by Fifi Flowers
“How’s the new job coming along?” Good question, distract me a bit.
“What the fuck is there to say? I sit in front of a computer every day emailing clients. What happened to the days of talking on the phone? Getting out and meeting up? Being cooped up is how it is for me.”
I was never one interested in computers. I wanted to be outside. Not stuck inside playing video games. I don’t know why people find computers so exciting. My father was happy that most people didn’t feel the same way. Communication corporations relied on computer-based users since so many people sent emails, watched streaming television shows, movies on demand, etcetera. People were always on some kind of system which included cell phones which were basically mini personal computers.
I did major in communications in college as a backup along with playing water polo—my main goal. I never imagined it being so boring or that I’d be in an office environment.
“How can you be excited about working on computers? Cyber security is boring.”
“Maybe it’s because you’re not actually doing the computer work. But, I can tell you that it’s very important for every division of the company. We use computers for everything in some capacity. Security and privacy for our clients is crucial.”
“I’d rather sit in front of a computer at a sporting event. Commentating a sport.”
“Is that what you want to do?”
“Not really. I would’ve liked to play water polo forever… Not an option.”
“So, what is another avenue?”
Without really thinking it through I blurted out something that maybe sounded crazy, but would be incredible. “A water sports channel: swimming, water polo, rowing, boat races, surfing… you get it… triathlons maybe.”
“Have you run the demographics? There are some other action-packed apps that do well—”
“You think it’s a good idea?” I was shocked since he was so logical and focused.
“I think it sounds amazing. Work out all of the details. Sponsorships. I’m sure water athletes would love it. Wow! I love that. I’ll totally back you when you talk to Dad.”
Maybe I shouldn’t have been so shocked really. Mason shared my passion for water sports. Swimming for him. Water polo for me. Both of those sports, especially the latter were rarely televised. It could be something. I threw it out there, out of the blue, off the top of my head. Then he mentioned Dad and I realized that I would need to study hard and look at every sport and every angle. Contact some people who knew far more about apps and broadcasting and… My mind was spinning and I was overly excited that my brother would back me up.
“You will?”
“Yes. I don’t have time to help you get it going, but I can give you sponsorship tips I learned from…” He stopped. “And Carter and Redmond I’m sure will step up to the plate for you too. We all had to face Dad and we had to do a lot of research first… You hate your job. See if you can work part time or not at all to work on your own project. Dad said so himself that you could make your own decision.”
Quit my job?
Give up hours to be next to Waverly?
That didn’t sound so good. I did hate the security shit and being in a structured office. But I loved seeing her every day. How else could I keep seeing her daily? Could I get her involved in my project? Maybe she could help me. She couldn’t possibly love what we were doing. We weren’t hands on doing anything. We were just organizing people who worked on computers for a variety of companies. We didn’t even get to know the full details of the hacking stuff. What they were finding, just that they were blocking it. Everything was so secretive that we were often left in the dark.
My idea could be something for us. I needed to sway her over to my team. Waverly loved adventure. She loved travel. She loved being outdoors. She knew the business side of things and how to research. My father had given me a list of her accomplishments. She needed more challenges and starting a network or an app channel could be it.
“What do you think about a woman’s involvement in your company?”
“For me since my site involves dating—mainly men and women—a woman’s input has been beneficial. I’ve received some great ideas and put them into motion.”
“Something tells me that Pinky is involved with your company as well as your heart…maybe your pants too…” I laughed and he grimaced.
“Fuck off! I’m out of here.” He headed off in the direction of his building while I continued on to mine.
Swiping my access card to open a door next to the automatic front doors when businesses were shutdown on the weekend, I headed for an elevator designated for private floors. When the doors opened, I got the shock of my life as Waverly nearly slammed into me, stepping out while looking down at her phone and texting.
“Whoa,” I said, gently grabbing her bare upper arms with my sweaty hands and steadying her on her feet.
“What…what are you…you doing here?” Her cute little stutter greeted me.
“I was about to ask you the same thing,” I retorted.
“I live here.” Her announcement rendered me speechless and I just looked at her beautiful face imagining her sleeping in a bed a floor below me. “It…it was part of my employment deal and…well…I never bothered to…to find my own place…and…and it’s convenient.”
She looked so incredible in a sundress… Wait! I knew that dress… I looked down at her feet. I knew the sandals too. And if I had to wager, I’d bet that she was nervous because of my eyes roaming her from head to toe.
“Where are you going?” I don’t know why I asked that, but I was happy that no one was with her. Maybe I needed to hear that she was going to eat alone or going for a walk alone. I just hope that whatever she was doing didn’t include another man while she was wearing an outfit I bought for her.
We had been in a little village having lunch. Her first time eating “eww snails” escargot and loving them. So garlicky and delicious with hunks of bread to dip, I think she liked them as much as the mussels we ate on our first date. After we were finished and a bit tipsy from so many glasses of wine, she shouted “ooh” so cutely as we past a dress shop. Her excitement made me want to buy her everything in the store but she would only accept the dress and sandals.
