ROMANCE: The Surprise That Rocked Me

by Linda Wright

  “Well?” Jessica asked Neal.

  “She’s going to read through the paperwork downstairs and come back when she’s ready to sign it,” he said.

  “Smart girl,” Jessica said with a smirk. Neal smiled to himself.

  “Yeah. She is, isn’t she?” he said almost as if he’d forgotten Jessica was there as he turned and went back into his office.

  The next few days were a whirlwind for Lisa. She returned that day with the signed contract, just like she’d promised that she would. Neal had been in a meeting with a potential client, so she’d left it with Jessica and went home. That night, he’d called and asked if she’d noticed that she would need to move into his place. She had, and told him as much. The next day, she packed her clothes and the things that she couldn’t live without and made her way back to his office. He met her at the door of his office with a scone, a hot cup of coffee and a key to his condo.

  Fifteen minutes later, Lisa let herself into the place. It was a massive two story condo with a hot tub on the balcony, a kitchen to die for and more expensive toys than she’d ever seen in one place before. Neal told her to make herself at home, so she’d gone into the second bedroom and placed her things in the closet before walking around and getting familiar with the place.

  Eventually, she left the condo for the grocery store down the block and picked up a few things to make dinner. Yeah, it was a fake engagement, but that didn't mean that they couldn’t eat. The entire place smelled like baked chicken when she heard the front door open.

  “Holy crap, it smells like heaven in here,” Neal said, coming into sight. Lisa giggled.

  “I love this kitchen,” she said.

  “I can smell that you love it,” he said, coming closer. “What are you making?” he asked.

  “Chicken, macaroni and cheese, and broccoli,” she said.

  “That sounds amazing. Do I have time for a shower?” he asked. Lisa nodded.

  “Take your time,” she replied.

  They sat together and ate together, like they weren’t two strangers that had just met each other a few days ago. It was nice, and comfortable. Neal pulled out a bottle of wine, and the two of them sat by the windows that overlooked the borough and learned about each other. She asked and answered questions, as did he. Then, once both of them began yawning and nodding off, they went their separate ways for the night. Neal said that she could stay in his bed with him, if she wanted to, and that he wouldn’t try and do anything, but she declined. The guest room was just fine with her.

  The next morning, he was already gone when her alarm went off at seven. On the kitchen counter was a note:

  Lisa,

  10:00 am – Interview with Henry Collins @ Lanier Contracting

  1:00 pm – Interview with Janice Grayco @ Miller Home Construction

  3:30 pm – Interview with Eve Kincade @ Brussard Estates (yes, here, but I won’t have any say in whether you’re hired)

  Dress nice, that perfume you had on the day we met is perfect. Good luck.

  Neal

  Lisa smiled. There was something kind of sweet about that. She hadn’t said a word about the job thing after that first date, and it hadn’t been in the contract, but he’d promised and kept his word. That meant a lot in terms of his character. Neal had jotted down phone numbers and addresses for the first two interviews on the bottom of the note for her as well.

  “Guess I ought to get my rear in gear,” she said to the no one that was there with her to hear it. First on deck was breakfast, she didn’t want to show up with her stomach talking louder than she was.

  Chapter 5

  The interview with Lanier had gone… it had been peculiar. Lisa was completely covered up in a professional pant suit that buttoned all the way up to her neck, so there was nothing popping out, but Henry spent the entire interview staring at her chest. Neal called around noon to ask how it went, and she’d told him about it honestly. Neal had promptly called Henry an asshole, which made Lisa laugh about it. He told her that he’d planned on trying to grab some lunch with her before her next interview, but that he was being dragged into a quickly unfolding emergency and couldn’t. Lisa found herself a little disappointed, but shrugged it off and told him that it was alright. Why was she disappointed?

  She grabbed lunch alone, but texted him asking what he wanted for dinner that night. He’d responded that he’d be home by six, and that it was his turn to cook that night. That had made her smile. What the hell was wrong with her?

  The second interview had gone better, as in there hadn’t been any boob staring, which was nice. However, the office was a bit of a disorganized mess, and no one that she observed while she was waiting for Janice to come get her from the waiting area seemed to know anything about what was going on. That wasn’t really a good sign, was it? Lisa looked past that and went into the interview with the intention of impressing the hell out of the woman that she spoke to. Then she left and started making her way towards Broussard.

  She stopped and the front desk again, this time because she wasn’t there to see Neal, and going up to the top floor to ask where she was supposed to go seemed like cheating. She asked the security guard, and followed his directions to the eighth floor waiting area.

  Eve was a strikingly beautiful woman. Her light blond hair looked to have been thick and long, but you couldn’t tell for sure because it was pulled back into a severe bun. She wore small, square framed glasses and her sharp blue eyes were almost piercing as she looked Lisa over.

  “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Lisa. Your resume is a bit devoid of experience, but I can see that is because you recently finished your degree. May I ask why you started college two years later than most?” she asked as they walked down the hall together towards only God knows where.

  “I took some time off to decide what I wanted to do. When I finished high school, I had no idea what I wanted to major in, or rather I had too many ideas. So, instead of becoming that perpetual student that either wastes their parents money or racks up a boatload of loans, I took time to decide what I wanted to do while doing a bit of entry level work,” Lisa said. Eva nodded approvingly.

