The Real Heat

by Aurora, Lexi

  "Of course it is, baby. She needed to know. I would want to know if I were in her position. I would want to know if some guy was basically laughing at me behind my back."

  “Is that what you told her? That I was laughing behind her back?”

  The question hung in the air like a stone suspended through supernatural means. Up until this exact moment, Wesley had done a pretty considerable job of playing his part. Hearing what Megan had actually said to Liza, though, ripped that act right to shreds. Megan heard it, too, the change in his voice. Her face, which was turned down and watching her own fingers happily trail up the length of his side, turned to him quickly. There was an alertness there that reminded him of a deer in a field catching wind of a potential predator. Except that wasn't exactly right, was it? In this scenario, Megan was most definitely not the deer. She was the predator, and she was fucking up his new world.

  “Not exactly, I don’t think,” she stammered, trying desperately to backtrack even though they both knew there was no point, “or I don’t know, maybe. We will be though, babe, even if we haven’t been. A couple of years from now, we’ll talk about your weird foray into frumpy chicks and laugh about it. Just another speed bump, right?”

  "You should probably go," Wesley answered darkly, pushing her hand roughly aside. When she tried to touch him again, he shook his head once, hard. Her hand hovered in the air for a moment and then fell angrily to her lap.

  “I did what I had to do. I’m not losing you to her. I refuse to lose to a girl like that.”

  “You just don’t get it, do you? You didn’t lose to her. You lost to yourself. I don’t give a shit if you broke the two of us up for good or not. I don’t know you. I don’t want to know you. You and I are through. It’s time to walk away.”

  And because she was too stubborn to do a damned thing he said, Wesley took his own advice. He slapped some money down on the bar and walked out, glad that Megan had enough self-respect not to call after him and make a scene. In a way, he owed her some small amount of gratitude. He understood now, without a shadow of a doubt, that he loved Liza. He didn't want the Hollywood bullshit. He didn't want the plastic-looking lunacy of chicks like Megan. Liza, even the idea of her, felt like coming home, only to a better home than the one he'd be dealt. Thanks to Megan, he had an idea of what to do, too. No more bullshit, no more fronts. If he was going to try and do this, he was going to be all in.

  Chapter Fourteen

  Liza Morris

  "Go away!" Liza screamed in a strangled stranger's voice, "I swear to God, if you try to force yourself in here again I'll call the cops, and they won't care who you are!"

  It was like a nightmare she couldn't wake up from, the sound of knocking on her door for the third time that night. If she could have cast a spell and made her door invisible to the outside world, she would have done it in a heartbeat. Even if it meant never being able to get out again, she would have done it, just to get a little bit of peace. Her face felt puffy and swollen from all of the crying she had done. The couch pillow beneath the spot where she had been curled up for the last hour was soaked through, and she felt one hell of a headache coming on. All she wanted to do was be left alone with her grief. She wanted to muddle through her confusion, her humiliation, and maybe someday, if she was very lucky, see herself to the other side of it all. Instead, there was this knocking, again with the knocking, as if Megan hadn't done a good enough job of ripping her apart already.

  “It’s not who you think it is, Liza. I’m not here to hurt you. You can call the cops if you want to but I’m not going anywhere.”

  "Wesley?" she asked, dragging herself up to a sitting position and staring at the wooden slab keeping her safe from the outside world. It was a nice idea, but she didn't believe it. Wesley couldn't be at her door, not when he was off somewhere with Megan doing God only knew what. She hated herself a little for even dreaming something like this up. It was pathetic, wanting a man who didn't want her back. She had never been that girl before, and she didn't want to become her now.

  "I know you're upset, honey, believe me. I'm not too thrilled myself, but you don't have all of the facts. Will you please just let me in? Let me tell you what's going on, and if you want to kick me out after that I'll go, no questions asked."

  She walked to the door like a zombie. For the third time she walked to the door, and when she opened it a crack, she saw that it was him. Her heart wanted to do somersaults in her chest except that it was too late. Whatever he was here for, it wasn't for her. Maybe he just couldn't stand the idea of being the bad guy after everything. Perhaps he was only there for her to absolve him of his sins, give him her fucking blessing, even. It was true that he looked sad enough, but looks could be deceiving. If anyone should know that it was her.

  "What are you doing here? Your girlfriend already did your dirty work for you," she said in greeting. Her voice sounded dead, and that was good. It matched the way she felt on the inside. Instead of answering Wesley grabbed her by the hand and led her to the couch. Once the two of them were sitting side by side, he took her face in his hands and forced her to look him in the eyes. God, those eyes, those eyes that made it so hard for her to breathe. He deserved some kind of academy award for how genuine his eyes looked now because everything inside of her wanted to believe him. She wanted to believe him, and she hadn't even heard what he had to say yet.

  "I saw her, okay? After you hung up the phone, I saw Megan."

  "Oh, awesome. What a wonderful start to a conversation," she said, actually laughing out loud. She tried to look away, but he turned her face back towards him, leaning in close enough that she could smell the spice and liquor on his breath.

  "Just listen, okay? I didn't go looking for her. She found me. It wasn't that hard; I'm a creature of habit. I like to go to the same bar, especially when I'm upset."

