Chapter 30: Ten and a Half Reasons
“Hales, I’m not kidding here,” Daniel says, mildly irritated. “Just call him and tell him you're taking a couple of days off.”
I stare at Daniel as he packs the last of his clothes into the hard-shell carryon, his expression stern.
“Like I said before, I can’t. It’s way too much to ask.”
“Can’t or don’t want to?” His retort sends currents of frustration through me.
What an annoying reply.
No, I cannot ask for more days off to fly with you to Thailand. This place I call work is not a goddamn daycare.
I'm starting to lose my patience, but still try to keep emotions and drama out. I'm fed up with the exhausting arguments I have with Mr. Illogical here. “I can’t just drop everything and go with you. I do have this thing called a life, Daniel.”
“Your prestigious little job, that is?” he says dryly, twisting his mouth, further provoking my already irritated nerves. Voilà, Vol. 35 of annoying, condescending psychosis.
“I am so deeply sorry I don’t measure up and own my own company, but it is a fact that I do like my prestigious little job and am good at it, and I'm appreciated there.”
He rolls his eyes, making mine dart back in fury.
“GOD!” I vent out loud. “Well, you know, even Jesus was just a carpenter.” Sarcasm loud and clear.
“And look where it got him.”
He pushes the bag down, aligning the two ends of the zipper. He then puts the suitcase on the floor and levels his eyes with mine, combing his fingers through his hair.
“Divine status?” I send him a bitter, mocking smile.
“Try crucified and, dead, baby,” he answers, deadpan.
The anger he manages to spark in me… it’s just beyond human. The idea of strangling him gathers appeal by the second. And maybe then exercise necrophilia on his hot body. I don’t know why, but the more pissed I am at him, the sexier I find him. Sick is what you are, Hayley, sick.
“I’ll take illogical, stubborn, maddening boyfriends for five hundred, Alex,” I murmur. Daniel looks at me with a raised brow and snorts. I bite my lips to stifle a giggle. I am not laughing with him now. I am way too upset with him.
Don’t let your poise crack. You can do it. Stop looking at the scar above his amused lips. That might help…
Mildly amused but exasperated, and with an urge to behead him, I send him a narrowed look, my hands demonstratively, firmly held at my hips. “You are so maddening!”
Almost impossible but so worth the effort…
“Another one of my many virtues,” he responds with a flirty grin. “Hales...” His features mellow and an impish sparkle takes residence in his eyes. “...is now one of those moments where I take you to one of those deliciously sinful places?” He makes a point of trying to look innocent which, against my will, prompts a snicker from my disloyal mouth. Spineless, unable to stay mad at him for too long, I nod and smirk.
“Then come closer, baby and I’ll take you there.”
With one single step he drops us both to the bed. I let out a squealing peal of laughter, which is rapidly sealed by a very eager mouth on mine. My body obediently follows his dominant lead, which soon turns into a hurried encounter of the flesh that leaves the sheets tangled in a complete mess.
“Hey baby,” Daniel tips my chin up with his finger. “It’s just for a couple of days.” He tugs me closer and I burrow into his firm embrace. I need to hold back tears at the thought of his departure—it's way too soon. Something changed the day he gave me that ring. Something's changed since our last getaway. I just don’t seem to be able to let go of him.
“Maybe it’s better this way anyway. Now you’ll have some time to miss me and finally say yes,” he teases, and kisses the center of my head. I sink deeper, holding him as if he were my lifeline. I tilt my head back to look at him and reward him with a forced smile.
“I can see through you, remember.” He regards me with a thin, adoring smile. “This excuse for a smile you're giving me is not acceptable.” He bends his head to plant a warm, Daniel-scented kiss on my gloomy mouth. When I finally let go, it's with a heavily laden heart.
