Laina Turner - The Trixie Pristine Boxed Set

by Laina Turner

  Athena shook her head and said in a whisper, “He told me he wasn’t coming back until the day after tomorrow. I just talked to him a few hours ago. I’m supposed to pick him up from the airport. And no, I don’t know that woman.”

  “Maybe it’s a co-worker,” Shelby offered. But they both knew that was unlikely, the way Ethan and the blonde were sitting so close, and their body language suggested date, not work. “You should go over there.”

  “I can’t. In fact, I need to go home.” Athena took some bills out of her purse and set them on the table. “I’ll call you tomorrow,” she said and ran out of the bar.

  Chapter 6

  He’s going down,” Shelby said to me. She had stopped in at Silver, Robins, and Plank in the middle of the day, which she hardly ever did, because she rarely had the time to come all the way over. So Athena knew something must have happened.

  “Let’s go to the back and grab a coffee.” Athena walked Shelby to the back room and poured them each a cup. “Now tell me what’s going on.”

  “That new guy, Eric, who’s helping me,” she used finger quotes to emphasize the word helping, “is trying to sabotage me.” She leaned back in her chair and took a swig of her coffee.

  “Why? What did he do?”

  “He keeps going behind my back to the VP with our ideas, wanting approval, and the ones the VP likes end up being all his own ideas. At least, that’s the impression he is giving. He is ruining my chance at a promotion.”

  “Are you sure? I mean, do you have proof?”

  “Not personally, but George, my counterpart, you remember him from the Fourth of July picnic don’t you? Blond hair, blue eyes, he was wearing a pastel polo shirt and jean shorts with boat shoes.”

  “Now I remember. Great looks, bad taste in clothes.”

  “That’s the one. Well, he was in the VP’s office when Eric was there and heard the whole conversation. He knew they were my ideas because I had lunch with him the other day, and I had told him about them to get his opinion and feedback. He came to my office right after and he told me. Athena, I don’t know what I’m going to do.”

  “Well, let’s think about this. Can you talk to this Eric guy and let him know that you’re on to him? Maybe go to the VP and tell him?”

  “Oh, Eric knows and doesn’t care if I go to the VP. He knows the VP will just be annoyed. He doesn’t like to deal with problems from the underlings. He just always tells us to figure it out.”

  “Isn’t tomorrow your last day of work until after the New Year’s holiday?”

  “Yeah. The company will be closed over the holidays.”

  “Then that leaves you a lot of time to really think objectively about how to handle this situation.”

  “As usual, you’re right. Though I don’t know how I’m going to not obsess the whole time.”

  “Then you need to do something to take your mind off things. Starting with tomorrow night at the ballet.”

  “Thanks for the pep talk. I should probably get back to work. I have a lot of loose ends to finish up before we close tomorrow.”

  “That’s what friends are for.”

  “Speaking of friends. Have you called Ethan yet?” Shelby asked.

  “No. I’ve been putting it off. Maybe I’m overreacting?”

  “Athena, he said he was still in London, and if you were the one picking him up, why wouldn’t he call and tell you he got back early. Is he planning on pretending to just be flying in?”

  “I know, I know. I’ve just got to handle it my way.”

  “Okay,” Shelby said, giving her friend a quick hug. “Call me if you need me.”

  Chapter 7

  Oh my God, what’s wrong, Athena? Let me guess. You talked to Ethan,” Shelby asked when she sat down and saw Athena’s tear-stained face.

  That just made Athena cry harder, and it was a few minutes before she could compose herself enough to talk. “Ethan broke up with me,” she choked out, and that sentence caused another round of tears. “I mean, I was going to do it anyways when I got to the airport, and he was there pretending to have just gotten off the plane from London, but once I told him I knew the truth, he went in to the old ‘it’s not you it’s me speech.’ Asshole!”

  Shelby put her hand over Athena’s. “I am so sorry. He wasn’t good enough for you anyway. I should have told you that a long time ago. Did he at least have the decency to apologize or explain or anything?”

