Accidental Rivals_An Office Romance

by River Laurent

  Taking them through the house is a breeze, since they’re so obviously in love with the place and each other. And they’ve been thinking a lot about what they’ll do with it too. I overhear them murmuring about where they’ll place the furniture and where they’ll set up offices for themselves.

  I can’t believe it. This is looking better all the time.

  I almost wish Zack was here for it. But no. It’s better that he isn’t.

  “All right.” They turn to me, after having one more whispered conversation on the other side of the kitchen. “I think we’re ready to make a bid.”

  Calm down, calm down, be professional. This is hardly the first time you’ve ever had a person make a bid before.

  I smile sweetly. “That’s great news! I’m so glad. I was really hoping to be able to pair you two with this home. I can put the paperwork in today, if you wish.”

  “That would be fantastic.” They’re both beaming, so happy to be taking this big step.

  Now, I can’t help but feel the slightest bit of envy, truth be told. It must be nice, having a partner to celebrate these big life-altering moments with.

  A moment that’s not going to happen today, evidently.

  “Shoot. I’m so sorry.” My fingers fly over the files in my bag. “I didn’t bring the paperwork with me.” I was in too much of a rush and too off-balance because of dumb Zack and his dumb touching reaction to my offering to cover for him.

  “Oh, no. That’s disappointing, though, honestly, we never thought we’d get lucky enough to place the official bid today. But it would’ve been nice.”

  I can barely meet Mrs. Dawson’s eyes. “I promise you, I’m not normally like this.”

  “We sprang this on you at the last minute,” she says kindly. “I woke up this morning and thought, what are we waiting for? We know we want the house.”

  I hope she doesn’t have the opposite realization tomorrow morning.

  “How about we meet over lunch tomorrow, and I’ll bring all the necessary paperwork with me then?” I suggest, mentally crossing my fingers that they won’t think I’m too demanding.

  To my relief, they agree, and we leave together. Though I’m smiling on the outside, on the inside I could kick myself. If it weren’t for me being such an idiot, I could’ve maybe gotten the sale tied up today.

  Sienna

  Just finished with Beth. Are you still there?

  I chew my lip and read the message again. I just pulled up to the office with every intention of making double sure the paperwork is ready in my bag tomorrow.

  Already at the office.

  My phone pings right back.

  How did it go?

  I smile as I type my reply.

  Went great. They want to make an offer. I also have a showing in the morning, which I wouldn’t want to cancel since nothing’s in writing yet. Lunch date tomorrow, though, to get the papers signed.

  Right away, I can see that he’s typing up a reply.

  That’s great news! Way to go.

  Darn him for making me feel all pleased with myself. Like his approval is what I’m interested in. Like I need that. It feels awkward, leaving things there. I should say something else for the sake of making conversation.

  How is your sister holding up?

  I hope that’s not too personal a question—but then, he told me about her. It’s not like her situation is a secret. I watch the cursor blink as he types his reply.

  Not great. She’s learning more about this dude every day, even though I keep telling her not to bother. Just torturing herself.

  I know how the girl feels. That’s the worst part. I don’t know a single person who’s ever had a bad breakup and hasn’t wanted to stalk their ex a little. Especially if the ex was in the wrong.

  I’m sorry to hear that. Poor thing.

  My phone rings maybe half a second later.

  “I hate sitting here, sending all these messages.” He chuckles.

  There’s still an uneasiness between us, a newness. We straddle the line between civility and that weird tension between two people who made out on the floor in a house they’re supposed to be selling.

  “Yeah. I’m not the type to sit and exchange a million texts, either,” I lie. I’d much rather talk via text than verbally. Texting is pretty much my preferred means of communication outside work-related conversations.

  “Listen. I was thinking. Maybe Beth needs to talk to a girl who’s not one of her girlfriends. You know what I mean?”

  “Sure. I can see that.”

  “So you’ll do it?”

  I close my eyes. “What?”

  “I’m meeting her for dinner at the same restaurant you and I went to that first night. Remember?”

  My heart races just a little faster. “Yes. I remember.”

  “It would be great if you could join us—it might help her to have an excuse to talk about something else. Someone else. Know what I mean?”

  I know what he means. I know he’s only doing this for his sister. It’s obvious how much he cares for her, and I know what that feels like. I love my sister, too. “What time should I be there?”

  Boy, I hope I don’t end up regretting this.

  Sienna

  It’s always a shame to see bad things happen to nice girls.

  Beth seems like a nice girl, for sure. Beautiful, too, though I don’t know why that should be a surprise. She looks like a female version of Zack.

  But fragile. And a little broken. She trusted her heart and her life to a man who betrayed her. I can tell she’s trying to appear cheerful for her brother’s sake, and possibly mine, but there’s a deep well of sadness there.

  “You’re lucky to have a brother who cares so much about you.” I can’t help but look over at him, smiling to myself over the way he is smiling at her. Typical adoring big brother. I would never in a million years have imagined him behaving this way. “I’ve got to admit, I assumed he’d be the type who teased and tormented.”

