by K. A. Linde
“Right, well, does he have a full schedule today?” Lexi asked attempting to peer over the desk.
“He has the day marked off to be with Ms. Bridges.”
“But he is in the office today,” Lexi badgered anxious to get this over with.
“Is there anything I can assist you with?” the woman asked dodging the question effortlessly.
“Not unless you can tell me what office is his,” she said deliberately.
“Ma’am unless you have an appointment, which you do not, then Mr. Howard is unavailable to you. However, there are more trained professionals in his department that are free this afternoon, if you would like to make an appointment with one of them.”
“No, thank you,” Lexi said gnawing on her bottom lip. What a waste of time. This woman would not be of any more help…not that she had been much in the first place. Obviously, Jack was here in his office. The only problem was she had no idea where that was and the building was a million stories high with hundreds of offices. She could search all day and never locate him, but she didn’t have that time.
She thanked the woman and walked away from the counter looping around toward the elevators. Hopping on the first elevator that dinged open, Lexi stood between several men in high quality suits. As she slowly approached the top floor, she found she was finally left alone with one of the men. Putting on the girliest look she could muster, Lexi cried, “Shoot!” She let the Southern drawl which she reserved for special occasions permeate through the word. The man glanced over at her in surprise, but she could see it was also intrigue. He quickly faced the front again not deeming it appropriate to intervene. “Um, excuse me,” she cooed drawing his attention back to her.
“Yes, ma’am?” he asked, the perfect gentleman.
“You see,” she began huffing a little in embarrassment, “I have an appointment with Mr. Howard today.” His eyes widened in surprise. “But I’ve forgotten where his office is,” she told him casting her eyes down and hoping she could find some semblance of innocence in the gesture. “I was wondering if you could maybe point me in the right direction. The woman at the front told me, but Lord, I’d lose my head if it wasn’t attached to my body.”
He marveled at her unadulterated beauty for a second before answering. “Sure not a problem,” he said buying her act. He pressed another button on the elevator and turned to continue to make small talk with her from there.
“What are you seeing Mr. Howard for, if you don’t mind me asking?” he asked leaning back against the metal hand railing.
“Uh…” Lexi tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear. She hadn’t thought this far out with her plan and had no alibi for seeing Jack. No doubt she had always been a terrible liar so making something up on the spot wasn’t going to work for her. She was amazed she had made it this far with acting.
“It’s all right,” he said immediately reading her discomfort. “You don’t have to tell me. We have a number of people coming in with troubles that need to be solved. You’re lucky you got Jack. He’s one of our best,” the man said admiringly. She had completely forgotten that she was in a place where talking about her problems was confidential business. At least something was working in her favor.
“That’s wonderful,” she stated dryly, pleased and displeased at the same time that Jack was doing so well for himself. A part of her maliciously wondered how much Bekah had a hand in that.
“Here is his floor,” he said when the elevator landed. “All the way down the hallway and on the right. Can’t miss it. His secretary should be here. Her name is Gwen. She can take it from here.”
“Thank you so much, Mr…” she waited for his name. He had been an invaluable resource.
“Oh, what was I thinking?” he asked smacking himself on the forehead. “Brandon Calloway.” He pulled out his wallet and extracted a business card. She took it from him smiling to herself.
“Pleasure to meet you, Mr. Calloway.”
“Call me Brandon,” he muttered huskily, leaning against the elevator door to hold it open for her while they chatted.
“Brandon,” she repeated placing the card delicately into her purse.
“I hope everything works out for you. If Jack doesn’t help, just let me know. I’m in office 2404. Stop in anytime,” he told her invitingly.
“Well, uh, thanks,” she said stepping through the door.
“No problem. What’s your name?” he asked smoothly as she passed through the sliding doors.
“Lexi. Lexi Walsh,” she said. When she glanced over her shoulder, he was still standing there staring after her. Something had changed in his look and his mouth was hanging slightly open. She wasn’t sure what that was about, but she couldn’t concentrate on that now. He had played his part and now she needed to bridge the distance between her own troubles.
