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As they drove back to her office, Dixon was still deep in thought. “I have a feeling…” Dixon voiced his thoughts out loud, trailing off while looking out the car window. He remained silent the rest of the way back.
“Dixon, come up to my office, let’s talk about what is bothering you.” Payton put out her hand to gesture for him to come in. Still silent, he took a long look at the busy street then took her hand for a brief second as he decided to come in. They walked across the street hand in hand so naturally. Once crossed, he let go of her hand, gave her his dashing smile and headed into her office, he seemed to have shrugged off their hand holding and was back to his old confident self.
Payton was still unsure where they stood personally, so she tried to keep the meeting as professional as possible, yet somewhat casual. Payton wheeled out her chair from behind the desk and put it to the side, so they would be able to talk with no barriers in between them, and took a seat. She didn’t know if she should speak first. And if she did, should she bring up the kiss from the night before, the verbal diarrhea or just talk about the condo. She was becoming more sexually frustrated with each minute they spent together. Being with Dixon sent her body into double desire and caused her to feel like she required more sexual satisfaction than normal. Maybe she needed a good, nameless one-night stand to get it out of her system. Yet, she felt a tinge of responsibility to Dixon, a commitment to him that he was unable to reciprocate. As Payton thought about this, she started to pick at her new gel nails.
The awkward silence hung in the air until Dixon spoke. “It just seems too good to be true. The condo.” Dixon gave her a quick glance as he continued. “I would like to know why the people are selling at such a low price.”
Payton nearly laughed out loud. “This is what kept you so quiet?” She put her hand on his leg then decided against it and took it off. “Jack said the people were moving overseas on a job offer and didn’t have time to keep the house on the market for long. They needed to buy something new, fast. We have the upper hand on this one.”
Payton was now up and pacing the office as she spoke. Dixon stood up and grabbed her hand. “Okay,” he said, “stop pacing, you’re making me nervous.”
As soon as he touched her hand she stopped. The touch sent electric shocks up her body. “Okay. It is a really good deal. I think you should consider it. It has the potential to make a lot of money when you decide to flip it.” Payton was so passionate in what she did and in trying to help Dixon that she couldn’t help but return to pacing.
“How much do you think I could get for it?” The old Dixon was back. Payton could see the dollar signs back in his eyes, along with his grin of knowing he was going to become wealthier.
“I will see what I can do.” Payton gave him her sly, sexy I-can-get-anything look. She liked challenges and the chase associated with them. Payton looked at this as one more hurdle to win Dixon for herself. She was determined she would have Dixon, and if this was the way to his heart she was going to bend over backwards for it.
*
Payton sat inthe candle-lit lounge, in the corner by her favorite window, waiting for Lilly to arrive. This was their favorite place to meet to unwind and try to have some relaxation in their lives. Payton loved watching people walk by and guess where they were going and who they may be meeting. As she did this, she sipped on her chilled white wine that had three frozen cranberries in it to help keep it cool.
Payton and Lilly usually saw each other every few days, but both of their schedules had been so hectic lately that this was their first visit since Lilly introduced Jack as her boyfriend. Payton was still really put off by Lilly dating Jack. She deserved so much better. However, Payton no longer felt guilty about sleeping with Jack the one time. It was in the past, it meant nothing and she had been unaware that he was Lilly’s boyfriend. It really was an honest mistake. She would never hurt her sister on purpose. Jack was the villain here; he knew he had a girlfriend. What an ass, she thought to herself.
The blistering afternoon sun was starting its daily descent and clouds were beginning to move in. Payton was certain it would rain tonight. The wind was beginning to pick up garbage on the streets. She watched a piece of newspaper twirling and dancing on the wind.
“Payton.” She stood up to embrace her sister with a hug and kiss on her warm cheek once she approached the table. Lilly and Payton held a tradition that the first person to arrive ordered a drink for each other, this way the last to arrive would already have a drink waiting for them.
“Sorry I’m late, hon. Time got away from me.”
On cue the waiter arrived, seeing that Payton’s glass was almost dry he asked if they would like to order another drink or some food. Naturally, Payton ordered herself another wine and their usual food order.
Lilly rubbed her forehead with her hand. “This headache won’t go away no matter what I do,” Lilly complained, as the girls got right into their normal routine. Lilly began to unload her thoughts. “My firm is starting a new case. Fingers crossed I’ll finally be able to break through the glass ceiling with this one. Unfortunately, if you think I work a ton now, it will be doubling once we secure the contract.” Lilly rubbed her forehead again.
Lilly normally worked about sixty hours a week; this case would take over her life completely, and make what little social life she had non-existent. Despite being family, there would be no more dinners or drinks together. Hopefully, Payton might get the rare phone call.
“I pretty much won’t even have time to eat or sleep,” Lilly continued to complain. “But I guess you never know, I’m trying to stay optimistic and hope this case could be what I need to be considered for partner.” Personally, Payton thought it was an opportunity to screw her yet again. This was not the first time Payton had heard the ‘chance to make partner’ line.
Payton was almost done her second glass of wine when she noticed that Lilly had not touched her wine. At most she was only turning the glass by its thin stem.
“What’s up, Lill?” Payton asked, pointing to her full glass.
“Sorry, my headache is not getting any better.” Lilly took a tiny sip from her glass. “And the wine is not helping.”
Lilly seemed so distracted and somewhat sad. Payton did not want to ask but the verbal diarrhea came flooding out because of the wine. “How are you and Jack?” she asked.
“To be honest, Payton, I have no idea about Jack.”
Payton was not the best person to have a deep, emotional conversation with, unless it had potential to get her laid or promoted. But every now and then she had to try to pull it out for some reason or another. This would be one of those times.
“Don’t get me wrong, I am pretty sure he is really into me, but I just don’t know…” Lilly’s sentence trailed off as she looked out the window at the now wet sidewalk.
Payton was shocked to hear this. Last week Jack was it and everything was great. What happened between then and now? She wondered. It was time for Payton to have a bit more than a gut check. As her stomach twisted, she repeated her previous thought to herself. I should not feel guilty about the past, Jack is a jerk and I had no idea he was Lilly’s boyfriend. A past memory of her in high school, sleeping with Lilly’s crush, crept into her thoughts. She had tried to get away from this memory her whole life, but it always managed to break its way in. Payton took a gulp, rather than a sip, of her chilled wine and her stomach began to untwist itself.
Lilly was still pouring her heart out to Payton. “I guess I am not sure if he is the one.”
Ah yes, the magical one, Payton thought to herself. Lilly was always thinking about this magical one that would transform her life. In fact, she thought her recent, previous boyfriend was the elusive one until she woke up to find he had moved out while she was sleeping. As Payton thought about it, she realized that it was not that long ago. Not far behind Jack’s time. In fact, as she recalled, Lilly went on the blind date with Jack to help her overcome her feelings for that slime ball. Maybe Payton was being a little hard on the guy. He was the poster boy for the perfect boyfriend until he suddenly broke Lilly’s heart.
“I guess it’s just that I have been working so much the last few weeks and so has he. It’s been difficult for us to meet up.”