  Athena smiled through her tears at her friend. “No. He tried, and I told him to get lost. I wasn’t interested in hearing about it.”

  “Good for you, Athena.”

  Athena smiled ruefully. “It just sucks having your heart broken, and it’s even worse that it’s almost Christmas. Now I will be heading home with no boyfriend when my mother has been anxiously awaiting our arrival. I dread that conversation. I just want to go back to my apartment and sleep through the holidays.”

  “No, you don’t. I know this sucks, but you don’t want to give that jackass the satisfaction of ruining your holidays. This has been your favorite time of year ever since I’ve known you, and that’s been a long time.”

  Athena and Shelby had met as freshman in college when they were assigned to be roommates in their dorm, and as stereotypical as it sounded, had been best friends ever since.

  “I know, I know,” she sighed. “I just can’t believe I was stupid enough to think he loved me, really loved me. I thought for sure he was going to ask me to marry him. How could I have been that wrong?”

  “You can’t dwell on that. You just need to keep your mind busy and work to get over him. Mr. Right will come along.”

  “Easy for you to say. You’ve had your Mr. Right for years.”

  Shelby couldn’t argue with that. She had also met her boyfriend Ryan in college. They had been friends for years, supporting one another, as they each had their own dating mishaps until one night, after a drunken hook up that could have resulted in disaster, they found that not only did they have a solid friendship, but they had amazing sexual chemistry as well.

  Chapter 8

  Oh my, this is amazing,” Athena said, taking a sip of her candy cane martini. Muldoon’s had run out of pumpkin liqueur, but the manager, who Athena knew well, assured her they would have more by tomorrow. Athena was thinking how this was just the thing she needed to start the healing process. She and Shelby were having a pre-theater drink before they went to see the ballet, The Nutcracker. It was another holiday tradition of theirs. One Athena had hoped to share with Ethan, but that was now a dead dream.

  “It’s like eating a real candy cane,” Shelby said.

  “The ballet starts at seven thirty, so we will have plenty of time for a couple of these.” It was about six fifteen now, but Athena had wanted to meet Shelby early for some girl time and to just relax. It had been a stressful and emotional twenty-four hours.

  “Well, I hope you don’t mind, but I kind of asked George to meet us here for a drink. You know, before we left for the theater.”

  “Not at all. The more the merrier.”

  “He has been giving me a lot of moral support with this whole Eric situation. I thought the least I could do was buy him a drink.”

  “When is he coming?”

  Shelby looked at her watch. “Any minute now. In fact, I think he just walked in.” Shelby raised her hand and waved at someone walking through the door. Athena turned and recognized George from the summer picnic, and he was just as she remembered. Adorable, but in need of some good fashion help. That was something Athena always noticed. She often thought she should have been a stylist. She also noticed a really cute guy walking in right behind George. Tall, thin, with sandy brown hair. He had on edgy black-framed glasses that made him look like some sort of artsy type. But while Athena was relieved to still appreciate a good-looking guy, she was by no means ready to make a move on one.

  Athena turned her attention back toward the table when Shelby stood up and hugged George as he joined them. “You remember
my friend Athena from the company picnic this past summer?”

  “Of course I do. If my memory serves me correctly, you play a mean game of horseshoes.”

  She laughed. “You do remember correctly. It’s one of my many hidden talents.”

  “First dibs on you being on my team next year.”

  “It’s a deal,” Athena said, as the waitress set the beer George ordered in front of him.

  The time flew by as they chatted, and finally they realized they needed to head down the block to the theater if they were going to make the show on time. They said their good-byes to George and strolled out into the brisk cold.

  “Walk or Taxi?” Athena asked her friend.

  “It’s damn cold to be walking, but it will be a lot faster. Let’s just move quickly,” Shelby said and set off down the block in a swift walk. Athena matched her pace, giggling as she slipped a little in her heels. Or maybe it was the two martinis?