~~~
Driving in my extravagant birthday gift with Jay-Z as my companion, I can’t shake off the low mood that spirals through me, nor the thought of all things Daniel. I try to focus on the mental task list I'm keeping for today, glad I’ll have my hands full at work. I remember pieces of my call with Tasha and Ian: I told them all about the weekend, my birthday present and the proposal. It puts a smile on my face. I totally expected Tasha’s smug “I so told you”. As I think of Ian’s cries that went something like, “Gorgeous, if you won’t marry him soon, I will,” I actually laugh.
Grabbing a large cup of coffee for me and a normal sized one for Josh, I make a stop at Josh’s office to give him his caffeine fix before making my way to my cubicle.
“Everything okay?” he asks from behind his large screen and I nod, not sure if I'm convincing anyone, but still disinclined to share. After reviewing some issues I should deal with later, we discuss the upcoming party—but it's only neutral, work-related territory, which keeps things manageable. My concerns about crossing the boss/employee line have been completely unfounded. Surprisingly, Josh is acting very professionally, and I couldn’t be more grateful.
Mentally recycling the important parts of his elaborate guidance, digging deeper into the new project at hand—“is black really the new black”—I fire up my PC. Without checking the caller ID I answer my ringing phone while gaping at the growing list of emails that keep dropping onto my screen.
“Hello.”
“So the answer is yes, I’m coming on Friday.”
My lips inch up a little. “It's customary to say 'Good morning' first, so good morning, Tash.”
“Yeah, yeah, that. So Friday: I’m coming, and I'm bringing someone with me.”
Please let it not be Brad.
“Someone as in?”
“Rafael.” Her voice is an octave higher, joyful.
But of course it is… Inwardly I snort, but I couldn’t be happier.
“That quick, eh?”
“Well, you know me, missy. I don’t waste time when it comes to bare necessities.”
Of course she makes sure she sounds sleazy, as if it’s really necessary.
“Too early in the day, Tash. I’m hanging up now, bye.”
Her own goodbye comes surrounded by giggles. I skim my eyes over the topics of the digital list piled in front of me.
Meetings, meetings, party info, suggestions, objections, spam, requests, more requests…Daniel. I check the time stamp on Daniel’s email and with some quick math figure out he sent it just before boarding. When I see the subject a smirk stretches over my lips and I hurry to open it.
Ten and a half reasons why you should say YES.
Well, knowing my man, I should have anticipated he would run a campaign til he gets what he wants. Highly intrigued, I wrap my hands around the warm cup of coffee on my desk and start to read.
First and foremost, accept the course your life has determined
I shake my head with a smitten glee.
No one adores watching you gobble as much as I do
How Daniel of you… Yeah, you're totally making me swoon here. Page the priest…
Lifetime guarantee that the “Escort girl” episode stays top secret
Something I will never, ever hear the end of.
Because you know I’d do anything for you, no matter how odd or crazy it might be
A hippie for a mother-in-law
I can’t stop the snicker that escapes my mouth.
5.5 So Iris doesn’t pull some witchcraft shit on you
Because the best thing about me is you
Because I love you more than anything in this damn world
Because you and me, it doesn’t get better than this
You’ve nailed that one.
Bec
ause normal can never be truly amazing
Because marriage is all about understanding and tolerance, and who’s more “understanding and tolerant” than me? I almost choke on my next sip, laughing.
Hales, if you haven't figured it out by now, I specialize in relentlessness. I get what I want. There’ll be plenty of persistence; you might as well just give in now. And lastly, between the two of us, you're not getting any younger…
Well, he had to end it in trademark psycho fashion, didn’t he?
I reread the email a couple more times, then mentally scowl at myself because I should stop and get back to what I get paid to do. Though the goofy smirk that took hold of my face when I saw the subject line of the email doesn’t show any signs of going away, ever.
Knowing fine well I'll probably be the last person to leave work tonight, I allow myself a long lunch. I grab an organic banana and cinnamon jumbo-size smoothie and head out for a brief shopping spree—a shopping spree that ends up with me buying a new dark purple A-line dress with deep cleavage for myself and an Indoek surf wax kit for Daniel. I'm the one who turns off the lights at work, which is by far a better alternative to coming back early to an empty house. Now that my two best friends have an actual life and new relationships I decide to have a laid-back evening with my sketches, which I’ve neglected for far too long now, and to maybe add Jimmy Kimmel to the party. But first, I make my weekly call to my parents, and make sure to leave out the topic of Daniel's proposal as I recount the highlights of my week and listen to theirs.
