Dark Alley: The Complete First Season (Dark Alley Seasons Book 1)

by D. S. Wrights

  “This could easily turn into a working weekend,” Tom warned her. “Mr. Grantham will be at his downtown residence, which he usually does when he expects meetings to take longer. I’m just telling you so that you don’t freak out if you see him in the lobby of your apartment building. He’s not a stalker.”

  Alice swallowed awkwardly, having to think of her ex, and silently begged for her voice to not give her away.

  “Oh, really?” She tried to act oblivious. “Thank you for the warning.”

  “Yeah, I had to get used to that, too,” Tom continued on the other end of the line. “That’s the downside of living at a Grantham Global building. Work seems to follow you around.”

  Alice tried to chuckle, but it sounded forced.

  “Anyway, you should have my filed by the end of the day, is that fast enough?” He checked.

  “Absolutely, you probably will be the first one like the last time,” Alice tried to smoothly compliment the man, who seemed to be prepared for pretty much everything.

  “Tina and I always challenge each other,” Tom let her in on his secret. “That’s the only reason we are that fast, but she usually makes more mistakes, that means I win more often, so don’t be too hard on her.”

  “What’s the bet?” Alice decided to chat a little longer.

  “Who does the chores,” Tom smirked.

  “Oh, you’re a couple?” Alice was taken by surprise and tried to remember whose assistant Tina was.

  “No, siblings,” Tom answered. “Twins actually, but we live together.”

  “I feel like I’ve been working my job for ages and I didn’t know that,” Alice was joking.

  “You’ll get to know us soon enough. I bet Grace forgot to tell you that all assistants go out once a month and the company buys if we had a good month.” He told her. “She usually doesn’t join us because she claims she’s too old. Anyway, it will be next week Friday, I hope you don’t have any plans.”

  For a moment, there Alice felt like cheering.

  Jackpot.

  She had completely forgotten how downhearted she had felt about her old clique more and more cancelling her girl’s night, and how she out of place she felt with them, and now this landed in her lap.

  “I will definitely be there!” She tried to not sound too overly excited.

  “Oh, and the drivers come, too,” Tom explained. “Always been like that. I think it started out as the drivers making sure the ladies were save, but it’s different now.”

  Jimmy would be there, too. Perfect!

  “I don’t mind at all,” Alice grinned. “Jimmy and I are already best buddies.”

  “I heard,” Tom laughed and quickly added as Alice fell silent quickly. “Drivers talk.”

  “Why am I not surprised?” She gave back.

  “I’ll leave you to it then, check your mail, Grace sent a message.”

  “Thank you, bye.”

  “Bye.”

  Alice instantly checked for a video message from Grace as she saw that it was on the review screen of her work phone. It seemed like she had just sent it, and obviously to Tom, too.

  “Hello darlings,” the elderly woman seemed cheery; in fact, Alice couldn’t remember if she had ever used a term of endearment before. “Good news! My sister is better! I’m sending you this message to tell you that I will be back on Monday. Take care, Grace.”

  Alice didn’t know why her cheerfulness lessened, seeing that message. It was a good thing Grace was coming back, because the work was piling up. A huge amount of their work was helping out the other assistants and making sure that everything was filed correctly, and they jumped in when one of the other assistants were sick or on vacation. The latter hadn’t been the case, fortunately, but Alice realized that she worried her job would become more monotonous, as she wouldn’t do all the talking anymore.

  That was actually strange, because, before she had this job, she was relieved when the phone wasn’t ringing and when she could do her tasks with no one disturbing her. Still, reading a book with a mug of cocoa was her idea of relaxing, but she kind of enjoyed coordinating other people. Thinking about that, Alice realized that she was worried about meeting Grace. The last thing she wanted to happen was that this lovely lady from the video messages didn’t like her. It was a silly thing to worry about, but she couldn’t help herself.

