Graphite

by Anne Leigh

  “Never,” she responded as her lips captured my mouth, followed by a heated exchange of tongues.

  My hands started to roam against her ass but she pulled it away with a stern look in her eyes, “We’re just going to grab something inside then we’ll be on our way.”

  Ha.

  She must have left something in my room.

  These days my tiny room had exploded with all things Kara.

  Her underwear was mixed in with mine.

  Her makeup was on top of my dresser.

  Her books were sometimes on my floor.

  I’d done my best to organize our stuff together when she wasn’t around, but as much as I kept telling her that she had too much shit, I liked the thought of finding our stuff together.

  It was symbolic of our intimacy.

  And I was looking forward to more.

  Logistics could pose a problem since I wasn’t sure where I’d end up with a job or how tough the training for USA Rugby would be, but I was confident that whatever it was, wherever I’d be, we’d work through it.

  If we could survive my mother’s not-so-secret spying and her not-so-subtle ways of trying to be in my life again, I knew that we’d be able to get through anything.

  I had yet to meet Kara’s parents. I’d be traveling with her for a few days to Texas after her finals and we’d be back here for my graduation, then we were off to Manaslu Circuit Trek. Kara was willing to join me in my trekking adventure in Nepal. It had always been my dream to watch the panoramas offered by the Nepal-Tibet border. She’d gone hiking before, but she wasn’t as experienced as I was so were going to be with the beginners’ group. My agent, Rene, would be letting me know when I had to show up to try out for USA Rugby and we’d form the rest of our travel plans from there.

  Kara hadn’t seen much of the world and I wanted to experience the world with her.

  Win-win for the both of us.

  She punched in the code for the door and as soon as we stepped in, the loudest yell came from Ian, “Surprise motherfucker!”

  Then everyone else, from Rikko to Scott to Cons, my rugby teammates, my frat brothers cheered in unison, “Happy Birthday!”

  What the fuck was happening?

  Kara whispered, “I know that you were preoccupied with your last game so I postponed the party to today.”

  “I thought we celebrated last week?” I said, my voice for her listening pleasure only. “When you exhibited your flexibility on top of my –“

  She quickly pushed a finger in front of my lips, “That was our private celebration, today…we’re officially celebrating you.”

  I wasn’t one for big birthday parties.

  My father barely remembered how old I was.

  My mother sent me gifts via our nanny or her assistant.

  Bridge was the only one who made a big deal of my birthday. She’d always buy me a cake or a small gift.

  Hold up, was that Bridge in the corner?

  My sister was smiling from ear-to-ear as she approached me. “Happy Birthday, Bishop.”

  I returned her hug and asked, “How did you get here?”

  She shrugged her shoulders and said, “I have my ways.”

  I didn’t like it when she used Uber or Lyft. We already talked about buying her a car before I graduated and she was still wishy washy on the idea. She was a good driver, unlike my girlfriend, but she just didn’t want to be caught up in the infamous L.A. traffic behind the driver’s wheel.

  I was going to hound her some more, but Ian and Cons interrupted us.

  “Hey Bridgette. What’s up?” Cons said it a rather familiar way, the one he used when he was flirting with a woman.

  I pushed his left shoulder, “Fuck off man. She’s my sister.”

  He rubbed the exact spot on his shoulder and winced, “Shit, birthday boy, that hurt.”

  I shook my head and faced my sister, “All of the guys here are douchebags. None of them are worthy of you.”

  Ian snorted, “Except me. I’m the coolest guy around here.”

  I hissed, “Especially him. Not him, Bridge.”

  My sister giggled, she reached for another hug, and said, “The day I get involved with any of your friends would be the day Canada’s skies turned red in the winter.”

  Bridgette loved our place of birth and she often referenced to the land of milk and honey whenever she could.

  She turned her back on us and left to join Kara who was now behind a big table with lots of food.

  “What does that mean?” Ian asked, his voice perplexed.

