by J. J. Bella
“Thanks.” Julian set the folder down and tried to resist looking inside.
It was an exercise in self control, he told himself. She was jus a silly girl. Serving coffee no less. Why should she matter at all to him? She was nothing. And she didn’t even know his name.
He flipped open the folder and looked at the papers inside.
Leah Johns, 22. Just graduated college with a degree in fashion design. He scoffed at that. So not only was she a silly girl serving coffee, she was a silly girl who cared about nothing more than clothes and shopping. She would be the type to attempt to bleed him dry. Of course, he made too much to go broke, but she would try. Though, she did finish with a 4.0, and when he looked up the school, it wasn’t an easy program. Still. Fashion? Might be a huge industry, but it wasn’t one he was interested in.
Other details, like her birthdate, address, and phone number would come in handy someday. For now, he wanted to figure her out. Know more about her. Why was she working at a coffee shop instead of a clothing store? Wouldn’t someone like her, with that degree at least, want to work in a department store or boutique? Had she even tried to get a job in her industry, or had she given up when it became too difficult?
What else was she into? She had to have other hobbies and interests when she left work. Maybe she was the yoga type. She didn’t come off like much of a partier, and with a 4.0 GPA, it would have been difficult to drink her way through school. But, did she drink wine and enjoy wineries? Or did she hang out at bars and let creepy men hit on her? Did she go with them, thinking she wasn’t worth more than that, or did she blow them off and drink alone? Did she have a little dog that she walked every day or a cat that she cuddled with? Did she read often, and what sort of books? Probably romances, he decided.
By the next morning, he couldn’t take it anymore. He never did this, but today he’d make an exception. He packed up his laptop and headed to Brew House. Today, he would work from a coffee shop. Well, work and watch Leah. He wanted some of the questions answered, and he wanted to see more of her.
He walked inside and approached the counter. When she saw him, she stiffened. She forced a smile.
“Good morning, Mr. Kane,” she said.
Nicely done. He gave her a half smile. “Julian is fine.” He wanted to hear her say it, imagined her saying it over and over.
She took a deep breath. “Okay. Julian. What can I get you?”
“Same as yesterday.”
Her eyes widened slightly, then she relaxed as if she’d forgotten and suddenly remembered what he had ordered the day before.
She wrote on a cup and handed it to the man working with her. That same man from yesterday with the too long hair hanging in his eyes, the too tight jeans. He must be one of those millennial hipster types that annoyed him so much. He almost never hired one, unless they could prove that they did actually have a serious work ethic and future ambitions that didn’t focus on being able to “feel the love all the time,” as one former employee had once listed as a goal during review time. That employee had lasted less than a week once Julian was informed. He wanted hard workers, not feel gooders.
After he took his cup and sat down, he positioned himself so that he could see her easily. Partly, he could see behind the counter, too. He watched her wipe the counter and turn back the instant the bell rang announcing a new customer. He watched the man take too long with a customer that was probably his friend, causing a backup. He watched Leah having to tell Caleb—he’d picked it up when she talked to him—what to do.
Caleb, the morning brew is out. Caleb, can you get more milk from the back? Caleb, we have to clean the steamer today.
This proved what he was hoping was true. She was a hard worker. That 4.0 wasn’t the result of sleeping with her professor or some other unethical way to get high grades. She did what she had to.
He listened to her talk to the customers, laughing and joking when she could. One of his favorite moments from the day was when there was a problem. Julian had heard the whole thing. The customer ordered a caramel latte. He’d heard it, Leah had heard it, and she’d told Caleb to make it. The customer then came back a moment later and claimed the drink was wrong. He’d ordered a mocha.
Leah didn’t question it. She asked Caleb to make a new drink. Caleb, in his infinite wisdom, decided to take issue with this. He said, not too quietly, “I made the drink that was ordered. It was a caramel latte.” And he was right. He had every right to be annoyed. Julian would be at such an outright lie. But, that’s now you did business with the public. Leah smiled at the customer, assured him it was no problem, and that she was sorry for the mix up.
When the customer left, Caleb got a little loud.
“You know he ordered a caramel latte. I heard him.”
“I know,” she said, “but I wasn’t going to call him a liar. It’s not a big deal. It’s just one drink.”
“Now he thinks he can just change his mind and get a new drink anytime he wants. How much of it was gone?” Then he went so far as to look for the cup Leah had taken back. Sickening.
“It’s really fine,” she said. She turned from him and faced the door, waiting for the next customer.
That was all Julian needed to know. He wanted her. He would take whatever challenge she presented, and he would make her his.
Leah
Leah kept glancing nervously over at Julian. “Why is he still here?” she’d whispered to Caleb at one point.
He’d shrugged and said, “I guess he’s working? Or hanging out?”
At least today she felt better about their encounter. He’d made her so nervous that she almost forgot his drink, and that was after reciting it to herself all day yesterday just in case the exact scenario that played out today happened. But she had remembered and he seemed happier.
