by K. F. Breene
“Forgive me, but it doesn’t seem like being loyal to Sean has helped you in the past…”
“Au contraire, mon frère. He has done nothing but help me. Granted, he cut off all conversation and planned a hostile takeover of my work life without consulting me, or even letting me know, but aside from that, he manages me well. He gives me work, then walks away. I do my deal, get noticed, get praised, and get promoted. He manages me loosely, and I flourish. He’s a righteous asshole, yes. And I want to poison him, sure. But that is the scorned woman talking. Business sometimes needs to be devoid of passion if you want to succeed.”
“Hmm. Smart girl. Well, for now I’ll just say I hope McAdams sees what he’s got.”
“But secretly wish he doesn’t so you get your way?”
Ron just smiled and got laboriously to his feet. “Enjoy yourself,” he said as he moved back into the dwindling crowd.
Krista looked at the now empty table. Donald, Perry, and Georgie were nowhere to be seen. No use sitting there with a mostly gone drink…
She made her way up to the bar. She figured she’d have one more, and then lights out. As she waited for her drink from the younger, peppy bartender, she looked around for Sean. Then, after a few seconds of not finding him, slouched onto a barstool miserably, wondering who he found to take back to his room. She knew he didn’t want to be with her until she was sure, and she also knew he had his needs, but it broke her heart that he would do this to her here. If their positions were reversed, she would never sink that low to impress some co-workers—or anyone.
She was half way through her last drink and nearly ready to head up when she felt a presence beside her.
“Hi Krista.” Blake was too close. He was standing between bar stools, the side of his body touching hers nonchalantly.
Speaking of date rape. It was the end of the night. Of course the bottom feeders would turn up to take home anyone willing. Or in his case, too drunk.
“What’s up, Blake. What do you need?” she asked tersely. She was too far along the alcohol train to be smooth with put downs. She had to go for the swat away tactic.
“I wanted to apologize for what I said today. I’m sorry about that.”
“You’re sorry that you said it, or sorry that you got in trouble for it?”
“Sorry I hurt you, of course.”
“Oh, of course. Look Blake—“
“Krista.” This from the other side.
It was Marcus, who was leaning lackadaisically against the bar over the barstool.
“Yeah?” she asked, turning toward him.
He surveyed her a second, then glanced at Blake. “Sorry to interrupt, but I wondered if you might give Sean a message for me? He’s in the little boys’ room.”
“Uh… okay?”
She wanted to ask if she would be cramping Sean’s style, but didn’t dare with Blake there. Lord only knew what elaborate plans she would be stepping on.
“Would you mind walking with me?” Marcus said, a little too serious for Krista’s taste.
“Um, yeah sure. Blake and I were just wrapping up anyway.”
They walked away from the bar.
“Stay away from him, Geegee. He’s trouble.”
“Marcus, I was literally telling him to f-off when you walked up. Give me some credit.”
“Umm hmm. Well, anyway, sorry for snubbing you earlier. I am currently besties with the biggest busybody on the face of the earth. She is also a god-awful wench, but anyway. She hates you with a passion, so I had to keep my distance.”
“Geez, Marcus, thanks for breaking it to me gently.”
“Oh, don’t worry, doll. Her opinion is generally thought to be ass backwards anyway. She doesn’t think women should be in the workforce.”
“But she is in the workforce…”
“Yeah, I know.” Marcus rolled his eyes. “Anyway, tell Sean I have a granny gold nugget for him, and I’ll give it first thing in the morning. Also, to behave.”
“I don’t think he was planning to behave, Marcus, but I’ll tell him.”
“Why? What happened?”
“Just that he said he was going to give the men what they expected, then chatted up all the pretty girls.” Krista’s words were slurring. She was officially drunk. Actually, she should probably add a really in front of drunk. She needed to hit the sack.
“Geegee, you are the dumbest smart girl I know. Just go tell him. And stay away from that tall, dark hunk. He’s bad news. Also, I thought I would pass this on now when you will hopefully forget it…You know that information you wanted from me?”
