Considerably Wicked: A Dark Romance

by Leigh Frankie

  Glen beamed. “Oh, come on. What’s really going on with that guy? He’s been acting a bit…different.”

  “I saw him one time at a café, talking with Ms. Miller,” Will spoke, and Liezel’s eyes immediately bore at him. “Well, she was waiting for me there…we were going to buy a TV that day. And it…well…I was just surprised to see him there…for the first time.”

  Glen and Liezel looked at each other.

  “Really? What was he doing there? Did you ask?” Liezel asked at once, no longer bothered with what her friends would say about her sudden curiosity.

  “He said he had a meeting with the university’s faculty head—”

  Glen’s brows furrowed, his blue eyes staring at Will. “Wait…did you and Una bought a TV together?

  Will nodded.

  “Are you guys together?”

  Liezel pouted, looking like she wanted to ask Will more questions. But she quickly covered the dismay on her face with a grin and continued to munch on her food.

  “I live in her house, and her old TV was broken.” Will took huge gulps of his drink and cleared his throat. He then looked around the breakroom as if checking for someone listening in. “And…um…we kissed.”

  Liezel nearly choked on her salad. “Um…you kissed? Una kissed—wait. What?! Are you joking right now?

  “You bastard!” Glen frowned. “I like her.”

  “Shush it, Glen.” She rolled her eyes at him the turned back to Will. “What do you mean then that you don’t know? You kissed! How did she react?”

  A small smile fitted over Will’s face, and he shrugged. “She didn’t throw me out. That should mean something. And to answer your question, we didn’t really talk about whether or not we’re together after we kissed.”

  “I’m sorry to tell you this, buddy,” Glen shook his head, “but you can’t go back to just being—whatever you two were before you ate each other’s faces. I just hope this won’t end up like Kate, though, because I like Una.”

  Liezel took a deep breath before shaking her head. “Unbelievable.”

  “Is that a disapproving look I see, Liezel Anne?” Glen noticed, an unwilling smile tugging at his lips. “Can’t believe your friend is going to get some more action than you now?”

  Will looked incredulous. “Really, Glen?” He scowled.

  Liezel shot Glen a glare before looking at Will, her eyes vague. “Will, I’m cool that you told us, but what is wrong with you? You can’t just tell people that. But thanks for telling me anyway, but you get my point, right? And remember, Will, that she’s my best friend. If you hurt her, I’ll kill you.”

  Glen blinked at her once before tossing Will a startled look. “Buddy, you’re a fucking dead man walking. And I hate to say this but, she’s right. As intimate as a kiss is, you can’t just tell people about it. Una may hate you for it.”

  “Well, I’m baffled about it. I initiated, but I didn’t know I’d be this bothered about it.”

  He shrugged at him. “Because you like her! Dude! What are you? Eight? You’re not confused or bothered. You like her, and you want to bang her.”

  “Shut the fuck up, Glen!” Liezel shot back and glared at Will. “Don’t be an idiot and never, ever, kiss and tell. And Una’s different, William, so you better decide now what step you want to take next. And don’t forget, if you hurt her, I will fucking rip your balls with my bare hands.”

  “Geez, woman!” Glen flinched at the thought.

  “I’m going back,” she suddenly announced and walked out of the room without another word.

  “What the hell?” he hissed. “Is she pissed? Is she jealous? Is she secretly in love with you?”

  Will cocked his head. “I don’t think so.” Pausing, he added, “Maybe she’s going through something.”

  After hearing the brief exchange between Liezel and Sinclair in the elevator and finding her crying on the stairs, Will was able to put the puzzles together without her telling him the whole shebang. He understood, and he pitied her for feeling anything towards their boss.

  Sinclair Godfrey was no grand prize that Liezel had won. He may be able to give her things, but he will never give himself to her. Will was sure of that because he knew Sinclair wasn’t that kind of man. He knew that as soon as rumors about their CEO and his controversial past reached everyone in the company when he took over the CEO role. He had heard about how Sinclair was good at mixing business with pleasure. He had also heard about the college scandal that nearly ruined Belinda Sinclair’s marriage to another wealthy man, Gerard Maxwell.