  If Grace didn’t like her, Alice knew that work would be a lot less fun. For some reason her worries weren’t about her as a person, she simply didn’t want work to become troublesome because Grace had it out for her. People didn’t have to like Alice to work with her, it just made things a lot easier if they did. Although only being on the job for a few days, Alice knew that she wanted to keep it. And not because it meant that she was somehow closer to Jason, but because she liked it. After only a few days she couldn’t really judge this job, but she felt appreciated and welcomed.

  The day rushed by as if hours were mere minutes and before Alice realized, it was time for her to go home.

  It was already dark outside and the only reason she even considered going home was her somewhat bad conscience regarding Jimmy, who would be waiting for her. Looking at the time she knew calling him and telling him to go home would be close to ridiculous. And that was the sole reason why she called him to tell him that she was coming down.

  Alice dreaded the thought of going home. It was mid-week. There were still two days to go until the weekend, two additional days she could bury herself with work and avoid the inevitable: making a decision whether she wanted to continue a normal relationship with Tristan, or become the other, yet accepted, woman with Jason.

  If Alice went with her first impulse, the decision would be easily made. But the first impulse never considered the problems that would inevitably lay in its wake. As much as she wanted to, because – after all – going with her gut had made her explore the Dark Alley, Alice had to think this through. She knew she would have to talk to Bianca about this, as soon as possible, but her best friend was stuck doing the preparations for her marriage.

  So, even if Alice was lucky and wasn’t stuck at the office the entire weekend, her best friend probably did not have time to talk it all through with her this time. Of course, she could just call Bianca, but then again, this wasn’t something you talked about on the phone. They had to meet, but Alice couldn’t invite her best friend to lunch, because there, too, people could eavesdrop on them.

  Alice let out a deep, desperate sigh.

  “Something is really bothering you,” Jimmy stated the quite obvious.

  “Yes,” she answered and failed at suppressing a yawn.

  “It’s even stopping you from sleeping?” Now there was worry in her driver’s voice.

  “Maybe a little,” Alice finally admitted to herself. “It’s just… I have a big decision to make, private-wise… and I don’t feel like there is a right choice. And that even though I know what I would like to choose, it’s just that… there are consequences, and I don’t know if I can live with them.” She let out another deep sigh. “I honestly don’t know why I’m telling you this.”

  “Because I asked and because I’m trustworthy,” Jimmy smiled at her, softly. “And because we’re friends.”

  Alice couldn’t help but smile back. He was right.

  “Yeah,” she gave back.

  Sometimes, you meet a person and you just. It’s like you have always known each other. There is a deep trust and understanding right away. And, most importantly, it’s not a physical attraction, not love at first sight.

  “BBFs on first sight, right?” Jimmy laughed.

  “My thoughts exactly,” Alice shook her head.

  “Listen, Ace,” he began, but she couldn’t keep from repeating his nickname for her:

  “Ace?” And chuckled, he was giving everyone and everything nicknames, Alice recalled. “I kind of like that.”

  “Good to know,” Jimmy grinned. “As, I was saying, Ace. I don’t need the details, but maybe I can help.”
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  “Maybe you can,” Alice mused, after all, he was a guy and had a completely different perspective.

  “So, shoot then.”

  “It’s a relationship thing,” she needed to tread carefully and he gave her a brief pseudo-skeptical glance before he brought his attention back to the road.

  “Okay, we’re almost home, this sounds like it needs my full attention,” Jimmy commented and Alice grinned.

  The rest of the way to their apartment building and up to her apartment, Alice silently deliberated with herself on if she should talk to Jimmy about the decision she had to make and eventually what exactly to tell him. And that was when she realized that if she stripped her problem down to the basics it wasn’t that tricky at all.

  “What would you like to drink?” She asked, after entering her apartment.

  “Something cold with caffeine,” Jimmy answered and made her chuckle. “Caffeine is my fuel.”

  “I figured as much,” she grinned at him. “But I only have diet coke.”

