by J. S. Badham
Okay, let’s get this right, she thought. There’s a stranger in my house, and I’ve willingly allowed her to dally off into the kitchen. But most importantly, why was Claire suddenly feeling very envious? Peed off? She didn’t want to confess any of that. But actions still counted. Adjusting her spaghetti strap to push it back on her shoulder, she inhaled, then stormed towards Zack’s door.
She knocked on it desperately. “Zack. Zack. Get up.”
There was not a word. She did it several times more, paranoid to look down the corridor to see if the stranger was observing Claire’s madman behaviour, but saw not a soul. It was useless. Zack was a heavy sleeper, something she’d noticed these past few days. With no other option, she opened the door, praying to God that he was decent. Dear God. She swallowed, unable to retract her eyes from the sight of his naked ass peeking from out of the covers. Claire felt like she had forgotten to speak. There was not a chance she could articulate a word at this moment.
He shuffled a little, stretching his arms forward as he brought the pillow closer. Each muscle upon his arms tensed. Mother of cheese, she thought.
“Zack!” she hissed, charging up to the side of the bed.
“Huh? What?” he groaned, refusing to let go of the pillow he cuddled.
“Who is that woman in my apartment?” she demanded.
“Our apartment,” he exhaled. He was very reluctant to get up, yet he did, pulling the quilt over his lower half as he sat up and rested himself against the headboard. “She stayed the night. What else do you want me to say?”
Claire swallowed. It took no genius to see they’d slept together, but secretly she had hoped that wasn’t the case. His words made it concrete. She was feeling irritated once again, and she wished to God to know why. She couldn’t be jealous. Claire had made it clear Saturday that whatever happened was a mistake, and so did he. So why now? Why was her heart trying to jeopardise her brain’s logical solution?
“And?” he persisted.
“And what?”
“What’s the problem?” he asked. She was hesitant to answer. “You’ve come in here. You’re aware that she’s here, so I’ll ask again, what’s the problem? Do you have something to say?” A studious expression held his face captive. She felt very self-conscious as he continued to stare.
“There’s no problem,” she said through gritted teeth. “It just would have been nice to know that there was someone staying under our roof.”
He chuckled. “And what? You like them to sign some sort of contract, or do I have to introduce them before I fuck? Oh, hi, Claire. This is such and such. We’re going to have sex now.”
“I don’t mean it like that, jerk face,” she spat.
Zack smiled with amusement, exhaling as he ran his hands through his hair.
“What’s so funny?”
“Oh, I’m just curious as to why it bothers you so much,” he replied.
“It doesn’t. I couldn’t care less.”
“You’re jealous, aren’t you?” he said, cocking his head to the right.
“No.” She shook her head as she crossed her arms. “Don’t even start.”
“Start what? You barged in here first.”
“Err, excuse me.” It was her. She entered the room, sweetly smiling as she carried a cup towards the bed and sat down. “Here, I made you some coffee.” She passed it over to Zack, who accepted it, cupping it in his hands. “I hope I’m not causing you any trouble,” she added, leaning her chin on Zack’s naked shoulder.
“No, of course not,” he replied, switching hands as he held the cup in one and slid the other around her shoulders. “No, my roommate, Claire, was just reminding me that you’re very welcome here. Right, Claire?” he teased.
“Sure.” She forced a smile.
***
CLAIRE
The journey on the bus couldn’t have been more awkward. At least for her, anyway. Zack appeared not the slightest bothered as he sat beside her, looking at his phone between his legs. Her mind felt on fire. All those tiny cogs working overtime as she kept reflecting on this morning. Casey, or whatever her name was, had left not long after, but it didn’t mean the pair had to keep it PG when they entered the living space, tangled up in one another, hands on each other, mouth on mouth. They could have suffocated each other. But why do I care, anyway? Maybe because I desire his lips? No! She shook the thought away. But in all seriousness, it was bugging her. The whole weekend had been a cock-up. She had Jason on a lead, she was kissing Zack like she’d forgotten her own morals, and he slept with someone else. She didn’t know why she added the last point; he could sleep with whomever he wanted. She didn’t care. At least, she thought she didn’t.
They didn’t speak as they got off and headed into the building. She was grateful for that as she wandered towards the office kitchen, meeting up with Darren, who stood at the counter stirring his tea and munching on chocolate biscuits. He hadn’t heard her come in till she sighed, and immediately, like a turtle on a rocket, he eagerly sped on over towards the centre, sitting his bottom on the grey plastic chair.
“Claire, you wouldn’t believe the news I have for you!” he said, leaning forward with a huge smile plastered across his little face.
She attempted to smile.
Darren clapped his hands. “Oh my God. The date was incredible. He bought me flowers, the meal was fabulous, and the chemistry was just there. Not once did I feel like I needed to pop off to the toilet to just waste time. I could barely breathe every time he looked me in the eyes!” His shoulders slumped as he dropped his head into his propped-up hands.
It didn’t take effort this time to return a smile. She was genuinely happy for him. “Wow, that’s so good, Darren. I’m glad you had a good time.”