  “Oh, he did plenty of that when we were kids.” She laughs. “We beat each other up more times than I could count. Remember that one time you shoved me into the wall so hard, the sheetrock dented?” she asks, turning to him.

  “What?” I gasp, laughing.

  “In my defense, I’m fairly sure it was paper instead of sheetrock,” he argues. “Those walls were painfully thin.”

  “Obviously!” Beth and I reply at the same time, giggling together.

  “Scrawny little you?” she teases.

  “He was scrawny?” I ask, eyeing him up and down in disbelief.

  “You have no idea. Have you ever seen those old Popeye cartoons? What was her name? Olive Oyl!” Beth wipes tears of laughter away with the corner of her napkin.

  I have to join her soon after because the thought of Zack being a scrawny, skinny little guy is just too delicious.

  “Wow. One of you at a time is bad enough…” Zack says, shaking his head.

  But I can tell he’s enjoying seeing his sister lighten up a little, even if it’s sort of at his expense. This goes on through our entrees and into dessert, which Beth and I decide to share.

  Before long, it’s time for me to go. “I have a few things to straighten out before a showing in the morning,” I explain, giving Beth a hug before leaving.

  “I’m so glad to have met you,” she says, squeezing a little harder. “Zack never brings nice girls around.”

  “Hey…” he warns, shaking his head.

  “I know, I know, you two work together.” She shrugs. “But still. That doesn’t mean she isn’t nice.”

  “She has a good point.” I grin while sliding into my coat.

  He walks me to the car, leaving his sister sipping her cappuccino.

  When we’re alone in the parking lot, he asks, “Okay. Why did you really come here tonight?”

  “For starters, I like the food.” I glance at him from the corner of my eye and see he’s not smiling.

  “But I thought you hated me?
” he says softly.

  His question reminds me of when I accused him of the same thing. He’s so good at doing that. The memory of an elephant, and the poor manners to bring up what he remembers.

  When we finally reach my car, I’m glad for it. He’s making me uncomfortable, but not in a terrible sort of way. In the sort of way that brings a flush to my cheeks and makes the back of my neck tingle.

  “All right. The truth.” I lean with my back to the car, and look up at him. Oh, my God, bad idea. The tingles go right down my spine. “I feel sorry for Beth. I know what it is like, being with a man I thought was mine, only to find out how wrong I was when he belonged to someone else. I think almost everyone in the world past puberty knows that feeling.”

  “True,” he murmurs with a rueful smirk.

  “My heart feels for her. It truly does. And, honestly?” I look into his eyes, straight into them, locking and holding on without blinking. “And for you, too.”

  “For me?” His eyebrows rise a little as he points to himself.

  “Yes. Because you’re only trying to do your best for her. You want to take away her pain, maybe inflict a little damage on the jerk who’s done this to her.”

  “A little?”

  I smile, hearing that big brother growl of his. He wants to hurt this guy, maybe tear his throat out. Or tear off a part of his body he might miss even more. I’d want to do the same to Luke if he ever did something like this to Tami. “I guess I just know how difficult it is to be another person’s support system, especially when they’re going through a really hard time.”

  “What about your parents?” he asks.

  An unconscious sigh escapes me. “My Dad died of cancer when we were quite young. When we were teenagers my mom married a man who doesn’t like to share her with anyone. Don’t get me wrong, he’s very good to her, just madly possessive, you know.” I wrinkle my nose. “To make her life easier my sister and I don’t call her unless she calls us.”

  For some strange reason, we’ve both become completely serious now. The air around us changes. I clear my throat and carry on, “Being the older one, I promised Dad I’d take care of Tami, so that’s what I do. It can be pretty exhausting at times, but she family and I love her.” I’m sure I’m babbling now, but I can’t stop. If I stop, something else is going to happen. “The fact that you’re hanging in and doing your best for her means you must be tired.”

  He stares at me, but he’s no longer listening to me.

  Tell me how crazy I am, but our bodies are now doing the talking. I feel my body leaning towards him. Then a family exits the restaurant, their children race into the carpark shouting and the spell is broken

  “I’ll never let her down,” he says softly.

  I smile up at him, admiring the way the moonlight makes his eyes glitter like a precious jewel and the way they shine warmly down on me. “I didn’t think you would.” My voice is just a whisper. Then I turn away and start fumbling with my car door.

  Zack

  I expected Beth to ask a bunch of questions about Sienna once we were alone.

  I didn’t expect what she puts me through the second I return to my seat.

  “Sooo…” She swirls what’s left of the cappuccino in her cup. “What’s the story with you and my new bestie?”

  “You like her because she helps you make fun of me.”

  “You are such a baby!”

  “Hardly. But two against one is hardly fair.” I love seeing her like this, with mischief in her eyes. She’s her old self. She can forget about her problems for a little while, and I’m more than happy to play along if it means she keeps her good mood.

  “Oh, get over it. Such a big shot, and you can’t stand a little teasing. You can give as good as you get, and I know it, so don’t try to play victim with me.”

  She’s right about that. Haven’t I sparred with Sienna more than once? I like it. Probably more than a little too much.