  “That means you ain’t got a chance,” Cons supplied as he gave a big grin to a brunette who was hanging by the living room.

  My frat brothers gathered around the table and started to eat the feast on the table.

  Most of them hadn’t even said hi. Obviously their attention was on the food and booze.

  Fuckers.

  They were just doing exactly what I would do during a party.

  The party turned into an all-night rager when the DJ arrived at 10 p.m.

  He’d set up the booth and alcohol freely flowed.

  Rikko had said that he’d gotten clearance ahead of time, and my woman had taken care of everything else.

  How she managed to pull this off in between all of her classes and attending my games and her brother’s games, along with her group studies and assigned papers was beyond me.

  She’d stayed close to my side for most of the time and I’d managed to sneak in extra kisses. I didn’t let my lips linger for too long though.

  I wasn’t a fan of PDA and my sister was around, so no way.

  Speaking of my sister, she seemed to be engrossed in a conversation with Scott.

  That was odd.

  Odd in a way that I didn’t think they had anything to talk about.

  Bridge knew everything that had happened between Scott and I. Well, I tried to keep it as PG as possible. Bridge was nineteen, but to me, she’d always be my little sister. There was no way I could actually express my feelings about Scott without a few F-bombs, but I kept them to a minimum.

  Bridge waved at me as she made her way towards me.

  I gulped the beer I was nursing as she approached.

  “My ride’s here.” She announced in a casual voice, “I wish I could stay but I have an early meet-up tomorrow.”

  I shook my head and stood up, “No Bridge. You’re not going all the way back to L.A. at this time of the night.”

  “You can’t drive me, Bishop. You’ve had a lot to drink, and this is your party. I have everything taken care of.” She reasoned but I wasn’t hearing it.

  “No Bridge, I’m not trusting a stranger to drive you a hundred fifty miles away at ten thirty at night.” My eyes were already scanning for Kara. My girlfriend would help me sort this out. Maybe one of her friends could help us out by driving Bridge.

  Kara was nowhere to be seen. She was probably in the kitchen, grabbing more chips or ordering more food for the party. She’d had everything catered and the food kept coming. Everyone was well-fed and I had my girlfriend to thank for that. Everything was themed from my favorite movie, Gladiator. From the paper decors that graced the walls to the paper plates imprinted with Ancient Rome images. She’d really outdone herself and I was looking forward to the special outfit she’d whispered she was wearing underneath her clothes.

  But right now, I had important matters to attend to.

  Before I could flag Rikko down, Scott was standing beside my sister.

  His green eyes ping ponged between me and Bridgette. “Hey, I can drive her to Westwood.”

  “What?” I flicked my head towards him, surprise coating my voice. “Why would you do that?”

  “It wouldn’t be safe for her to be going back there alone,” he said in a confident voice. “I can drive her. I haven’t had anything to drink. I can text Gunner that I’d be crashing at his place tonight.”

  Gunner, a Tau who graduated two years ago, was working at a law firm in do
wntown L.A. and he had a condo there. I knew because I’d stopped by there twice. I’d gauged it to be within twenty miles from Bridge’s apartment.

  Bridgette said, “No. I’m going to be okay, Scott.”

  Her voice exuded with familiarity, and I felt a strange feeling of foreboding.

  “What’s going on?” Kara sidled up to me. Her blonde hair was down and the longer tresses were confined in a thin gold band that encircled her head. She looked like a Roman princess wearing my sports jersey. The stark contrast of ancient and modern was magnificent on her. But then again, she was gorgeous any day of the week, so it didn’t matter what hairstyle she wore.

  I felt Kara’s hand caress my back.

  “Bridge wants to go back to LA. She’s called Uber already, but there is no chance in hell I’m letting her get inside that car at this time…” I answered, barely suppressing my annoyance.

  “I’m an adult, Bishop, I can decide for myself,” Bridge countered, her stance defiant. My sister was a sweet creature, but when she set her mind on something, she was a force of nature. Unyielding.

