by Maria Xystra
I wrinkle my nose and whisper loudly: “I don’t think so.”
“Do you want me to remind you what you said the first- no, the third time you met me?” he suggests. I know he is talking about the ‘fuck me’ incident.
“You can’t consider that out of context!”
“Wait, how many times have you two met?” Sam asks.
“Well, there was the first time yesterday, when I came here on my lunch break and he,” I point a thumb at Cole’s direction, “came in with his I-own-everything look-”
“Oh, that’s his permanent look!” Eric points out.
“And he asked me-”
“If I remember correctly,” Cole cuts in, “you are the one who initiated small talk.”
I ignore him and continue.
“He asked me what my drink was-”
“And you said ‘water’! Remember?” he adds with amusement in his voice. I fake smile at him.
“And then you bumped your head on the bar when you were leaving?” he starts laughing and so do the others.
“Wait!” Sam says. “You bumped your head? You never bump your head!”
“Well, apparently, someone got on my nerves in record time and I wasn’t fully composed!” I snap, and I instantly regret that, seeing Cole’s face oozing with satisfaction from every pore. Damn it!
“And then there was today’s meeting at AMC, where Ms. Tipsy here, was all professional and businesslike. And then tonight,” he continues, “it’s like some supernatural force wanted to bring us together in any possible way!” he smiles and winks at me.
Uncomfortable with reminiscing over the facts, I try to shift the attention from me and Cole. “What about you two?” I ask Sam and Eric. “How did this happen?” I point back and forth between the two of them. “The detailed version,” I add. About six weeks ago, when Sam apparently met Eric, I was in a dark place and cut off from everyone and everything for a while. And right after that was the trip to Greece and I only just got back last week. So, we never really had the chance to catch up on the matter.
“Oh, yeah, right. Well, it was one of those days that, you know, mum and dad can be so suffocating…”
“What, they locked you in your room and let all their love flow in through the ventilators?” I tease her. I know Sam’s parents are amazing and they love her so much. I spent a year with them when I first moved here after college and they treated me like a daughter.
“No. They decided to play the preaching game and went on and on about there being no need for me to get an apartment, that they wanna have me around for as long as possible, and all that stuff. I mean, you know I love them to pieces, and I wouldn’t mind spending rent money on clothes-”
“Of course,” I comment knowingly.
“But I do need my privacy! I am 26 years old; I should have my own place by now.” She stirs her drink with her straw. “And, plus, now that I’m with Eric, I want it even more.”
“It’s OK, baby. You can move in with me anytime you want,” Eric pats her hand on the table.
“Anyways, we had that argument again and you- wait! What?” Sam starts speaking in that no-pause-no-breath speed and cuts off turning to Eric. “What did you just say?” she asks hesitantly.
“You can move in with me. That is if you want to.” Eric is so calm and composed when he says that, but I can sense his enthusiasm. He tries not to grin but as Sam throws her arms around him his face splits into a huge smile. She kisses him passionately – long enough for Cole and me to start getting uncomfortable. Well, just me actually, since a glance towards him lets me know that he doesn’t give a fuck and just leans back in his chair sipping his drink.
“I’ll take that as a yes,” Eric says still grinning from ear to ear. Sam settles back in her chair as Cole reaches for Eric and backslaps him on the arm.
“Dude, what are you doing?” he says half-seriously, half-jokingly.
Eric mimics Cole’s gesture. “Dude, shut up!”
“So, come on, tell me how you met!” I bring them all back to the issue at hand.
Sam opens her mouth to speak but Eric is the one who starts talking. He takes Cole’s hand in his. “It was love at first sight,” he declares with a drama-laced voice staring into Cole’s eyes.
We smile, and Cole takes Eric’s hand and brings it to his lips. Eric lifts his other hand and tips Cole’s nose with a finger.
Sam leans to me. “Sometimes I think they’re the couple and I’m just an outsider!”
