Miss Demeanor

by Beth Rinyu

  I stood up next to her, taking her a little off guard when I gently took her arm. “Rose, I understand you want to help give an old man his dying wish, but sometimes things are a lot more complicated than what they seem. William’s had a rough life, but he’s tough. I don’t want to see you get your hopes up over your perceived happily ever after for him only to have it backfire in your face.”

  “Things only backfire in my face when it pertains to my own happily ever after, Alex. That was confirmed by my debacle last night and foolishly thinking that maybe I could’ve found my Mr. Right. I may be hopeless in finding happiness for myself, but I have a pretty good track record when it comes to finding happiness for other people. So, I’m giving up on the quest for my happy ending and focusing on what I do best, finding it for others whenever I can.”

  I looked away and closed my eyes, remembering how genuinely upset she was last night. I had judged her way too harshly right off the bat, all because I thought she was like someone else. After getting to know her a little better, I was coming to the realization that she wasn’t the girl I had originally pegged her out to be. Yes, she was pretty high-maintenance, but she really and truly did care about others.

  “Just because you had one bad experience doesn’t mean you have to give up on finding your own happiness.”

  “Isn’t that what you’re doing?”

  “What?”

  “Shutting everyone out around you because you’ve had your heart broken and then hating every girl you come across who reminds you of that person who did the damage?” Her tone was soft and gentle, a stark contrast from the sarcasm it was normally laced with.

  “No,” I whispered, hoping she couldn’t see through my lie.

  Something passed between us as we gazed at one another, neither wanting to look away first. I was seeing her so differently than I had when I first met her, so differently than I had just forty-eight hours ago, and part of me wanted to know if she was seeing me in a different light too. I lowered my head and my lips came dangerously close to hers, startling and being brought back to my senses by the knock on the door.

  Rose snapped out of it and ran to answer it, while I stood there still lost in what could’ve happened and what more than likely would’ve happened had we not been interrupted. What the hell was I thinking? I raked my hand through my hair, trying to come to terms with what I almost did. Was it lack of sleep, lack of sex, or was it my own self-denial I was in, the same denial I’d been trying to fight every single day since I’d first met her?

  Chapter 25

  ___________________

  Rose

  “WHAT’S SO FUNNY?” I asked, starting my Monday morning to find a large group of my coworkers in fits of laughter as they huddled around Lucy. Somehow just the sight of me triggered their amusement even more before each of them dispersed from whatever they were looking at on Lucy’s phone. “What’s everyone looking at?”

  “Oh, it’s nothing.” Lucy looked down at the floor and smirked.

  “Let me see.”

  She covered her mouth to contain her laughter.

  “Lucy Waters, let me see what’s so funny.”

  “Fine…let’s go in your office, and I’ll show you.”

  As we walked down the hallway, I peeked into Alex’s dark and empty office and shook off the disappointment I was feeling. Why? Why did I care if he was in or out today? Just a short time ago, I longed for the days when he wasn’t here to give me grief. I tried my hardest to chalk up our almost kiss the other day as getting caught up in emotions over William or sheer exhaustion over way too much drinking the night before, and as much as I wanted to believe that, I knew it was something more. If his lips had touched mine, I wouldn’t have backed away. I wanted to kiss him in that moment, and I was angry for betraying myself in that way.

  “Okay, what’s so funny on your phone?” I asked once we reached my office.

  “First...did you make it home okay on Friday night?”

  “Yeah…why wouldn’t I have?” I overenthusiastically nodded. It was a horrible habit of mine whenever I was guilty of lying.

  “Well, both you and Alex were pretty hammered. And you were…”

  “I was what?” I snapped, hanging on her every word, yet at the same time dreading what she was going to say.

  “You were kind of hanging all over Alex…and I thought maybe the two of you may have hooked up. I wanted you to get in the cab with Declan and me, but you jumped in with Alex and you wouldn’t get out.”