  Scott said, his eyes on Kara, “I offered to drive her, but your boyfriend’s not too convinced that I can drive there safely.”

  I snorted, “It’s not a matter of safety.”

  It’s a matter of you being around my sister. But I didn’t voice it aloud.

  Kara held her hands up. “Alright. Time out. Bridge, you need to go home, right? There’s no way you can wait til tomorrow? I should have thought of this before I had you come here, I’m sorry.”

  Bridge crossed her arms across her shirt, “I wanted to be here for Bishop’s party. I should have gone home earlier, but I got caught up with everything that’s going on. I have to be back there because I have to meet up with my classmates at seven thirty. We can’t re-schedule our meeting again since we’re presenting next week.”

  Kara nodded her head and clasped my waist against her body, “Scott can drive her, babe. He’s going to keep her safe.”

  I narrowed my eyes, but I knew that I wasn’t going to win this battle.

  Scott wouldn’t be offering to drive if he couldn’t.

  He’d keep Bridgette safe.

  He and I had been on better terms. Especially since his father had dropped his threats against my girlfriend and Scott had everything on paper. He’d made his father sign off on a documented proof that he wasn’t ever going to threaten Kara’s future ever again. Hanna wasn’t going to be retaliated against and Kara wouldn’t be expelled.

  Hesitantly, I said, “Okay. If you guys leave now, you shouldn’t have any traffic and be there in good time.”

  To my sister, I said, “Text me once you’re there.”

  To Scott, I said, my eyes slightly narrowed, “Keep her safe.”

  He nodded and responded, “I will.”

  Bridge kissed my cheek and said, “Happy Birthday again, brother.”

  “Thank you for coming. You know how much it means to me. Text me, okay?” I said, loosening my hug on her.

  Kara and her said their goodbyes to each other and just before Scott walked away from us, I called out, “She’s my sister, Scott. Way, way off limits.”

  His brows pinched and did the light in his eyes fade?

  “Understood.”

  Kara and I watched the two of them leave and as they walked out of the front door, Kara drummed her hands on my chest, “It’s going to be okay, handsome. They’ll be safe.”

  “I know.” I replied, “I just don’t want Scott getting any thoughts about Bridgette.”

  She gave me a knowing smile. “He won’t. Your sister’s way too smart to get involved with a football player.”

  Just as I was about to reply, Kara pulled away from me.

  Cold liquid drenched my head and it was rapidly making its way down from my red shirt to my jeans.

  My mouth bubbled with fruity, hoppy taste.

  “Cheers to our captain!” Jose, the guy who was about to be murdered seconds from now, yelled to everyone within hearing range who all responded back with hoots and laughter.

  He must have seen the expression on my face as his face crumpled into an “Aw shit” look.

  That’s right, fucker.

  I’m coming after you.

  I was the fastest runner on the field, and nothing would bar me from catching him.

  He took off in a run and as my own feet readied to go, her slim fingers caught my left arm.

  She pulled my head down to her level and just like that, thoughts of avenging myself against Jose was forgotten.

  The beer was sticky on my neck but she didn’t care.

  The mix of alcohol and Kara’s taste was enough for me to settle into her arms, and let the party around us drift into the background.

  I was a blessed, lucky man.

  Why does everyone wish for a happily-ever-after?

  Happiness is an immense yet vaporizing emotion.

  Why can’t we aim for content-ever-after?

  Forever would mean more if it was amassed within the promise of contentment.

  Alexander Grimaldi

  Chairman and CEO

  Webnatics

  The quiet lull of the office while odd was comforting.

  Usually at this time of the day, everyone was at their desks, chatting or discussing business.

  But right now, everyone was in the conference room, listening to the R&D team present their ideas.

  My steps took me to the conference room and the glass doors quietly parted, making my arrival unannounced. I watched as she spoke to the department supervisors and the rest of my staff.

  Her hair glowed under the lights and her face was flushed with excitement when she spoke.