  “Smart choice. One that I think more people should take, being in college for eight years does not make me confident in anyone’s abilities,” she said, smiling for the first time since Lisa had arrived. She had a nice smile that softened up her face. She should do that more often.

  Talking with Eva was like a breath of fresh air. She walked Lisa through the office so that she could see the conditions that she would be spending her days in, should she be hired, and had her speak to two other people. Then, she was dismissed with a polite ‘thanks for coming’ and a side note that they’d be making the hiring decisions over the next two days, so she should hear something relatively soon. Lisa left feeling that it went really well. She’d have to remember to thank her fake fiancé for the interviews, she thought to herself with a chuckle.

  Chapter 6

  Lisa and Neal fell into a rhythm living together relatively quickly. Their habits seemed to fit together, so there wasn’t a lot of fussing or getting in each other’s way. That night was a big business event, and Neal had bought her a formal dress and paid for her to spend the afternoon at a salon getting ready. By the time she arrived back at the condo to get dressed, she felt like a princess of some sort.

  The event was being held at one of the more post hotels in the borough. They’d rented out the largest ballroom and planned to serve a full dinner and have a full band with room for dancing. Neal and Lisa walked into the room together and Lisa looked around, her eyes wide.

  “Wow. Are all the events like this?” she asked. Neal smirked.

  “Only the ones thrown by people who like to show off their money. This is thrown by one of those people,” Neal said.

  “Neal, excellent to see you. Will your parents be joining us as well?” An older, rather pudgy looking man said, walking up to us with a smile.

  “No, I’m sorry, Mr. Wilcox
. You’re stuck with my fiancé and me tonight,” Neal said with a rather professional smile.

  “Your fiancé? My goodness, you are a beautiful young woman, welcome,” the man said, his entire demeanor changing as he actually took Lisa in. Lisa took a step closer to Neal for good measure and slapped a grin on her face.

  “It’s a pleasure to meet you,” she said.

  “You as well. Please, enjoy yourselves,” he said as someone called for him on the other side of the room.

  “He was weird,” Lisa said softly as she and Neal began walking.

  “Yeah, he cheats on his wife with younger women every chance that he gets,” Neal said. Lisa snorted a sudden laugh.

  “That’s horrible!” she whispered.

  “Nah, his wife has been sleeping with their gardener for the past year or so. Everyone’s happy, so no one says anything,” he said.

  “I hope my life never becomes a series of lies like that,” she said softly. Neal nodded.

  The first half of the night started out with a really nice dinner, a few drinks and some polite conversation with people who seemed to hold no genuine interest in their surroundings. By the time Lisa and Neal made it to the dance floor, they were both tired of smiling and nodding.

  “This is exhausting,” Lisa said as Neal wrapped his arms around her waist.

  “True, but you’re doing a great job,” Neal said, smiling down at her.

  “You think? I was trying not to look annoyed, but I’m not sure I succeeded,” she said with a laugh.

  “You did great, trust me. And on top of that you’ve got the attention of every man in this room, you look amazing,” he said. Lisa grinned.

  “Even you?” she asked.

  “Especially me,” he said softly. Neal’s eyes held her with a heat that was almost tangible as the two of them danced together.

  “Oh,” Lisa breathed.

  “It’s kind of late, do you want to get out of here?” he asked. Lisa swallowed the nothing that was in her mouth and nodded.

  “Uh huh,” she said.

  Their goodbyes were rushed but polite as they made their way towards the exit. The valet bringing the car around was tipped for not taking his time with it, and Neal drive home well above the speed limit. By the time they reached the condo, the two of them were almost tangled in each other. Lisa had never felt anything like what she felt for Neal, something hot and alive. They stumbled to Neal’s bedroom together, leaving a trail of clothes behind as they went.

  Chapter 7

  Two weeks later, and Lisa had been out to two public events with her arm locked with Neal’s for the public. She hadn’t met his parents yet, which she found odd considering that this whole fiasco was their idea, but he’d said that they were happy with the public’s view of him, since the two of them had gone public. At home, the two of them were warm and affectionate, but cautious. Almost as if the two of them were afraid that night that they’d spent together was simply the result of alcohol. They kind of were, actually. It hadn’t happened again, but not because neither of them didn’t want it to.

  Lisa made her way to her desk at Broussard. Neal had seemed really happy about her being offered and accepting the job there instead of somewhere else, and while him being there was a nice plus, she’d chosen that position because the pay and benefits were the best and the office environment seemed like the best fit for her. She was already very happy with her decision, and had a pretty good group of friends.

  Except for one girl who spent most of her day glaring at Lisa from across the office, for some reason. No one had any idea why she seemed to dislike her, so most just ignored her. Lisa was well tucked in to ignoring her when she made it impossible.

  “Excuse me,” A voice said. Lisa looked up into the face of the girl from across the room: An annoyingly perky blond who clearly had an attitude, but even that was perky and involved a lot of hair flipping.

  “Yes?” Lisa said without batting an eye.