The two men hear her and continue to joke. Cole winks at Eric and points towards a door at the back suggestively and Eric winks back and mouths ‘later’. I can’t help giving them a smile.
“So, anyway, I wanted to get out of the house and since you were nowhere to be found,” she comments pointedly, “I had to find a way to get my mind off of things. So, I went shopping. But it didn’t work.”
“No way,” I say in mocking disbelief, very much aware of Sam’s shopping addiction.
“And then I took the second option I had and came here for drinks. And that worked!” she gives Eric a squeeze on his leg and shyly beams at him.
“But it nearly didn’t!” Eric points out. “Remember that arrogant douchebag you met at first?” I can’t resist. I turn to Cole.
“Oh, she met you first?” I poke fun at him.
“Hey!” he says offended. “He didn’t say handsome!”
“No! Well, it went down like this:” Sam takes the floor excitedly. “As I was minding my own business, taking the first sip of my pomegranate martini Eric had prepared for me,” she turns and sends Eric a kiss, “this guy comes and leans on the bar right next to me. He goes like ‘I’m Robert Johnson Junior, but you can call me RJ Jr.’ I barely glanced at him and he went on. ‘I was on my way out, but I saw you here all alone, and I thought why not. Can I buy you a drink? I mean, of course I can, this is Armani,” and Sam mimes his gesture pointing at her clothes, “but, may I?”
“Seriously?” I ask with a sympathetic grimace.
“Yeah, seriously! And then, when I refused, he goes like ‘your loss’ and leaves.” I raise my eyebrows in a no-comment expression. “And that’s when these two,” she points at Cole and Eric, “came to save the day, saying ‘hey-”
Eric interrupts her and leans over the table, with a look that informs me he is about to re-enact his actions.
“Hey...” he drags his voice seductively, “I’m Eric. But you can call me...Eric.” I start laughing and then Cole leans forward.
“Hey...” he says with the same tone “I’m Cole. And you can call me...anytime!” I burst out laughing.
“Can I buy you a drink?” Cole continues his performance. “Well, of course I can, this is a bar.” He has me gasping for air from laughter and I reach and shove him by the arm. They all giggle along – probably because of my hysterical snorts. Amongst the chuckling sounds, I spot Cole’s deep laughter and turn to look at him. His dimples catch me off guard and pull at my stomach with a surprising force as I realize I’m grinning uncontrollably.
“And then, the three of us spent the rest of the night talking. And the next. And the next.” Sam says.
“So, it wasn’t love at first sight?” I assume.
“Ermm, no, not really… I mean, I liked Eric since the beginning, but it was after we...” she trails off.
“It was love at first sigh!!” Eric jumps in and they both chuckle.
“What do you say, Tipsy? Should we try this, too? I mean, first sight didn’t work for us – or the second, or the third – but, perhaps first sigh will!” Cole smirks and lifts his eyebrows once.
“I’ll pass,” at least for as long as I can. And to get him off my back, I add: “I don’t like you anyway.”
“You don’t have to,” he leers and gets off the table. “Anybody want another drink?” he asks from behind the bar.
“The usual”! Sam and Eric say in unison. Eric leans over the table to say something and I lean closer too. “You know, he’s not used to peop
le saying no to him.”
“There’s a first time for everything,” I retort.
“I’m just saying. He can be really persistent. Like, pain-in-the-ass persistent.”
“Well, if there’s one person that can handle Cole, that’s Lexy Davis,” Sam answers as-a-matter-of-factly. Personally, I highly doubt that! In my thoughts, the answer is always ‘yes’. And like, ‘yyyeeeessss’!
“Tipsy?” Cole gets my attention. Shit. I need to try harder to ignore this nickname otherwise I’ll be stuck with it. Sam and Eric on the other hand seem to be amused by the fact that he has given me a nickname. “Do you want another vodka cranberry?”
“Yes, please,” I shout from a distance with a sweet tone I never intended. Sam eyes me suspiciously and I pretend not to notice.
