Love & Lies

by Michelle Iannarelli

  Miguel looked down at his desk. “Yeah, I guess you’re right.”

  Miles regretted saying what he said after he saw how upset Miguel looked. He got up and walked over to Miguel and placed his hand down on Miguel’s shoulder. “Hey, Migs, I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said that.”

  “Why not? You’re right.”

  “I just don’t…”

  “Subject change, ok. I finally got a hold of Eden last night. She told me to give you a hug for her.”

  “Oh yeah, that’s cute. How’s she doing? Did she come clean about the boyfriend?”

  “She acted like she hadn’t a clue what I was talking about at first, maybe she didn’t but when I finally asked she…”

  “Shit.” Miles looked down and Faith was calling.

  “Who is it?”

  “Faith.”

  “Answer it. I have to call Jessup anyway about our London trip.”

  Miguel got up and walked out.

  Faith hung up the phone and before she even had time to put the phone down her doorbell was ringing. She opened the door to find a smiling Alex holding coffee, bagels and flowers.

  “Hmm…someone must have had some good sex!”

  “Oh God was he good.”

  “So does this mean Miguel has been replaced?”

  “No, maybe, oh I don’t know.”

  “I’m sorry I asked.”

  Alex grabbed a bagel and bit into it. Faith took a gulp of coffee and then pulled off a piece of bagel and stuffed it in her mouth.

  “Dane was great and we had an amazing time together but I’d be lying if I said that hearing as much as Miguel’s name didn’t give me butterflies in my stomach.”

  “Miles didn’t stay last night. I called him this morning and he didn’t ask me on another date.”

  “Just because he didn’t have sex with you or ask you out again doesn’t mean anything. Maybe he wants to take it slow?”

  “Doubtful but he did answer my call this morning which is more than I can say for some guys.”

  “Oh Faithy, you will find Mr. Right, don’t give up hope.” Alex wrapped her arm around her.

  “You too, Alex.”

  Miles, Dane and Eric arrived at Cruz Contracting to meet with Miguel about the situation with their handler. As they exited the elevator Dane slammed into Lacey and knocked her down.

  “Oh my God. Are you alright? I’m so sorry.”

  Lacey looked up at the trio staring down at her. “I think I’m ok.”

  “At least let me help you up.” Dane extended his hand and helped Lacey up.

  Lacey smoothed down her shirt and straightened her glasses. “Thank you.”

  “Lacey, are you sure you’re alright?”

  “I’m sure, Miles.”

  “I’m Dane and this is Eric.”

  “Lacey.”

  “Hey Lacey, do you know where Miguel is?”

  “Do I look like his keeper, Miles?” Lacey laughed.

  Miles smiled at her and looked her up and down. “Yup, yes ma’am you do!”

  Lacey chuckled. “He is in his office with Alex.”

  Dane smiled when he heard Alex’s name.

  “Ok, I think we will go grab some coffee and come back in a few. Can I get you anything?”

  “No thank you, Miles.”

  Miles, Eric and Dane headed back for the elevator. As Dane turned to leave he patted Lacey on the shoulder. “Again, I’m really sorry.”

  “I’m fine, really. Nice meeting you.”

  “You too.”

  The three got in the elevator and Lacey headed back to her desk.

  Miguel and Alex were going over expense reports. Miguel couldn’t help but imagine another man with his hands touching Alex last night. He was making himself crazy.

  Alex was avoiding making eye contact with Miguel. She knew it didn’t matter that she had been with Dane but her heart felt as if it had betrayed Miguel.

  “Alex, before I forget to tell you, I got confirmation and we leave for London the day after tomorrow. We should only be there for about three days.”

  “Ok.”

  “Is everything alright?”

  “Yes.”

  “Alex, you’re way to quiet. Have I done something to upset you?”

  “No.”

  “Did something happen last night?”

  “Last night?”

  “I know you went on a date. Did he…”

  “What the hell? Are you having me followed?”

