Chapter 3

XANDER

I was far away from the boardroom and my office today, instead two floors down with the design team to focus on the development of the new updates.

I was excited about the propositions and found myself unable to stay away despite the mountain of administrative duties that David had pushed unto me for the day. He, however, kept blowing up my phone with updates and photos that did not interest me from the University conference that he was attending.

The first was a group of men in suits holding glasses of what looked like fruit juice, and I felt a twinge of pity for the alcoholic in him.

Next was a text that said

“Still haven't seen the witch.”

I thought about blocking him for the rest of the day, but eventually just decided to switch the phone off to bar any incoming calls and messages from anyone so I could concentrate.

I returned to my office for lunch and at the moment my phone was turned back on, the barrage of notifications that came in left me stunned. A few were calls from business associates which I needed to return, but more than was necessary were from David including an influx of pictures and chat rants.

I opened up his chat and saw a picture of his ex-wife at a distance. His caption read, “Look how ugly she has gotten. I dodged a bullet with that one.”

I had met his wife multiple times before they had gotten divorced and remembered her being a stunningly beautiful woman with red hair and an electric smile. I didn’t see how she would have gotten uglier after being apart from David for three years, neither did I have the interest to listen to him attack her incessantly in order to make himself feel better, so I ignored the message and went on with my work, pushing lunch aside a bit further.

Another picture came in a few seconds later accompanied by another influx of messages, so I reached for the phone to put it on silent but then the picture caught my eyes. His ex-wife was not alone in this one. She was laughing with someone who looked mighty familiar to me.

 

She had the most beautiful smile on her face, her blonde hair slicked to the back of her head.

I shot up from the chair before I knew what I was doing and in seconds, David was on the line.

“Why the hell have you been ignoring me?”

“Who is the girl in the picture with Ida?”

“What picture?”

“Check your phone. The one you just sent me.”

I waited a few seconds for his response and he came back with, “I don’t know, but she seems to be a server at the event.”

“Ask Ida who she is,” I said.

“What a selfish a bastard you are. You want me to talk to a snake just to fulfill your curiosity?”

“I’ll call her myself then,” I said and was about to hang up when he cursed at me with gritted teeth. “Wait a damn moment. I’ll do it. That’s how much of a friend I am,” he said.

“I’ll call her myself if I don't get your call in two minutes…”

“Well, I have to find her first, and then I have to prepare myself to speak to her. Do you expect me to just walk up and ask about her friend, she won't even give me the time of—"

I ended the call with frayed nerves and collapsed back into my chair.

Unable to sit still or think any further, I grabbed my coat and was out the door and in my car in minutes. “Cornell University,” I told my driver and was on my way amidst the aggravating New York afternoon traffic.

David’s call came just as I neared the venue of the conference. “The bitch was as cold to me as ice,” he reported.

“What did she say about the server?”

“She’s one of her best friends, and I was warned explicitly to stay away from her. What is your interest here?”

“I’m on my way to the conference,” I said to him.

“What? Why?”

“No reason in particular. I’m close by so I’ll just drop by.”

“You’re not joking, are you? Should I tell Ida that you’re coming?”

“As you wish,” I responded and did not miss the yes! under his breath.

I had just given him another reason to talk to and possibly appear relevant to his ex-wife. I couldn’t understand the dynamics between them. However, at the moment, I had bigger issues to handle, like how I would approach her. I almost couldn’t believe that she was the same girl that I had been unable to get out of my mind through the weeks, and to think that she was Ida’s best friend. The world was truly was small.

My driver soon arrived at the entrance to the conference hall and I got out of the car impatiently. Just as I was about to shut the door and head in, I saw her hurry out of the hall.

She was dressed in the white-blouse-and-dark-skirt standard server uniform and looked to be quite in a hurry. She glanced at her watch impatiently and then hailed a taxi that stopped in front of her. I took a desperate step forward to stop her from leaving but came to my senses in time. Hurriedly, I got back into my car and told my driver not to lose the taxi.

