I twist my wrist up to check the time to make sure I stay on schedule today. I have plans to meet Alex later at the bar, but I still need to tie up a few loose ends here at the office.
The elevator comes to an abrupt stop, jolting me forward just a bit. As the doors slide open, I am immediately met with Lizzie’s seductive glare as she spots me before I even step foot outside of the elevator. Luckily, she is on the phone, so I have a greater chance of sneaking by her without having to delay my day any more than it has been. I adjust my suit once more before I begin to walk steadily past where she sits. As I approach her desk, she tells whoever she is talking to hold on one minute as she flips her wavy, auburn hair back, revealing her cleavage spilling out of her top.
“One second,” she says to whoever is on the other line as she smacks the gum between her lips.
“Car, hey, you got a minute?” she asks, obnoxiously chewing her gum and waving her hand for me to stop by her desk.
I sigh, trying to compose myself from the frustration I feel boiling.
“I’m very busy today. If it can wait until this later, that would be great,” I say, trying to continue to move past her desk.
“It’s quick, I promise,” she starts, still holding the phone in her hand. “I was thinking about how you wanted to send a driver to pick up that girl tomorrow,” she says, with the distinct look of jealousy splashed on her pretty face. “Well, that new guy, Eric, I heard he knows her. It would probably make her feel more at ease if you had him drive her.”
I clench my fist. “Is that so?”
She continues to chew her gum distractingly loud. “Yea, I think they used to date, or you know,” she says as she suggestively winks at me.
I know I shouldn’t be jealous. Who am I to get upset over who Sienna has or hasn’t fucked? She doesn’t even know me.
Either way, I don’t like sharing. So, whatever is or isn’t going on between them, I need to judge for myself.
“Sounds good,” I lie, but I want to see for myself if there is anything going on. More importantly, I need to go check the file on this Eric person. We recently hired a slew of new interns, and I haven’t committed them all to memory yet. But if he drives her, and I see for myself there is something there, well, then it will give me reasonable cause to end it.
Lizzie mumbles something into the phone that I am unable to understand, even standing just a few inches from her. I try stepping closer to her desk to hear what she is saying, but she covers the mouthpiece of the phone and finishes whispering.
She lifts her mouth, finally, from whomever she clearly doesn’t want me to know she is talking to and licks her lipstick-covered lips before redirecting her attention back to me. Already letting my mind wander into places that make me seethe with rage at the thought of Ms. Ricci with this Eric guy, I begin to walk away from Lizzie’s desk, heading toward my office door.
Lizzie’s heels click on the floor as she rises from her seat and away from her desk. She is still holding the phone, now stretching the cord. “Okay, Car, I’ll go ahead and arrange that for you. Just let me know what time you want him to pick her up!” she shouts down the hallway.
I stand in the doorway of my office and feel the blood coursing through my veins. I loosen my tie and roll my neck in a half circle, until my head is titled, looking up at the industrial-style ceiling. “I’ll get back to you,” I respond back to Lizzie.
First, I need to figure out who is potentially trying to steal who is rightfully fucking mine.
Chapter8
Carmine
Shadows begin to creep their way into my office as dusk settles in. As the natural light fades away, I lift my head up from the pile of work I have been engrossed in. My brain hurts from trying to coordinate every little detail pertaining to tomorrow night’s gala. I know I have plenty of people working for me who can handle these things, but with the latest round of Christian’s slip-ups in combination with the amount offantasmaI need to distribute, I would rather handle things myself. At least then I know it will be done properly.
I shuffle the papers on my desk into a pile and toss them into a drawer to get them out of my way. I told my cousin, Alex, to meet me at The Sandy Claws for a drink when his shift is over to discuss things, so I need to get going, anyway.
Just as I finish making my desk somewhat presentable, I notice the folder I requested from human resources behind my computer. I asked to see all the recent interns’ files earlier, so I can find out more about this Eric guy that Lizzie mentioned. It did strike me as odd that she barely remembered Sienna’s name when she called the other day, yet she knew enough about her to know who she may or may not be screwing.
Just the thought of Sienna being unavailable sends a stabbing pain to my gut. I know it’s hypocritical of me. I may have been watching her from a distance, waiting on my chance to snatch her into my existence, but it’s not like I have been celibate. Shit, forget hypocritical, it makes me sound fucking crazy, seeing how she doesn’t even know who the fuck I am, other than her soon-to-be-boss.
Though in time, she will realize that I am the better option for her. Theonlyoption for her.
I rise from my chair to grab the folder from behind my computer. As I open Eric’s file, I’m not exactly sure what I am expecting to find. It’s not like his paperwork will disclose who he is fucking or what football team he roots for or any information other than the usual employee bullshit. But I just need to know something, anything, that gives me even the vaguest inkling as to who he is to her.
I open the folder and thumb through his file. Not that there is much other than his full name: Eric Robert Mendez. In fact, his resume is rather short, with not much on it other than some retail experience through high school, and a short stint working construction afterwards. I flip back to the section on schooling and notice he did not complete college; it looks like he dropped out. I put the file down to reach for my pack of Parliaments I keep in my bottom desk drawer.
Without breaking eye contact with the paperwork in front of me, I lean down slightly and feel for the pack, opening it and grabbing for the first smoke I can feel. I raise the cigarette to my lips and grab the lighter tucked in the front pocket of my pinstriped jacket.
I flick the lighter to the tip and inhale as I sift back through Mr. Mendez’s folder. Aside from the lack of college degree, which isn’t exactly a dealbreaker for me. It’s not like having a college degree is a prerequisite for working at Marked Inc., given that I, myself, did not even step foot in college to get to where I am today. But what strikes me as odd is that most of our interns who apply are fresh out of high school or about to graduate college, while Mr. Mendez is nearing forty, much older than most interns we usually have working for us.
Holding my Parliament in my mouth, I let it dangle as I take short puffs from it. I take another moment to see if there is anything at all that stands out to me, other than the realization that I should probably make a better effort in knowing everyone that works for me, intern or not.
I close the file and swivel my chair to face the floor-to-ceiling windows behind my desk. As the smoke billows from my mouth, a gut feeling begins to form. Even though his folder was bland at best, I can’t shake the mischievous look on Lizzie’s eyes earlier when she mentioned him and Ms. Ricci. It’s like she was dangling something in front of me. What that is, I don’t exactly know, but rest assured, I will find out. I always do.