  “I need to tell you something,” she said. She stopped talking as if she was expecting some sort of pJohnuction over her choosing to speak. Lisa sighed and turned back to her computer screen.

  “You’ll have to excuse me not facing you, but I have a lot of work to do and you seem to be taking your time, but I’m listening,” she said.

  “It’s about Neal,” she said. She stopped again and Lisa felt her temper buck.

  “Sweetheart, I just told you that I have a lot of work to do, get on with it,” Lisa said, continuing to work.

  “He’s my boyfriend. I don’t know why he’s parading you around in front of everyone, but he’s mine, so back off,” she spat at Lisa. Her suddenly venomous tone made Lisa stop again.

  “And you are?” she asked with a blank look on her face, even though someone else claiming Neal had her insides in a knot for some reason.

  “He didn’t even tell you who I am?” she asked, stamping her little prim foot. Lisa shrugged.

  “I guess you must have slipped his mind. Name?” she repeated.

  “Heather. Heather Mitchell,” she said. Lisa filed that away for later, and turned back to her work without another word.

  *~*~*

  “So who is Heather Mitchell?” Lisa asked that night over dinner. Neal’s fork paused momentarily.

  “She’s someone’s assistant, isn’t she? Blond, kind of bouncy…” he said vaguely.

  “She came to my desk this morning and told me that she had no idea why you were parading around with me, and that you were hers so I needed to back off,” Lisa said. Neal looked up at her solidly now. She was frowning, her face annoyed.

  “I’m not actually seeing her, Lisa. You know that, right?” he said. Lisa shrugged as if it were nothing, even though it was something to her.

  “This is a fake engagement; you can do what you want. It’s probably not a good idea for it to be public knowledge though,” Lisa said softly.

  The front door to the condo burst open and two set of feat came storming into Lisa and Neal’s space. The woman looked to be the one who was more pissed about whatever she’d come in about. Neal didn’t seem shocked to see them, but Lisa wondered how they even got in until she noticed that the man looked just like an older, more portly Neal.

  “You did fine for what, a few weeks? And then you go and screw it all up,” the woman screeched, holding up what appeared to be a celebrity news rag, though neither Neal nor Lisa could see what it was that she was so upset about while she was waving it around like that. Finally, Neal stood and took the paper from her, holding it still. There on the cover was a picture of him and Heather from the night before, coming out of a club together. Lisa frowned and folded her arms across her chest.

  “I thought that you were out with clients last night,” she said.

  “I was! Heather was there too, to take notes for her boss. She was drunk and needed a ride home. Lisa’s frown deepened.

  “This does not look like someone’s boss giving them a ride home because they can’t hold their liquor,” Neal’s mother said.

  “Look, she and I went out a few times months ago. I may have let her take a few more liberties than I should have, but that was because she was drunk. I figured she wouldn’t even remember it past this morning,” he said.

  “You mean, until she walked up and told me to leave her man alone?” Lisa said.

  “You, my son, are an idiot. She has already spoken to the man that took this picture, and spread across half the country that the two of you have been a couple for the past six months. She also states that she doesn’t know who this fiancé that you’ve been talking about with, since it’s clear that you two are still an item. Lisa felt herself getting madder and madder.

  “Oh my goodness, I can’t believe this. I made it clear to her that she and I weren’t a thing, and when she started to get clingy, I broke it off with her. I knew that she hadn’t take it too well, but I didn’t think that she’d do something like this,” Neal said.

  “Of course she would, any woman wou
ld. This is why I told you that you needed to stop being such a slut!” Neal’s mother smacked him in the arm as she spoke. His father simply stood there. Lisa turned and walked off, towards the second bedroom.

  “Where are you going?” Neal called after her.

  “You’ve sufficiently screwed up this little arrangement that you and I had now, I’m going to pack my things. And don’t forget, according to the contract, you have forty eight hours to pay me,” she said, closing the door behind her. Neal could hear the hurt in her voice and let his head drop.

  “Shit,” he hissed.

  “Are you just going to let her leave?!” his mother almost yelled it, pointing at the door that she was now on the other side of.

  “What else can I do? She’s right,” Neal said softly as his head fell into his hands.

  Chapter 8

  It had been a full month. Lisa thought about giving up her position, but talked it over with a few friends over drinks and opted not to. The position and the benefits were excellent, and other than the threat of possibly running into Neal, she loved it there. She’d turned in the card that allowed her access to Neal’s floor that Monday morning. Jessica had asked her to keep it for a few days and think about whether this is what she really wanted to do, but she’d declined. She and Jessica had met for lunch a few times since then, and she realized that Jessica would intentionally change the subject when something about Neal came up. Until that morning, when Lisa arrived to a note on her desk.

  Meet me in the lobby at 10.

  -Jessica

  Lisa didn’t know what that was all about, but she made a note to pay attention to the time. Jessica was in the lobby waiting at ten on the dot. She turned and grinned as Lisa trotted up to her.

  “Ho good, you’re here. Come on,” she said, grabbing Lisa’s hand and almost dragging her towards the entrance.

  “Where are we going?” Lisa asked. Jess grinned at her over her shoulder.