“I’ll go help,” Eric says and leaves us.
Sam wastes no time and gets closer to me. Like if she got any closer, she’d be sitting on my lap. I instinctively register her conspiratorial mood. “So, let me get this straight. You met Cole here, at the bar, yesterday. And he’s the one you told me about on the phone.”
“Correct.”
“And you met again this morning?”
“Yeah, the bar guy, my new important client and your boyfriend’s best friend, all go by the name ‘Cole’!”
“As in... Cole Theron?” she smiles at the realization.
“No Sam. Cole as in cole-slaw!” I tease. We both laugh but Sam recovers before I do, and shoots the question.
“If I remember correctly, didn’t you say you liked him?”
“I didn’t-” she gives me an eyebrow-raise. “If I remember correctly, all I said was ‘pffft’!”
“Right,” she simply says with a mischievous smile. I get the feeling she has more to say and I ‘tsk’ her.
“Do you picture him naked?” she asks abruptly, and I flush.
“Saaam!”
“OhmyGodyousodo!” and before I get the chance to stop her she starts. “Oh, but you have to be careful-,” I cut her midsentence seeing them coming from around the bar.
“I know don’t worry, nothing will happen. Not now, not ever.” And I leave the discussion at that.
Of course, Sam is right, and she gives voice to my own thoughts; I know I have to be careful after what I’ve been through with Marcus. I can’t afford to get involved with anyone. All I can do is keep a low profile and stay away from attaching relationships. And that’s exactly what I’ve been doing for the past few years; I don’t intend to change that now.
“OK, quick question,” she leans even closer. “What color are his eyes?”
“Hazel with a hint of green, why?” I answer reflectively.
“Busted girlfriend! You so like him!”
“What are you two talking about?” Cole asks taking a seat.
“Girl-stuff”, “None of your business!” we reply at the same time. Guess which one of us said what!
Cole definitely gets my bitter comment and puts a palm on his chest in a pained expression. He quickly recovers.
We spend some time talking and laughing – mostly laughing – sharing stories from our recent past, playing songs on the jukebox and taking turns to play flipper. Eric somehow finds a way to tease Cole every now and then about all the women he’s had sex with and ditched, about his bossy demeanor and his I-own-everything look. Their interaction is genuine, and it finds a way to soften my impression of him, but at the same time I keep reminding myself that I should keep a distance, so I try to focus on his flaws. Not an easy task.
After a while, Cole leads me to his office through the corridor that also leads to the restrooms and an elevator, to show me some of the paperwork concerning his business plan.
The room is larger than I thought; the door is on the left corner, the desk is in the middle and close to the wall opposite the door; a couple of chairs, a sofa and a set of shelves surround the room, covering most of the walls, with an exit door in the far corner. And then I notice a round crack on the wall, right next to the door we came through, that looks like someone’s fist landed there; probably more than once.
As I stand in front of his desk going through some data, he leans his behind on the desk right beside me and crosses his arms and ankles. He turns to me. I can tell that he wants to say something, but he slightly hesitates. And I get the feeling that statistics are not the reason he brought me in here.
“By the way, I thought you didn’t like mixing business with your personal life,” I point out, trying to get him off track of whatever it is he wanted to say.
He chuckles. “I don’t see why you’re so defensive towards me.”
“I… Um, I’m not-” I can’t find the words to explain myself. What am I going to say? I reflexively snap at you because I don’t want to admit that I like you? “Why are you always stirring me up?” I turn the question to him.
“Avoiding the answer by asking a question?”
“Me?” I try to lighten the mood and emphatically shuffle through the papers.
He places a hand on the pile I’m going through and stops my progression. “Am I making you uncomfortable?” he shoots out of the blue in a frustratingly, nonchalant way. My bents knee. Um, my knees bent. Surprisingly I’m still standing straight.
“Is that what you’re aiming for?” I retort.