  "What in the hell did you have to be upset about?" she spit, her head hit with a bright flash of anger, "As far as I can tell, you got everything you wanted. I guess I did, too. I got my money, right? Now I can add high-class hooker to my resume."

  “Stop it, Liza, that’s not what you are. And I didn’t get what I wanted. I didn’t get shit.”

  “Except for the model girlfriend,” Liza shot back bitterly. “Don’t forget that. You don’t have to explain it, Wesley. We weren’t ever actually together. I’m just an idiot who got too caught up.”

  “I was upset about you,” he said quietly, letting his hand drop. She wanted to grab them in her own and put them back in place. She wanted to slap him and tell him to get the hell out. She didn’t know what she wanted, except to hear him explain what exactly he was dancing around.

  “If you have something you want to say, something that makes some sense, go ahead and say it. Otherwise, go away and leave me alone. I don’t think I can take much more of this shit.”

  "Just that I love you. That's all I wanted to say. I started to feel it in Austin, with you lying in bed next to me. I knew it when you stood up to my mother. I love you, and I'm a fucking idiot for not saying it earlier. It might not mean anything now, but I wanted to say it. I wanted you to know I'm not laughing at you the way she said."

  Liza would never forget how paralyzing it could be to finally hear the thing you had been longing for come to fruition. For the rest of her life, she would remember the sheer volume of terror that twisted through her with the arrival of that one simple admission. She couldn't move, couldn't think, and because she couldn't she almost let him get up and walk out with his head hung in solemn defeat. It was him standing that broke the silence in her, and she grabbed his hand, tugging on it with surprising strength. He looked down, his face split between surprise and hope, and she pulled again. He sat beside her, gripping her hands tightly.

  “Liza?” he said, using her name like a question.

  “Do you mean it?” she asked fiercely, her adrenaline galloping through her ferociously, “Do you mean that? Because I have to tell you something and I think you might hate m
e for it. I just want to know that everything I felt wasn’t bullshit before you get up and walk away.”

  "Are you kidding me? You say the word and I'm here. The only way I'm walking away is if you tell me to go," he said, his voice tense and thick. Liza inhaled deeply, willing herself not to pass out. She believed him, oh boy did she ever, and that somehow made what she needed to say more terrifying. To have this one brief moment of love and then to have him leave anyway would be a tragedy she wasn't sure she could recover from, and yet she couldn't keep her mouth shut a moment longer.

  "I'm pregnant, Wesley. It wasn't planned, and I know it's the last thing in the world you wanted, but I-"

  She had plenty more rambling to do, all of her reasons for why she wanted to keep the baby, and he didn't need to be a part of the child's life if he didn't want to. She didn't get to say any of it, never got to say it, in fact. He stopped her mouth with a kiss, and when he lifted her into the air so that he could carry her to a bedroom he already seemed to know how to find, he received no protests from her. He spent the night at her place when the lovemaking was done. After that, they never spent another night apart again.

  THE END

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  Chapter 1: Violet

  “Why the hell are you here at six in the morning?” Amanda asked as I walked into the office, my hair a mess, trying to straighten in the mirror on the elevator before it got to the sixth floor. I was completely frazzled, having woken up late, and had almost missed the early morning train that took me to the office.

  “I have some stuff to catch up on,” I said, hanging my jacket up on the rack and rushing into the office that I shared as an office secretary with my friend Amanda. “Why are you here?”

  “I’m always here this early,” Amanda said. “But not to work.”

  “I can’t believe you sneak into Dirk’s personal shower in the morning,” I said, laughing as I sat down at my desk. Amanda shrugged.

  “What the boss doesn’t know won’t hurt him,” she said. “It has the best water pressure, girl, you have to try it.”

  I laughed and pulled out the file I had been working on the day before, eager to finish highlighting and separating out the dates of the cases before the CEO arrived. Dirk was a mean man, always on my ass, but I did my best not to let him get to me. I had wanted to work at this advertising agency since I’d learned about it in school, and was desperate to make a good impression on the boss.

  “You really need to take it easy,” said Amanda, watching me as I filed through the papers, focused intently on my work. I glanced up at my friend, shaking my head.

  “You really need to get some work done,” I told her. She laughed, sitting at her own desk, kicking off her shoes and putting her feet up on the wood. I shook my head, no longer surprised when she started painting her toenails a cherry red right there at the desk.

  “Are you—”

  “I have to get this finished, Amanda,” I said desperately, cutting her words off with a look. She shrugged and continued what she was doing. I heard a door open then and my heart started to pound in my chest, knowing that Dirk was here and would be ready to look over my work. He had told me the day before that he wanted to meet with me this morning, and I could only hope that it meant he was giving me the promotion I had been working my ass off to get for weeks.

  I waited for a few tense moments, holding my breath until Dirk appeared in the door of the office I shared with Amanda. He knocked on it, smiling at me with an advertiser’s smile, not at all genuine.

  “Can I see you in my office for a moment, Violet?” he asked. I swallowed, standing up and straightening my skirt. I smiled at him.