  “That’s fine with me.”

  Alice poured a glass of diet coke for the both of them and carried them to the living room, sitting down next to Jimmy who was sitting on the couch facing the windows, and marveled at the view.

  “Yes, I agree, the view is stunning,” Alice said and gave Jimmy his drink.

  “I was actually looking at myself,” he gave back and Alice couldn’t react apart from blinking at him.

  Really?

  “I’m kidding,” Jimmy laughed and she shook her head.

  “You really got me there,” she chuckled.

  “Well, since you can laugh, it can’t be an impossible decision,” he smirked at her, and – much to her surprise – didn’t dig deeper.

  Jimmy was waiting for her to find the right words and start the real conversation, and she was sure that if she changed her mind right now he would be fine with talking about anything else.

  Alice had had more luck than she deserved the last few weeks. That she was sure of.

  “Long story short,” she began and had to clear her throat. “I have to choose between two men.”

  All Jimmy did was turn his body towards her and give her his full attention. There was absolutely no judgment in his expression, he was simply waiting for her to continue.

  “Both are hot,” Alice blushed as the words tumbled from her lips. “Smart, career-driven, and… well… like to experiment. One is my age, the other’s eight years older. One is a reporter, the other is a successful businessman”

  Jimmy still didn’t say a word but she could read his thoughts from his face.

  “You are right,” she sighed. “I should stick to the stuff that’s important to me, right?”

  “I didn’t say anything,” Jimmy acted innocent.

  “One of them tried to blackmail me, then pulled back and apologized, and the other didn’t do it,” she continued, and let out a sigh. “One wants to date me out in the open,” she continued, watching Jimmy’s reaction closely, “and makes me feel as if he wants me to take the reigns in the relationship, and the other is definitely… dominant, but he is married.”

  Hearing the final words of hers, Jimmy reacted just as she was expecting: skeptical.

  “His wife condones it. I met her. She’s okay with it. They don’t… their marriage is fake. We would be exclusive, but would have to keep it a secret,” Alice added.

  Jimmy just looked at her as if he was trying to read her. Much to her relief he still didn’t appear as if he was judging her or anyone. It fit to the conversations they had about relationships and that they sometimes didn’t work even though the sex was great.

  Thinking of that her mind didn’t wander to Jason, she thought about Tristan.

  “My dad taught me two important phrases I always repeat to myself,” Jimmy suddenly said. “Especially when I can’t make up my mind about something.”

  Alice nodded and pulled her feet under her body and onto the couch after slipping out of her shoes.

  “First,” Jimmy lifted one finger, suddenly appearing everything but boyish, as he talked. “How other people feel is not your responsibility. And second,” he lifted a second. “Always think about what you would do if you weren’t afraid.”

  After finishing the sentence, he took a few sips of his diet coke and watched Alice’s mind working. She had to let his words sink in, wondering if she could live by these two sentences that made so much sense.

  Caring about what others thought didn’t make her happy at all. And being afraid of how other people would react stopped her from doing things she was really yearning for. Suddenly, everything seemed so clear.

  She had considered dating Tristan, because he was the safe choice, he was single, her age, not in any way involved with her work, and no one would think badly about her if he was her boyfriend. But in truth, she wanted to be with Jason. Alice had known that from the very moment he explained everything to her, and was honest with her. She knew Jason would never blackmail her. After all, he had accepted her wish to stay away from him. Jason had brought her to safety when the entire world had appeared threatening to her and hadn’t expect anything in return. And right now, Tristan almost seemed to have had silently demanded for Alice to date him when he dropped his attempt to blackmail her. Or maybe she was exaggerating right now.

  “Your dad is a wise man,” Alice eventually said and Jimmy nodded.

  “Yeah, he was.”