Oh yeah! She bobbed her head eagerly, clutching onto Marcus to stay standing straight.
“Oh hey,” Krista said, quickly sidetracked. “First, let me tell you, your body is bangin’!”
Marcus was about to scold her, but stopped at the subject matter. He puffed up like a peacock.
“Oh? What do you like best?”
“Shoulders are great and biceps are looking really good. A bit more peck would have me panting, but I bet the stomach is good times. I would definitely hit that.”
He smiled. “Yes, pecks are on the list, but I’m flattered.” He batted his eyelashes, getting her to laugh. “Anyway, back to the subject at hand…”
“Right, sorry.”
“Well, all I’ll tell you now is that Bob is impotent. I’ll tell more later if you need it, but that is a dark little nugget for you. He is spreading rumors about you and Sean, so I figured if you have to, drop that bomb and see if he shuts up. Hopefully you won’t need me to tell you more. I don’t really trust your delivery. Now, get going…”
Before she could process—because that was HUGE—Marcus physically turned her around, gave her a light push, then slapped her on the butt. She yelped and jumped but managed to hang on to her drink. When she turned around again, Marcus was heading away.
She ambled a while, finishing her drink, then forgot what she was doing, and decided to head to bed. She was so bad with direction, though, and drunk, that she wandered around for a second before she found the way back. That’s when she saw Sean.
He was sitting with the girl with the too-short dress. She kept crossing and uncrossing her legs a la Sharon Stone, and Krista just knew she was showing him her undies. She was on the low side of her twenties, though, so she probably didn’t realize how stupid it made her look. Or maybe she didn’t care. It probably worked like a charm to get men naked.
Although, just asking them also worked. At her age, though, the fun was in the chase.
Like a flash of lightening Krista remembered she had a message. She tried to snap, realized she still had her empty drink in her hand, and walked up to Sean completely flummoxed because she really did intend to drop it by the bar.
Sean and the panty showing trollop were sitting in the middle of the open space between the bar and the elevators. There were chairs and couches set up on a large rug with a piano not far off, currently silent. There were end and coffee tables between the furniture and two ferns. It was kind of a nice place to hang out, actually. She wished she’d known about it earlier.
Currently she wished it was burning.
“Sean—“ Krista noticed the rug, but she hadn’t noticed the rug. She stumbled and nearly dropped her glass. Sean was up and steadying her immediately.
“Krista,” Sean said by way of greeting. He looked both tired and relieved at the same time. He probably thought she was going to end up doing a strip-tease on the bar.
The pink panty showing trollop wore loathing on her face. Krista nearly pointed it out because really, what if she didn’t know about showing the naughty bits? The dress was that short!
“Hey Sean, sorry to int’rupt—in-ter-upt. Um. Marcus said to tell you he’s got a nugget of some sort, and to ask him for it tomorrow. He might have said something else, but I forget. And also…”
Krista looked at the girl, saw the hatred looking back, then started laughing. “Sorry—WOW!”
Sean had a
puzzled expression and a half smirk. Krista realized he’d always thought of her as a funny drunk. Probably because she reminded him of his sister, Cassie, who was equally wild.
The girl crossed her legs in a huff.
“Mine are cuter,” Krista blurted, looking back at Sean and shrugging. “I make more money, though. I can afford nicer quality under-roos.”
Sean barked a laugh then coughed into his hand.
“Okay. Anyway, off topic. Why the hell am I here?” Krista, still using Sean to steady herself, tapped her chin while looking up at the ceiling. Then she noticed the heat pouring off Sean. She noticed the tingling in her crotch. Sean’s answering focused look. The heat exchanged between the two of them.
“I should go,” Krista said softly.
Sean’s pupils dilated, the girl with the short dress forgotten.
Krista took a step away, stepped wrong on her heel, and pitched toward the ground. Sean grabbed her arm to keep her from smashing her face into the rug. She twirled around like a Ninja, her dress coming up to her mid-thighs, using Sean’s grasp to swing her body so her back hit the ground first, her glass up in the air, still righted.
