Chapter 48

 

Gabriel

 

I spent all of Sunday thinking about Lexie and me. About the things, we’d done together, about her smile and her tinkling little laugh. I know I made some mistakes with her this past week. I’ve just never been with anyone like her before.  Someone real in every sense of the word. 

By the end of the long weekend, I’d come to a few conclusions; made some decisions. The main one being that this fake thing with Lexie and I needed to end.  I don’t want anything long-term right now, and it’s not fair to keep her hanging on like that. And since I’ve resolved the issue with Christine, continuing the relationship with Lexie isn’t necessary; therefore, it makes complete sense that we end it. 

Monday morning, leaning against the back wall of the elevator as it climbs to my floor, I take in gulps of air. Why I’m nervous, I’ve no idea.  I took the liberty of sending her pink roses this morning to ease the pain of our breakup. I know they’ll confuse her but she’s bright, she’ll figure things out. 

When the ding of the elevator signals its arrival, I bend down grabbing the box holding that fucking fur coat and pull myself up to a standing. I’ll have Katya send it back to the store. Even if they only give me store credit, I’ll be fine because I never want to see that thing again.

I push my shoulders back and march confidently out of the elevator. I turn to look at Lexie’s desk, and the first thing I see are three vases, each holding a dozen roses. One of them contains pink roses, mine. Another is red, and the third dozen, all yellow.  “What the hell?” I march over to the reception desk and push the red and yellow roses over to the side. “Lexie? What are all these?”

I blink down at a young brunette manning the phones. I’ve got shoes older than this girl. “You’re not Lexie?”

“No, sir. I’m Sam. I’m the temp. May I help you?”

I ignore her asinine question. “The temp? Since when?”

“Since this morning, sir.  Is there someone I can call for you? Who are you here to see?”

“Lexie. Where is she?”

“Gone, sir.”

“Gone?”

“Yes. Gone.”

Fuck! I yank the white envelope out of the red and tear it open.  “Fucking Brodie.” Ripping open the tiny envelope from the yellow roses I stop and read.

Dearest Lexie.

Thank you for putting up with me all evening. I thoroughly enjoyed your company. I look forward to our dinner next month. I promise. Nothing ‘fancy’.                                                                                      Yours, Ken Griffin.

Whoa, Lexie really knows who to befriend.  But, I suspect Ken is like Pamela for her. She’s got no idea the kind of money Ken Griffin has and she probably doesn’t care. That makes her special and endearing to people like Ken and Pam. I quickly pull the card out of mine as well. I don’t want anyone else reading her Dear Lexie card. I march past Sam as she yells at me to ‘Stop! Sir!’.

I spin back to face Sam. “Sam. I’m Gabriel Parker. I’m the boss. Are we good now?”

“Oh, shoot. Yes, sir.”

“Great.” As I pass Katya’s desk I make a mental note. She’s late. As usual. I toss the box on top of her desk. I’ll tell her where to send the coat later. When I get into my office, I pick up my phone and dial Cammy’s extension.

“Yes, boss?”

“Where is she?”

“Who?”

“You know damn well who I’m talking about. Where is she?”

“Gone.”

“Gone where?”

“Away.”

“Jesus. If you don’t spit it out, you’re fired.”

“Wow, testy.” Sighing, she finally tells me. “She went home.”

“Where’s home?”

“Iowa.”

I wait and hope she takes my silence as annoyance because that’s precisely what that means. When she says nothing more. “Where in Iowa?”

“Northeastern Iowa.”

“Fucking hell, Cammy. Tell me where she went.”

“Home.”

“Ahhhh,” I yell. “I hate my fucking life.”

“Jesus, calm down. She went home. She had a thing.”

“A thing.”

“Yeah, a family thing.”

“Are you going to tell me where she lives or do I need to contact human resources.”

“Human resources. I promised her I wouldn’t tell you.”

I breathe in and out to gather myself. “Tell me this. Is she coming back?”

“I don’t know.”

“You don’t know if she’s coming back to Chicago?”

“Oh, she’s coming back to Chicago.”

I let out a sigh of relief until Cammy adds, “I just don’t think she’s coming back to P&A.”

“She has to. She needs to give notice.”

“Uh, well, not necessarily. Not if she’s already got a new job lined up.”

“Does she? Does she have another job lined up?”

“Possibly.”

“With whom? Which firm?”

“Gabriel. She swore me to secrecy.”

“Just tell me who offered a job out from under me?”

“Kenneth Griffin.”

“Fuck. As what? His personal assistant?”

“You know she’s got a marketing degree, right?”

“Yeah.”

“That’s all I’m saying. She’s going to kill me as it is.”

I start to speak when I hear a scream from the outer office.  I watch in horror as Katya strolls into my office wearing the fur coat. “Oh, Gabriel. It’s gorgeous. A little big for me but thank you so much. You’re so generous.”

What the hell?  “Uh, Katya?”

“Gabriel?” asks Cammy. When I don’t answer, she tries again. “Gabriel?”

“I’ve gotta go.” I hang up the phone and watch as Katya struts around my office in the seven-thousand-dollar mink coat with sable trim.

“Katya?”

“I read your note. Finally! I had a feeling you felt the same. Why did you tease me by dating that lazy cow, Lexie? I heard you fired her, thank God.”

“Lazy cow?”

She plops her bottom down onto one of my side chairs. “Yes. She did nothing. I was always giving her work to do to keep her from just sitting on her fat ass all day.”

“Her fat ass all day?”

“Yes. She was a terrible employee, Gabriel. Ooh, and her taste. Disgusting. From her old clothes from the 70s to that hideous Christmas party she organized. What was with those twinkling lights and those stupid paper snowflakes?”

I liked her clothes.  Wait? What?

“She made those all by hand,” says Cammy from my doorway.

“She did?”

“She did. She used her own money to buy the materials. She cut each piece out one by one, so they were unique, like real snowflakes. Then she attached them all together, so they were three-dimensional.  She also created the signature cocktail at the party, she moved all of the furniture by herself and hung every light, streamer, and decoration from the ceiling on the morning of the party by herself.”

I turn to Katya. “I thought you did all that.”

“Gabriel, darling. Like I’d design something that childish. Winter Wonderland? Please.”

“I thought it was beautiful,” says Cammy as she approaches my desk.

“I did too.”

“Who ordered the sweaters?”

“Oh, I did that. They were perfect, right?”

“Except, she ordered Lexie’s without asking her the size or color she wanted.”

“So, you ordered her that tiny pink sweater?”

Katya scoffs. “She’s huge. They didn’t have her size, so I just went with it.”

“Katya, you’re fired. Leave the mink when you go.”

“Gabriel?” Katya squeaks. “You’re teasing, right, honey?”

“No. See human resources on your way out. They’ve got a nice severance package. If you leave now and don’t cause a fuss, I’ll let you have that.”

“But, you can’t. What cause?”

“Internet porn.”

I watch Katya’s face turn from beige to fuchsia in seconds. “How did you find out?”

“Oh, security informed me about your little indiscretion a few weeks ago.”

“But, it’s not illegal.”

“It’s in the employee handbook. No watching porn on our servers.”

She jumps up, “But you were having sex in the office.”

“No. We were not.” I arch my brow. “So, it was you who sent that email?”

“No.”

Cammy nods. “Yes, she did. I checked with Shannon in IT. It came from Katya’s computer.”

“Anyone could have…”

“Katya, you’ve ten minutes to clear out your desk and get to H.R. or the severance package is off the table. Your time starts now.” I watch her run out the door. “And leave the coat!”

I turn back to Cammy. “What else did I miss about Lexie?”