  They made it to the theater and had time to get a hot spiced cider with rum and find their seats before the theater darkened. As Athena was looking around at the people, she saw the cute guy from the bar walking down the aisle presumably to find his seat. She followed him with her eyes and half expected him to be meeting some beautiful blonde, but then he seemed to be by himself. Very interesting. Athena quickly forgot all about the stranger as the curtain went up and she lost herself in the beautiful music and dance.

  “That was wonderful, as usual,” Athena said to Shelby as they left the theater.

  “I know. It never gets boring. Each year we see it, it just brings Christmas to life for me. You want to get a nightcap somewhere? Maybe back at Muldoon’s for another martini?” Shelby said with a teasing grin.

  “As enticing as that sounds, I’m going to have to pass. I still need to grade some papers for that law class I’m teaching.”

  “Really?”

  “I should have graded them last night, I just didn’t have the energy. Not that I do today either, but I can’t put it off any longer. I have the final class tomorrow.”

  “Well, you have fun with that. Call me tomorrow?”

  “Sounds good. Be safe on the way home,” Athena called to her as Shelby stepped into a cab. Athena decided to walk, since her apartment was only a few blocks away. And even though it was cold outside, she thought the walk would help clear her head.

  Chapter 9

  Athena felt much better when she woke up. She was still heartbroken and not ready to tell her mother, but going to The Nutcracker last night had helped a little to get her out of her funk. And she’d not only gotten all the papers graded, but also woke up feeling a little holiday spirit.

  At the university, she stopped in the common area to grab a cup of coffee before heading down the hall to the class she’d been teaching on Saturday mornings. It was the last class before the holiday break and it was one of those easy days students and professors both enjoyed. The kind where you got papers back, asked a couple questions, and then everyone left early. She ordered her coffee and was sitting her bag down to free up a hand to get money out of her purse, when out of the corner of her eye she saw that guy again, the one from last night. What the hell was he doing on campus? She was rarely on campus during the day, since she taught at night in addition to her normal job, so maybe she just hadn’t seen him before. He just didn’t fit the typical law student profile. Most the non-traditional students, meaning people like in their thirties or over, went to night classes. So maybe he was a faculty member. She was going to have to find out just for curiosity’s sake. It was such a coincidence she kept seeing him. She couldn’t worry about it now, though. She had to rush to class or she would be late.

  “Have a great holiday,” Athena called at the end of class as her students filed out of the lecture hall. She had three weeks off now, not only from teaching, but also from her job at the law firm. It was slow this time of year with most of the partners gone, so she had planned on taking advantage of the downtime to hang out with Ethan and shop for Christmas presents for her family. Buying presents for other people was one of her favorite things to do. And with all this free time, she was thinking, maybe it she would treat herself to a spa day and some new clothes. She had actually been able to stick to her workout regimen these last few months and had lost a few pounds. Pounds she was determined to keep off and not regain by falling into depression-eating of cookies, cupcakes, and ice cream.

  Athena was so lost in thought and not watching where she was going, she walked right into someone.

  “I’m so sorry! Let me get that,” she said, grabbing a folder that went flying to the ground.

  “No problem. You seemed lost in thought,” a male voice said.

  Athena stood up to hand the man back his folder and finally got a look at him. “It’s you,” she said in surprise.

  “Yep, I’m me,” he said with a smile, rocking back and forth on his heels.

  “Of course you’re you. That was a stupid thing to say. I just meant…okay, this will probably make me sound like a stalker and I promise you I’m not, but I saw you last night at Muldoon’s, and then at the ballet, and now here.”

  “Maybe I’m the stalker,” he said, trying to give her a lecherous look.

  Athena started laughing.

  “Not coming across as stalkerish? How about this?” he said giving her a come hither look and an exaggerated wink, which, as cute as he was, didn’t come across right.

