by Lana Hartley
“Shut the door,” Ryan says. There’s a smarmy quality to his smile.
I nod and walk inside, closing the door behind me. “What did you need me for?”
I get straight to the point because I want to spend as short-a-time in here as possible. Ryan gives me the creeps, I don’t even know why I’m going out on a limb for him as far as Eric’s concerned, there are other jobs out there.
“So, I hear you’ve talked to Mr. Vanderville?”
“Don’t you remember, right after you gave me the task? I came back and told you everything we talked about.”
Well, I didn’t tell him quite everything, but whatever I felt was important for him to know.
“That’s funny,” he murmurs. “I heard he came to see you after we were closed…”
Holy crap, how did he know that?
“Yes, but then I thought that you wanted to figure out what was going on with the company.…”
I’m struggling to think of something to say. Maybe I’m confused, I’m sure that I called and told him that Eric seems interested because of the plan that he has to buy several independent bookstores, and I tried to recite exactly what Eric said to me that day. There are two issues.
Number one, I’m not the best liar in the world and number two, I didn’t understand a word that Eric said to me that day when he started talking, like, actual business numbers. I sit down, so that I’ll make him less suspicious about what’s going on with Eric and I. What am I thinking? There’s nothing going on with us, especially seeing as he hasn’t called since that night.
“But he did take you out!”
He lifts his eyebrow suspiciously, and I know that there’s no way out of it. But...even if what I did is a little shaky, I feel weird about the way Ryan is bringing it up and there’s an icky taste in my mouth about this whole conversation.
“It was…” My voice trails off, and I’m trying to think of something to say to him. Something that will make him dismiss me and I can get out of here.
He slowly stands up and moves toward me.
“Did you or didn’t you go out with him?”
I can't stop my face from burning a bright red, as my mind immediately jumps to what happened after the date.
His jaw tenses as his eyes run over my face, then suddenly, he’s grinning at me.
“Yes! And he said that this place was a gold mine, and he wanted to buy it. That’s why he made you such a good offer.”
“Did he now?” he says as he stops heading toward me, and I feel relieved that I’ve kept him at bay. I stand up and turn for the door.
“Maybe you should just contact him.”
But I’m surprised by how fast he moves to stop me opening the door. I don’t feel comfortable being so near to him. His breathing becomes heavy as the only thing between us and the door is his belly.
He shakes his head, then his finger strokes underneath my chin. I back away.
Eric was doing the same thing the other night, and I just wanted Eric’s touch even more when he did this. Ryan’s old enough to be my dad and creepy as hell; it just makes me want throw up now that I realize that my boss Ryan has hit on me before. I guess I just didn’t realize it those other times. Now I’m just fighting the urge to hurl.
I had said that I’ll talk to Eric. Part of the reason was so that I could get close to the billionaire, and the other part was so that I’ll keep my job once he buys the place.
Now, I’m thinking that being close to Ryan, everything in me recoils. All the erotic flashbacks from Eric last night are a distant memory.
“Look,” Ryan starts, stroking the thin strands of hair on his balding head. He adjusts his glasses, “When you see him next, tell him that I’m really busy. Hint that I have other offers on the table.”
I pause for a minute. “If you do that then he may back out. He may think that it’s not worth it.”
I was going to ask why he thinks that I’m going to see Eric again. It brings a smile to my face, to think that he’s confident about us having another rendezvous and it is a nice distraction from how gross Ryan makes me feel.
“Don’t worry about that,” Ryan sneers. “Just do what I told you to do.”
“Okay, I’ll do that then.” I swallow. I want out of this room.
I see my chance for escape, and I take it like a duck to water. Even though I have a feeling that if I stayed longer, then Ryan might have tried something more with me. I feel so relieved that I got out of there, secure in the knowledge that he didn’t. I push those thoughts away and think instead that hopefully Eric will want to see me again.
I go back to the front of the store. As soon as I get there Becca leaves. I’ve got nothing to do but play on my phone and wait for Eric to call me, unless a customer comes in.
“I’m looking for an Anne Rice novel,” a customer pops in nearly an hour later, and I’m glad to stop wasting my brain on stupid phone games. I help the customer and remember just how much I love this store.
I hope that I get to keep working here.
Maybe even with a much sexier boss.
Eric
I park my car across from the bookstore. I sigh as I turn off the ignition and pull out the key then step out of the car. I’m already walking away as I press a button on my key fob to lock the car.
I hope she likes the present that I have in my hand. I’ve given up trying to avoid calling her and just decided to come down here to surprise her.
I get to the bookstore and pause outside as I hear Elia’s laughter from inside. I push the door open and walk inside. She’s standing beside her coworker next to a bookshelf. Her laughter dies when I walk in, and she looks up to see me.
I almost feel bad, wanting to hear her laugh some more, but then she smiles at me, and I can’t help smiling back.
“Hey, Eric,” she says in greeting, then freezes almost immediately, a blush covering her cheeks as she glances at the woman beside her. “It’s been a while.” Elia smiles as if she’s telling me off for keeping away.