She saw him looking at her. There was one spot she could stand, where the smooth reflective side of the metal coffee warmer was positioned so that she could see him without looking at him. Why was he watching her? Was he going to call her manager? Tell him that she was doing a bad job? This wasn’t her dream job, by any means, but it paid the bills and it kept her close to Caleb all day. She didn’t want to lose it.
Hours after he arrived, he stood and packed up his things. She sagged in relief. But then, he walked toward her. His eyes did that smoldering thing that made her knees go weak. She wished he would just leave already.
He came to her and handed her a business card. She took it without thinking.
“That’s my cell number,” he said. “Use it.”
He wanted her to call him? Was he nuts? She gulped and handed it back. “I’m sorry. I can’t.”
“Yes, you can. And you will.” He set the card down.
“No, really, I… have a boyfriend.” She hoped she wasn’t reading too much into this and taking it wrong. When she said it, she saw Caleb react out of the corner of her eye. He stiffened and moved closer to her.
“That means little to me,” Julian said. He didn’t pick up the card. “I’ll talk to you soon.”
He turned and walked several feet away before she mustered up the courage to call after him, “You won’t.”
At this, Julian glanced back over his shoulder and shot her a cold glare. It chilled her and she felt her heart rate speed as it had the day before when she felt threatened by him.
When he was gone and out of ear shot, she released her breath. “Man, he is such an arrogant jerk.”
“Seriously.” Caleb glared after him. “You will,” he mocked.
“Like I would be interested in someone who talked to me like that. ‘Use it’? Was that supposed to be a pickup line or something? Right, I’m so into that controlling relationship thing. Taking orders from him because he’s rich and hot? I don’t think so.”
“What?”
She pulled her eyebrows together. “What what?”
“You think he’s hot?”
“Well, I mean, he’s good looking, sure. He’s not you, though.” Sh
e put her arms around him and kissed him. “You’re hot.”
“I’m not a billionaire.”
“Like that matters to me. He might be rich, but he’s also a huge asshole. I would never want to live like that.”
“Good.”
Caleb moved on to talking about other things, but like yesterday, she couldn’t shake thoughts of Julian. Now, it was fear and curiosity on top of the same anger from yesterday. Would he come after her because she turned him down? That glare looked serious. And he had the money to hire a hitman or do whatever he wanted in order to get to her.
But what could she do? She certainly wasn’t going to jeopardize what she had with Caleb in order to make Julian happy. Calling him would benefit nothing. She put her hand in her pocket and pressed her finger into the sharp corners of the business card. Had Caleb seen her pick it up? Why had she? She should throw it away. But when she went into the bathroom to toss it, she couldn’t bring herself to do it. She stared at his name, his number, and put the card back in her pocket.
“We should prank him,” Caleb said later that day. “Where’d his card go?”
She gulped and looked around. “Umm, I think I threw it away.”
“Aww, that sucks. You should keep it next time. We’ll mess with him.”
“Next time? What makes you think there’ll be a next time?”
Caleb shrugged. “Men like him don’t like not getting what they want.”
“Well, he’s not getting me.”
“I know,” Caleb said sharply. “But that doesn’t mean he’ll be happy about it.”
The fear rose in her chest. Caleb confirmed what she’d been afraid of. So, what should she do now? What was a woman to do when a rich, handsome man was after her? It sounded like a ridiculous problem to have.
Julian
Julian fumed as he sped back to his office. How dare she react like that, like he was some loser she wasn’t interested in? Didn’t she know what a catch he was, how women threw themselves at him just to get his attention? She should feel lucky, privileged even, that he wanted her, that he was even paying a second’s thought on some coffee shop espresso slinger.
His knuckles were white on his steering wheel. He would not be turned down. He would not be denied. Julian Kane was a name that got what it wanted. No amount of money would stop him, and in this case, no little boyfriend would.
At the same time, her turning him down had him so hard he was throbbing. Why was it that not getting what he wanted made him want it more? Now he was on a mission. He had to have her. At any cost. Whatever it took. He would win her over. He would make her his.
As he stormed to his office, he called out to his assistant. “Aiden! My office. Now.”
He slammed the door behind him and threw himself into his chair as Aiden came in.
“Yes sir?”
“The woman you looked up for me, yesterday, Leah Johns. She has a boyfriend. I want you to find out who he is, and get me everything you can on him.”
“Absolutely.”
“As soon as possible.”
“Of course. Can I get you coffee or anything else?”
Julian’s eyes involuntarily twitched. “No coffee.” Coffee made him think of her, and that got him fired up all over again.
Aiden left the room and Julian got up to pace. He needed to clear his mind, to focus on work instead of obsessing over this girl. It would take time to get answers, no matter how fast Aiden worked. Until he knew something of the boyfriend, he’d have to wait.
Aiden knocked just a few minutes later.
“Enter,” Julian said.
“This isn’t a complete profile by any means, but I thought you might want something right away.” Aiden handed him a few sheets of paper and left again.
He could kiss that man for his fast and efficient work. Maybe he needed another raise for all he did.
