AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Get down!” I push him off. I never did find his tennis ball, dammit. I look around, hoping to catch sight of it. I circle the grassy stretch between me and the trio of teens still trying to coax Max the Killer Cat down from his perch. Stepping into the shade of the trees, I spot our tennis ball behind the thick trunk of the maple where I was sitting.
“Emma! There you are!”
I freeze. I know that voice. What the hell is Sophie Alexander doing here?
“What’s going on?”
“Sorry, Mom. I’m just trying to get Max. He’s too scared to climb down.”
“He’s not scared, he’s mad. Go away, give him space.”
Now I’m stuck, I’ve been here too long, standing like a dummy. If I move now I’m going to look like a creeper who was hiding back here spying on her and her kid. I glance around, looking for my Max. He’s off on the other end of the fenced park, running like the big dope he is. I stay still, hoping she doesn’t notice me, thankful that the tree trunk is wide enough to keep me from her view, I hope.
If I thought being seen with a random teenager would be bad for my reputation, being seen with an employee and her teenager would be even worse.
“Hey big man, it’s okay,” Sophie croons. I panic for a split second, thinking she’s talking to me, until I realize she’s talking to the cat. I relax against the trunk. Her voice is a little rough around the edges, like she just woke up.
My dick twitches at the thought of that voice, that rough, hushed, voice in my bed one morning. Of course, I grin to myself, I probably wouldn’t enjoy the words that are actually coming out of that mouth, but the thought of that sleep-roughened whisper in my ear has blood pooling in my southern hemisphere.
“Come on Max, you have to come where I can actually reach you,” she’s saying. I don’t dare peek around the trunk of the tree. Sophie’s image flashes in my mind and I push it away. Just because she smiles at me every morning when I walk in the door doesn’t mean she wants anything to do with me. Even if I caught her checking me out at the restaurant last week. And I definitely shouldn’t have anything to do with her. Especially since I can’t get the conversation I overheard between her and Ms. Masterson at the restaurant out of my mind.
Two years? No wonder she got divorced. And good riddance.
“Gotcha! Ow!” The triumph in her voice melts into annoyed muttering. I grin to myself, imagining her scolding the ugly cat, as the voice fades away.
I emerge from behind the tree just in time to see Emma following a tiny blonde through the gates of the dog park. Sophie’s hips sway temptingly with each step, a long, floral dress sweeping the ground as she leads the way. I stare for a long minute before reining myself in. I need to get out of here.
Four
Sophie
“Shit.” I suck in a breath as hot coffee spills onto my thumb, burning me. “He didn’t see me did he?” Just my luck that when I sneak upstairs to get coffee from the fourth floor, Mr. Sutton is the one waiting for the elevator when the doors open in the lobby.
“Of course he saw you, you were standing right in front of him.”
“That’s not what I meant. Did he see me trip?”
“I don’t think so.” Thank God. The last thing I need is him remembering my face before I’m supposed to go to this gala with him. I straighten out my blue and yellow dress and check to see ifcoffee got on my cardigan sleeve before I take my seat at reception.
“Good morning Tina.” I smile at the girl sharing the desk with me this week. I’ve been here for three years while the seat next to me has been a rotating string of doe-eyed college graduates. They never stay for long, sometimes being plucked upstairs to be assistants to the various higher-ups, sometimes leaving for greener pastures. I’ve had a few offers to go upstairs, but the idea of changing jobs is overwhelming. Since my split with Jake, most days it feels like I hardly have enough time to do the bare minimum to keep Emma and I above water. I don’t think I could handle yet another major change.
Also, I like being in the middle of the action and the people-watching is great. Between our own revolving doors and the streets of Portland outside, it’s a writer’s smorgasbord of interesting characters.
I nod at the pile of packages covering the desk between our seats. “Tina, can you take those to the mailroom?”
Tina fills her arms with the packages and scurries away. I give it a week before she notices the cart the mailroom leaves for us to bring them packages.
Lauren sets her giant purse on the desk next to me. “You know I’m going to have to give him your answer today. You’ll do it, right?”
“I don’t know…”
“Please Soph? Just think, you’ll have delicious food, schmooze a bit for Sutton, then free drinks all night long. Don’t you think you’ve earned a night on the town after everything you’ve been through? It’s time to celebrate your freedom.” She doesn’t say it, but there is an implied fact that going out to a fancy gala like this is something that Jake could, and would, never have done with me. “Come on, Soph, when are you ever going to have a chance like this again? It’ll be fun. Well, mostly fun.”
“What about Emma?”
“What about her? She can have a girl’s night with Aunt Lauren, or a sleepover with a friend.”
I suppose I’m being ridiculous. “Fine. I’ll go.”