  “Nothing happened, Lucy. I swear!”

  “Okay, okay, I believe you.”

  “Now…let’s see what’s on the phone.”

  “Fine,” she muttered just as we lifted our heads to the light tap on my door.

  I tried to convince myself I wasn’t smiling at the sight of Alex standing in the doorway, but even I couldn’t deny my own facial expression.

  “Hey.” I pulled in my bottom lip, trying to conceal my smile.

  Did he look more handsome this morning than usual or was it just my imagination? I never denied he was a good-looking guy, but there was something about him as he stood in front of me dressed casually in khaki pants and a white button-up shirt that caught my eye more so than before. Had he always been that tall? Was his dark brown hair always that thick and wavy? Why hadn’t I ever taken notice of these things before? Was it because I was so wrapped up in returning his disdain for me that I had overlooked everything else? Whatever it was, it was as if I were seeing him for the very first time today. The only familiarity were those mysterious eyes that were favoring a shade of dark green at that present moment.

  “Oh…I didn’t know you were busy. I had something I wanted to talk to you about, but it can wait.”

  I swallowed hard, wondering if like me, he had spent the last twenty-four hours thinking about what had almost happened between us, and if so, was he feeling the same way? What if he was, and what if he wanted to take it one step further and ask me on a date? How was I going to respond? I was definitely attracted to him…as much as it pained me to admit, but we hated each other or at least we did at one point in time. Now I wasn’t sure where we stood. No. That couldn’t have been the reason for his visit. It had to be for something else. Something work related, but if that were the case, he wouldn’t have had a problem discussing it in front of Lucy. I was driving myself mad with all these questions racing through my mind. I wasn’t comfortable with this new place we were at. It was much easier when the lines in the sand were drawn, and I knew for certain we were on opposite sides.

  “I’ll just get out of the way so you guys can discuss whatever it is you need to talk about.” Lucy tried her best to make a hasty getaway.

  “Oh, no!” I shouted, stopping her dead in her tracks. Partly because I was afraid to see exactly what it was Alex wanted, the other part was because I was dying to see what she didn’t want to show me on her phone.

  “Let’s see why everyone was so giddy over that phone of yours.” I raised an eyebrow at her.

  Her face reddened. “I’ll show you later.” She jerked her head in Alex’s direction. Clearly, she didn’t want him seeing what was on that phone.

  “Oh, no, no…show me now. After all, Alex and I are probably the only two people in this place who haven’t seen it!”

  “Rose…” Lucy whined.

  “Lucy…” I whined back.

  “Fine.” She huffed, holding out her phone and displaying the video of Alex and me doing a bad rendition of “I’ve Got You Babe.” I covered my mouth and closed my eyes, not knowing if I wanted to laugh, cry, or crawl in a hole from embarrassment. The joke was definitely on me for forcing her to show this to me, and in front of Alex of all people. If my voice wasn’t bad enough in the video, my actions were. I was a little too touchy feely with him, but he didn’t seem to be backing away from it either.

  “Wow, that’s pretty bad.” Alex smiled, his embarrassment not even close to matching mine.

  “You’re such a great f
riend.” My words oozed with sarcasm toward Lucy.

  “I’m sorry, but it was too funny not to video.”

  “Oh, just hysterical!” I shook my head, willing myself not to laugh. Even though I couldn’t deny it was pretty funny.

  “There’s another one too.”

  My eyes widened. “Oh God, please no.”

  “Was it Rose singing a Katy Perry song, or should I say trying to sing a Katy Perry song?”

  Why did I have no recollection of that? Oh, that’s right, because I was inebriated.

  “Umm…no. Actually, Alex, you were more of the star on this one. Rose did backup.”

  The sly grin he was sporting faded fast.

  “Oh, wow! I want to see this!” I exclaimed.

  “No, that’s enough,” Alex protested.

