CHAPTER 5
Ember
Ember felt her whole body freezing as the man approached her. She’d been lost in her own little dream world listening to the loud dance music and sipping her drink trying to pay attention to whatever nonsense Violet was going on about (something about her ex-boyfriend buying her a goldfish that was already dead) and suddenly this immaculate looking specimen of a man was standing in front of her.
She could not help herself as she looked him over head to toe, his deep voice resonating in her chest, the vibrations continuing all over her body giving her deep tingles.
“I hope I didn’t scare your friend off,” the man said glancing sideways for a second.
Ember was confused for a moment but followed his gaze where she saw Violet walking away grinning at her. She was the queen of being obvious that was for sure.
“Oh, no. She is ok, I think. Actually, I’m pretty sure she has never been alright, but I only just met her,” Ember said.
“I know too many people like that,” the man said. “I’m Zander, by the way.”
“Hi, Zander by the way. I’m Ember,” she joked. She wanted to crawl under a rock. That was perhaps the lamest thing she’d ever said in her life.
He didn’t seem to notice as he stood there and took a sip of his drink.
“What are you drinking?” Ember asked.
“A Long Island Iced Tea,” he replied.
“I’ve never actually had one of those before,” she said. Ember wanted to smack herself. The stupid thoughts kept turning into words that she was actually saying. What was wrong with her?
“Really? Not much of a drinker?”
“Oh, occasionally. But I stick to basic stuff,” Ember said.
“Here,” Zander said handing her the drink. “Try it, but I can assure you there is no actual tea in it.”
She smiled and took a sip.
“Wow, that is actually really good,” she said. It was hard for her to believe she’d never tried this before. It was sweet with a hint of sour and lime.
She handed the drink back to him finding it somehow sexy that she’d drank after him.
“So, what do you do?” Zander asked her.
“Care to venture a guess?” Ember asked. She was curious why he would ask her this question knowing that she was basically working right now. Apparently, he did not make the connection that she was part of the auction. Maybe it was not as obvious as she thought it was. For some reason, she felt as if she stuck out like a sore thumb because of it. Zander not being able to tell right away eased her nerves a bit. Or it could have been the alcohol. She made a conscious decision to go easy the rest of the night on the liquid courage.
“Well, you just seem like someone who has her hands in many things. I’m pretty good at assessing people and I take you for someone with a lot of ambition and passion.”
Ember wasn’t sure whether to smile or roll her eyes. If she paid attention to his statement under the right tone it sounded just like some cheesy line, but on the other hand it really could have been the sweetest thing too.
“Well, that is a good guess,” she said. “This is actually my first time here. I heard about it and just decided to try something new. It’s always fun to meet new people, right?”
“It can be, but it really depends on the person,” Zander replied.
“Is that why you are here? To meet someone special?”
“Perhaps, or perhaps I already have.”
Ember felt the blush coming on and she tried to blink it away. She let out a huge sigh hoping that he didn’t notice. This guy was so smooth. She wasn’t sure she’d ever met anyone like him. There was something about him… everything he did from the way he said his words, his tone of voice, body language—it all screamed confidence and sexual magnetism.
“That sounds like a line I might have heard in some Hollywood chick flick,” Ember teased.
Zander smiled, unfazed. “Maybe that’s where I snagged it from,” he said.
“Are you admitting to using canned material? That is so early millennium, isn’t it?” She said.
“I think that there are a finite number of truly great, memorable lines in history. And the greatest ones have more than just the one application. You can use them in a lot of different ways, and they never go out of fashion. So, I think if you wish to be in good company then it’s perfectly acceptable to say something that has been said before, but you must put your own creative spin on it. People do this all the time, but most of the time they aren’t even aware of it.”
Ember found herself becoming entranced in this man. She could sit there and listen to him speak all night long. That deep bass baritone voice, his tonal inflections, the way he added just the right amount of emotion to key phrases with a perfectly well-placed eyebrow raise or corner mouth smirk—it was irresistible.
“I totally agree,” she said. “When you put it that way you could stand there and recite the entire movie ‘Casablanca’ and I would think it was fascinating.”
“I’m not much of a Casablanca fan,” Zander said in a teasing voice.
“Really? You don’t like the classics?”
“I didn’t say that,” he replied. “I prefer ‘Gone with the Wind’.”
“Ah, so you prefer Gable to Bogart?”
“Gable always had more swag, and he had better women. Most of Bogey’s women were too helpless and whiny for my taste.”
Ember laughed. She’d never met a man who talked like this.
“So, you like strong women?” She teased.
“I do. I love a woman who can hold her own and take as well as dish it out. That is the ultimate turn on. A helpless woman just seems too weak and helpless.”
“What is your opinion of me?” Ember flirted. It was time to see what this guy really thought of her.
He leaned in and smiled. She caught a whiff of his strong, masculine cologne. “Oh, I think you are definitely a strong girl.”
“Well, thank you,” Ember said. “Do you think I would be the type to fall for Gable or Bogey?”
“I think you could have your pick,” Zander said.
“I like to think so,” Ember replied. “So, are you going to buy me a drink?”
“No, but you can buy me one,” Zander said.
Ember laughed. “That is funny,” she said. She hadn’t actually heard that line in a while.
