Chapter Seven
Nathan
“This is no good,” my delightfully grumpy boss, Alex Hennessy, declared, throwing my hard work from last week back in front of me. The papers scattered everywhere, covering my already messy desk. “I expect more from you, Nathan. You’ve been here for years, this is just getting silly now.”
I forced my lips to clamp together, refusing to rise to the bait. Alex wanted me to yell back. He loved it when I snapped since then he could swan about the place telling them I’d become unhinged.
Mind games were his favorite thing in the whole damn world.
“I want this report complete by the end of the day, and done properly this time.”
As he sidled off to find another poor sucker to torment, I fixed my gaze on my desk, trying to keep the rising emotions inside. How had I gone from the craziest night of my whole life, right back into the middle of things, with nothing having changed? I guess just because something monumental had happened to me, didn’t mean the rest of the world had to see it that way…
“Ooh, what was that about?” Of course, Tandi wouldn’t let a telling off go by. She lived for that sort of thing. “Alex looked mad.”
“It’s nothing, Tandi,” I sighed deeply, trying to ignore her glee. “Just leave it, all right.”
“Was it about the report?” Relentless as ever, she continued to prod, flicking her black bob from side to side in that annoying way she always insisted on doing. “Doesn’t Alex know that your heart isn’t in the job? That you only took on the office assistant position because of the promise of a promotion after a year?” She giggled nastily, once again reminding me that she’d leapfrogged over me despite having started the job a month later than me. “Only… well, it’s been a lot longer than a year, hasn’t it? And nothing has ever come of that. Why don’t you talk to him? See if he’ll promote you now?”
I balled my fists up by my side, keeping my thoughts to myself once more. I never should’ve told Tandi all that stuff. I only drunkenly blurted it out once at my first ever office Christmas party because I was so sure it would happen. If I’d even suspected that I would spend years being looked over, and reminded of my uselessness, I would’ve kept my mouth shut.
“Please, Tandi.” My teeth were gritted, my heart swirling in a pit of boiling lava. I just did not need this today of all days. I required a quiet, peaceful day for once. “Just leave me alone, okay?”
“Oh, I’m only trying to help.” She slung her arms across her chest and pouted out her bright red lips. “You don’t have to be such a dick about it. It isn’t exactly my fault you’re terrible at your job.”
I rolled my eyes as she stalked away, but as soon as she was gone I realized that my eyes had connected with someone else. The man whose attention I’d been trying to capture ever since he started working here a few months ago.
Brett Connor.
With his sandy blond hair, his sweet hazel eyes, and his goofy lopsided grin he was the epitome of the ‘nice guy’. I liked him a lot, and I had ever since he first stepped through that door, but flirting had literally gotten me nowhere. I’d all but given up on anything ever happening.
It was a friend thing, I could clearly see that now after the intense passion I’d experienced with Rich.
Not that I was thinking about Rich…
“Are you okay?” he asked me kindly. “That was a bit unnecessary for a Monday morning, wasn’t it?”
“Tell me about it.” This time as I grinned it felt a little more genuine. Brett had that happy aura about him that was hard to ignore. “Urgh, all I want is one week with no drama.”
Brett slid out from behind his desk and moved toward mine. “Would you like a coffee or something? Some caffeine to help you get that report to his highness’ ridiculous standards.”
Having someone else who understood my point of view, who got the madness of this hell hole, was nice. I didn’t feel like I was moaning to Brett since he felt the same way that I did. It felt more like sharing war stories with another veteran. “That would be awesome, thank you.”
“So, did you get up to much this weekend?”
The coffee machine whirred noisily while my mind was transported back to that moment all over again. I was trying not to think about Rich. I didn’t want to be worrying about whether he would ever call me—which he wouldn’t—but it was challenging to forget when Brett asked leading questions like that.
“Oh, well, I went to watch Morton last night with my friend, Michelle. That was fun.”
“They’re playing again tonight, aren’t they?”
Yes, I want to go so badly, but I can’t!