“You planned to land on your face to save your empty drink?” Sean asked incredulously.
The peppy bartender came sprinting up and helped Sean right Krista.
“That was great!” The bartender exclaimed, taking the glass. “I wish I got that on video! You would have saved the drink! I’ll buy you one!”
“Habit,” Krista said, making sure her dress was intact.
“She’s had enough,” Sean told the bartender in such a way that wiped the smile off the man’s face and had his feet carrying him away before he knew it wasn’t his idea.
Krista, disentangling herself from Sean’s fabulous limbs, copping a feel when she could, said, “Sorry.”
It would have been fine, but then her stupid legs got weak from the contact and her groin pooled with his lingering touch.
“Marcus said behave,” she squeaked. She turned to the girl. “I’ve made an ass of myself—sorry ‘bout that. Good luck!” The girl got a thumbs up.
Krista turned back to Sean. “Drank too much. Going to bed. Grab me a muffin or something tomorrow. I plan to sleep through breakfast.”
Krista stalked off, realized belatedly she was going the wrong way, about faced, saluted nobody in particular, and headed toward the elevators, still wobbly.
Half way to the elevator Krista felt a large hand on her arm. Then felt Sean’s body next to hers.
“You okay?” he asked quietly.
“I didn’t mean to ruin your night,” she said as the crocodile tears started falling. Emotions were always close to the surface when she was drunk.
Sean guided her into the elevator. “You didn’t. Why are you going to bed so late?”
“That guy Ron talked to me for a while. Then everyone was gone. Oh, and I didn’t want to stop drinking.”
“I can see that. What did Ron want?”
“Oh, the usual. Would I consider moving? Why am I so loyal to McAdams? I’m sure next he’ll say I don’t get paid enough.” She was guided out of the elevator. “Sean, why did you hurt me so bad? Why didn’t you contact me? Am I not worth it? I thought we loved each other. I thought you were the one.”
She cried harder, her face in her hands, wringing Sean’s heart.
Sean opened the door to her room and guided her in. As soon as they were inside, he wrapped her up in his arms.
“Of course you are worth it, Krissy! Of course you are. More than worth it. I was a fool. A scared fool. I was so wrapped up in myself, I couldn’t see the hurt I caused…continue to cause. I don’t know why you continue to trust me. I am thankful, but I don’t deserve your loyalty.”
“Because I love you, Sean. I never stopped. Not for one day. I still haven’t. I think of you constantly. Ever since I left I’ve thought of you every day…” She cried into his chest.
He held onto her, rocking her, cooing in her ear to stop the tears.
Janice came out then. “What happened?” she asked in a panic.
“She’s emotional,” Sean answered.
“Sean, you need to go. It’s late. You shouldn’t be here. I’ll take her.”
Sean’s arms constricted around Krista. But knowing Janice was right, he kissed her on the head, sighed, and said, “Okay.”
Krista clung to him. “No, please. Stay. Please.”
“Krista,” Janice said in a reasonable voice mothers were great at, “he cannot stay here. Someone will find out, and then it will undermine all you’ve fought to do. You have to let him go.”
“I always let him go. He never stays,” Krista yelled hysterically despite Janice’s best efforts.
Sean sighed again, but he didn’t try to stop Janice pulling Krista away, walking her toward the other room despite her protests, and unceremoniously stripping off her dress.
“It’s going to hurt, Krista, but you have to be strong. This is not the place to break down. Those guys can sense vulnerability. You can’t let them see it. Be strong, then when you get home you can fall apart, okay?”
“Okay,” she whined. She let Janice put her into bed and cover her up.
In a daze, Krista heard Janice’s voice saying, “She’s fine. She might not even remember this in the morning. Stay the course. She’ll come around.”
“But she’s right. Everything she said is right. I keep hurting her. I shouldn’t have come for her.”