“I just feel so…alive with him. This is like the third date or so, and we’re just clicking. It’s incredible, really. You know I’ve never been into all that bullshit about love at first sight, but I’m feeling a little generous to the idea—okay, really generous. I think we’re at the point now that we’re ready to be in a relationship. I really want you to meet him, Claire,” he said, reaching for her hand across the table and squeezing it.
“I really want to meet him, too.” She squeezed his hand back before sliding to her side of the table.
“So, how was your date? I was right, though, wasn’t I? It was a date.” He took a sip from his cup.
“Yes, you were right,” she sighed. “Turns out he’s really into me. Like, really. Like, Darren, he was playing love ballads, for goodness’ sake. Love ballads. He tried to kiss me several times throughout the night, and to make matters worse, I encouraged it towards the end. Don’t ask.” She shook her head, refusing to share the information about Zack’s presence in all of this.
“Wow, shit. That does sound chaotic. I’m sorry it didn’t work out as planned. Or that it was a date. But wait. You encouraged him? What do you mean?”
“I…guess I felt bad,” she lied.
“Well, shit.”
“Claire, hey,” someone interjected. Jason. He approached the table, smiling as he held his hand across her left shoulder. “Could we talk?”
She blinked at Darren. Whatever he wanted to discuss, she knew it was something about the date, something she could have made herself very clear on if she hadn’t flirted back. She could now have the chance to set things right.
She nodded, getting up and grabbing her bag off the table as she followed Jason, who’d decided the conversation was best held in the emergency staircase. Déjà vu, for sure. She shuddered as she tried not to reflect on that moment gnawing at her heart. What she needed to focus on was getting through this at exactly half-past eight in the morning, half an hour before she officially started work.
“So.” He blushed. “I have to say it again. I really had a good time. I mean, forget the film and food. It was you that really made the night. I-I, really—”
“Jason, I need to say something,” she interrupted, biting the inside of her ch
eek, knowing she was going to full well crush him to the core. “I don’t—” She stopped. She was looking out the small window in the emergency door that led back into the office. At that moment, her anxiety spiked on edge as she saw Zack heading straight for them. What the fuck, she thought. She didn’t know why, but something pushed her to change her attitude.
It was so strategic as she heard the door being pushed open; she leaned forward and smacked her lips against Jason’s. Then she pulled back.
“Oh, my bad.”
She looked at Zack, tasting her bottom lip. Was that disappointment on his face? She didn’t know, but he soon turned, pushing the door open as he went back in. Fuck, fuck, fuck. What was she doing? Instead of fixing the giant hole, she knew she only made it worse because her attention was soon brought back at Jason fondling her hand. Shit. He looked like a puppy high on life. She kissed him. And for some reason, she knew it had to be because of Zack. Why?
“Well,” he muttered, lovesick in the eyes. “I was not expecting that.” His thumb was still stroking her hand.
“Erm, could you excuse me one moment?” she said, pressing her lips together as she slipped her hand away from his, desperately trying to escape what felt like a small room closing in on her.
“So, another date?” he called after her.
“Yeah, sure.” She nodded, urgently opening the door as she sped past the row of cubicles and past groups of people as she headed for her own, questionably safe, one. She exhaled, slamming her bag on the desk as she scrunched her eyes closed and cursed to herself. Shit, shit, shit. What had she done? That was not fixing. That was making the problem worse. Idiot.
Someone cleared their throat from behind her. She turned in her chair, acknowledging Zack as he leaned his hand on top of the cubicle wall, something she wouldn’t have been able to do at her height.
“Zack. W-where’s your chair?” she asked, registering that his side of her desk wasn’t occupied.
“Graves found me a spare cubicle a few rows ahead. After all, our mentoring is done. I just came to tell you that Graves has assigned each group a spare office on floor ten to prepare the presentation. We’re in room A34,” he informed her, barely making eye contact as he looked elsewhere, mainly around the office.
“Oh, well, wait for me. I’ll just grab my bag and whatnot,” she replied.
Was he mad? He didn’t exactly look too pleased. But why would he care? He was with a woman this morning, and she, well, she mistakenly kissed Jason.
Claire collected any necessary things she might need, including the memory stick she’d saved some of the PowerPoint presentation on. Anything else, like a computer, would be provided. She wasn’t even feeling that awkward sharing an office alone with him. He waited as asked, and not too long after, they were standing some distance away from each other as the buttons lit up at each floor they passed.
Zack headed out first. Room A34 wasn’t far at all. It was the third room on the right, straight down the corridor. Claire could see the other familiar faces that made up one of the groups entering a room further down. Graves had made it clear that not every group would be presenting, only one would represent the company, but the variety made it easier for options. Theirs was primarily focused on sales; the marketing team had their selected few who would eventually combine with whoever was chosen to present. That made Claire a little more vexed. She could be doing all this work only to find their presentation would not be needed, and that time invested would be wasted.
He entered the day code, a four-numbered pin that saved the expense of having to use a key. He opened the sturdy door. Inside, it was a simple grey and black meeting room holding a large beige oval table in the centre with several black office chairs surrounding it and a television screen on the opposite wall. The primary function of these rooms was for conference meetings or group work. Claire had been up here several times in her position. She’d presented and discussed with clients alongside her peers and participated in monthly meetings in the department on budget costs between the sales and marketing teams effectively set by the accounting department.