I couldn't even believe what I was doing but there was no time to think. We remained on the tail of the taxi as it sped through traffic, and it felt as though my entire body was brimming with anxiety. David kept calling and, unable to stand it any longer, I picked up the phone to a bark from him.

“Where the fuck are you? I just made Ida announce that you will be stopping by to say a few words at the conference.”

“I don’t think I will be able to do that,” I said. “Something else came up and I’m rushing over now.”

“You’re joking, right? She just made the announcement and everyone here is brimming with excitement. Ida’s going to fucking kill me.”

“I’m really sorry, man,” I said.

“She’s going to think I did her in,” he half yelled.

Unable to console him any further but feeling shitty for the position I put him in, I hung up the phone. I was going to have to pay for that one later.

I returned my eyes back to the road and saw her taxi stop by an alley on 46th street. She had gotten in with heels, but I saw her jump out in a pair of athletic shoes and then she began to run.

I was confused.

Wondering what was going on I followed her slowly with the car as she went around the block and then as she ran for another five minutes, only stopping at random intervals for a breath of air.

What was she doing? Why hadn't she ridden in the taxi all the way if she hadn't yet arrived at her destination?

Eventually, she slowed down on a commercial street and eventually stopped beside a restaurant, I watched as she freed her blonde waves from her ponytail, ran her fingers through them before the window of the restaurant and then adjusted her tightly-fitted skirt and blouse. She had the shape of a goddess and as she ran her hands down her outline I felt my cock swell to attention.

I watched as she took a deep breath before going into the restaurant and realized that she was probably going in for some sort of meeting. I wanted to go in after her not certain when or if she would be coming out anytime soon, but I was able to exercise patience and a short while later, she exited the restaurant.

The look on her face stopped my heart cold.

It seemed as though she was close to tears as she stared straight ahead at nothing. Then she lifted her head to the sky, allowed the briefest of smiles on her face and then began to walk away.

I wanted to reach out to her so much that a few moments later I found myself standing on the curb amidst the passing throng of people and staring at her retreating figure. I turned then and headed into the restaurant.

“Who runs this place?” I asked the moment one of the assistants came up to me.

“I’ll get my manager,” he said and a few moments later I was invited to the back and into the manager’s office.

He was a tall burly man with a full beard, but he looked confused as to how to address me. He was obviously decades ahead of me in years, but the affluence of my clothes was not easily dismissible.

“Benjamin Furst,” he announced and held out his hand for a shake. “I run the Grande Cup, how can I help you?”

“Please call me Xander,” I said to him. “A young lady just left here dressed in a black skirt and a white blouse. I assume she came in to interview for a position?”

“Oh, Miss Carson Oliveira. You are correct.”

“She was rejected?”

He was reluctant to speak but decided that there was no harm in speaking either way and responded to my question. “Yes, she was.”

“In what way did she not live up to your requirements?”

He grew defensive. “I’d rather not say, that is confidential to our business.”

“What then do I have to do to ensure that you hire her?”

He narrowed his eyes at me, surprised at my words but soon enough we had reached a satisfactory agreement. I exited the office and took a seat by a corner of the coffee house, my presence partly hidden by the tall plant that stood by my table.

I waited and watched as a few minutes later Carson hurried back into the restaurant. She met the manager who was all smiles toward her, and she seemed as though she would kiss his very feet at the sheer joy and surprise of being called back after being rejected.

A pang of jealousy hit me in the chest at the look of adoration that she showered upon him. They immediately put her to work and began to show her around the mechanics behind the counter, but my time for indulging in personal affairs soon came to an end.

As I was being consistently buzzed on my phone for my attention back at the office I rose to my feet and, making sure she did not see me, made my way out of the restaurant and began my commute back to my office.

My heart was at peace as I returned. I now knew not only her name but where she would be every day from now on.

I began to count down the hours until I could return back to the coffee house for dinner.

