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“The drop-dead sexy man who vowed to chase you like a mouse in the elevator this morning.” She deadpanned.
“Oh yeah, I’d forgotten his name to be honest with you.” I laughed and relaxed as our food was delivered. We both dug in and ate in silence for a while before I got back to the conversation. “He was quite sexy wasn’t he?” I asked.
Her eyebrows shot to her hair line as she chewed on her sandwich. “Quite! Did you know him before that?”
“No, I talked to him only from the fortieth floor up to Halo, that’s it.”
“Well apparently he didn’t need that long to decide he was interested in you. His secretary called down and asked to speak with HR this morning, shortly after you got in. I’m guessing he was trying to use his power to pull strings and find out your name.”
“How does that even work?” I held my fingers up to my ear like a telephone and mocked some ditzy voice. “Uh yes ma’am I need the name of the blonde woman in the wine-colored dress that works there?”
Nat laughed and covered her face as she tried to replicate my impersonation and fell into a fit of laughter. “Please don’t ever impersonate me because I’m afraid you’ll pick out all of my worst features. That was phenomenal!”
I laughed and finished eating my food and then took our trash to the garbage before we started the walk back to Hawthorn Tower, at a bit of a slower pace now that we were fed.
“I think that’s exactly how that phone conversation went by the way. If he found out your name and pursued you, would you be interested?” She asked.
“I don’t know.” I said honestly, “I mean obviously he’s sexy and charming. But I don’t know anything about him. Tell me what you know about him and maybe we can decide if I should.”
“Ooh, I like your style.” She said and slid her arm through mine and walked in step. “He’s the CFO for Jones Holding and is incredibly successful at it. I hear he’s like one of two friends that Mr. Jones has, so that should say something too. Uh, he’s dated his way through most of the building but that’s nothing new with rich successful men in this world.” She rushed on the last part like she was trying to brush over it.
I laughed and shook my head. “Tell me about Mr. Jones. No one has spoken about him at all, and I’m supposed to work with him in –“ I looked at my watch, “Fifteen minutes.”
“Uh.” She paused and looked skyward. “Sexy doesn’t even come close to describing him, like when he stands next to others, they disappear completely. He’s all dark and mysterious for sure. But from what I hear, he’s a hard ass to work for; he demands perfection and let’s be honest, it’s impossible to be perfect for a man like that.”
“How old is he? I guess from what I did hear today I assumed he was Mr. Peterson’s age but you’re describing him like he’s Reid’s age.”
“He is. I think he’s thirty, maybe a year or two younger or older but I’m not sure.”
“Thirty? And a billionaire and ruler of all this?” I asked, waving my arm over the skyscraper we were walking back into.
“Yep. I only ever see him in passing as he comes and goes from the building or on page six after a public event or something, but other than that he’s pretty recluse. They say he’s super close with his family and a few friends from high school, and then Reid Haskins and Dexter Chase, his lawyer, and that’s it.”
“An enigma.” I said in awe as I processed it all in my head. Hearing the name Jones brought flashbacks to a boy I loved once with the last name Jones. He had been the complete opposite of the man that Nat described. He smiled almost every second, always joking and having fun. He was the opposite of a recluse, always being outgoing and charismatic in a crowd and people naturally gravitated towards him. He was my most favorite person in the world for the first eighteen years of my life, until he just… wasn’t.
I reached up and rubbed at the spot in my chest that ached every time I allowed myself to think about Maverick. I’d cut off contact with him that night and hadn’t spoken to him once since then. I’d blocked his name from all of my social media and google searches over the years, I refused to know anything about his life because if I knew what he was like today, I’d want to be a part of his life today. And that wasn’t an option for me.
So instead I forced myself to remember him that night I’d found him at that party.
I forced myself to remember the way he grunted as he came inside of my best friend up against a wall like she was the best thing he’d ever had.
Okay, maybe he hadn’t acted like she was anything special at all, but the version in my head made me remember it as if he was downright smitten with her.
It made it easier to keep distance from my past.
“You alright?” Nat asked as the elevator stopped at our floor.
I shook it off and nodded to her. “Yeah sorry, I was just thinking about this afternoon.”
“Understandable.” She said and stopped to throw her bag in her drawer. “If I don’t see you before I leave at five, we’ll grab lunch tomorrow or something and you can tell me all about the enigma, deal?”
“Deal.” I said and walked away towards my own desk. “See you.”
I stopped in the bathroom to freshen up and found myself starring at myself in the mirror for a while in awe. How had I gone from no one to someone over night?
I admired the burgundy dress that I’d found at the high-end thrift shop with a tag still on it a few days ago. It was short sleeve and had a small v notch in the high neckline and ended right above my knee with a slit in the back. There was a matching belt with a gold buckle at the waist and gold buttons on the cap sleeves. It was professional and made me feel worthy of this new position as I wore it.
With the income I was set to get from this day alone, I could go back to the thrift store and buy some more dresses just like this one that I’d had to pass up on last week when I went looking, desperate for something to make me feel like I fit in with these people.