  Miguel stood up and walked over to where Alex was and reached his hand out to touch her arm but Alex pulled away.

  “Miles told me.”

  “Miles? You have Miles following me?”

  “Alex, calm down. Faith told Miles and Miles told me. Nobody is following you.”

  “Oh.”

  “Great, so we’re back to one word answers?”

  Miguel walked back to his desk and sat down.

  “I’m sorry.”

  “No need to apologize. You’re free to see whomever you like; it makes no difference to me unless it affects your performance here.”

  Alex wasn’t happy to hear Miguel say he could care less what she did. She could see him grit his teeth, clearly it did bother him, yet he had no plans to do anything about it. That hurt her and made her want to hurt him. Before she thought it through the words flew out of her mouth.

  “You have nothing to worry about. In fact, he was very understanding when I got up out of bed this morning and left him there to come to work.”

  “You spent the night with someone on your first date?”

  Alex was a bit embarrassed. He was right, it was only one date. Jeez, that totally made her sound like a slut.

  “At least he bought me dinner, you only knew me an hour before…”

  Miguel jumped up and slammed his hands down on the desk as he growled, “ALEX!”

  Alex jumped and then stood there blinking, she was about to burst into tears. A morning that started out with hope had rapidly gone bad. Why Miguel? He was a jerk and now he was going to see her fall apart. She began packing up her things to leave but Miguel grabbed her by the elbow to get her to turn around and look at him.

  Miguel was so jealous. He couldn’t think clearly and now he had Alex standing in front of him visibly upset. He needed to apologize. It wasn’t her fault he had commitment issues. When Miguel spoke, he spoke quietly.

  “I’m very sorry. What happened between us, it, it was a mistake. If I knew who you really were, I never would have had sex with you.”

  Alex looked up and she had tears rolling down her cheeks. She wiped her tears away and cleared her throat. “This isn’t working out. Consider this my two-month notice.” Alex turned and walked out.

  By the time Miguel could put two words together, Alex was gone.

  ALEX SPENT THE LAST two days avoiding Miguel. Luckily, she had only run into him once and neither of them spoke. The limo pulled up at the airport and there he stood. Alex got out of the car, grabbed her bags and walked over to where Miguel and Miles were.

  “Hey, Alex.”

  “Hi, Miles.”

  Miguel looked over at Alex. “Thank you for coming.”

  “I’m only here due to my contractual agreement.”

  Miles looked between Alex and Miguel, he had no idea what had escalated between them but it didn’t sound so good.

  “Yeah, umm so, why don’t we get headed to the plane.”

  Miles grabbed his bag and reached for Alex’s but she grabbed them and walked off.

  “Migs, what the hell is going on?”

  “Alex gave me her notice.”

  “What? Why? What did you do?”

  Miguel turned around and dropped his bag.

  “Me? Me? What did I do?”

  “Yeah, you?”

  “I told her having sex with her was a mistake but…”

  “You said what?”

  “Miles, look it’s better this way. I’ve already started looking for a replacement.�
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  Miles was annoyed that Miguel was being a total jerk. “Whatever.” Miles stormed off.

  Alex boarded the plane and her heart sunk when she saw not one but two women already waiting inside the plane. No doubt they were there for Miguel. One of the women spoke up when she saw Alex enter the plane.

  “Oh, we thought we were here to party with a man but you are kind of cute. Isn’t she Lisa?”

  “She’ll do. I mean who cares for what we’re getting paid.”

  Alex’s eyes opened wide and her mouth probably dropped open as well. She was almost at a loss for words…well that was until Linda grabbed her ass. Alex jumped and shoved her.

  “If you touch me again, I will break your hand. Understand?”

  “Oh, so you like it rough?”

  “Listen here, I didn’t hire you, Mr. Cruz did. Now stay away from me.”

  Alex walked over to a corner seat and sat down. She thought about getting off the plane and breaking her contract but she was better than that, so she stayed.

  Lisa and Linda sat down in the seats furthest from Alex.