  “The presence of A.I. in meteorology has been under-utilized. We’ve heard of the physical applications and simulations, but what if we apply these concepts to make predictions on how Mother Nature is going to respond under these weather variables.” Her voice exuded respect, her demeanor confident, and her words eloquent.

  It was hard to believe that she was fresh out of college just two and a half years ago, and when she’d sat in front of Sanjay and I for the interview, she hadn’t as so much said anything as my VP and I were already thinking that there was no way we were going to hire her.

  On paper, her achievements were impressive.

  4.0 GPA.

  Graduated magna cum laude in Physics and Econ.

  She came in with the highest recommendations from her professors.

  But let’s face it, she was blonde.

  Her looks deserved to be in the pages of a fashion magazine.

  And I was already thinking about ways to get her into my bed.

  I was being sexist. So sue me.

  Sanjay and I took turns asking her the standard interview questions. Questions that we’d formulated with the HR Team and were also peppered with specific tasks and responsibilities that we’d wanted our future lead software engineer to have.

  She’d answered each question with the fluency of an experienced leader, and the harder the questions got, the easier the answers came to her.

  She related the density functional theory as smoothly as she did the quantum Monte Carlo methods along with practical real-world applications.

  We’d shaken her hand after the interview, but before she was even out of the building, Sanjay advised me to offer her the job.

  And I couldn’t agree more.

  She’d accepted the job. But not without conditions.

  She’d stipulated that she be treated like ninety percent of her male colleagues, that she didn’t want preference or non-preference because she was a female.

  Then, she also dropped the hammer that she was going to file a sexual harassment suit to anyone that came onto her in an unprofessional manner.

  It hadn’t been smooth sailing, but it had been a learning experience.

  Ninety percent of my staff were men and in a utopic world, none of them would be beating off to her image.


  But she’d managed to gain the respect of her colleagues, and the R&D Team she now headed saw her as their Master.

  She was charming, but she was also brutal in her honesty.

  Project Subzero didn’t get a lift-off because she’d deemed it as unrealistic, impractical, and costly.

  She was right, of course.

  I’d heard Project Subzero developers received funding from Magna-Com and in three months, their budget had imploded by three hundred percent, completely shutting it down.

  “How did I do?” She asked as staff gathered their laptops, tablets, notepads, and slowly trickled out of the room.

  “Excellent as usual,” I answered with absolute honesty. My company now belonged to Forbes’ 100 Most Profitable businesses, and since R&D took a large chunk of our budget, I had to give her the spotlight that she deserved.

  “Thank you,” was her gracious reply. Then a small grin took over her face, “I’m going to be off for a week starting Tuesday.”

  “How will Jayesh manage without you?” Jayesh was her second-in-command. He was a Harvard graduate unlike me, who left during my sophomore year to pursue this dream of creating my own company. Jayesh was a soft-spoken man who would follow his boss to the ends of the earth because he admired her so much. A lot of us Siliconers did.

  She has accomplished what many of us had failed to do.

  She’d managed to gain the trust of the public, the government, and the private sector in the short amount of time that she’d been around us.

  She never used her looks to gain ground. Rather she downplayed it and everyone was caught off guard when this blonde beauty started talking.

  “Can you babysit Pepper for us?” Her blue eyes pleaded and even if I wanted to say no to her, I’d be a soulless man if I said no to the three-legged Maltipoo who chomped on my expensive couch, but was so much fun to be around with. He was a rescue dog who was scared of being left with strangers, but for some reason, when I’d stopped by Kara’s place, he wagged his tail at me and we’d been buddies ever since.

  I nodded and shrugged. “Sure. I got no life. Where are you off to this time?”

  She gave me a big smile, and I knew that in the next day or so, I’d be receiving a two-page instruction on what Pepper could and could not eat, the Vet’s emergency contact number, and Pepper’s daily activities. Kara cared so much for the tiny creature. Actually, she cared a hundred and ten percent for all the people in her life. I knew because nothing came before Bishop, Pepper, Rikko, and her friends.