Julian sat down and looked at the pages from Aiden. Apparently, he had gone to Leah’s Facebook page and found the link to her boyfriend through her relationship status. He would have thought to do that himself if he hadn’t been so distracted by his anger. And if he ever wasted time on that social media junk. He flipped the page and saw a familiar face.
That man that was always working with Leah. Caleb. Caleb Watson according to his Facebook profile. She was dating that loser who worked in the coffee shop with her?
He looked at the photos and laughed out loud. This was his competition? This college drop out loser? No way. This would be easy. Almost too easy.
He studied the photos and read over the posts back and forth between them. He seemed, from his gushing words, that he genuinely loved her. They looked happy together. Carefree and young, all that freedom and time a person thinks they have until they hit thirty and get serious. What did this Caleb know of life? Julian was 32 now and remembered his 22-year-old self. He’d known so little then. Of course, he’d still managed to become a millionaire by twenty, but when it came to knowing how the world worked, how people ticked, he’d been clueless. He hadn’t known what would make him happy. Or what happiness even was. He’d gone through countless women trying to find out.
That made him pause for a moment. Was he repeating old patterns? He didn’t know Leah. He’d seen her and knew a few things about her, but he didn’t really know her. He stopped to review his list of moral objectives that he’d decided were necessary in a woman.
First, she had to be gorgeous. He couldn’t fathom looking at someone for the rest of his life or even a long period of time if she wasn’t. And she needed to look good dressed up or down. Second, she had to be smart. Third, she had to not be high maintenance or materialistic. She had to have drive, and she had to support his. So far, everything he’d seen of Leah matched up. Now he just had to find out how smart she really was.
A few hours later, Aiden him a thicker folder. This had exactly what he needed. Caleb was not only a loser. Not only a college drop out. Not only would he drag Leah down with him. He was also cheating on her. And Aiden had gotten proof.
The next call he made was to a private investigator. He needed current, active proof. He wanted photos, text messages, emails, location tracking, everything he could get to show Leah what she really had in Caleb. Then he’d swoop in and pick up the pieces.
Leah
“I was thinking of something a little different for tonight,” Caleb said.
“Oh yeah?” Leah looked up from the cash drawer she was counting. “Rent a movie instead of Netflix?”
“No.” He rolled his eyes. “I’m taking you to Cafe Blue.”
Her mouth popped open. “Really? But isn’t that place kind of expensive?”
“Nah.”
She narrowed her eyes at him. “Is this because of Julian?”
“No. I can’t take you to someplace nice?”
“You can. It just seems odd that on the day Julian Kane gave me his number you decide to take me to one of the most expensive restaurants in the city.”
“I’ve been planning it for weeks,” he said. “It’s not my fault that he came in and did that.”
“Okay. But I’m definitely showering and changing first.”
“Of course.”
Leah hurried home, her excitement growing as she showered and got ready. People were always raving about Cafe Blue. She’d wanted to go forever, but it was so expensive, she never thought they could afford it. Or that Caleb would splurge on something like that. If it were a new Xbox, sure, but not a fancy dinner out.
Caleb showed up on her doorstep with flowers and a grin.
“Flowers, too?” She gave him a questioning look. What was he up to?
“Well… they’re to make up for the bad news I have to give you.”
Her smile melted. “What?”
“They’re booked.”
“Cafe Blue is?”
He nodded. “I didn’t realize we needed reservations. I’m sorry.”
“Oh.” Her excitement vanished. So much for that.
“But,
I found another restaurant that’s really nice. I’ll plan farther ahead next time and make sure we can get in.”
“I thought you’d been planning this for weeks.”
“I have been, but I didn’t know we’d need reservations.”
He was lying, but oh well. He was trying to show up Julian, that was obvious. So, she’d make sure she gave him the confirmation he needed that she was all his. Julian could never steal her away, no matter how much money he had.
Caleb drove them to the restaurant. It was a nice place, he hadn’t been wrong there. It wasn’t Cafe Blue, but it wasn’t cheap by any means. After they ordered, Caleb reached across the table and took her hand.
“There’s another reason I wanted to take you out tonight.”
“Okay…”
“We’ve been together a few years now, and I’ve been thinking about our future.”
She almost gasped. After thinking about this the other day, she never had talked to him about it. She’d forgotten about it in her anger over Julian. But now, here he was, bringing it up.
“I’m hoping that we’ll have many long years together, and I was thinking that maybe we’re ready to take the next step.”
She bit her lip. Was he about to propose? Her heart raced and she pressed her lips shut to keep from interrupting him.
“Will you move in with me?”
It wasn’t the proposal she wanted, but it was something. And it proved he was thinking about them being together for a long time. Maybe he needed this step to happen first.
“I’d love to,” she said, smiling. “It’d be great to build a home with you.”
He leaned across the table to kiss her. “I love you.”
“And I love you.”
Julian
Julian went to Brew House, hoping Leah would be there without Caleb. No luck. He tried again the next day and the day after. By the fourth day, he was getting pissed off and impatient. They couldn’t work together every day, could they? He decided to contact the manager.