  Miles boarded the plane followed by Miguel. Miles saw Alex alone in the corner and went to sit by her.

  “Are you ok?”

  “Yeah, it seems your friend’s lady friends thought I was their Sugar Momma and I got groped.”

  Miles laughed. “Seriously.”

  “Oh yes, but I set them straight.”

  “Miguel told me you gave your notice. I hate to see you go. I’ll miss you.”

  “Well we still have two months and if you give Faith a chance…”

  “Can I be honest?”

  “Sure.”

  “I like Faith. We had a good time and she is a great woman but my heart, it belongs to someone else.”

  “Then why did you go out with her in the first place?”

  “I thought maybe I could try and move on but I couldn’t.”

  “Maybe it isn’t too late for you and this woman?”

  “It’s been so long; I don’t remember not loving her.”

  “Then tell her how you feel.”

  “She knows. We just can’t seem to make it work.”

  “I’m sorry.”

  “Me too.”

  Miguel looked over and saw Alex and Miles seated together. A pang of jealousy hit him, he wished he was the one sitting with Alex.

  “Oh yeah!”

  Miguel redirected his attention to Lisa who was reaching for his belt.

  “Well, hello.”

  “I’m Lisa and this is Linda. Jane said our client was special, she just didn’t tell us how hot he was.”

  “Why don’t you have a seat and I will grab us some champagne.”

  “But Honey, don’t you want to get busy?”

  “We have plenty of time for that. What we need to do now is buckle up for takeoff.”

  The girls sat down and buckled up, leaving a seat between them for Miguel.

  Miguel poured them some drinks and then sat down between the two women and buckled up.

  “I can’t wait to join the Mile High Club!”

  “Me too!”

  Miguel looked up and caught the expression on Alex’s face and it crushed him. He wasn’t going to bring any girls with him for Alex’s sake but then she quit and got him so angry, she hurt him and he wanted to hurt her. Now he was regretting his decision.

  Miles sat down next to Alex and handed her a drink.

  “Vodka so early in the morning?”

  “It’s five o’clock somewhere and besides I think we are going to need it to get through this flight.”

  Miles looked over at Miguel who had Lisa’s hand down his pants and Linda kissing his neck.

  Alex took a quick glance and then grabbed her glass and clanked it against Miles’. “Cheers.” Then she finished it in one gulp.

  Miles reached out his hand and placed it on Alex’s. “He’s a jerk.”

  “Miles, you can’t feel responsible for him. I certainly don’t blame you.”

  “Alex, I know this probably won’t make you feel any better but he really does care about you.”

  “He has a very strange way of showing it.”

  “He grew up without any love or affection and he just doesn’t know how to handle his feelings.”

  “He’s had girlfriends before.”

  “Yes, but when he was much younger and he never let it get to be too serious before he ended it. Those women used him and hurt him.”

  “Miles, you grew up on the streets too and yet, you’re not like that.”

  “I had loving parents. I was a bad kid who got mixed up in drugs and eventually ended up out on the street. I didn’t have parents like his. His parents abused and neglected him and his sister.”

  “That’s very sad. But Miles, there comes a time when we need to leave the past in the past and move on.”

  “I understand. I guess I just hoped that you would be the one to…”

  “I’m not. I’m going to grab another drink. Can I get you one?”

  “Sure.”

  Alex got up to get the drinks. Miles sat there pondering Alex’s words about moving on. He knew if there was any chance for him to be happy he too needed to do just that. The thought of living his life without his precious angel broke his heart.

  Miguel was in the bedroom with the women. He’d had sex with them both more than once and he still couldn’t relax. He was at the point where he just wanted to grab a bottle of Jack and hide in the bathroom.

  “Ready for more?”

  “I have some business I need to take care of. Why don’t you two go and grab something to eat or take a nap.”

  “Can we nap here?”

  “I need to be alone.”

  The two girls got up, dressed and left the room.

  “I guess Miguel gave the girls time off for good behavior.”

