Nemesis

by Chantal Fernando

  “Morning, Jacinta.”Stopping in front of my desk, he gives me no alternative but to raise my head and wish him a good morning in return.

  “You look beautiful today,” he whispers, so low only I can hear it.

  My eyes narrow at his inappropriate comment. “Thank you, Mr. Lake,” I reply, trying to put him in his place.

  His green eyes flash with amusement. “Call me Cohen, please.”

  I don’t know what to reply to that. Sure, in my head I call him Cohen, but I’ve never said it out loud, especially not to him. Why is he telling me to call him by his first name now, as opposed to when we were first introduced?

  “Why now?” I blurt out, deciding to be honest with my thoughts.

  “Everyone except you in this office calls me Cohen, Jacinta,” he explains, looking down at his watch. “I need you to cancel my ten a.m. appointment, please. I have somewhere I need to be. I’ll be back to have lunch with you though, and I think you should get more than a piece of cake today.”

  “And I think you should have more than a cup of coffee for lunch,” I fire back, fed up with his high-and-mighty act.

  He lifts his head and smirks at me in response. “I only had coffee because I had a brunch meeting.”

  “Oh.”

  “Which you should know, because you scheduled it.”

  Right.

  “I brought lunch from home today,” I tell him, shrugging nonchalantly. “Rain check?”

  “You never bring lunch,” he remarks, tilting his head to the side and narrowing his eyes. “Is sitting with me so bad?” He straightens, looking contemplative. I wonder if a woman has ever told him no before. Somehow, I doubt it.

  “No, it’s not so bad,” I say, clearing my throat. “It’s just that… I work for you. We’re not friends, so I don’t see the need to pretend that we are.”

  Oh, fuck.

  He’s so going to fire me.

  “Well, why don’t we become friends then?” he asks, grinning down at me. “You don’t work for me, Jacinta, you work for the firm. And we see each other every day, so I don’t see why we can’t be friends.”

  I don’t know why, but every time the word ‘friends’ leaves his mouth, I grit my teeth. He wants to be friends. Will that make our working relationship awkward? I don’t know. I guess I just have to make sure no lines are crossed, because I do want to keep this job.

  “Uhh, okay,” I mumble, not sure what to say to him. Why is he singling me out like this? “Can this newfound friendship start tomorrow? Because I really did bring lunch from home.”

  “What did you bring?”

  Is he always so nosey?

  “Fairy bread,” I say, shrugging sheepishly. “I like it.”

  I mean, I don’t know any other adults who eat it for their lunch. It’s bread with butter and sprinkles on top, mainly found at children’s birthday parties. Sadie is always giving me shit over it, but what can I do? I think it’s delicious.

  He chuckles, probably because he now knows I’m a little weird. Then he surprises me by saying, “Save me a piece,” before heading inside his office.

  I watch the door close and shake my head, curious as to how this is going to play out.

  *****

  The next day, he’s sitting at a table by the window of the café, waiting for me. I take the seat opposite him as gracefully as I can. “Well, I’m here.”

  “I can see that. Hungry?”

  He slides me a menu and, even though I know it by heart, I glance down and browse the selections anyway. I don’t know why, because I usually order the same thing every time: the hamburger and fries, followed by a slice of chocolate cake. If I’m not very hungry, like the other day, I just get the cake.

  “Starving,” I say, putting the menu down and glancing up at him. “How was court this morning?”

  He exhales forcefully. “Well, I won.”

  “Of course you did,” I reply in a dry tone.

  His lips kick up at the corners, green eyes dancing. “Why don’t you tell me something about you, Jacinta?”

  “What would you like to know?”

  I look at the crisp white shirt he’s wearing today, sleeves folded up his forearms, and paired with black slacks. He dresses impeccably, and it can be a little intimidating. I’m wearing a high-waisted pencil skirt and blouse, both in black. I look good, both professional and sexy, but there’s something about the way he dresses that just screams ‘I am someone.’

  “Are you single?” he asks, glancing up from the menu. “Or seeing anyone?”

  I arch my brow. “A little personal, don’t you think?”

  He shrugs his broad shoulders. “Isn’t that something a friend would know?”

  I purse my lips, but answer him anyway. “Yes, I’m single. How about you?”

  He nods slowly. “I’m single, yes.”

  We just stare at each other for a few moments in silence, both trying to read one another, until the waitress appears, saving me. We both order, and then are once again left alone.

  “Views on marriage and love?” he asks next, leaning back in his seat, patiently waiting for my reply.

  “That’s a broad question,” I say, brows furrowing. “Do I want to get married one day? Sure. Will I be extremely upset if I don’t, and lower my standards just to be married? Fuck no.”

  His lip twitches.

  “I’ll wait for someone who is right for me, or I’ll be alone,” I continue, answering with brutal honesty. “I won’t settle for less. And as for love, yes, I believe in it. I don’t think we have one soul mate or anything though. I believe there are lots of people out there for each of us.”

  “I see,” he says, an odd expression on his face. “So, you want love, but you’ll also be content being a crazy cat lady if you don’t meet someone worthy of you.”