  “Yeah, but…” Glen broke through his thought. “Who’s going to clean this?” He pointed at the container that still had some bits of Liezel’s takeout inside.

  Will shrugged. “I’ll do it.”

  “And maybe this is why she used to eat lunch with you first…”

  “That’s okay, buddy.”

  ***

  When Liezel saw Sinclair leave his room an hour earlier than usual, her mind raced. And when he glanced over his shoulder at her when he passed by her desk without even saying anything to her, she felt she was going to be sick. Their lover’s quarrel, or whatever was happening between them, had gone on for far too long that she wanted it to be. After her breakdown on the staircase, things had quite changed. She and Sinclair had become too busy in their own worlds. At least Sinclair was in his private office. She, on the other hand, kept herself too busy at her desk. During her quick trips to his office, she had hoped something else would come up in their very brief conversations. Something that she had tried to brush off but was really slowly weighing on her mind. But all Sinclair ever talked to her about was work, and whenever he was done with his instruction, all she ever heard from him was a flat ‘Thank you’.

  With a heavy heart, she stared vacantly at Sinclair’s private office across her desk. If the gossip about him were true, was this how he treated the other women before her? Even as she thought of that possibility, Liezel deemed it unlikely. Sinclair was pissed at her because she overreacted. Had she not made a big fuss over his abrupt decision to go to New York without telling her first, perhaps they would still be banging each other and she would be, maybe, planning their romantic trip. But probably Sinclair would also have to realize that she had made plans with him that night. She waited for him, and she wouldn’t even find out he wasn’t coming had she not made that call.

  He was, after all, his girlfriend. Wasn’t she?

  The question pressed down on her like a dead weight. Sinclair, as her boyfriend, should be trying to make up with her by now instead of ignoring her and treating her the way he had before the kiss that started it all. It all started to hurt her deeply, and that day she cried on the staircase would have been one of the worst moments she could remember in a really long time if it wasn’t for Will who unexpectedly showed up and, weirdly enough, made her feel a little better.

  When the thought of going into Sinclair’s office for anything that might tell her what he’d been up to, Liezel decided against it after giving it much thought. It was better that she leave the office now. She was feeling miserable, and the familiar pain she had when Will caught her crying was back.

  The anxious clip of her heels echoed down the hallway of the building as she made her way out. And as soon as she breathed in the cool air outside, she immediately felt lighter, the pain threatening to crash her fading the further she walked away.

  When she reached her car, she got inside the driver seat and tossed her bag in the passenger seat. She started the engine, but before she could pull her car onto the road, the sound of her phone broke off. Searching her bag, she grabbed her phone and almost dropped it when she saw who was calling.

  “Yes…Mr. Godfrey?” She blinked, gripping the steering wheel.

  “Liezel, I’m sorry,” Sinclair said, yet the tone of his voice was nowhere near apologetic.

  Liezel remained silent and wondered whether she was dreaming.

  “Are you there?” he asked calmly.

>   “Yes, I’m here,” she told him, not really sure what to do, but figuring it would be in her best interest not to shout at him again and ask him why it took him so long to apologize. She desperately hoped though that Sinclair wasn’t calling her to apologize and then break things off with her—for good.

  Sinclair sighed from the other end of the line, and she slightly shuddered at how masculine it sounded. His deep voice always sounded sexy to her.

  “I’m sorry for ignoring you,” he said. He might not sound as deeply sincere as she had hoped, but she didn’t care. She didn’t want to almost lose him again because the second time she would, he might decide not to come back to her again.

  “And I’m sorry I got carried away with my emotions,” she muttered, feeling much better now. “It’s just that…I brought dinner and made some plans.”

  “I know. You yelled at me about it.” He sighed in derision. “And about that —wait—hold on.”

  She pressed her phone close to her ear to hear what he was doing. She heard rattling from the background then someone, a woman, saying, “Here’s your takeout, Mr. Godfrey. Enjoy.”