I can just imagine how that'll go down with my overprotective, not a number-one-Stark-fan father. Not something I'm keen on getting into now. And anyway, it’s not like I said yes or anything…
My mom's constant interference as she adds her own opinion between my father’s sentences makes me laugh. It is always the same, every single time: both speak to me simultaneously, my dad from his office and my mom from somewhere else in the house. Every week I hear the same annoyed sighs from my dad’s side when my mom bulldozes into his words. I don't think she's ever actually grasped the fundamentals of listening when other people talk during a conversation.
Amazing how, every week, the conversation never varies, how every call ends up with the same conclusion that I don’t visit enough and how it's about time I visited again. No matter that I was there just a few weeks ago…
~~~
Snuggled into a pillow that has a comforting Daniel smell, I sketch on the board that rests on my bent legs, light coming from both the fire place and the TV. The cup of chamomile tea sitting next to me helps my eyes grow heavier sooner than I expected them to, and finally I sink into sleep, not making the slightest effort to go to bed. Somewhere in the wee hours of the morning I momentarily wake up to check an incoming message.
Daniel: Landed, will call at a sane hour. Say YES!
As I fall back asleep I have a huge smile on my face.
Chapter 31: Stark Admirer
Daniel and I are reluctantly forced to play catch during the twenty-four hours following his arrival in Thailand. As much as we try, we just can’t seem to reach each other. Thanks be to the gods of texting and sexting.
Casual Friday at work is less work and more talks in the corridor about the party this evening.
“I guess you could use my office today when I leave for my next meeting. You’ll be able to close the door and shut all this buzzing out.” Josh gestures across the room, at the atmosphere that's far from its usual quiet hum. Leaning casually on my cubicle wall, he seems annoyed, probably because of the distracted behavior of my fellow teammates.
“I might just take you up on that.” I shake my head at the workspaces around me and Josh’s Colgate smile agrees. “Later,” he says, taking a stick of my Big Red gum from where it sits on my desk next to the keyboard and leaves.
Ian’s email address catches my eye at the very top of my inbox as I attach the graphs to the department’s weekly KPIs summary email and press send. Even before I check its contents a grin appears on my lips.
Ian Tamura to: Natasha Taylor, Hayley J. Grace-Stark
I can’t believe he bothered to change my title in his address book. Well, it is Ian. Coming from him I can believe anything.
I shake my head, amused. Pretty boy clearly has too much spare time on his hands.
The subject, which makes me roll my eyes in utter amusement, reads:
Wouldn’t Mr. Stark and I make a perfect couple?
No you guys wouldn’t. Ever. For starters, he's not into men and second, he is so undeniably, absolutely mine.
The actual email is an image attachment and a URL to some local news site under the following sentence:
Dibs on Mr. Stark, Tash, if gorgeous is ever mental enough to let him go…
All humor leaves me to be replaced by a serious stab to the very core of my heart as the picture downloads. In front of me is an image of Daniel, sitting on what seems like a hospital bed, his guitar resting in his arms, fingers on the strings and his face highly concentrated but with an air of soft tranquility. Beside him, looking at him in absolute adoration, is a little girl not more than six years old with big, beautiful eyes. At the bottom left corner of the image I notice an IV attached to her little, fragile hand. I read the title and the caption accompanying the photo.
Young Stark Admirer
Hands-on: Daniel Stark playing to a cancer survivor at the Benioff Children's Hospital during a volunteer program by Stark Software.
If a heart could actually melt, mine would have turned into gushing, frothing mush by now. I'm unable to take my eyes off the screen. I seriously need to fight the urge to jump into my car, drive home, and put that ring, so carefully tucked in my night stand, on my finger. And call, text, telegram, send a courier pigeon, smoke signals, or scream at the top of my lungs all the way to Thailand: YES!