I want to tell her that it’s been four days and ten hours. But hey, I wasn’t counting. Not really.
“What are you doing here? If it’s Ryan that you’re…”
“I came to see you. I got you something.”
I shove the box in her hand, and the dark-haired girl that she was laughing with moves away from us. Elia’s eyes dart from the box to mine as if she’s in shock.
“Another present?”
I nod, confirming that it’s for her and she needs to open it.
“It’s an iPad. I bought it because I know that you love to read. Sure, you have a Kindle, but the graphics aren’t great, and an iPad has a lot more functionality than a Kindle.” I'm losing my patience with her not opening the gift as her eyes shift from the box to me. I don’t want to have fucked up like last time.
“This is too expensive.” Elia says but the rise in her voice tells me she is flattered. “The phone was expensive enough, but this too? You’re really spoiling me.”
Mmm, something about the idea of spoiling her makes me want to pull her close to me now and press little kisses down from her lips to her collarbones.
I find myself, pulling away from all my random thoughts, and look into her eyes.“I know,” I cut her off with a casual shrug, sliding my hands into my pockets.
“You didn’t have to.”
“I know. I wanted to, though.” We stand staring at each other, neither of us speaking a word. I clear my throat and think about her actually opening the box and seeing what’s inside it. “Well, I’ll leave you two to get acquainted. I think I’ll check out the books for a while. I might end up buying something again.”
I hear a door open and close, and I assume it’s the manager’s room. I hear steps cross the room, but I don’t really want to see him. Unless he’s realized I slipped into another aisle, I’m going to keep away from him for today. After all, I’m not here for business.
“Elia, where are you?”
“Over her
e, Ryan,” she calls softly.
I realize she’s just on the other side of the shelf to my back. I move further through the aisles even though I feel silly eavesdropping on their conversation, especially when I’ve got my PI, Will, on the case. I haven’t heard from him because there’s nothing to report, yet, but I can’t help but listen.
Yet, curiosity gets the better of me as I stand and listen to what he has to say to her.
“Why didn't you come to see me in the back?”
“Because I thought you were working. I didn’t want to disturb you.”
I think that she’s lying. She sounds quite nervous, maybe because she knows that I’m in the store. I don’t know...something about Ryan, who I am pretty sure is a total creep, and Elia lying to him...it puts me on alert.
I can’t see above the books on the shelf at my eye level, so I move a few books around for a clearer view. Shit, maybe I should just leave this detective stuff to Will. I’m out of my league, but despite my amateurish, stalkerish tendencies I feel compelled to keep spying on them.
“Wow, where did you get one of those? I must be paying you too much,” he chuckles as he reaches for the iPad. She must have put the box somewhere because I don’t see it in her hand anymore.
That’s a hell of a thing for Ryan to say when I know he pays her peanuts compared to the other employees.
“No. It’s a gift,” Elia says quickly, and I can tell that she’s nervous because the closer he gets, the more she backs away. He’s now rubbing his hand over his bald head, and I wonder if he has something much dirtier in mind based on that look in his eyes. The way he’s looking at her totally fucking disgusts me.
“From whom? You have no family here, and I don’t think any of your friends could afford it. So, who bought you a new iPad?”
Why the fuck is she not telling him that it’s none of his business? Why is he talking to her this way.
“Eric Vanderville. He bought it,” tears well in her eyes as she tries to move away from him.
“So, you did go out with him,” he accuses, his tone rigid and angry. I bet you did more than just go out. I bet…”
I don’t even wait for him to finish. I move around the shelf and out of nowhere, Ryan screams out, “What the fuck!”
I rage toward him like a bull. He's too fucking close to her and then he had his greasy hands working their way to her. It was clear what he was going to do.
My heart beats out of control as my fist becomes one with his face. I didn’t want to stop there, I'm a mask of fury. But as he falls on the floor and rolls over protecting his face, Elia screams, “Eric, stop. Please!”
Elia
I’m screaming at Eric, even though I know that he’s just helped me with Ryan, but I’m so confused at the moment. Ryan’s never gone as far as to try to kiss me. He’s stood around and rubbed his belly and head, watching me, and at times I’ve felt that he’s creepy because of the way that he looks at me. But never ever, has he tried to touch me. And I guess that’s why I never got weirded out by him before, but this is just too far.
Eric’s violent reaction isn’t thrilling, either.
What’s going on?
I feel as if I’m losing my mind. Eric doesn’t call me for days. I gave him my virginity, and he just turned up with a gift. Another expensive gift. Is that supposed to make it okay that he ignored me?
“Elia! Did he touch you?”
I shake my head and turn to see Eric holding out his hand. Ryan’s on the floor, cursing and trying to stand up. Every time he does, he rolls back down before standing up again. I should help him up. What am I thinking?
If Eric wasn’t here then who knows what would have happened? Then again, if Ryan hadn’t seen the iPad then he wouldn’t have been tempted to take that step further.
Ryan spits the words, “You bitch! You knew he was here, and you did this on purpose!”
“What?”
“You’re taking the day off,” Eric says forcefully, aiming a glare at Ryan who's finally pulled himself off the floor.