  “Oh, it was all fun and games when you thought the video was of me, wasn’t it?” I teased. “Play it, Lucy!” I bent over, clutched my rib cage, and came pretty close to tinkling in my pants from laughing so hard at the context of the video. Alex singing Busta Ryhmes, “Baby If You Give It To Me.” I was definitely no Mariah Carey singing backup, but watching him try to rap was priceless.

  “Yeah, I’d say I was pretty wasted.” Playing it cool as usual, he rubbed his hand down the side of his face

  “Oh my God, that was the best!” I was laughing so hard, I was crying.

  “Still not as bad as you.”

  Lucy darted out of my office when she heard Mr. Andrews calling her name, leaving me alone with Alex.

  “So, what did you need to ask me?” I asked, prepping myself for how I was going to respond to his question.

  “Ask you?” He creased his eyebrows and clarified, “I didn’t need to ask you anything. I wanted to tell you, I think I may have possibly found out where William’s daughter is living.”

  I was such a fool. Even if it was only to myself. How presumptuous of me to think he was going to ask me on a date. I mean, it was only less than a month ago we were mortal enemies. And more importantly, how foolish of me to have planned to respond with a “yes” to the conjured-up question in my own poor, pathetic, narrow mind. I took a quick second to battle the sting of my mental rejection and pulled it together. “Are you serious? How did you pull that off?”

  “I know people.” His self-assured smirk restored my faith that there was still some of that pompous guy I’d come to know and loathe lingering inside of him. I was thankful and would be sure to remind myself of that fact whenever I’d become short-sighted with my judgement of him.

  “So, what did these people, tell you?”

  “She lives in Georgia.”

  “Hey, that’s where you’re from!”

  “Hey, you’re a genius!” He mocked my enthusiasm, and I smiled, happy to find my feelings creeping back to my original thoughts about him—total asshole. Okay, maybe we weren’t back to the total part yet, but he was bordering on obnoxious and asshole, which was a hell of a lot better than where he was when he first walked into my office—hot as hell and potential date.

  “Can you give me the details? I’ll make a weekend trip down there to try and find her.”

  “Umm…no.”

  “What do you mean, ‘no’?”

  “I have to go down that way at the end of the week to finish up some business, so I’ll just see if I can scope her out.”

  “No!” I shook my head. “Finding his daughter was my idea! Remember you were adamantly against it?”

  He rolled his eyes. Yes, we were almost at the total asshole point of our relationship once again.

  “Really, Rose? I’ll save you the trip and still let you take the credit.”

  “It has nothing to do with me wanting to take the credit. I want to do this for William and follow through with my plan, not because I want to get accolades for it.”

  “You’re impossible. I don’t understand why—”

  “Will you just shut up and give me the information already?”

  “You’re relentless, aren’t you?”

  “Better we’ve established that now. It will save you a lot of time and frustration.”

  He pulled his phone from his pocket. “What’s your number?”

  “What? Why?”

  “Umm…I don’t know, maybe so I can call you while you’re standing two feet away!” He ridiculed. “Why do you think? So I can text you the info.”

  “Oh, okay.” As usual, he had me feeling kind of stupid.

  I gave him my digits and pulled my phone from my purse just as his text came through, biting my bottom lip to hold back my laughter after adding him to my contacts. “Feel free to join me on my mission when you’ve finished conducting your business. But keep in mind, you’re only assisting on this. I’m the lead.”

  “Yeah, we’ll see about that after you get lost and need my help.”

  “That’s why they created a little thing called a GPS.”

  He held up his hands in defeat. “What do I know? I’m just the lowly assistant, remember?”

  “It will serve you well to remember that. So, I guess if I see this flashing on my phone next weekend…then I know you’re in.”

  I couldn’t hold back my laughter anymore when I held out my phone and he squinted to read the words “Pompous Ass” as his stored contact name.