  “Thank you,” she heard Sinclair say casually. Seconds later, he was back on the line. “I brought us dinner.”

  Us. The word immediately made her eyes lit up, and she felt her entire body almost burst in excitement. “Really?”

  “Yeah. Are you still at the office?”

  “I’m actually in my car. Just leave your key at the front desk, okay?” she said sweetly, trying to force back the tingling sensation in her stomach.

  “Oh, we’re not going to eat at my place tonight,” he told her.

  Liezel immediately felt her heart hammer erratically against her chest as she wondered what he meant. “I’m on my way to your place.”

  “What? But you don’t know where I live.”

  Sinclair chuckled lightly. “Of course, I do. I drove you there once. Chestnut Hill. I remember. See you there.” He disconnected, not giving her time to respond.

  “Shit!” Liezel yelled. Her mind was spinning, and she was starting to feel sick again. What in the world was she supposed to do now?

  ***

  As soon as Una arrived from the university, she sat on the couch and stared at the blank TV screen, thinking. She didn’t think that there was ever a moment in her life where she felt more bemused than this. She tried to think back at the moment this confusion started.

  Was it the moment they played Ice Breaker and learned stuff about him she thought were interesting? Was it during their moment on the roof when she discovered they had a lot more in common than she could have imagined, or was it the moment when they kissed—when she finally felt butterflies in her stomach?

  Granted, she did feel something now whenever Will was around, but then what? She was so confused.

  The most surprising part was she kind of liked the possibility of Will feeling something for her too. And she secretly hoped so, although she wasn’t ready to admit anything to him or make any drastic move. No, she didn’t have it in her to confront people and tell them she had developed some sort of feelings for them. She couldn’t. All she could do, in the meantime, was pretend like nothing had changed and the kiss had not bothered her.

  When the doorbell rang, Una pursed her lips at the distraction. She got up from the couch and walked towards the front door. Expecting to see Liezel, she didn’t bother to check who it was from behind the curtain and pulled the door open.

  “Una?”

  “You.” Una breathed.

  “Well,” Sinclair’s eyes widened, looking surprised but not as much as Una. “This is an unexpected but, nonetheless, a pleasant surprise.”

  But Una was indifferent, baffled beyond belief as to why he was there and, most importantly, how did he know where she lived. “How did you get my address?”

  “Liezel. I drove her here once. It was raining hard, and she didn’t bring her car at that time. Is she here now?” Sinclair said,

  “Are you supposed to meet her here?” Una asked, still without a clue why Sinclair was on her doorstep, carrying a brown bag of what seemed like a takeout.

  “Where else?” he replied.

  He had a smile that Una figured had made her friend swoon, and maybe tons of other girls—except her.

  “Her house? Maybe?” she replied, not bothered that she sounded sarcastic.

  Sinclair blinked in shock and took a step back. “Are you serious?”

  “I don’t really joke,” Una told him flatly.

  His eyes flickered to his car parked across the street then back to Una. “She told me she lives here. Wow. Um…well…this is utterly embarrassing. Ah—I must have misheard her then.” He blew out a dismal sigh and run his free hand through his hair. “I’ve been pretty hard on her lately, and I just…I brought her some really nice steak and potatoes.” He took a long breath, then his expression brightened slightly. “I’ll just send her a message to meet me here then. Would that be okay?”

  Una hesitated for a moment before she reconsidered and stepped aside for Sinclair. “Come on in.”

  Sinclair walked in and followed her to the living room. He set the brown bag on the center table and sat on the couch. Looking around, he said, “You have a really nice house, Una.”

  “This is my parents’,” Una told him as she sat on the loveseat. She turned the TV on.

  “Where are they now?”

  She paused briefly before deciding that a direct answer was best to end a conversation. “Dead.” She tuned in to a news channel.

  “Dead? Both of them?” Sinclair clearly wasn’t ready for it.

  “Yes.” Her jaw clenched. Shouldn’t you be texting Liezel?”

