Chapter 10 - Zach
I’m scanning the room for her and I can’t see her. There’s deep disappointment welling up inside me as I realise she’s gone and I hate myself for it. Women don’t have this effect on me! I’m the one who’s in control! I glance back to my employees, a ring of three of them around me all vying for my attention. It’s exhausting. Even Becca, my assistant who usually entertains me with a bit of a flirt seems so boring and vapid now. Her tight top just seems overdone. She’d never pull off a light-up Christmas sweater from the thrift store.
Shaking my head, I try to focus on what they’re saying. This isn’t like me. We slept together and that’s it. She left the party without saying goodbye, so that says it all. It’s better this way, anyways. People would talk if they saw us speaking to each other too much. It would just be more Christmas party rumours.
Still, I find myself wishing she was here. I keep looking around for her, wanting to see those eyes of hers.
It must be lust. That’s the only explanation. She was so wild in bed - ahem - on the sofa and I’m just wanting more. Why else would I be looking for her like this? I’m just reeling from my orgasm is all. Nothing more.
“So you took care of Harper up there, hey,” says a man’s voice from behind me. I frown. He has a high-pitched voice and there’s a hint of an edge to it. I turn around slowly and see a short balding man with a big beer belly. His beady black eyes are staring at me and I don’t know if I’m imagining the fury burning in them. He blinks and his face loses all emotion. It’s like he wilfully rearranges his features to hide something. Am I imagining things? I’m just as paranoid as Harper now!
“Yes, Harper is feeling better. She was lucky she didn’t get injured when the tree fell,” I respond, keeping my voice steady.
The man says nothing, just stares at me with those small black eyes. His hair is plastered to his forehead and he looks like he has a permanent sheen of sweat on his face. He stares at me so long it starts to get unnerving. What did he mean by ‘take care of Harper?’ Finally he speaks again.
“You seem to know her pretty well,” he says, his voice flat and emotionless. I frown. He’s staring at me like there’s more to his words than he’s letting on.
“I’m sorry I didn’t catch your name?”
“Greg,” he says slowly. “Greg Chesney. From accounts.”
I nod and give my usual answer when I have no idea who one of my employees is. “Of course.”
We stare at each other for a few moments and I’m scrambling to find something to say when without warning, he spins around and weaves his way through the crowd and disappears.
“What was that about?” Mitch asks as soon as the man walks away. I take a deep breath and turn towards him.
“I’m not sure. It was fucking weird though.”
“Fucking nutcase if you ask me. Does he work for us??”
“That’s Greg,” says Becca. “He’s a creep. He was totally stalking one of the women at the office last year, I don’t know how he kept his job.”
I glance at her and frown. Suddenly my heart is beating a little bit faster. “Stalking?!”
She nods her head. “Secret admirer kind of thing. She’d get letters delivered to her house and phone calls with just heavy breathing. I think he showed up at her house a couple times. So creepy.”
“Who?” I almost shout. “Who was the woman? Why didn’t I know about this!” My heart starts hammering in my chest and I remember the fear in Harper’s eyes when she heard something outside, and the way she stared at those plastic plates. Was it her?? Did she have a stalker and then had to keep working with him for a year?! Why wouldn’t someone fire the bastard!
Suddenly Becca seems uncomfortable. She wrings her hands. “I… I don’t know. It’s confidential, Mr. Lockwood. I’m not even supposed to know about it. HR handled it last year and I never heard the details. You could ask them?”
I stare at her for a few seconds, trying to see if she’s telling the truth. Suddenly it looks like her face breaks and she brings her hands up in front of her.
“Please don’t tell them I told you! They’ll never forgive me for it. They could make my day a living hell.”
I soften my look and shake my head. “Don’t worry, Becca. Nothing is going to happen to you.”
The room feels stuffy. I feel like I’m being smothered, like every breath is a struggle. I excuse myself and head for the door. I keep my head down and weave through the crowd in the bar, not pausing to talk to the people who call out my name. They all just want me to notice them, to move up the ladder in any small way they can.
I walk outside and the cold winter air hits me like a wall. There’s snow falling lightly and I know it would be a beautiful winter evening if I didn’t feel like I was suffocating. I catch a glimpse of Harper climbing into a cab with her friend Rosie. I watch as they drive away and I feel a punch in the gut. The taillights are bright in the dark night and I stand there until the car drives out of sight. She was serious, when she said it was a one-time thing. She left without saying goodbye.
I spin around and start stomping down the street in the other direction. Usually it’s me who leaves the women hanging! How dare she just toss me aside like I’m some piece of meat! I stuff my hands into my pockets and try to walk off the frustration inside me. This isn’t how the night was supposed to end! She was supposed to be mine! The cool winter air fills my lungs and calms me down as I walk away from the bar, away from the office, away from her.
After a few minutes I calm down. The anger that flared inside me subsides. I’m not mad, I’m just not used to meeting a woman who’s so in control of herself. She’s right to walk away from me, we need to keep it professional from now on. I need to keep my distance from her and my attraction to her will pass. Hopefully she keeps wearing those ugly sweaters and I can forget what she looks like underneath.