  Miles turned around and smiled.

  “Alex.”

  “I know, that was wrong to say.”

  “You think?” Miles laughed.

  “I know.” Alex laughed.

  “Hey, what are you all laughing at?”

  “Yeah, can we join you?”

  Alex and Miles both looked at Lisa and Linda who were standing there each with a bowl of ice cream.

  “We were just talking.”

  Lisa smiled and plopped herself down, Linda did the same.

  “Good because we love to talk. Don’t we Lisa?”

  “Yup.”

  “Where’s Miguel?”

  “He said he had some business to handle and asked us to leave.”

  “Yeah, that’s what he said but he looked like something was bothering him.”

  “Maybe he has a problem with his you know…his dick?”

  Miles and Alex laughed, then the girls laughed.

  “I think I will go check on him.” Miles got up leaving Alex alone with the two gems.

  “So what exactly do you do for that guy?”

  “Do you have sex with him too?”

  “I’m Mr. Cruz’s CFO.”

  “CFO?”

  “I know; I know…Cash For Oral?”

  Alex rolled her eyes. She couldn’t believe these two. “Actually it means, Chief Financial Officer.”

  “Oh, you’re a cop?”

  “Cop? No.”

  “Then why did you say you were an officer?”

  Alex couldn’t continue on with this conversation. She needed to either change the subject or beat some sense into these two.

  “So what do you girls do when you’re not working?”

  “Lisa and I are in college.”

  “Oh, and what do you two study?”

  “Lisa is studying to be a pharmacy technician and I’m going to be a teacher.”

  “Oh really. That sounds great. Good luck with that.”

  Alex’s phone rang. She looked at the display and smiled when she saw it was Dane. “Excuse me, I have to get this.” Alex stood up as she answered the phone.


  Miles knocked, Miguel didn’t answer so Miles walked in anyway. Miguel was sitting on the end of the bed with a towel wrapped around his waist. Miles walked over and sat down on the bed.

  “Miles, I fucked up.”

  “Did the condom break?” Miles knew what Miguel meant but he was trying to cheer up his friend.

  “I didn’t mean to hurt Alex.”

  “Then why did you?”

  “I was angry, she does something to me that renders me jealous and dysfunctional.”

  “Yeah, I know the feeling.”

  “I don’t want to feel this way. I’m going to tell her when we get back…”

  “That you love her?”

  Miguel stood up and grabbed his undies. “No, that she is free to go. I will pay her until the end of her contract but I can’t have her doing this to me.”

  Miles stood up and looked Miguel in the face. “You are a bigger asshole than I thought.”

  Miguel punched Miles in the face. “I’m sick of you judging everything I do. You’re supposed to be my friend.”

  Miles had blood running down his face. He grabbed Miguel’s shirt off of the bed and pressed it up against his nose and walked out.

  Alex was still on the phone with Dane when she saw Miles fly out of the bedroom with his face bloody. She told Dane she would call him back and rushed to Miles’ side.

  “Oh my God. What happened?”

  “We had a fight.”

  Alex reached for a towel from the wet bar. She dampened it and then pulled the shirt away from Miles’ face and started to wipe up the blood. His nose was still bleeding so she sat Miles down and ran over to her bag and grabbed a tampon.

  “Whoa, what are you going to do with…that?”

  “Trust me, it works.”

  Alex shoved it up Miles’ nose.

  “Alex, I can’t believe I allowed you to shove a tampon up my nose.” Miles chuckled.

  “I only use that trick on people I care about.” Alex winked.

  “Thank you, I feel honored.”

  “So what happened?”

  “We both said shit, I called him an asshole and he punched me.”

  “Do I need to go check on him?”

  “No, he’s ok. I walked out before I decked him.”

  Miguel walked over to where Miles and Alex were. “How’s the nose feeling?”

  “I think I’ll survive.”

  “Miles, can we talk?” Miguel stood there looking as if he had indeed lost his best friend.

  Alex got up and walked away.

  “Save it.”