Sean sounded miserable. Krista’s brain was getting foggy as sleep started to tug. She tried to stay awake to listen, to hear the reason he stayed away.
“No, Sean. You should never have let her leave. But what’s done is done. Stay the course. She’ll come around.”
“I don’t think you realize how stubborn she is.”
Sleep was calling. She missed what Janice said as she slid into a drunken, dreamless sleep.
Chapter Twenty-One
The L.A. region was standing at their first obstacle. Krista didn’t stand so much as try to sleep upright. The aspirin was kicking in, so the pounding head she woke up to was slowly diminishing. Janice didn’t say a word about the night before, and when Krista tried to apologize, she waved it away, muttering about love problems with young people.
When Krista met everyone, after breakfast had ended, Sean had a blueberry muffin, a chocolate donut, and some coffee for her. She wolfed it all down. And while it did help, it didn’t cure by any means.
Sean hadn’t said a word about the night before, either, but he didn’t look like he got much sleep, and had a hard time meeting Krista’s eyes. Despite what Janice said, she remembered every word. Every single word he said, and all the extremely stupid words strung together into stupid sentences she said throughout the night.
For example, why did she get the urge to try and saw Perry’s mustache off with Mark’s Swiss Army knife? Why was that necessary?
And why did she give Georgie a Charley Horse? And why had he laughed when she apologized for the bruise? How was it funny that she was a complete fool?
She knew why the rocket crotch in the tiny dress, who tried to seduce Sean, gave her evil looks—Krista didn’t feel bad about that one. But everything else…
Back in the present, they were standing together in a clump waiting to start the first do-hickey on the ropes course, which apparently consisted of a bunch of different puzzles each region had to physically solve. Points were awarded for correctly completing each. The one in front of them, currently, included two planks running between trees, about ten feet or so apart. A rope hung down from a branch directly in the middle of the planks.
They were supposed to swing from one plank to the other using the rope. Sounded easy, but you couldn’t step off the plank and the rope was too far to grab easily. The men were all trying to figure out how to get the rope. So far, a long stick was the top contender.
Of course, there were no long sticks within reach. They were geniuses, these guys. And Kris
ta was too hung over to cope with stupidity.
“You guys, look,” she said while holding her aching brain. “Someone pick me up and use me as a long stick.”
All eyes on Krista.
She sighed and leaned against Donald to take the ease off of standing. He started moving around immediately.
“Donald, stay still. I’m hung-over. Listen, this is a physical activity, right? Okay, well, someone pick me up, probably Sean because he is really strong, and I’ll reach out for the rope.”
Sean met a panicked Donald’s eyes. “Relax, she gets like this when she is hung-over. If you are uncomfortable, tell her to get off.”
“I dare you,” Georgie muttered with a suppressed laugh.
“I would need to be anchored to something,” Sean said, getting back on track and looking around.
“I vote Bob,” Krista said.
“Why me?” Bob asked, outraged.
She turned her whole body and looked at him. He was behind Dean and shrunk slightly from her stare.
“Because you weigh the most, obviously.”
“That’s no reason—“
“Bob, do you want everyone to say how much they weigh?” she cut him off. “Here, I’ll go first. I weigh one-twenty. Next?”
“I’ll hold Sean,” Georgie volunteered.
“Great, let’s try that,” Sean said.
“She’s right, though,” Donald said quietly. “Sean has the height and muscle mass to hold her. But we need someone to hold Sean. Sean’s not huge but he is solid. Muscle is heavy. Add Krista’s one-twenty to that and we have what, over three-hundred pounds? It’ll take a couple of us to anchor it.”
“Bob, why don’t you hold Sean and I’ll hold you?” Georgie compromised.
“If not, then Georgie, you hold me and Bob or Donald, you hold him,” Sean tried.
Krista wanted to tell them to quit trying to spare Bob’s feelings, the miserable S.O.B., but she didn’t want Sean to give her a talking to. He was great at making her feel small when she acted like a bratty twenty-something year old, which she had been doing all morning.