girl’s shoulders. I don’t know why I was even surprised, but seeing the image stung. Sure I’d gone out and had had a great time too, but I wanted him to be stuck at home wallowing in misery. Men don’t usually work that way though, do they?

In a feeble attempt to hurt his feelings, I went over to my profile page and changed my relationship status to “single” and blocked him so I would never be surprised by any picture of him again. I picked at the last bits of my salad before shutting my phone off. Then, I threw the rest of my lunch away.

When I arrived back on my floor, the elevator doors opened to Jax’s rear end as he leaned over the front of Dee’s desk. He’d lost the jacket he wore earlier and had the sleeves rolled up on his crisp white shirt. His tie was slung over his shoulder as he pointed at a piece of paper. He was rattling off a list of requests and saying he wanted to put pressure on someone by burying them in paperwork. Dee sat fervently scribbling her notes as Jax shifted his weight, luring my eyes to the firm mounds of his ass.