Oddly, he seemed to know where everything was kept. He knew laptops were in the laptop trolley on charge at the back of the room and knew the room had its own storage cupboard stocked full of stationary, like paper, A3 to A4. She didn’t say a word.
“So, erm,” she said, shuffling her feet on the spot.
He ignored Claire as he opened a laptop and sat down. He connected it to the television wirelessly, bringing up a pie chart with percentages. “We’ve already discussed as a pivotal point towards persuading the council that our product can be redefined towards those within the area by age. New home buyers, younger or even retired folk, as shown here.” He moved the cursor over the green segment on the pie chart. “These are our targeted customers that we’ve proved are geographically located within the area. We should definitely add this to the presentation, and I think if this project does go ahead, we inform the marketing team to up their focus on these groups. Reach out to new buyers—”
“Wow, Zack. Breathe in some air, at least,” she cut in. “Let’s just take this step by step.” She slowly sat down opposite him.
“I would, but this is some important shit to persuade the council that they’re doing right by investing in our product,” he replied snarkily.
“Zack, I think you should chill a bit. We’re only creating a presentation. We’re not solving world hunger,” she replied, feeling a little on edge.
He exhaled. “I just want to do this right. It’s important for me—I mean, the business. I need to make a good impression. This is my first huge project as part of the team.” He shuffled in the chair.
“I know, I understand. Just chill a bit,” she calmly said, hoping he would ease a little. Part of her was wondering if he was so uptight because of just witnessing her smacking lips with Jason.
***
ZACK
It was obvious he was pissed off. Zack wasn’t sure why. Of course, he did. He’d stumbled on Claire getting cozy with that Jason. It vexed him. Surely, it was a little insensitive for Claire, considering they’d kissed there. It was the first time he’d shut her up, given her exactly what she wanted, what she needed. And this weekend? He had no part to blame in that. After all, something had insisted he stop things before they escalated. What was that? The rational part of his brain? And now this rational part, he believed, was making him behave almost scandalously. He felt deeply hurt seeing Claire all puppy eyes with that fella. Why? Zack had no clue. The feeling he had was preposterous!
Look at her, he thought. Those brown, wild eyes, tender, kissable lips, and that body he’d yearned for. Listen to her. She was babbling on, trying to discuss what they needed and what they should slice out of the presentation. He wasn’t listening; he was too busy observing how her mouth moved, imagining her suddenly talking dirty.
“You had me right where you wanted, Zack. Why not just take me now?” she moaned, fisting her hands into her hair as she grinded herself up and down on the chair. What was this? Wild fantasy?
He blinked. The image dispersed. She wasn’t moaning nor was she on about sex.
“So I think we should cut this.” She pointed at the scribbled note on the mind map they’d produced last Friday. “This isn’t necessary. We should just focus on how the product is going to produce profits for the council. This just reflects our own requirements to improve efficiency between marketing and sales. What do you think?”
He blinked again.
“Zack?”
***
CLAIRE
Zack didn’t even appear responsive. Was he even listening? That was the question. Claire sat a little back, wondering when on earth he’d reply. It was a little longer than she expected until that mouth began to move, but it wasn’t entirely what she’d expected to come out.
“Would you have really been disgusted if we’d had sex that night?” He shrugged his shoulders, dead-ass serious as he looked directly a
t her.
“Err, this isn’t the conversation we should be having. You said we weren’t gonna talk about that,” she mumbled, anxiously pushing a strand of hair behind her ear that had come loose from her ponytail.
“Why not? Is it because of that new boyfriend of yours?”
“He’s…not my boyfriend,” Claire defended herself, trying to appear more interested in the laptop screen than what was coming from out of his mouth.
“Sure.” He shook his head as he began to roll the pencil beneath his fingers.
Claire was irritated. “You can’t exactly say anything. What about you and that woman this morning? Is she your girlfriend? Or is she just some fuck buddy?”
“That’s got nothing to do with us,” he replied, shrugging her comment off.
“And Jason has nothing to do with you, either. We’re not talking about this anymore,” she said, grabbing a pen.
“Well, I sure as hell want to,” he objected, sitting up a little straighter.
“And I don’t,” she hissed. “It was a mistake.”
“A mistake? Really?” He chuckled without an ounce of humor.
“Yes.”
Zack stood up, calmly walking around the table over to her. She didn’t say a word and refused to stop gripping the pen in her hand. He grabbed a hold of the left arm of her chair and spun her aggressively to face him. He held her there, holding her eyes as he leaned a little closer in. “So, you’re telling me,” he quietly said, “that you kissing me was a mistake?” Zack cocked his head to the right.
“Y-es,” she meekly said.
He gently cupped his right hand under her chin, stroking his thumb across the surface. Zack wet his bottom lip and slowly leaned in. He paused, his eyes directly capturing hers. His lips softly kissed hers, catching her startled breath as she closed her eyes. She wished him to deepen it, but he chose not to, pulling back.