by Lily Cahill
He opened the email on his screen. A blonde named Trisha was available tonight. He accepted the match without hesitation. He had to get out of the office.
#
Everett cursed at the map on his phone, leading him in circles. He'd made a detour to the warehouse to check on the lighting before heading toward the hotel bar, and it'd completely flummoxed the phone map. He jabbed at the phone trying to get it to go back to the original route he had selected, but it wasn't cooperating. Everything on this phone was off slightly. After smashing his old one and buying this one, he'd had to set it up himself. It turned out that Everett could design a new and revolutionary approach to harnessing solar energy, but he couldn't properly download apps.
He'd have to get Catalina to help him. That was, if she was still talking to him. Save for the conversation in the elevator, they'd barely spoken at all in the past week. He'd pass her in the hallway, and she would pretend to be engrossed in sending an email on her phone. He'd come by her office, and she'd be speaking Spanish into the phone, giving him the one minute gesture with her index finger. On top of the launch and the lawsuit, she was also in the midst of brokering deals with builders and NGOs in Central America who were interested in using the tiles in rural development missions. Just yesterday afternoon, he had tried to wait her out as she was on the phone. She'd tousled her hair as her tongue rolled through sentences he couldn't understand. He'd leaned against the door jam, waiting for her to finish, letting the sound of her voice blanket him with the softness it took on with the extra vowels. But after a few minutes she still hadn't wrapped up the conversation or put the person on the other end of the line on hold. Everett gave up and left, trying not to feel the sting of her slight. She didn't swing by his office later. It seemed like every time he tried to grab five minutes of her time she was speeding off somewhere else.
Even their regular lunch routine was out of whack with this new guy--Neal or whatever his name was--coming by the office. He wasn't going to barge in and be a third wheel when that guy had only brought up enough for two people. It was annoying and disruptive. Everett had barely eaten lunch all week and his productivity was down. He told himself it was the lack of calories, but he wasn't an idiot. It was the lack of Catalina.
After winding up and down city streets in a circuitous route, Everett finally arrived at the swanky hotel bar where he was meeting his date, Trisha. He valeted his black Aston Martin coupe, only shuddering slightly at the thought of someone else driving it.
The bar was a regular spot for Everett. The twenty foot ceilings, the winding, lacquered oak bar, the loads of small lights twinkling in the ceiling--it all combined to give the place the feel of a wide open space in the heart of the city. Save for the greenhouse, it was practically the only place he felt he could stretch out. So many places in the city felt closed in, too small. It made him sympathize with Liam and why he'd taken off. Though Everett was sure he'd at least have the decency to respond to an invitation.
He spotted Trisha at the bar, easily recognizable from her picture. He liked that--a girl who looked the same as the way she presented herself online. Her red dress was short and she was wearing gold heels that matched a dozen bangles on her wrist. Her appearance and the way she presented herself screamed for attention, and she was definitely getting it. Guys all over the bar were looking her way, and one was approaching her now. Everett didn't cut in, but observed from afar as she put her hand on his arm and batted her eyes. If it wasn't for the fact that he'd walked away, Everett would have thought that she had accepted the offer. That made her more desirable in his eyes, the way other men were hungry for her.
"You must be Trisha," Everett said, strolling up once the rejected man had walked away.
Trisha held out her hand with her wrist limp, waiting for Everett to kiss it. He grabbed her hand, turning it to shake.
"You must be Everett." She turned in her chair, so that her body was facing him more directly, her breasts bulging out in front of her.
He sat down next to her. She was drinking something pink in a sugar-rimmed martini glass that was almost empty.
"What are you having?"
"I think it's a 'Promiscuous Schoolgirl.'" The bar was known for its tongue-in-cheek names, but Everett couldn't imagine ordering that.
"Bourbon on the rocks and another one of those," he pointed to Trisha's glass as she downed the last of the drink. The drink looked like candy--all the sugar masking any real flavor.
He pulled out his phone and shot a text over to Catalina:
Tomorrow's coffee--no frills. I'm starting to see your point.
The drinks arrived and Trisha held her martini glass up, her bicep pushed up against her breast, shoving it further out of her dress. "Cheers." She was smiling at him, her long black eyelashes batting at him suggestively. "To meeting new people."
Everett didn't say anything, but clinked his glass against hers and then took a long drink of the amber liquid. His phone buzzed on the bar.
When will you learn that I'm always right?
"Pff." Everett huffed out a chuckle at Catalina's text and clicked the side button of his phone, letting the screen go dark and tucking it into his pocket. "So, Trisha, what do you do?"
"I'm in marketing." That seemed about right. She definitely had a style--a carefully selected brand.
"Who do you do marketing for?"
"I work for a car company."
"What kind of marketing do you do for them?"
Everett had pulled his phone back out and was typing out a text while Trisha talked.
Don't get carried away. I concede only on the coffee. Your taste in men is still questionable.
"I work on the events team, you know, going to car shows and presenting the new models."
"So you get to see all the new cars before they're out on the market?"