She followed Brandon’s directions and found a blonde, no surprise there, sitting at a desk in front of a large corner office. “May I help you?” the woman asked looking up from her computer screen. She had a British accent, impeccably white teeth, and perfectly fake breasts revealed in her low cut blouse.
“Is Jack in?” Lexi asked smirking at the predictability of the woman’s appearance.
“Indeed. However, Mr. Howard is not taking appointments today.” She looked down at her screen, scrolled through a program, and then glanced back up. “I believe I can squeeze you in Thursday afternoon if that works for you, darling.”
Lexi scoffed. “Um, no. I leave this afternoon, and I need to see him now.”
“I’m sorry that would simply be impossible. Perhaps when you are next in town then,” she stated simply. Lexi rolled her eyes and walked around the desk completely ignoring the girl. “Ma’am, you cannot go in there.”
“Sorry. I need to see him,” she said rushing to the door. “Jack, can I come in?” Lexi asked knocking swiftly on the large wooden door. “You’re…uh…secretary said you were in,” she took another glance at the leggy blonde behind her who was just now getting out of her seat to stop her.
“Ma’am, he is unavailable,” Gwen said standing with her hands on her hips in frustration. “You can’t barge in there.”
“Oh, is it not locked?” Lexi asked smiling devilishly as she turned the handle and the door popped open.
“Stop, you’re going to get me in trouble,” Gwen cried rushing after her.
“Jack,” Lexi murmured seeing him sitting behind his desk.
“Gwen, I thought I told you no visitors this afternoon,” Jack muttered not even glancing up from his desk.
Lexi’s determination wavered at the sight of him. He was wearing a tailored navy blue suit over a crisp white button up. The top button was undone and his navy and silver necktie was pulled loose. His dark hair fell over his eyes as he scanned through a report bound in a plastic cover with the Bridges Enterprise emblem displayed upon the front. She couldn’t even look past him to check out his amazing office as she was so utterly bound by his appearance and commanding presence.
“Sir, I certainly did not let her in. This young lady barged in demanding to see you.” Gwen gave Lexi a death glare.
“Well, see her out,” Jack said still not looking up. Gwen moved forward and latched onto Lexi’s arm. She attempted to veer her out of the room, but Lexi wouldn’t budge. When she started yanking on her arm, her long fingernails digging into her skin, Lexi couldn’t take it any longer. Jack still hadn’t looked up at her.
“Jack, honestly,” Lexi cried standing her ground.
“Lex?” he asked surprised to find her standing in his office.
“You know this woman, sir?” Gwen asked dropping her hands and placing them behind her back promptly. She looked between them with poisonous daggers shooting sparks at Lexi’s back. She was not too pleased that he knew Lexi. Somehow this didn’t surprise Lexi. She wondered if Jack had been sleeping with this woman. The anger at the possibility of him diddling his secretary reminded Lexi why she was there in the first place. She and Jack had a s
core to settle, and it had to happen today, right now.
“Yes, Gwen. It’s fine. You can go,” he said dismissing her without breaking his gaze, which was still set on Lexi.
“Yes, sir,” Gwen said bitterly turning on her designer heels and stalking out the door.
“The door,” Jack called out to Gwen.
She stepped back into the room and yanked the handle slamming the door shut. “Well, she’s…something, isn’t she?” Lexi asked smirking.
Jack rolled his eyes and set his papers down on his desk. Lexi took that opportunity to really take in her surroundings. Like the exterior of the building, the entire perimeter of the office was cased in glass overlooking the city. The view was spectacular and at nighttime, Lexi could only assume, it would be even better. A large bookshelf was covered with material pertinent to his work as well as the only picture frames Lexi had seen in Jack’s presence since her arrival. One picture in a metal frame of him and Bekah vacationing somewhere on the coast stood out to Lexi. Another picture of Jack with the guys in Las Vegas was framed. His diploma was mounted on the wall in a stunning frame with a red, black, and white tassel displayed alongside it.