He chuckles again. “Not really. On the contrary, I want you to feel comfortable around me.”
“Well, so do I.” I want to feel comfortable around you, on top of you, beneath you. I smile at my dirty thoughts and try to get a grip. “It’s just... You’re not really making it easy.”
“You seem to be fostering a grudge against me,” he concludes. “Why is that?”
“How can I put this nicely?” I take a deep breath. “I don’t want to say something that would jeopardize our cooper-”
“For God’s sake, Tipsy! Just say what you really want. And I promise this won’t jeopardize anything.”
“It’s… not that I don’t enjoy your company. It’s just that... You have this arrogant version of yourself that you turn on and off, at the most unexpected times.” I try to explain. “Please don’t take it personally.”
“How can I not?” he smiles but it doesn’t reach his eyes. It’s like he gets what I’m saying but has nothing to say in response.
“It’s just... I’m not into your type.”
“And what type is that?”
“You know, this self-centered attitude you carry around, using your charm and authority to get what you want.”
“So... you find me charming?” he smirks.
“That’s exactly what I’m talking about! Get over yourself already!”
“And you’ve figured this out after knowing me for what? Two days?”
“For some people it only takes two minutes,” I deflect.
“I think you’ve got me all wrong.”
“So, you don’t charm women into one-night stands and you don’t boss people around?” I draw my conclusion from his suggestive comments towards me and Eric’s teasing of his bossiness.
“I...” He lifts his shoulders and gets into defensive mode. “It’s what I do!” he says almost apologetically.
“Exactly”! I lift an eyebrow at him.
“But it’s what I’m supposed to do. People get paid to follow orders from the boss, and like it or not, I’m the one in charge. And I do stick to one-night stands because I don’t want to lead women on for something that will never happen.”
I sense his discomfort. “You don’t need to explain yourself to me.” I try to lighten the conversation. “You just can’t expect everyone to like you.”
He starts gathering the papers on his desk, putting them in a file.
“I’ll give you a month,” he says without making eye contact.
“For what”?
“For you to change your mind about me.”
I consider his suggestion.
“Well, will you continue your sexual innuendos every time we speak?”
“Maybe. Probably. Yes.” I can hear his smile.
“Then, maybe. Doubtful. No.” I reply using the same tone.
He puts his file back on the shelf and we head for the door.
“Why does it matter to you if I like you or not?” I can’t stop myself from wondering.
He opens the door and leads me out. He slips into his indifferent mask.
“It doesn’t.”
And just like that, all the bonding that took place between me and him tonight turns into dust and I’m back to the ‘don’t-like-him-can’t-stand-him’ frame of mind. Brilliant.
CHAPTER 5
The next couple of weeks were so hectic due to the enormous amount of work Theron’s business plan came with. By Friday, I must have wondered a billion times whether God made a day last 54 hours instead of 24. The most interesting part of this second week, and I hate to admit it, was on Wednesday, when I called Cole to arrange a meeting.
Luke had come into my office with a grin from LA to New York and announced that precious Mr. Theron wished to set a date for signing a contract with us. Luke’s happy dance is hard to erase from memory.
So, as instructed, I called Cole, with Luke hovering over my desk, and tried to sound professional.
“Mr. Theron?” I cleared my throat. “It’s Lexy Davis from AMC.”
“Um, who?”
I lost it for a second.
“Lexy… Davis…?” I prompted him.
“Oh, you’re asking me?”
I couldn’t understand if he was messing with me or being serious. I couldn’t find the words to speak so I fell silent for like...two days!
“...”
“Tipsy? Are you still there?” he laughed through the phone.
You, asshole! I squeezed the receiver to avoid all the swearing that came to my mind.
“I’ve been informed that you wanted to arrange a meeting for signing our contract,” I carried on, trying to sound unfazed by his idea of a joke.
“Hmm, talking all businesslike makes you sound sexy,” he teased.
I narrow my eyes in silent reprimand.