  “Anyway,” she continues after finishing her drink, “You know what I’m asking, so don’t try to act like you don’t. Who is she, really?”

  “She’s really the woman I’m working with to sell a house, like I told you. She’s someone from the office.”

  “Riiiiiight.” She rolls her eyes and shakes her head mournfully.

  “What is that supposed to mean?”

  “It’s supposed to mean that the two of you were making goo-goo eyes at each other the entire time she was here.”

  “What? Was this before or after you verbally eviscerated me?”

  “My, my, such vocabulary.” Another eye roll, just like I remember. “Before and after, for your information.”

  “In that case, you’ll be very surprised to hear that she doesn’t even like me very much. In fact, we don’t get along well at all.”

  “Hmm. Since when are you in the habit of inviting women you don’t get along with to dinner?”

  I look around, spreading my arms in a shrug. “You act like you weren’t here with us! Like this was a date.”

  “I might as well have not been for half the time, with you guys staring at each other like you were trying to figure out how to most quickly get into each other’s pants. I mean, I felt a little embarrassed.”

  “Knock it off.”

  “Hey.” She holds up her hands, palms out. “You can keep lying to yourself if you want. Whatever helps you sleep at night.”

  “You’re very imaginative.”

  “And you’re very dense if you think I can’t see through you. Nobody’s known you longer than me, except for our parents. So just save your stories, okay?”

  “You should see some of the fights we’ve gotten into, and the shitty things we’ve done to each other over this house we’re working on together.”

  She frowns. “Why?”

  I sigh. It sounds so stupid when I say it out aloud, “Both of us wanted to take the sale for ourselves, rather than sharing, but it was mostly my fault. She was willing to share at the beginning.”

  “You and I did some shitty things to each other when we were kids,” she points out, tilting her head to the side. “And we didn’t hate each other. I mean… okay, we hated each other, but not really.”

  “I get what you’re saying. Just trust me. It’s not that way for us. Okay?”

  “Fine, fine.”

  “And we’re about ready to accept a bid on the place, anyway, so there’s that. It’s practically sold, so we’ll never have to work together again,” I add.

  “Oh, well, good! You won’t be working together anymore.” She grins like the Cheshire cat, the smug thing. “That’s a good thing. Right?”

  I feel empty inside when she says it that way. “Yeah. That’s a good thing.” I signal for the check.

  Sienna

  “You ready for this?” Zack’s smile is genuine as he enters my cubicle the next morning, after my return from what I hope is the last showing of Nick’s house.

  I have to admit, something about having dinner with him and his sister has softened my opinion of him quite a bit. I would ordinarily feel a little miffed at him walking right into my private space like this without so much as a knock, but now I feel that it’s just not worth getting worked up over. In fact, I kinda like it that we have this new bond.

  God, who am I becoming?

  “Of course. I eat lunch meetings for… breakfast.”

  He smiles at my lame attempt at humor. “Seriously, they’re a great couple.”

  “Yeah, I got a good feeling about them right off. Even if they think we’re a couple, too.”

  “Well, we almost were one a couple of days back.”

  I wish my heart didn’t flutter when he said that. It’s getting harder to resist his charm, the charm I used to hate, the charm that made me gag whenever I heard him shower other women with it. I open my mouth, think better, and close it again.

  His smile widens, dimples showing in his cheeks.

  Crap. What were we talking about again? Right. The lunch meeting.
“So about lunch…”

  “Do you want to take point on this, since you’re the one who was with them yesterday?” he asks.

  Wow. It takes a second for me to get over my surprise. “You’re sure about that? It isn’t like you to just step aside and let someone else take the lead.”

  “No…it’s fine. There are no egos here.”

  Is it wrong that I burst out laughing? I tell myself it probably is, but I can’t help it. “Since when?”

  Anything he has to say in return is lost when my phone rings. “My sister,” I murmur, sort of relieved for the interruption. He makes a move to leave, but I motion for him to stay as I answer.

  “Oh, my God!” she sobs before launching into a story I can’t understand thanks to the way she won’t stop crying.

  “Tami. Tami? Tami!” I glance at Zack, who puts his hands up and starts backing away, but I gesture with my hand that he should stay. “Honey, I need you to calm down and start again. I couldn’t understand a word of what you just said.”

  She takes a deep, shaky breath, then blows it out. “The florist. They just called and said they overbooked and won’t be able to handle me.”

  “Oh, no.” I rub my temples, eyes closed.

  “What am I supposed to do? With no flowers? They were supposed to be so professional!” She’s ramping up again, ready to go full-on meltdown.

  I need to calm her and quickly. “Sweetheart, we can make this right.”

  “You’re the one who wanted them!”

  “I know. I feel terrible about it. But I’m certain we’ll find something. Just… let me think about it for a minute, okay?”

  “We don’t have a minute,” she almost shouts.

  I hold the phone away from my ear. “Yes, we do. I know you think this is unfixable, but it isn’t. We’ll figure something out.” Only I don’t know what. And I really don’t have time to devote to this at the moment, seeing as how I have the biggest closing of my career within my grasp.