Lexi’s eyes moved to the other side of the room, which opened up to a bathroom. But what caught her eye wasn’t the fact that he, in fact, had his own bathroom in his office. Rather was the picture frame that took up the majority of the opposite wall. Her heart clenched as she stared at the picture she had described to Jack less than a week earlier. A picture he had claimed to have gotten rid of, because he couldn’t look at it any longer. The frame was different than the original and as she approached wide-eyed, she noticed that indeed there were a few minor tears in the print, but nothing that took away from the shot. The black and white photograph highlighted the beauty of a small creek with an old wooden bridge across the natural barrier. Hundreds of pine trees as tall as the eye could see surrounded the scene as the sun rose across the horizon.
Just as she remembered it. This was her favorite picture. Jack’s favorite picture. He hadn’t been able to get rid of it, despite everything.
“It’s still here,” she whispered glancing back at Jack. He was shuffling some papers around on his large mahogany desk, but glanced up at the sound of her voice.
“I had it reframed and brought up here from Savannah earlier this week,” he told her attempting to keep the emotion out of his voice.
Lexi shook her head unable to process the many nuances of Jack Howard. Here she was in his office wanting to be so angry with him for everything he had ever put her through, and then he did this. One simple gesture that reminded her why she loved him so much.
“Why?” she barely got out choking on her own words.
“What do you mean why?”
“Jack, come on. You made it pretty clear last night.”
“Last night I said what we did didn’t change things. And, well, it doesn’t, Lexi. Sex never changed things with us before.”
“Do you really believe that sex doesn’t change things?” she asked taken aback by the concept. She wasn’t a typical female who believed that sex necessarily meant an emotional commitment on either side. She had had her fair share of one night stands to prove that to herself, but Jack was not one of those men. And she knew that sex did mean something to him whether he was ready to admit it or not.
“I mean that it doesn’t change what I have to do or the decision that I have to make. It doesn’t make any of this easier.”
“A little birdie tells me it does,” she said turning her back on the picture.
“Oh yeah, who’s that?”
“Who is not the appropriate question,” she told him looking into his beautiful blue eyes from across the space of his office.
“Well, you don’t have to tell me who would tell you that things have changed between us, because I already know,” Jack said triumphantly taking her off guard.
“I suppose you could guess,” she said hesitantly not liking the change of subject.
“No guessing needed. I know what you’ve been trying to do,” he told her staring her down.
She gave him a completely flabbergasted look hoping maybe he could explain further what he was talking about. Wasn’t she the one who was supposed to storm in here and demand answers? Why was he the one completely confounding her over and over again? Her mouth opened and she tilted her head slightly trying to really assess the situation. The only thing she had been trying to do all week was figure out what the hell Jack was doing with his life. She wanted him…bad, but was only fueled onwards by his obvious desire for her. If he had been aloof and untoward, then she certainly would have done his bidding, hung out with her parents, and then hopped on the first plane out of here.
But that hadn’t happened. He had flat out told her that they were meant to be together. That after everything they had been through, he knew what he wanted and all he had to do was tie up some loose ends. Now he was saying that sex didn’t change anything along with other unthinkable things, and honestly, she was just lost.
“What am I trying to do besides get answers from you?” she asked unable to keep the confusion out of her voice.
“Don’t play all innocent with me. We both know you’re not that,” Jack said standing and tossing some paperwork into a basket.
“I never said I was innocent,” she said a bit confused by the abrupt shift in the conversation.
“Yeah, but you sure try to act like you are.”
“Jack, you’ve lost me,” Lexi told him her brow scrunching together.
“I know what you’ve been up to this week.”