  He wanted to reach out for her, but he took the hint and stopped himself from doing. “Ah, yes, right.” Quickly, he dug his phone from his front pocket and began typing…

  You lied to me, didn’t you? Don’t bother coming.

  “Done.”

  “Did Liezel really tell you she lives here?” Una asked quickly before he could ask more questions about her parents, like how they died together.

  “You can ask her yourself if you think I’m just making it up as an excuse to come here,” Sinclair replied.

  She narrowed her eyes at him. “Why would she lie?”

  He shrugged. “It baffles me too, Una. Let’s ask her when she arrives, okay?” News about a missing ex-US army soldier on TV suddenly caught his attention. “Another missing person.”

  Una aimed the remote at the screen and increased the volume a bit.

  “… a family friend tells the news crew that Adam Collin failed to show up at his niece’s party…”

  “The number of people missing in this city has increased, but we don’t see any dead bodies. It makes you wonder what’s really going on.” Sinclair noted.

  Una stood up. “Can’t be too careful.” She eyed the brown bag. “I’ll take this to the kitchen,” she said and grabbed the bag.

  Sinclair watched her back as she walked to the kitchen carrying the takeout with her. “You can have my portion if you want,” he called out to her as he continued to watch the news on TV.

  Una came back empty-handed. “I’ll wait for Mr. Thomas.”

  “It’s amusing how you call Will that.” He smirked, turning his full attention back to her

  She sat back on the chair and watched the news anchor on the screen sign off. She switched to NatGeo and watched a clip about climate change in silence.

  Sinclair studied her face for a moment, looking for any hint that she had loosened up a little around him. He knew he was an intimidating man, and women tend to become a little tense around him, although Una was a different thing entirely. He knew she was tensed too, but it wasn’t for the reason that he wanted.

  “Una, have you thought about the benefactors’ dinner?” he asked quietly.

  “I thought you went already,” she replied, shrugging off his attention.

  He shook his head. “No. The dinner�
�s next week. You should really come with me,” he encouraged.

  When Una opened her mouth to decline the offer once again, Sinclair hurried on to assure her, “Come on, Una. It’s not like it’s a date.”

  “I didn’t say it is. I just don’t want to go. What do you really want from me? And why are you going after me?”

  “Ms. Miller, I brought…” They hadn’t heard the front door open and hadn’t heard Will make his way to the living room. “Mr. Godfrey?” His eyes were on Sinclair, looking him up and down.

  “I came to bring Liez—Ms. Blanco food for the overtime work she did.” Sinclair’s gaze flickered from Una on the chair to Will standing in front of them with a bag in his hand that also seemed like a takeout. “Long story short, I thought she lived here. Well, she told me.”

  “So nice of you to care for Liz so much.” That immediately earned him a faint smile from Sinclair.

  His boss smirked. “I’m nice to all of my hardworking employees, Will. I’m even extra nicer to you.”

  “That, you are.” He let out a genuine smile and asked, “Will you be joining us for dinner? Are we waiting for Liz?”

  Sinclair stood up from the couch. “No, I better get going.” He made his way out of the living room, then paused and turned back to them. “You enjoy the steaks. I don’t think Ms. Blanco is coming.”

  “Sinclair…” He instantly smiled at how Una softly called his name. “This is totally random, but do you happen to own eight cars?” She received a quizzical gaze from Sinclair and an unamused stare from Will.

  Sinclair then gave her a slight shrug. “Yes, I do. Why?”

  “You’re Liezel’s—”

  “Boss,” Will cut in. “See you tomorrow, Mr. Godfrey.”

  Sinclair was no idiot; he knew something was up but decided on better judgment to just leave it. “See you.”

  Both Una and Will stared at his retreating back. She’d have to call Liezel to ask her friend why the hell she gave her address instead of hers. Taking a deep breath, she walked out of the living and into the kitchen. She was suddenly starving.

  At the thought of finally being alone in the house with Will, Una felt her heart beat faster. It had really been like that since they kissed, but Will hadn’t noticed anything since she was just really that good at hiding it.