  “Crazy dog lady,” I correct, laughing. “I don’t much care for cats. So, why did you ask me that?”

  “That’s how two people get to know one another, isn’t it?”

  “I guess,” I say slowly.

  “Plus, you said you’re terrible at small talk,” he adds, smirking. “Your turn.”

  “Okay…” I pause, racking my brain for something to ask him. “You can’t fire me or anything if I cross the line with these questions though.”

  He laughs, his whole body shaking. “I won’t fire you, Christ. Ask me anything. Your job is safe.”

  “Thanks,” I say dryly, then lean across the table, giving us an illusion of privacy. “Did you like the fairy bread I made yesterday?”

  I saved him a piece, and he grabbed it when he was on his way out to a meeting. I didn’t see him after that though, so I never got to ask him about it.

  “I did,” he replies, shaking his head and laughing once more. “Fuck, you never say the things I think you will.”

  “I can be a little random,” I agree, nodding. “You’ll get used to it, friend.”

  Our eyes connect, and we hold one another’s gaze.

  “Your eyes are really blue,” he says suddenly. “I noticed them the first day you started working here.”

  His were really green, like emeralds, but sometimes they looked more of a hazel-green. I don’t say that out loud though; instead, I just keep my mouth shut. He doesn’t need to know just how much attention I’ve been paying to him since I started to work here.

  “Uh, thanks?” I reply, lowering my gaze to his lips, another unsafe place. I quickly force myself to look at my hands. Just what is going on here? So he’s giving me a few compliments, so what? It doesn’t mean anything, right?

  Right?

  Chapter Three

  The food arrives, which thankfully gives me something to do. “You don’t normally eat here,” I point out. This is kind of my lunch place, and I’ve never seen him in here before the other day.

  “Jason recommended it to me,” he says, referring to one of the other lawyers. “I usually just grab something from somewhere on the way to a meeting. This is the first tim
e I’ve actually eaten here.”

  I look down at his plate of pasta. “And what do you think?”

  He glances up at me and smiles slowly, dimple popping out. “I think I’m going to have to come here more often.”

  I shove a chip in my mouth and chew slowly. “I see.”

  “Plans tonight?”

  “Date night,” I say, referring to my weekly dinner out with Sadie. He didn’t need to know that though.

  “With who?” he asks, raising his brow.

  I just grin at him, not offering any answers.

  We finish our food, then fight over paying the bill.

  “Friends don’t pay for other friends’ meals,” I say, reaching for my purse.

  “I don’t know what kind of friends you have…” Cohen replies, handing his card over to the waitress.

  I grit my teeth. “If you’re going to pay every time then this ‘lunch friend’ thing is over.”

  A muscle ticks in his jaw. I’m sure he has plenty of money, but that’s not the point. This isn’t a lunch date, and his paying makes me feel super awkward.

  “I’ll pay for both of us next time,” I decide, waiting for him to agree. Obviously seeing no other way out, he unhappily mutters a “Fine.” I sit there silently, enjoying my small victory while we wait for the return of his card.

  “Look at you, sitting there all smug,” he says, shaking his head at me. “All because you get to pay tomorrow, when most women would never even offer.”

  “Well,” I start, flashing him a sweet smile. “I’m not most women, now am I?”

  “I’m beginning to see that,” he replies, gaze softening. He gets his card back, tips the waitress, and we walk back to the office together, crossing the road side by side.

  *****

  Everybody has somebody they regret dating, or wasting their time with. I don’t necessarily see it that way, because even failures are lessons; however, if I had to pick one ex-boyfriend I wish I never had to see again, it would be the man sitting on the other side of the restaurant, on a fucking date with another woman. His name is Dan, and he’s a doctor. He’s also a douche bag of epic proportions.

  “At least you don’t have to look at him,” Sadie grumbles, pulling a face. “I can see him out the corner of my eye as I look at you.”

  I grin, happy to have my back to him. “Rather you than me.”

  “Looks like he’s put on weight,” she murmurs, eyes dancing with glee. “It really is the small things in life.”

  I roll my eyes and pick up a spring roll, taking a bite out of it. “Not going to let him ruin my night.”

  It’s been about a year since we were together, but for some reason he couldn’t seem to let it go, even though he was the one who cheated with some older nurse. He still blew up my phone on occasion, even though I ignored any of his attempts at contact.

  “How was work?” I ask, changing the subject away from all that is Dan. Sadie works at the library, a job I envy.

  “Good,” she says, brown eyes lighting up. “I did a few of the reading classes with the kids today. The toddler classes are the cutest.”

  “What do you do, just read to them?”

  I can’t imagine them paying any real attention.

  “We have these huge books that I read to them, and we also do little games, songs and puzzles. They have a ball.”

  “Your job is way more fun than mine,” I say, and not for the first time.

  “Oh, God,” Sadie suddenly whispers, dragging my eyes from my spring roll to her.

  “What?”

  “He’s coming over here.”

  “Bullshit.”

  “I swear,” she says, eyes darting around to anywhere except behind me. “Three, two, one…”

  “Jacinta,” I hear from over my shoulder. I grit my teeth and turn my head toward him.