  Thirty-One

  Alice and Jimmy ended up watching TV and ordering pizza and she definitely felt not only relieved but also ten years younger again, as they got stuck on a dating show and made fun of it. Knowing that there were the assistants and driver’s night out coming, Alice was sure that Jimmy would be the perfect wing-man for her, and she wouldn’t feel awkward at all. But there was something even more important than that: the decision that had been made.

  So, the next morning, when she opened the door for Jimmy, she didn’t only hand him his thermos mug filled with coffee, but also a freshly warmed-up croissant.

  “Whoa, you’re spoiling me,” Jimmy grinned at her, sniffed at his treat, and took a big bite, continuing to talk while he was still munching. “What did I do?”

  “You were a good friend,” Alice grinned at him and maneuvered him out of her apartment.

  “I’ll be a good friend every day now,” Jimmy gave back. “Fuck, this is delicious!”

  “I agree,” Alice laughed and teased “Now let’s go to work. Well, it’s going to be work for me, but you can take the morning off and bring me lunch. Lot of stuff to do.”

  “Oh, yes, you told me about it,” Jimmy shoved the rest of his croissant into his mouth. “Friday’s a last-minute meeting. Don’t want to be in your shoes, maybe having to get to work on Saturday… oh wait.”

  The both of them laughed aloud. After all, when she was working, he would be working, too.

  Alice was still grateful for the workload of this day, because it kept her distracted from what she had to do. It wasn’t about telling Jason that she was willing to give it a try, but actually dumping Tristan. She felt bad about it, because she had just told him that she wanted to date him and now pulled a three sixty on him. Alice had to find a way to let him down gently, although she knew that there wasn’t. This would be like ripping off a band aid for her, but who knew what it was going to be for him.

  When Alice was sitting over her sticky, greasy burger with French fries and the useless diet coke, she couldn’t help but go through every possible way her meeting with Tristan could play out. Just like every with every problem she had ever had, she couldn’t help herself and try to find every possibility how her spilling the beans would end.

  It was stupid. Alice knew that. But changing herself when it came to always worrying her mind about things she had to do that made her uncomfortable would take some time. There was only one thing to stop herself from torturing her any further.

  With a deep sigh, Alice unlocked her phone and started to type a mes
sage to Tristan, but her fingers kept hovering above the screen after typing a ‘hi there’.

  How should she ask him to meet her?

  The last thing she wanted to do was text him this dreaded sentence ‘we need to talk’, but then again it was the truth, and warning him about what was going to come was definitely better than having him looking forward to their meeting just to face the ugly truth.

  Letting out another sigh Alice settled for honesty, and typed the message no one wanted to read. For a moment, she looked at the display telling her that her text had been received but not read, and then she put her phone aside, regretting that she hadn’t waited until she was close to heading home, because now she would wait for the buzzing noise proclaiming a reply.

  But she deserved it.

  Alice already had been in the grey zone in terms of fidelity when she told Tristan that she wanted to date him, just to end up having sex with Jason.

  One of the few things she never wanted to be was a cheater. She had never wanted to be the other woman either, but the circumstances were unique when it came to Jason and Adele. Then again, everyone could argue that their situation was unique, too.

  Thinking about Mr. and Mrs. Grantham, she had to remind herself that it wasn’t cheating, because Adele had actually asked her to be his husband’s mistress, although no one had ever used the term. Jason wanted her to be his girlfriend, for them to be exclusive, and Adele approved of it. So, it wasn’t cheating, at least to them. For the rest of the world, this was probably scandalous. And, if Alice was absolutely honest about this: she liked scandalous, because that was exactly what Jason had done to her.

  Alice had no idea for how long she had been able to focus on work until the buzzing sound reached her ear.

  Much to her surprise, she somehow had forgotten about the message she had send Tristan, and remembering it now felt like a cold shower. Hesitantly, she turned towards the phone and just stared at it and thought better to get over with it than tormenting herself.

  For a brief moment, as she unlocked her phone as the preview message already was gone, she thought that maybe it wasn’t a message from Tristan, just to read his name on top of the text.