“The night…”
“What?” Waverly’s voice told me that I had said those two words loud enough for her to hear them.
“I was just going to say I hope you have a good night.” I shook my head at my stupid comeback, it was still morning…maybe close to noon.
“I think you need some food to rehydrate your brain.” I loved the way she laughed and I loved that she hadn’t run off but was standing there in the lobby with me, allowing me to make a complete fool of myself. “I better go too.”
“No… Let me go up and shower quickly and then take you to brunch…apologize for my behavior. I never said I was sorry.” I wasn’t really sorry for any of the comments I said to her like having my way with her all over her office… I still wanted to do that.
“I don’t know…I was just going to—”
I cut her off. “I thought I could run some ideas by you and get your opinion.”
“Listen, Mav…” Oh my God, she almost said Maverick. “Morgan, I would love to hear your ideas.” Her voice was suddenly stiff and very businesslike. I should’ve complimented her on her appearance…her dress. I fucked up and got her thinking about work. “Hold them until Monday in the office… I’ve really got to go.” She didn’t give me a chance to say another word as she turned and walked quickly to the exit.
I hated the feeling of being abandoned all over again by Waverly as I took the elevator up to my apartment. But I did like seeing that she still had a part of our life together in Marseille—the dress she wore the night she gave herself to me. I just needed her to do the same in business…my new division…it could be our new start.
It needed a name. The right water associated name I thought as I stood beneath the hot spray in my showe
r stall. H2O, no, I was pretty sure that was taken. Water World, no, too much like a movie. Liquid TV, no, sounded like a type of TV. Dolphin, no, discovery channel-ish. Back to Liquid… Liquid was good. Liquid Rush… Liquid Rush Network. I liked that. And better yet, I owned it. Duh! Why hadn’t I thought of that first? I had trademarked it when I attempted to use it for a water polo related apparel.
I needed to get out and start writing stuff down.
Toweled off and dressed in shorts and a t-shirt, I headed to the kitchen, threw together a sandwich and grabbed a ginger beer along with a paper tablet and a pen. Real beer would have to wait, I needed to plan my own business and needed to think clearly about every sport that involved water. Mason mentioned sponsors and, of course, he was right since they were the ones that funded most sports. Water sports and water products. Teaming up sports to their equipment needs. My pen was frantically scribbling anything and everything that I could think of from big things to small things.
I had to be practical and starting small might be the best way as I really had no idea what I was doing. If I had a sound mapped vision, my father might be able to point me in the right direction within his communication network and colleagues. I was really excited about my spur of the moment idea and I could wait to share it.
Mainly, I couldn’t wait to tell Waverly about it and get her on board. It could be her redemption and it could be my way to keep her forever.
Chapter Eleven
Waverly
How stupid of you, Waverly, to wear the sundress and sandals!
I hadn’t worn them in…I’m not sure I had worn them again since that day…that night. He said “that night” and I almost said Maverick. What the hell were we doing? Why was it so hard for me to just speak up and say “hey…” Hey what? How did I start our conversation? Morgan had to be wondering the same, right?
Maybe I should’ve agreed to go to brunch with him. It would’ve been far better than having breakfast alone and then grocery shopping for frozen dinners I threw in the microwave. We could’ve shopped like we used to and gone back to my apartment…
Oh my God. We lived in the same building. He was probably in the penthouse apartment above me. Wait! Boyd knew I was living in the building and his son came home from Europe to live and…work in the building. All of a sudden a new division popped up and…Joseph knew about it and my assistant… It was all sounding like a big setup…
I suddenly started laughing uncontrollably.
They have absolutely no idea, Waverly. They think they were introducing you two and oops, you two already know each other extremely well…
Well, intimately we did know each other. But we both lived two separate lives before we met and never told each other about our backgrounds. We, basically, knew absolutely nothing about our personal lives other than the bubble we created together living in the moment.
It had me wondering if he didn’t tell me about his background because that was what he did with every girl or was it about the wealth of his family? Using a first name only…a nickname only would definitely provide him with anonymity. And if every girl he hooked up with was like the water polo groupie crowd I had the pleasure of meeting, I could see why.
I wasn’t a groupie. He came up to me minding my own business; keeping from drowning in the sea. His fit…amazing body was obviously one that worked out regularly. But I had no knowledge of him being a professional water polo player. He didn’t have a t-shirt on that screamed his team’s name as he took me to lunch. He did mention he played water polo while he was talking me into eating stinky cheese and delicious barnacles from the sea.
I was just an average girl backpacking around Europe submerging myself in different cultures and seeing the world until a beauty boy knocked the wind out of my sails. Stranding me in his arms, making me want to forget all about the rest of my journey. Promising me forever when he had just moved another roommate out mere days before me. Roommate was another code that meant “girl” according to the mean girls.