“You’re fucking lucky that I didn’t do any real damage!” Eric warns him, but Ryan’s not saying anything. His eyes return to me, and I shiver at how dark they look. “I’m not taking no for an answer. We’re leaving here together!”
I reach for Eric’s hand, letting him tug me out of the store without a glance to anyone else. He’s moving so fast that I’m out of breath just trying to catch up with him.
“I need my purse.”
He shakes his head and shoots me a disapproving glare. “No, you don’t. You’re shaking, and you need to be as far away from that creep as possible. Come now!”
I know he’s right. He’s telling me to leave with him. Not asking me. Kinda like how our date went...except this time, this is Eric protecting me so no matter how frustratingly bossy he is or uncommunicative he was, I’ll go with him. Once we get outside, I don’t have to deal with the sounds of Ryan cursing and calling me or Eric every name under the sun.
He blames me for what happened, but I didn’t do anything wrong. It was all Ryan, but then Eric’s acting as if he’s my knight in shining armor. He’s not. After all, I haven’t heard from him for days. For some crazy reason I thought he was coming to apologize or even tell me that he’s been busy but I’ve been on his mind. But in my confusion, I don’t know what he was doing at the store. It couldn’t have been just to drop off an iPad.
“What were you doing there, Eric?”
“Come! My car’s just opposite the store, and we can get the hell out of here.”
“But I don’t know if I want to get away from here with you. I spent one night with you, and then you…”
“Look!” He points at Ryan who’s trying to tease me by holding up my purse. I know what he wants to do, and I don’t want him to have the upper hand. I need to be as far away from that fucking creep as possible. There’s no denying that.
I’m sick of this whole situation. I’ve always been nice to Ryan, but it isn’t as if I’ve led him on.
And now Eric thinks that if I don’t want him to beat the shit out of my creepy boss, then Eric can just whisk me away?
I feel like everything is happening so fast. I can’t catch my breath.
Eric seems to understand my tentativeness, at least, so he at least offers some level of explanation.“We’re not going to your place. Or going to mine. We’re just going to drive a bit and then we’ll talk. Got it.”
I nod as he opens the car door. He climbs inside and shuts the door.
We drive without talking to each other, with only the sounds of the road and the radio. A little driving does help ease my mood. I don’t feel angry or upset anymore because everything starts to decompress.
I ask Eric to stop in front of the diner far ahead; it’s near Dana’s apartment, and that’s where I want to go. I want to be with a friend right now.
As soon as he stops the engine I ask him the question that’s been bugging me.
“Why did you decide to turn up?”
“I wanted to see you.”
“Eric, you buy me a phone. Then an iPad,” I say, looking down at it in my hands. “And then you don’t turn up or even call for days. I slept with you….which I guess I was wrong think that meant that I deserved something other than just being ignored!” And of course the million dollar truth is that I felt something and I thought he did, too. After being ignored for the better part of a week, now I just feel like a fool.
He sighs. “I know. I’m sorry.”
Wow, is that all he has to say about the subject? He doesn’t even try to downplay it. How do I even know he’s sincere? He just blurted it out as if he knew it was the right thing to say. Even if he didn’t mean it.
“So, you haven’t been busy at work?” I offer. I shouldn’t dig him out of this but I just want to understand this...understand how I could have been so stupid, really, as to think hooking up with him and expecting to hear back from him was a good idea.
Before he can answ
er, I reply for him, “But if you had been then you wouldn’t have had time to buy an iPad.” God, why did I even say that? Like, he’s rich. He’s got a driver. He’s probably got an assistant. Clearly he didn’t have any actual time for me and that’s why Eric has just now shown up.
Eric won't even look at me.
I’m so frustrated that I want to break something. I feel a rant coming on and my words start spewing out before I even know what I’m going to say. “I don’t get you. You wanted to act like the hero and that’s all it was about. Don’t pretend that what you did just then , Eric, was to save me. It wasn’t!”
He’s quiet but seems to be searching for something to say. No doubt another word. Something that doesn’t even describe exactly what’s going on at the moment.
“Elia, you do need saving from Ryan. He’s not just trying to assault you, he’s paying you less than everyone else.”
“What? How do you know that?”
“Ryan provided the financial reports weeks ago. They show clearly that you’re being paid the least…and now I’m certain that there isn’t any appropriate reason why.” Eric grits his teeth.
“Today is just too much…I can’t be here with you right now!” I know, I know, I’m being dramatic, but I don’t want to process this shitty news next to the only person I’ve been able to think about for days.
I need to get out of here. I open the car door and unfasten my belt.
“Where are you going?” Eric blurts out, maybe because no one’s ever walked out on him before. He probably does this sort of crap all the time.
“Far away from you as possible!”
“Why? But you don’t have your keys, and you can’t get home…” Eric rushes to explain.
I may have been a virgin before that night, but I’m not a child. “That’s not your concern. It’s mine.” I’m just about to shut the door, but realize I have one last thing to say. I bend down to do it as I’m outside of the car and can think properly even if it’s only for a few seconds.