“Uhm, I’m not sure. I think so.” My face heated up, I felt like all last night was written across my expression. “I’m not too sure.”
“Oh right.” Brett handed me my drink, and paused, just for a second. “You know, if you ever want to… to hang out just me and you, that would be, you know, cool.”
I stared up at him in utter disbelief. Was he serious? Was he genuinely asking me out now, just when I’d decided that we would only ever be friends? I wasn’t sure what had shifted, but it seemed that I’d somehow become more desirable.
“Oh, I… I…” I didn’t know what to say. It had been my desire for ages, but now I wasn’t totally sure if my heart was in it in the same way. If this had happened only a few days before I would’ve been leaping at the chance.
“No pressure, just give me a call if you ever feel like it.”
He slid a business card onto my desk before making his way back to his, leaving me totally and utterly speechless. This was just so bizarre! One bus never came along on its own, did it?
Not that Rich Gold was a bus, or an option. Just one night of fun. I needed to remember that.
I forced my eyes back onto the document, the task at hand that needed to be completed. I had to at least try to focus on work if I was going to get through the day. My suddenly exciting love life could wait. I would deal with that in my own time…
***
I paced my living room, staring at Brett’s card, trying to decide what to do next. I wasn’t even sure what the time was, but I felt far too wired to sleep. On the one hand, if I called Brett, I could open the possibility of something real, something long term. Then again, it could also cause endless issues at work. Office romances were never a good idea. But it wasn’t a career to me, just a stepping stone, even if I hadn’t quite worked out where I was stepping to just yet.
And there was Rich. He might not have been an option, but the moment I had with him was so magical, so full of chemistry, so passionate. It showed me a side of things that I hadn’t seen before, and although it was tumultuous, I kind of wanted more of that in my future relationship.
I knew I could call Michelle for some advice, but this was something I wanted to work out by myself…
Ring, ring…
I glanced down at the screen of my phone, my heart hammering. It was a number that I didn’t yet recognize, but it wasn’t the one written on the card in front of me.
That meant…
No, it didn’t mean anything. I didn’t want to get my hopes up just to have them dashed. It could be a friend with a new phone, a wrong number, a sales call.
“Hello?”
“Yeah… hi.” Oh my God, it was him! He didn’t quite sound like himself, but I’d recognize him anywhere. It was Rich Gold, calling me. I never truly expected him to contact me, even when I left the card there.
“Oh right, how are you?”
“Come and see me. You weren’t at the show… oh fuck, ouch.”
“Are you okay?” This was seriously weird. I had no idea what was going on. It wasn’t the phone call I’d been wanting.
“Yeah, I just fell, that’s all. Come and see me. I want to talk to you. It’s lonely without you here.”
“You are talking to me.” I had no intention of going anywhere, not when he was so clearly wasted. “What do you want to talk about?”
“Okay, I don’t want to talk. I want to see you.”
I pulled the phone from my ear for a second, a weird sadness consuming me. This phone call had tainted what we had last night. Now it felt cheap, like I’d been used. It was no longer the magic love, or lust, story it was before.
“I can’t come around. I have work in the morning.”
“You went to work today, didn’t you? That didn’t stop you jumping all over me last night.”
Jumping all over him? That cut deep. It wasn’t like that. It was lovely. Passionate, spur of the moment, nice. “I’m not coming,” I replied firmly, my mind making itself up. “Thank you for calling, Rich, but I think what you need is to sober up.”
“I’m leaving tomorrow. This is your last chance. Don’t be boring, just like the rest of them.”
The rest of them? Who did he mean?
I thought I liked him, I really did, but this offer was far too easy to refuse. Maybe passion wasn’t all it was cracked up to be. It was just the fun it was supposed to be. Maybe the ‘nice guy’ was the one I was supposed to be with. I glanced back down at Brett’s number, reconsidering everything.
“I know you are, but I’m still going to say no. Goodbye, Rich.”
The fantasy was over, the dream done. It was time to face reality.