  “Hey, Dan,” I say, smiling awkwardly. “What are the chances, huh?”

  He shoves his hands in his pockets and smiles at Sadie. “It’s a small world, isn’t it? Sadie, nice to see you again.”

  Lies.

  He and Sadie never got along, and probably never will.

  “Uh-huh,” Sadie murmurs, lips thinning.

  “I better get back to my date,” he says as his brown eyes roam over my face. “Nice to see you, Jacinta.”

  “You too,” I say, waving then turning to face Sadie.

  She stares at me with wide eyes while pushing her blonde hair behind her ear. “Awkward.”

  “Just a little,” I groan, covering my face with my hands. “I know we weren’t going to drink tonight, but I think we should order a bottle of wine.”

  “You think?” she asks, looking ill at just the thought. “I feel like I’m still hung over from last night.”

  “Desperate times call for desperate wine measures.”

  “You drink, I’ll drive,” she suggests, arching her brow. “And don’t worry, I won’t judge you for drinking alone.”

  I roll my eyes at her. “Thanks, Sadie. That’s what friends are for, right?”

  “Eww, he’s kissing her,” she says, shuddering. “I don’t know how you slept with him. I mean, yeah, he’s good-looking, but he has this creepy vibe to him.”

  “That’s not what you said the first night I brought him home,” I remind her, smirking. “I believe you asked him if he had a brother.”

  She waves her hand in the air. “That was before. This is now. And now, I happen to think he’s a serial killer in the making.”

  I can’t stop laughing after she says that.

  “Stop laughing,” Sadie whisper-yells. “He’s looking over here, and so is his future victim!”

  We finish our food, and I get through the evening without the wine.

  Sometimes, miracles can happen.

  *****

  “Are you just going to order the exact same thing every day? Try something new, Jacinta. Live a little, why don’t you,” Cohen says the next day, looking down at my hamburger in disgust.

  “Oh, I live plenty,” I reply, narrowing my eyes and popping a fry in my mouth. “I skipped my usual toast for breakfast and had some pancakes. If that isn’t living on the wild side, I don’t know what is.”

  Cohen shakes his head at me, eyes alight with humour. “I don’t know how you don’t put on weight.”

  “Oh, I do,” I correct him. “It just goes straight to my ass and thighs.”

  I pause, cringing as I realise what I’ve just said. To my boss. I look at his face, see the amusement there, but still feel extremely awkward.

  “Anyway…” I start, attempting to change the subject. “Tomorrow is my day off, so you’re going to have to find someone else to have lunch with.”

  “Why do you get a weekday off?” he asks, pushing his finished plate aside. “I want an extra day off.”

  I roll my eyes at him. “You have criminals to put away. Fortunately, for me, anyone can cover the front desk for one day.”

  “Like I’ve said before, if you weren’t there running shit, we’d all walk around in circles, just bumping into each other,” he says, making me laugh as I picture it.

  “I asked for the day off because it’s my best friend’s birthday, and we usually make a big deal of it. I was going to throw her a surprise party, but she said she didn’t want anything big, so we’re just going to have a day at the spa, getting pretty.”

  “If you get any prettier, I think we’re going to have a problem,” he remarks then looks away, clearing his throat.

  Wow.

  I’m still dazed from that comment when he asks, “Who is covering for you?”

  “Some temp named Emily,” I say, and his eyes go wide before his gaze drops to the table.

  When he glances back at me, I flash him a knowing look. “Oh, do you know her?”

  “No,” he practically spits out, brows furrowing. “Why would I?”

  I shrug and look down at my plate. “Debra seemed to know you pretty well.”

  “What did she say?” A s
cowl mars his handsome face. “I didn’t date her, if that’s what you’re getting at here.”

  Date her, probably not. But fuck her? That’s something else, isn’t it?

  “I didn’t say that, you did,” I retort, wishing I’d never brought it up. “She just mentioned that you’re a bit of a ladies’ man.”

  He smirks and studies me with an intensity that makes me squeeze my thighs together. “And do you believe everything you hear?”

  “No,” I say slowly, but I’d be stupid to disregard the information. “I mean, it’s not even my business.” I pause. “I shouldn’t have said anything.”

  And here it is. Lines are getting crossed because Cohen is confusing me by telling me that we’re friends, by treating me as such. He might be becoming a friend, but I need to remember that, first and foremost, I work for him.

  “You can say whatever you want, Jacinta,” he says, something that looks like regret flashing through his eyes. “You’re safe though.”

  “From what?”

  “My so-called womanizing ways,” he replies, lightening the mood by winking at me. “Are you going to eat those fries, or not?”

  I slide him my plate. “No, it’s okay for you to eat them.”

  “I’ll work them off later tonight,” he says, making my eyes widen.

  Wait, what?

  Does he mean in bed? He’s going to fuck them off later tonight? Jesus.

  I imagine him naked, glistening with a sheen of sweat as he takes his pleasure. Did it suddenly get hot in here? I shift on my chair. At his deep laugh, I return my eyes to him.

  “What?” I ask, having trouble maintaining eye contact.