Years later, I wondered if I should’ve thanked those girls. After the comments that Mav…Morgan had said to me. The way he acted so cool around me like there had never been anything between us. I had to realize that they were right. They had helped me. Who knew how things would’ve ended up? I was already crushed enough only knowing him a short time. Who knew how long he would’ve kept me around…
Waverly, you would’ve been discarded like the last roommate… Does it really matter how long he would’ve had you around for his pleasure?
Pleasure. I hadn’t experience better than him ever. And since he had reappeared in my office, he had me wanting to take him up on his offers. That was definitely not a good idea and that was why I had to say no to lunch, dinner…anything he suggested outside the business realm. I didn’t trust myself.
What if I was right about Boyd and Joseph teaming up to have me control Boyd’s wild child. I had heard about Morgan’s reckless, carefree behavior as a boy trapped in a man’s body wanting to play sports forever. In all of my wildest thoughts, I never, ever imagined that he could be my Maverick. Of course there was no reason for me to put two and two together. But if that was their ultimate goal, I needed to stop all of them on different levels right away. I wasn’t right for Morgan and the matchmaking duo didn’t need to know about the past or how wrong their idea was for me.
How did I do that? Everyone I knew that Joseph meddled with ended up together and they never saw it coming. I knew exactly when he was trying to set me up and I did date one and even have sex with a couple of the men. Those were right out in the open but the business trip ones, I never mixed business with pleasure.
Everyone that was happily married thanks to Joseph thought things just happened. That man was the best manipulator in the nicest way and I had been waiting for my turn. I was pretty sure…I was certain that Morgan was the one. But he couldn’t be the one…if I already had someone else.
Who would I find?
Where would I find someone?
I didn’t really have male friends. Male co-workers weren’t a good thing. Boyd knew I was professional and would never start an office romance… That was so true. So maybe I was all wrong and paranoid in my thoughts.
Waverly, stop worrying about it. Snag a college boy or just make a phantom fiancé. No one needs to actually see him.
Thank God I wasn’t speaking out loud to myself with my last thoughts. I could only imagine the looks on the faces of the career center guidance counselors who were trying to help me. They would think I was some pervert looking for a lay rather than recruiting computer students to work in our new office and other satellite offices that we were opening in many locations.
Getting my mind back in the game, I filled out forms for what I was looking for, benefits offered, salaries, etcetera, etcetera. I also looked through their database which listed candidates and then I went to a lecture hall to speak to students. Thankfully I had studied a bit about cyber security and had learned some things since we started the division a few weeks back. And another plus was that I wasn’t asked technical questions.
Most students seemed interested in the pay and travel opportunities. Who didn’t want money and being young, why not take advantage of exploring a new country and culture? I remembered my own desire to travel. I still had that bug and, yet, I was stuck in a glass cage working a corporate job—for years.
My parents worked for a corporation but were always out in the field. I loved going with them. How had I been grounded? I hadn’t been on a business trip in so long. Maybe I needed to figure out how I could go out into the field. Maybe I didn’t want to head up that division after all. Maybe I should’ve turned it over to Mav…
Fuck! Waverly, get it through your head, he’s Morgan. Heir to Butler Industries.
“What are you doing at the college?” Speaking of the devil, there was his voice and—more importantly—there was his gorgeous face. I looked him over, taking in his amazing body wearing board shorts, a tight t-shirt t
hat showed off his muscles and flip flops on his feet. “Looking to be a cougar?”
Rubbing me the wrong way as usual, I stood up straight before answering. “Offering Butler Communications internships and jobs to students. Speaking about cyber security and how it is needed everywhere…” Not about to let him get away with insulting me, I had my own digs. “Prowling the college for unsuspecting college girls? You’re revolving door of women; one out, next one in.”
He looked at me strangely before he answered. “I help out with the water polo team. I played here in college.” He looked like he belonged there with a backpack on his back and casually dressed. Even the haircut worked in a little boyish way. I nearly missed the rest of his words as he continued, “I jump in the pool every once in a while—working out with them keeps me in shape.” He was definitely in good shape.
“You look all sexy-as-fuck Mrs. Robinson-ish for these boys. I know I’d be thinking that if you were trying to teach me.” He had the sexiest smirk on his face but I could go toe to toe with him.
“I’m a grownup that’s why I wear suitable clothing to give presentations.” I skipped over the way he mentioned that I looked sexy in my tailored pantsuit paired with heels. My body, on the other hand, was practically melting into the cement sidewalk being so close to him.
“I assure you I know how to perform like a man.” His eyes sparkled.
Time to go, Waverly, before we rip our clothes off and jump him.
“Look at the time,” I turned my wrist up to my eyes and then showed him the face of my watch. “I have to meet someone.” And without giving him a chance to respond, I turned around and headed to find my borrowed car in the visitor parking lot.
By the time I got back to my building, the last thing I wanted to do was sit in my apartment with him a floor up. Changing my clothes, trying out some of my new casual wear thanks to my personal shopper, I pulled on ripped jeans and a long sleeved t-shirt with high heel sandals. Not my usual look, but she insisted it looked great on me and remembering her words on how to wear things, I reluctantly tucked the shirt in.