Zander was not smiling. “I’m serious. You should totally buy me another drink. This is after all 2017. You are a strong, independent woman. There is nothing defeminizing about buying a man a drink, now is there?”
She felt her eyes growing wide as her mind scrambled to come up with a witty answer. But after about twenty seconds she realized that she had nothing.
“I guess so,” she said sheepishly.
Zander smiled almost victoriously. “Great.”
He ordered another drink. As the female bartender fixed it Ember noticed the anger emanating off her. She knew that the bartender wanted Zander, as did most of the women around, but could she be any more obvious?
Ember took the moment to glance over at Violet. She was sitting with several other girls who were all watching this flirtation take place and laughing their heads off. They were rooting for her at least.
She had to admit to herself it did feel weird to be buying drinks for a man, but at the same time it was hilarious and a bit empowering. If she’d thought quickly she would have ordered it for him too and she would have picked the drink. Something cheap and lame, like an ultra-light draft beer.
“Wow, this tastes even better when someone else buys it,” Zander said rubbing her face in it.
“Well, you are just welcome,” Ember said mockingly with a smile. After a few moments, “So, are you going to bid on me?”
Zander smiled. “I don’t think you are allowed to ask me that.”
“Hell, I don’t think you are allowed to even be talking to me right before the auction. I guess we are just going to have to learn to live with breaking the occasional rule.”
“I’m more than OK with that, actually. I break rules all the time,” he said.
“Oh, you must work on Wall Street,” she teased.
“Not exactly,” Zander replied. “I own a real estate company; that is the main gig. But I also buy startups and turn them into huge businesses, I’ve ventured into the restaurant business as well. But I don’t want to bore you with the details. This is all about fun; not work.”
“I see, you don’t like what you do? You know they say if it feels like work then you shouldn’t be doing it.”
“Really? Who says that? I don’t know if I’ve ever heard anyone say that exactly,” Zander said. “They do say if you do what you love it will never feel like work.”
“Well, do you?”
“Do I what?”
“Do you love what you do?” Ember asked.
“I do. I wouldn’t do it otherwise.”
“How about you? You never did really answer my question about what occupies your precious time,” he said with that sly smile.
There was a devil in that smile and Ember could not wait to meet him.
“Well, I don’t do anything nearly as exciting as what you do, but it fills the hours of the day. I work for a marketing firm downtown. I’m basically not much more than an assistant right now,” Ember said. She hated telling him this. Somehow it made her feel like she didn’t deserve to be talking with him, but she wasn’t going to lie and make up something to try to prove that she belonged there.
“Everyone has to start somewhere,” Zander said. “Perhaps you haven’t found your calling or your passion yet.”
“Well, I’ve searched far and wide but I haven’t found anything as exhilarating as business for me. I just haven’t been given the chance to actually have input or share my real ideas with anyone. It seems to me that a college education has qualified me to do nothing but secretarial work. It gets a bit frustrating.”
“I hear that,” Zander said. “I was lucky in that my uncle taught me the real estate business early on. He had a small business flipping houses and I got into it at an early age. By the time I graduated college I was pretty much in business for myself.”
“Wow, that is pretty interesting,” Ember said. It also somehow made her feel worse about her own situation. But it was impressive that he’d started that young.
“Well, like I said there was some luck involved in the early part of things. It did take me a bit of time to realize that real estate was a business I wanted to be a part of. Sometimes the muse strikes early and sometimes it strikes late. And sometimes people refuse to see it for what it is.”
“I can get that,” Ember said. “So, are you going to add motivational speaking to your laundry list of accomplishments?”
“I doubt it,” Zander said. “You can talk to people and get them motivated, but then again if they were really motivated then they wouldn’t have come to you to get that motivation, right?”
“Hey, thanks a lot!” Ember said punching him lightly on the arm.
He smiled. “Oh, I wasn’t aware you had a violent streak. But then again, that might be a lot of fun.”
Ember tried to hide the blush. He was starting to flirt with her hardcore now, taking every opportunity to glance at her cleavage and her legs. Not that she minded, but it had been a while since a man had really done that. She knew that it was mostly her fault. This was also the first time in a long time that she had decided to let her guard down and actually be receptive to flirtations from guys. She didn’t know what her deal was or why she’d been in such a stand-offish mood lately with men. It was true that she’d had some bad relationships in the past, but somewhere along the way she’d just become way too comfortable being with just herself.
But this felt good. It felt right. She was definitely going to have some fun tonight.
And she really wished it was with Zander. She had a feeling he was going to bid highly for her, but it was possible the other men would outbid him. Somehow though, she doubted that would happen.
Suddenly she caught motion out of the corner of her eye. Violet was motioning for her to come along. They had to get backstage and get ready to go onstage.
“Well, that is my que. I have to run,” Ember said. She finished her drink and started to walk away.
“It was nice meeting you,” Zander said. “I’ll see you…. soon…”
She locked eyes with him. He grabbed her hand softly, held it to his lips, and kissed all the while keeping her gaze with his never letting hers go.
Ember felt a school girl giggle erupt inside of her as she slowly walked away trying not to look back. Up ahead Violet and a few others were giggling and pointing at her. It felt like seventh grade all over again.
Ember headed backstage and got ready. She was no longer nervous. Somehow, she knew that she would be spending a lot more time with Zander.
And that was just fine with her.