"Yeah. And they always bring the best ones with all the nicest upgrades to the shows. It's fun to see all the new luxury vehicles and market a different car every time I go." She had her head tilted to the side, her blond hair cascading over her shoulder. She tucked it behind her ear.
Everett was obsessed with his car, but he only had the one. He found the car that he most wanted to drive and bought it. He could only drive one car at a time. He didn't see the point in owning a garage full of them.
He nodded his head along. He could see Trisha at a car show. She looked just like the girls that walked around the cars, opening doors, and bending seductively to open the hoods. And then it dawned on him. She was one of the models.
He gulped down the rest of his bourbon and ordered another. Trisha put her hand on his knee and leaned in closer to him.
"So what's it like being the CEO of Bowen Enterprises." Her voice was a sexy whisper.
"It's time consuming." Everett pulled out his phone again and shook it a bit, like he was answering texts from the office. It felt a bit dangerous to be on a date with one woman and texting with another. Not that Catalina was "another" woman. And not that she'd responded to his last text yet. He punched out another message.
How's the date with Norm going? Is he giving you third date vibes?
"Tell me about it." She pulled her hand from his leg and took a sip of her drink, her eyes were big and round, peering at him over the rim of her glass. "I bet it's so hard." As she put her glass down, her hand fell below the bar, and Everett twisted his barstool away, making his leg unavailable. Usually this would be the perfect date. They were already at a hotel, the girl was making it easy to transition the date upstairs, and yet Everett felt reluctant. He was tired of drinking and making small talk. It was all so predictable. A few drinks, some pretense for privacy to get a room, sex that never failed to disappoint, and then the awkward good-bye. There would be a few calls or texts from the girl over the next couple of weeks that he would ignore, and then he'd do it all over again.
His phone buzzed.
His name is Nick. And the date is good.
Everett snapped his screen off and
then immediately turned it back on again. It was like a twitch.
Where did Nick take you?
Everett's jaw clenched at the thought. What did Catalina know about this guy? The city was full of weirdos. Everett had to suppress the desire to leave the bar and go check on her.
He took me to Per Se.
Hearing they were in a public and reputable place made him feel a little better. But not much.
Impressive--less so on a Tuesday night, but still. Mine's good too. I had to set it up on my own. I wasn't sure if I knew how anymore.
You're a smart guy. I'm sure you were able to figure it out.
He could practically hear the impatience in her voice through the text. Trisha was still talking, but Everett wasn't even pretending to listen anymore. He needed to make this right with Catalina. Their relationship felt as essential to him as breathing, as shifting. Everett stared at his phone for a moment, then typed:
I couldn't do it without you. I probably don't say it enough, but you're the sun that keeps me going.
He hoped she understood that he wasn't joking. He felt truly exhausted after this week. And it wasn't the work, it was having to do it alone--without Catalina--that made it so grueling. He didn't know if he could do another week like the last one.
Trisha slunk her fingers around Everett's tie, letting the silky fabric run through her fingers.
"Do you want to go somewhere a little quieter. I've heard the rooms here are gorgeous."
Everett downed the last of his drink and threw a few bills down on the bar. At least Trisha was going through the script of the date on hyper speed. They walked to the private elevator bank that lead to the suites. Everett had already booked a room, cutting out the awkward checking in process, and making the trip upstairs feel more natural, like they were just going up to his apartment. Trisha kissed him while they waited for the elevator. Everything about her was sugary sweet. Her cherry lipgloss mingled with the manufactured fruity flavor from the drink. The flavors were so strong it blocked out every other sense. Kissing her was like walking into a perfumery, a sickening sensory overload that made you want to run. He pushed her shoulders, forcing some air between them, and handed her the room key.
"The rooms are gorgeous. Order anything you want and enjoy yourself."
She looked confused, her forehead wrinkling as she stared at the key and then back up to Everett. "Aren't you coming up with me?"
"No." He stood there for a moment. She looked at him, waiting for him to say something else. But he didn't have anything else to say. He left her there waiting for the elevator and stepped out into the crisp, cold night.
Chapter Twelve
Catalina
Catie rapped her hand on Gina's apartment door. It was late to just pop in unannounced, but Catie felt like she was going crazy.
Barely pausing to let Gina come to the door, Catie looked at Everett's text message again. "... You're the sun that keeps me going." What the fuck was that supposed to mean? She started banging again on the door. Harder and louder this time.
Gina pulled the door open fast and Catie practically fell inside.
"What is going on? Are you okay?"
Catie went directly into the kitchen without answering and pulled down two wine glasses.
"No. Yes. I don't know." She grabbed a bottle of red wine from the countertop and started twisting a corkscrew into the top. "Can we drink this?" Catie asked, too late for Gina to say no. She poured two glasses, the dark red swishing up the sides and almost splashing out. Catie was barely paying attention. "I need to talk to someone."
Gina took the wine bottle away from Catie and put her hands on her shoulders. "Take a deep breath. It's going to be okay."
"You don't even know what's wrong yet."
Gina grabbed the glasses and walked toward the couch. "Doesn't matter. It's going to be okay. What's going on?"