 

 

 

♡

CARSON

 

I chose to work a double shift on my first day at Grande Cup. I was too grateful for the earlier miracle not to volunteer the moment they announced the need for an extra hand to replace the absent sick staff for the night.

Neither Bethany or Ida was willing to prepare a meal in their respective homes or eat alone, so together they both found their way to my new place of work.

Ida was the first to arrive and at the angry look on her face, I knew that there was trouble.

“David set me up,” she spat the moment I was able to sneak a question to her. “He allowed me to announce that his partner would be coming, to the entire conference. Everyone got worked up expecting his arrival, and guess what: he never showed. Guess who took the blame for all of this? Me.”

“What did David say? Surely there must have been an explanation.”

“The bastard disappeared. He left me a message that his partner would not be coming and that he too had an engagement to catch and he disappeared.”

“He didn’t give the speech that he was invited to give?”

“No, he had long done that. The no-show of his partner is the tragedy here.”

“Maybe something did come up,” I suggested to her as I pretended to help her peruse through the menu in case my employers were watching me.

“The bastard set me up. It’s not the first time he’s pulled a stunt like this. He loves seeing me miserable and humiliated. I’m going to kill him the next time I set eyes him.”

I straightened then to look towards the counter and as if on cue, Bethany came in with her boyfriend Theodore.

“Bethany’s here,” I announced, and at Ida’s silence, I turned to see the deadly scowl on her face. “And so is David,” she said.

“What…”

Bethany arrived at our table excitedly and attempted to give me a hug, but I shushed her away and adjusted the silk necktie around my neck.

Amused, she filed and her boyfriend slid into a booth after flashing a smile in greeting at me. “What’s wrong with Ida?” she asked, and I turned to see Ida’s eyes follow David as he headed across to the opposite side of the huge cafe. There was someone extremely tall with him dressed in a simple white shirt tucked into dark slacks, and a calf-length camel coat which added a majestic aura to him that was hard to ignore. He was impossible not to notice.

“Ida, isn't that David?” Bethany asked.

“The one in the camel coat?” I inquired.

“Of course not. David is the shorter one behind him.”

I couldn't see either of them clearly and when they finally lowered to their seats I gave up looking altogether and returned my attention to my job.

“What would you all like to order. Theodore, it is so nice to see you again, how was your day?”

“Splendid,” he replied and we both watched Bethany and Ida unable to keep their curiosity away from the table across the room.”

“I’m going over,” Ida suddenly announced, and I and Bethany panicked.

“Don’t you dare,” Bethany sputtered.

“I will be civil,” she said as she slapped her napkin against the table, her eyes burning with rage. “That demon just needs a good lesson.” She stood and stalked away in David’s direction.

My nerves began to brim at the scene that Ida was going to cause in a few moments. She had absolutely no regard for public opinion and Bethany and I had been thrown out of many public places in the past as a result of her temper. I considered moving away from the table just so that my association wouldn’t be linked to them and I ended up getting fired. This job was my current lifeline.

Theodore was a good sport and politely told me his order while Bethany received a few under the table kicks from me.

“I’ll have whatever he’s having,” she said and returned to stretching her neck towards David’s table. “I wonder if that is his partner there with him,” she muttered, and I cleared my throat to bring her attention to the ensuing awkwardness. Her boyfriend was right beside her.

It was time for me to leave. I had spent too much time with such a difficult table. I was about to go ahead however when Bethany announced that Ida was returning so I remained, surprised at how quickly it had all ended. I hadn't even heard a single raised voice.

Ida took her seat quietly as though comatose, and we all watched her somber expression quietly.

“What happened?” Bethany asked.

“His partner is there,” she announced.

“And?” I asked, wondering what had gotten her so sober. “I just chose to respect myself. I’ll deal with David on my own some other time.”

“Was it David or his partner that made you change your mind?” Bethany asked.

“His partner apologized for his unavoidable absence, very kindly too if I might add.”