The next thing I do before isolating myself in Josh’s office, away from the bedlam, is try to call Daniel, but I get the same disappointing result I did earlier today. So I text him spellbound by love from the photo that still plays center stage in my mind.
D, you are amazing. I love you!
Chapter 32: Slammed
After one last glance in the mirror and another smidgen of lip gloss, I stride to my car, already thirty minutes fashionably late. Bringing the iPod to life with Nouvelle Vague’s serene voice I drive the car toward the electronic gates, en route to the YOU offices. An unsettling, strange vibe hovers at the back of my mind which I can neither make sense of nor shake off.
Hales, you’ll just have to have so much fun it’ll eventually evaporate by itself.
“Well?” A loud squeak destroys the momentary silence in the car as the hands-free system accepts a call.
“Good evening to you too, Ian,” I respond, amused.
“And the whereabouts of your fine ass?”
“Thanks for the cultured compliment. We are on our way, my fine rear, that is, and I. In ten, dear. You can have a bubbly ready for me.”
“Da, gorgeous. Have I ever not treated you like my own flesh and alcohol-saturated-blood?”
“You always do. Be there in 9.”
“Look for me. I will be the stunning god at the bar with his face splashed all over the freaking place.” With Ian my head just shakes automatically.
“Is Tasha there?”
“Hales, who cares about Tasha with that work of art wiggling his tail around her like an infatuated puppy.” I shake my head again.
“So I gather you’ve met Rafael?”
“Oh god, that’s his name? I just need to readjust my junk here. Rrrrfael,” Ian purrs Rafa’s name with a sleazy attempt at a Spanish accent.
Perv. And… headshake number three.
“Aren’t you, like, in a committed relationship now?” I state the obvious.
“Does that mean I'm under a fantasizing ban?”
Well, how can I argue with that. Perv has a point.
“Okay, sweet cheeks, we're down to 5. See ya soon.”
“Au revoir, gorgeous.”
Holy hell, Ian wasn’t kidding. His face is literally plastered all over the place. Seeing it in person, it’s kind of disturbing to have so many Ians looking at me with bedroom eyes from every damn angle. Something tells me Josh might have had a hand in the party décor. I startle out of my thoughts when someone grabs me from behind into a bear hug, a bear hug from very slim arms. A smile tickles my lips as I am bathed in Tasha’s familiar perfume. When I turn to face her we shift into a warm embrace.
“I missed you so mucho!”
I grin, truly happy to see her. “Me too, tons.”
She mirrors my own joy and kisses my cheek.
“You look great, missy.” I compliment the perfect little black dress she has on.
“You too, love the color.” She says, referring to my deep purple, freshly purchased number.
“Trés chic, very Hepburn of you, gorgeous. Me like.” Ian hands me my promised drink and smacks a kiss on my mouth.
“And you, sexy cougar.” Ian gives Tasha the same affectionate treatment, waggling his eyebrows, gesturing toward Rafael.
“Boundaries. Behave!” I murmur quietly into Ian’s ear.
Deliberately disregarding my threat, Ian extends his hand to Rafael. “Ian. Very, very much charmed.”
Rafael seems somewhat bothered at Ian’s blunt onceover that ends with a suggestive wink, and reciprocates with a firm handshake and a frown.
“Hey, Rafa.” I squeeze Rafael’s palm.
“Hello, Hayley. How are you?” he answers politely. Ever since Daniel introduced me in his far from subtle way to Rafael, Rafael has been way too formal with me.
“What's he been up to so far? Do we need to call security?” Josh joins our little group, gesturing with infatuated eyes at Ian.
“Hi boss, all fine. He almost behaved normal.” I grin Ian’s way. Ian raises his hand dismissively and folds his other arm around Josh’s waist.
“I need a drink.” Tasha grimaces toward the queue at the bar and steals my drink for a sip.
Inner Core: (Stark, #2) Page 21