Catie sat down on the couch, tucking one foot underneath her, and faced Gina head on. "Nick asked me to meet his parents."
"That's great news."
Catie grimaced and took a gulp of wine.
"Isn't it?" Gina asked.
"It should be. But is it too fast? We barely know each other. And it totally freaked me out."
"Nick knows what he likes. He's a good guy. It's definitely a good thing. Plus, we'd basically be cousins. That would make family reunions a hell of a lot more fun."
"Yeah, I guess. He's cute. And so sweet. I mentioned in passing that I keep killing basil plants because I never remember to water them, and the next day a basil plant was delivered to my house and he sent me a text message reminding me to water it." She studied her wine and wiped the rim of her glass with her thumb, smearing away a drop of red.
"So what's the problem?"
"I don't know." She threw a hand up in the air. She was finally seeing someone she liked and she was letting the fact that he liked her too much, too quickly get in the way.
"So did you say yes? Are you going to meet his parents?"
"Yeah, but I didn't even realize what I was agreeing to at first. He wants me to meet them tomorrow! After I digested what he said, I started trying to wrap my mind around it and be okay and excited about it, but then Everett started texting me."
"About work?"
"Kind of. Not really. He was telling me what kind of coffee he wants tomorrow." That wasn't exactly true, but Catie didn't know how to describe Everett's texts. She didn't really know how to describe their relationship, or her job for that matter. When people asked her what she did for a living, she sputtered the worst elevator pitch of all time. I do whatever Everett and the company need from me. It's sort of a mixed bag of legal briefs and assistant type duties. Basically if it touches Everett, it goes through me.
"The type of coffee Everett drinks was distracting you?"
"No. It wasn't just that. I don't know, maybe I'm reading into it, but it felt like he was flirting with me. I know he flirts with everyone, but I just want to be able to shut my life off from Everett and Bowen Enterprises and not think about work, but I feel like he can sense when I'm not thinking about him and interrupt me right at that moment."
Catie hadn't really thought about it that way until she said it. She always knew she was valuable to the company, and to Everett, but it'd always felt very professional. But now ... things had turned personal in the last few weeks. Catie didn't know what she thought about that. She sighed deeply and took another drink of wine.
"Maybe I am just too stressed at work to have the emotional energy to feel excited. There's an intern who's suing the company for sexual harassment, and I'm working my ass off trying to get her to settle out of court, on top of everything else that I'm working on, and Everett is out on a date right now. It's like he doesn't even care that all the work he's done could be tarnished by his reputation. The launch is this weekend. Is it really so hard for him to keep it in his pants for another few days? The guy is a genius, but sometimes he's so fucking stupid it makes me want to slap him."
Gina settled back on the couch and pursed her lips at Catie--looking at her like she was waiting for her to say something else.
"What?" Catie asked.
Gina just raised her eyebrows.
"What?" There was more exasperation in her voice now.
"Why don't you just bone Everett and be done with it?" She shook her head at Catie as she said it, like it was the most obvious thing in the world.
Catie straightened her back and look at her friend with genuine confusion. "What? I don't want to sleep with Everett, he just won't let me go on a date or have a personal life for two seconds without reminding me about work."
"Come on, Catie. Nick is a good guy. He doesn't deserve to be led on. If you don't want to be with him, don't be with him. I thought if you went out with a good guy, you would stop obsessing so much over Everett and actually see that there are people outside of the office, but if you want Everett, just go for it already."
"That's disgusting. Even if I did have feeling
s for Everett. He's my boss. And who knows how many diseases he has."
"He looks clean to me." Gina said, using a sassy tone and taking a sip of her wine. Catie laughed and threw a pillow at her friend.
"Hey, watch the wine glass!" Gina laughed as she batted the pillow away. "What's that dating service he uses? I think I need to join that, because the guys that I meet at the bar sure don't look like Everett Bowen."
Catie rolled her eyes. "If you think he's that hot, why don't you go for him? I can set you up."
"Because I'd be worried he was thinking about you the whole time. No, thank you." She paused and put her glass down on the coffee table.
"But seriously, Catie, don't you think you owe it to yourself to see if there's something there between you two?"
Catie went silent, sipping her wine from her glass and thinking about the last text message that Everett had sent her. Maybe Gina was right. Was it worth her risking her professional relationship to find out if Everett had feelings for her? Was it worth the possibility of being just another one night stand?
#
Catie ordered two lattes. No foam. No sugar. Just milk and espresso. She'd taken longer to get ready for work than usual. She'd curled her hair, giving her thick locks more of a bounce. She'd taken time with her makeup, applying a dark red shade to her lips that made her feel both classic and edgy at the same time, and she'd put on a tasteful but mildly sexy black shirt that Everett had complimented before. It had a conservative V-neck that showed a hint of cleavage and ruched down the center, accentuating the flare of her waist. She still managed to get to the office early, and it looked like she was the only one there. She turned on the lights as she made her way back to her office. She was surprised to see that Everett's office door was open. She made her way over, unsure if he had come in early or just forgotten to lock up.