  She kept laughing and shook her head. “Nope. Sorry. You’re more like a clown, Ronald McDonald more so than John Gacy.”

  He joined her in laughter. “Let’s try this again. Hi, I’m Tristan West. Nice to meet you.” He held out his hand in a formal manner.

  “Athena Parker at your service,” she curtsied.

  “Confession time,” Tristan said.

  Athena looked at him strangely. “Are you about to tell me you are a stalker?” She looked around. “Where is security when you need them?”

  “No, but I must admit, I also saw you at the ballet and getting coffee an hour ago, and I’m not disappointed you weren’t watching where you were walking and crashed into me?”

  “Now you’re blaming me? Are you going to claim you’re injured and sue?” she said in mock horror.

  “Not if you let me buy you a cup of coffee.”

  Athena pretended to think about it. “Hmmm, let me get this straight. If I let you buy me a cup of coffee, you will drop your lawsuit for injuries suffered as a result of our mishap?” Athena tapped her finger to her cheek as if lost in deep thought. She stuck her hand out. “Deal.”

  “Is now a good time?”

  “For coffee it’s always a good time.”

  “Are you good with the coffee here, or would you rather go off campus?” Tristan asked.

  “Believe it or not, the place here has excellent coffee. I need to return some things to the media center, so if you don’t mind we can do that on the way.”

  Finding a table at the coffee shop was much easier than normal, since many students were finished for the year. Normally it was wall-to-wall people studying. Athena and Tristan took their coffees to a table in a corner that offered a view of the holiday decorations in the common area.

  “Tell me, are you a faculty member here?” Athena asked once they were seated.

  “Do I look like one?”

  “Not any more than I do, so I’m not sure that’s an accurate assessment.”

  “I am not a faculty member. I’m an architect. I’m bidding on the design job for the new addition for the law school. I’m just here today because I had a meeting with the decision makers on some questions I had.”

  “So did you get the job?”

  “Not yet. The final drawings have to be submitted in two days, and then it’s the arduous process of waiting and waiting until the committee meets in January.”

  “That would be hard for me. I’m not all that patient. What are you going to do to keep yourself busy and your mind off things?”

 
“I don’t know. Maybe you have some suggestions?”

  Was he flirting with her? Athena was kind of hoping so, but it was scary. She still was dealing with being dumped. However, she had to move on and get back in the game. She had always been a suck it up and move on kind of gal.

  “What do you like to do when you’re not drawing things?” she asked.

  “I enjoy browsing flea markets or off-the-wall artists’ wares. You already know I like the ballet. I enjoy working out.”

  “Not to change the subject, but I must ask. Are you in the habit of going to the ballet by yourself? I didn’t see you with anyone there.”

  “Going by myself wasn’t my original plan, though I don’t mind my own company. My girlfriend and I had tickets, and then last week she ceased being my girlfriend, and for some odd reason none of my guy friends wanted to go with me.”

  “You must really love The Nutcracker then, to go by yourself instead of giving her the tickets.”

  He chuckled. “It might sound odd, but I was dragged kicking and screaming to my first Nutcracker when I was nine to watch my older sister perform. I fell in love with it and haven’t missed a year since. Although, for many of those younger years I still had to pretend to hate it. Lucky for me it was a family tradition, so my secret was safe. What about you? You a big ballet fan or did you have a hot date?”

  Athena knew he was teasing, but she was also hoping he might be fishing to see if she was single. Not that she wanted to be someone’s rebound any more than he would want to be hers, but maybe this was fate. They were both fresh from recent breakups, and maybe having a friendship with someone new would help them get over the respective exes.

  “Kind of the same story as you. I’ve always loved The Nutcracker, though I do enjoy ballet in general, and I was with my friend Shelby. My now ex-boyfriend and Shelby’s boyfriend would have been with us, but after I got dumped, Shelby and I decided it would be more fun just girls.”

  “Sorry to hear that. Relationships can be difficult.”