“So David didn’t do it on purpose? See, you just keep shitting on the poor man. Let’s have dinner already.”

I rolled my eyes at Bethany while I took Ida’s order.

I could tell that Bethany wanted to drill her about all that had happened at the table, and so did I, but I had a job to do and Bethany a man by her side, so we both respected ourselves and bided our time.

I left to place the order and went off to attend to the other tables in my station and soon enough their food was ready. I took it to them and just as I turned to leave my phone began to ring. It was my agent, Will Zimmerman.

My heart pounded in my chest just as it always did when I saw his call whether I was expecting any news or not.

I hurried out of the main dining room and toward the hallway that housed the restroom to take the call. He had news about the script I had handed over to him almost two months back. I had almost forgotten about it.

“It took a while to garner interest just as I told you earlier,” he said. “However a producer at Steiner picked it up a few weeks ago and I was really expecting to hear good news, but he called earlier on with a rejection. I would have informed you sooner, but I was much busier with other things.”

Wow, was all that resounded through my heart. For some reason his blatant announcement of his preoccupation with every other thing apparently more important than informing me of the absolute rejection of the script I had spent two years working on and put all my hopes on hurt more than anticipated.

I thanked him for his hard work and gave myself a few minutes to get myself back together. It was going to be excruciating.

I stepped out into the back alley for a moment alone. There was one other person in the alley; a man in a beige suit smoking a cigarette. It was dark, but I saw him nod at me. I nodded back and stepped toward the dumpster for a little privacy.

As I gazed up at the clouds gathering in the sky, I heard footsteps approaching quickly.

 

 

 

 

♡

XANDER

 

What just happened?” David asked as he turned to gaze in surprise at the retreating figure of Ida.

“She looks more beautiful now than when she was with you,” I commented as I placed some almonds in my mouth from the little bowl on our table.

“She looked ready to kill me just a second ago. A quick apology from you was all it took to calm her down?”

“I meant my apology.”

“And I didn’t?”

“You have no credibility whatsoever in her eyes.”

“And you do?”

“I wasn’t the one who hurt her.”

David pounded his fist on the table and it caused more than a few heads to turn towards our direction. His eyes weren’t smiling anymore and for once the curtain was pulled back and the pain behind them was revealed. “And you think that I meant to? What did I do that was so wrong? Try to make a better life for the both of us? She was the impatient one. If she had just waited for me a little bit more, believed in me just a little bit more. She threw me away, during the time when I needed her the most. Why does all the blame always have to come to me?”

The pain in his eyes reminded me of that which I had sometimes seen in my father’s eyes after one of his episodes with my mother. It was one which I never wanted to see in my eyes. “Because we’re meant to be the heroes,” I said to him. “Whether we are capable of it or not. The world has no ears for our excuses, that we’re just plain men, as flawed, and lost as everyone else because we are expected to be stronger, and wiser, and abler.”

I rose then and exited the table to give him the moments that he needed to himself. I knew what frustrated him the most now. Because even after he had succeeded in the pursuit of what he thought had cost him his marriage, Ida still wanted nothing to do with him.

He now had all the money that he could have wished for back then, and the ability to provide her the life that he’d thought she wanted, and yet it still didn’t seem enough.

Seeing his predicament helped clarify to me what my intention was in assisting Carson. I was no hero and my current indulgence for her was just for the thrill of the chase. I would explain this plainly to her and if it sparked even the bit of offense, I would be out of the door, faster than she would be able to blink.

I saw her exit the main dining room just a few minutes earlier and I was suddenly anxious to get it all over with. Twice I had been to this cafe in the same day, and I had all but bought her the job. I was already treading on dangerous waters.

I strolled through the dim hallway wondering where she had gone. It turned out to be the location of guest’s bathrooms and a rear exit. I opened the door and found myself in a very dimly lit alley. Cigarette butts littered the ground, one of them still burning, but no sight of her or anyone else, so I turned around to leave.