“Um…what have I been up to this week? The only thing I’ve been doing is exactly what you asked me to do. I spoke to Bekah about our relationship. I played the perfect part in your stupid charade. I went to the Country Club, Ramsey’s stupid party, your birthday…what more did you want from me? I gave you everything you could want from me. I tried to give you everything, and it seemed like it was going to work out, but now,” she drifted off, “I guess it doesn’t seem like enough.”
He laughed. He actually laughed at the last statement. Lexi’s mouth popped open in surprise unable to fathom why he was acting so impertinent. “You actually want me to believe that you gave me everything?”
“Compared to you giving me nothing, yes, I’d say I gave you everything,” she spat at him.
“You’re ridiculous, Lexi,” he said shaking his head. “You think I don’t know what you’ve been up to?”
“Well, I don’t know what I’ve been up to so why don’t you tell me,” she said completely baffled by this point. She had no idea what he was talking about. She had come here from New York at his request to convince his dumb girlfriend that he could commit. She didn’t exactly believe it herself, but she had tried. As far as she could tell, she had succeeded as well. Bekah seemed to believe that they were going to be together. And up until last night, when Jack had left her all alone feeling used and violated, she had been certain that Jack was actually going to leave Bekah for her.
“Go ahead, play coy with me. I know what you and Ramsey have been up to.”
That really threw her off guard. “What does Ramsey have to do with any of this?” she asked trying to follow his line of reasoning but coming up blank.
He nodded his head a few times. “You don’t have to try and play me like this, Lex. I know you, and I know what’s been going on.”
“Then please fill me in, because I have no idea what you’re talking about,” she said walking to the front of his desk and taking a seat in one of the client chairs. She crossed her arms and legs simultaneously and waited for another outrageous response from him.
“You think I don’t know that you guys met before this?”
“Of course we met before this. I told you that as soon as I saw him at the Country Club that we met there when I came up here with Jennifer,” she told him still confused as to where this was going.
“Right, that was a pretty good act. When did
you become such a good liar, Lexi?”
“If you tell me what I’m lying about, I might know, because as far as I can tell you are the only good liar in the room.”
“Come on, Lexi,” he cried. “Now, I didn’t think you would ever play me like this, but I can tell that you are now. How long have you guys been together? Has it been since New York?” he asked placing his hands on the desk and leaning forward toward her.
“We’re not together,” she stuttered in disbelief.
“Oh, right. You don’t do the commitment thing. Have you just been fucking?”
“Excuse me, I’m going to pass right over the very ridiculous accusation that Ramsey and I have been fucking,” Lexi said her face clouding over only slightly at the thought that she had almost done just that last night. “And step right up to the plate and take the hypocritical route, jackass.”
Jack stumbled a step as he walked around the corner of her desk. He glanced up at her cheeky comment in surprise. “Whatever, Lexi. I know that you know Ramsey from New York. And whether you’re fucking or not, I know you guys have been together. I saw you kiss at his party. I saw it again last night. I’m not stupid, all right? I can tell that there is something going on between you two.”
Lexi stared at him in awe. So that was why he had been so angry and rough with her the night before. He had somehow deluded himself into believing that she and Ramsey were together. It didn’t make sense to her, but she figured if he looked at it from only one side, it might look like that. However, that didn’t explain why he thought she had met Ramsey in New York. “What do you mean I know him from New York?”
“You don’t deny that you and Ramsey have something going on?” he asked ignoring her question.
“We don’t have anything going on, Jesus. We did kiss, but we’re not together. I don’t even understand how you could think that.”
“I don’t think that. I know that something is going on between y’all. You’ve been fucking with my mind since you got here.”
“Excuse me? You’re the one who has been flip-flopping the whole goddamned time I’ve been here. You come home early to see me. Then you’re an asshole to me at Ramsey’s party. Then you want to be with me again and you’re going to break things off with Bekah. After that we have sex, and you’re just another asshole all over again. What the fuck, Jack?” she asked demanding his attention.