  “Of course,” I said, and he gestured for me to follow him out of the office. I exchanged an excited glance with Amanda, who gave me two thumbs up as we left.

  Inside Dirk’s office, I sat down on the chair across from his desk, perched nervously at the edge as I waited for him to speak.

  “Want some coffee?” he asked.

  “No, no thank you,” I said, too nervous to drink anything. He smiled at me.

  “Come on, Violet. You look like you need a cup of coffee.”

  “Okay,” I said, not wanting to argue with him. It seemed to take him an excruciatingly long time to pour us both a mug. He handed it to me and I thanked him for it, but my hands were shaking too badly for me to hold it without sloshing coffee over the rim. I set it down and looked at Dirk expectantly.

  “What did you need from me, Mr. Jasper?” I asked him. He stared at me, rubbing his hand over his mouth.

  “I’m reassigning you to a new position. I think that your skills will be more of use there.”

  “Oh,” I said, finding myself smiling. “Oh, that’s great, Mr. Jasper.”

  He raised his eyebrows. “I’m so glad that you’re not disappointed with the news.”

  “Why would I be disappointed?” I asked, suddenly wary.

  “Well,” he said. “I know it might seem like a demotion, but—”

  “I’m getting demoted?” I asked, a sinking feeling in my stomach. “Why?”

  “You’re not getting demoted, Violet. I’m just reassigning you to work with Patricia.”

  “Oh,” I said. I had heard about Patricia, how temperamental she was, how much she sucked up to Dirk and the other board members. She was the head company manager, not a board member, and being her secretary was certainly a demotion from my current job.

  “Can I ask why?” I asked him.

  He cleared his throat.

  “Certainly. I have found somebody to take your place. I just think that I would work better with somebody else.”

  “Did I do something wrong?” I asked him blankly. He waved the question away.

  “Of course not,” he said. “I just think this girl is better equipped to my working style. Known her a long time. Her father’s a good friend of mine.”

  “Oh,” I said dully, trying not to show the disgust and anger that bubbled within me at the words. “I see.”

  He stood up then, reaching forward to shake my hand.

  “I’m so glad you understand,” he said with that bright smile that I wanted to slap off of his face. “It has been good working with you. I think you’re really going to like Patricia. She’s a character.”

  “Yeah,” I said. “A character.”

  “She’s waiting for you now. Thank you again for all your help.”

  “Sure,” I said, leaving the office without thanking him back or wishing he’d have a good day. What I really wished in that moment was that he would fall and break his leg—I had earned that job, worked for it every moment since I’d started school, and now it was being given to some girl just because she had a personal connection to the CEO. My body was tense, my fists clenched at my sides as I went into the office that I shared with Amanda. She frowned at the look on my face.

  “What’s wrong?” she asked, standing up.

  “I got demoted.”

  She stared at me, her mouth open in shock.

  “I thought you were getting promoted.”

  “I did too,” I said, moving around to my desk, haphazardly throwing my things into a box to transfer to the fourth floor of the building. “He’s sending me to work with Patricia. Said he found someone else to do my job.”

  “Who?” Amanda asked. I shrugged.

  “A friend’s daughter. Some girl who probably doesn’t have half the experience,” I said, trying to keep the bitterness out of my voice. Amanda put her hand on my arm, then wrapped me in a hug.

  “I’m so sorry, babe,” she said. “I’ll clog up his shower next time. Stuff handfuls of hair into it. It’ll cost him a fortune to get it fixed.”

  I had to laugh. “Nah, the cost of that is nothing compared to what he makes.”

  “I know,” Amanda said. “But it will annoy him.”

  “That’s a good point,” I said, grinn
ing. She hugged me again and I pulled away, telling her goodbye before leaving the office and making my way to the elevator. I waited for the doors to open, holding my breath, and once I was inside and it started to move I let out a soft scream of frustration. I felt like pulling my hair out, like I had worked for nothing. I managed to pull my face into a smile as the elevator door opened, and I made my way through the lobby and down the hall to Patricia’s office. I knocked on the door and her sharp voice called out for me to come in. I took a deep breath before I did so, holding my box on my hip, opening the door to see Patricia sitting at her desk.

  “I don’t have an office for you. Your desk is over there,” the woman said, gesturing over to a small wooden desk that was barely larger than a computer table.

  “Thank you,” I said to her, trying to keep the irritation out of my voice. “I’m—”

  “I know who you are. Violet Ingrid. And you know who I am. No need for introductions.”

  “Oh,” I said. “I—”

  “Listen,” the woman said, picking up her purse from the floor, opening it, and pulling out a twenty-dollar bill. “Go downstairs and bring me a large Americano. I just want it black. Two sugars.”

  “What?” I asked dumbly as she thrust the money at me.

  “Quickly,” she said. I felt numb as I took the bill, turning around, in shock at her rudeness as I left the office. I went downstairs, waiting in line to buy her coffee. I tapped my foot on the ground impatiently, feeling like I was going to scream. I looked at the front door, wishing desperately that I could go outside, take the day off and just go home and wallow. But I had no choice other than to get Patricia her coffee, so when it was my turn to order, I did so in a blank, even tone, just wanting to get it over with.