At the last moment, low whimpers reached my ears.

A deeper voice followed and then what sounded like the sniffing of someone in tears. I went a bit further from the exit door and then around a dumpster to see a man bent himself at the waist tugging at the blouse of a woman silhouetted in the dark.

She had her arms around herself as a cage and was pleading with him against his advances and when I finally realized what was going on, I was stunned. Why wasn't she screaming out? She was fighting him as much as she could and sobbing, yet no screams came from her lips.

The fury that engulfed me at the sight sent me throwing a kick to the man’s backside which drove his head into the wall.

The woman covered her mouth with the shock and instantly scrambled to her feet. With her arms still fashioned as a cage across her chest, she glanced between me and the man and just stood there trembling.

It was Carson.

I didn't expect what I did next. I had put my furious teenage years behind me and I rarely ever got into fights anymore, but today the familiar rush of rage burning my heart from the inside out engulfed and blinded me to all else. I gripped the man by the collar before he could rise, and pounded his face repeatedly with my fist.

Blood spurted from his nose and disgusted, I let him go, but I was far from done. The heel of my shoe took over and at his roar of pain she came to me and grabbed my arm.

“It’s enough,” she said. “Please let him go.”

But I couldn't stop. I brushed her hold off and picked the man up by the collar intending to drag him all the way into the main hall of the restaurant. I started to do just that, his limp and heavy body dragging on the pavement but then she dropped to her knees in a plea and I stopped in my tracks.

“Please stop,” she cried, tears rolling down her cheeks. I was surprised at her reaction. “Don't take him into the restaurant, just leave him be.”

The pig began to run his mouth with threats and with my I stomped him with as much strength as I could and hoped to God that I had broken his jaw.

“Get me one of the staff,” I told her, but she shook her head, and began to pull me with her back into the restaurant.

“There is no need, just leave him be.”

I couldn't understand her, so I jerked my hand away from hers and headed back into the building. I stopped by the restroom to get myself together and when I returned to my seat, David immediately noted my mood.

“Are you alright?” he asked.

I nodded and just then our food was brought out. Grateful for the distraction, I watched as Carson came into the dining room all smiles and acting as though nothing had happened. While in the restroom I had already placed a call to the manager to ensure that this was thoroughly handled and that the pig’s information would be sent to me. I also wanted her shielded from anything that it may stir up.

I kept to myself for the rest of the meal and then, later on, I asked David why a woman would choose to endure such humiliation without saying a single word?

“Perhaps she loves where she works and doesn't want to jeopardize her standing there, or perhaps she is just too terrified of it backfiring on her.”

We paid for our meal and I headed back to my car, however, I found that I couldn't leave. I sat quietly in the back, the smile on her face as she had continued to work for the remainder of the night haunting me.

Eventually, I saw her friends leave, and then about an hour later she came out from the restaurant, her shift over, and began to walk.

My car followed her as discreetly as we could, but soon the traffic prevented us from moving any further, so I jumped out of the car and began to walk behind her. The clouds had gathered overhead and the moment the thunder started roaring across the sky, and the rain began to fall, my driver Simon, found me and placed an umbrella over my head.

I took it from him, sending him back to the car and hurried after her just as the rain began to pour.

Everyone on the sidewalk began to scamper for shelter but she just continued to walk, her head lowered to the ground as the rain poured down and began to soak her. Something tore in my heart and instantly dispelled my fury.

I had almost reached her when she finally noticed the rain and lifted her head to the sky. I saw her smile, and then stretch out her arms to catch some on her hands. I couldn't stand the sight any longer, so I headed over to her and placed the umbrella over her head. She turned around, surprised at the sudden covering, but when she realized that it was me, she stumbled and only the quick swing of my hand around her waist saved her from completely losing her balance and falling unto the ground.

Even as I stared into her eyes with my heart quickening and a warmth beginning to spread through my veins despite the cold around us, I made up my mind then that tonight would be the last time that I had anything to do with her.