  “Funny.” His tiresome expression revealed he wasn’t as entertained by my sarcasm as I was. He was deep in thought as he typed something into his phone, his countenance turning into a huge grin with each finger stroke. “So, I guess when I see this flashing on my screen, I know you’re admitting defeat and need my help.” Now it was him holding out his phone so I could read my contact name—”Pain in my Pompous Ass.”

  Chapter 26

  ___________________

  Alex

  I STEPPED OUT OF the courthouse, feeling like another bad chapter of my life had ended. Just seeing Vanessa again for the first time in well over a year made my blood boil. How did I fall into her trap? I could’ve blamed it on the fact I was young and stupid, but now seeing things from an older wiser perspective…I still should have known better. I met her in a bar and we married after only knowing each other for three months. She was looking for someone to take care of her. All the signs were there that it was a disaster from the start, but I chose to ignore them. Worst of all, I almost sacrificed some of my family’s money just because I had made the biggest mistake of my life. Thankfully, that wasn’t the case, and I was able to walk out of there a single man who didn’t owe her a penny.

  “I told you there was nothing to worry about,” Robert, my attorney and a good friend of my family for years, remarked as we stepped outside into the ungodly heat. September in Georgia was still like the hottest day in July back in New York City, and one of the few things I didn’t miss about this place.

  “Yeah, well, I would have no problem giving that bitch any amount of my own money just to get rid of her, but there was no way in hell I was gonna let her take from my family. Especially after my father was the one who warned me about marrying her.”

  “Don’t say that too loud.” Robert chuckled and looked around. “She may hear you and take you back inside to get some of your money.”

  “Wouldn’t put it past her.”

  “It took a while, but you’re finally divorced.”

  “Yeah, I think that was the longest divorce in the history of divorces.”

  He raised an eyebrow. “Yeah, three and a half years is a long time, but believe it or not I’ve seen longer…and nastier.”

  “I don’t think two people could possibly hate each other more than Vanessa and me. If only I had listened to my father.”

  Robert placed his hand on my shoulder and smiled. “Everyone thinks they know all there is to life at twenty-two. Look at it this way…you lasted for three years before things started heading south.”

  “Yeah, that’s only because I was away for most of those three years.”

  “We all make mistakes, Alex, including your father, and
if he tells you differently, he’s wrong. I’ve known him and your uncle Henry for most of my life, and they both have their fair share of regrets. Chalk it up as a learning experience and move on.”

  We turned our heads in Vanessa’s direction as she walked out of the courthouse with her sister. She snarled at me as she passed by us and into the parking lot. I couldn’t help but wonder exactly what was going through her mind to think she was actually entitled to anything. She’d basically shoved the divorce papers in my face while I was laid up in the hospital for months, then totally changed her tune when she found out about my inheritance, putting the divorce on hold because she thought we could work things out. By that point, I saw her for what she was. She was after one thing, and one thing only. She didn’t want to be stuck with a guy who was told he’d probably never walk again until she found out that guy had a few million dollars coming to him. Then all of a sudden, she wanted to work things out.

  The truth was, I knew it was over a long time before that. I had my suspicions about her being unfaithful, and those doubts were confirmed by a mutual acquaintance once the divorce was underway. She dragged on this divorce for as long as she could, hoping to get some kind of payout from it. Last I heard, she was living in Atlanta with a very wealthy businessman twice her age. She didn’t want to be married to me any more than I wanted to be married to her, but she tried her hardest to get me to pay to get out. Today, any hopes of that happening had diminished for her. Now she was going to have to set her sights on this new guy she was with.

  “You need to go out and celebrate,” Robert said. “Are you having dinner with your parents?”

  I knew I probably should, since they had been on my case about never visiting, but I’d be lying a little to myself if I said I didn’t want to see what Rose was up to. I glanced at my watch. It was already 3:00 p.m. I remembered her saying her flight was getting in some time around noon, which meant she was already here. It was kind of ironic how everything played out. What were the chances of William’s daughter living about ten miles from where I grew up?