School Fling Anthology: Class Is in Session

by Jessica Wood

  Sarah’s face turned redder. “I wasn’t stalking,” she said defensively. “I was just being…being… Sarah’s voice trailed off, at a loss for words.

  “She was just doing her homework,” I said in her defense, “Why wouldn’t you do a little research on your future boss if you could? I only wish I had thought of that myself.”

  Josh shrugged. Sarah looked over at me with a grateful smile.

  “So what did you find out about him?” I asked.

  “Oh, I found out a lot about him online. Even though he’s the son of the F&M’s CEO, it looks like he earned his position here. He went to Harvard for undergrad and then Stanford for business school. And he was in the top of his class at both,” she eagerly said.

  “Wow, that’s impressive,” I said. Josh nodded in agreement.

  “And, Emma, I saw some pictures of him, and”—she paused for dramatic effect—“let’s just say, if he’s half as good looking in real life, I’m not sure I will be able to concentrate on our projects with him as our group leader.”

  I laughed and looked over at Josh. “Well, Josh, if what Sarah’s saying is true, you may have to take one for the team when Sarah and I lose focus,” I teased. Sarah stifled a giggle.

  “Hey, how is that fair?” Josh protested.

  “Who said anything about fair?” I shot back with a laugh.

  “But what if I find him distracting too and can’t concentrate? What then?” Josh countered, trying to sound serious.

  “Are you sure you want to go there?” I asked with amusement. “I got the impression you liked girls,” I teased. I quickly glanced at Sarah, who was blushing.

  “Fine, you win,” Josh said with resignation. “I’ll come save the day when you guys are gawking over him.” He rolled his eyes.

  “Our hero,” Sarah and I said. We looked at each other and laughed.

  “Oh yeah, what’s this guy’s name anyway?” I asked between fits of giggles.

  “His name is Br—”

  Just then, the conference room opened and five people walked in after Ms. Wilson. I looked up from our conversation, and I immediately froze.

  Why does that guy look so familiar? Ohmygod, it can’t be—it can’t possibly be him.

  But it was.

  There, standing next to Ms. Wilson, was none other than Brandon.

  I stared, shell-shocked and confused, as waves of anxiety, pain, and happiness washed through me.

  “Is this a dream?” I uttered under by breath, audible enough that only Sarah seemed to have heard me.

  She turned to me and whispered, “Did you say a dream?”

  “Um, no sorry, I—I was just talking to myself,” I whispered back. Ugh, why do you always seem to blurt out stuff at the worst moments! What if he heard you?

  I looked up at Brandon. Yes, it was definitely him. While my heart fluttered with joy, my stomach twisted with anguish and I felt sick. For the last six months, I desperately wanted to see him again, but this wasn’t how I imagined things to be. How was it possible that he works here?

  Still paralyzed by the shock of seeing him, I barely heard Ms. Wilson’s introduction of the five people next to her.

  “And this is Ms. Josephine Kim. She will be the group leader for Group A. And here we have Mr. Brandon Fisher, and he will be the group leader for Group B…”

  I inhaled sharply when I heard his name—his full name.

  “That’s him,” Sarah whispered to me in excitement. “Wow, those pictures don’t do him justice. Can you believe he’s going to be our group leader?”

  “I—I can’t believe this.” I was stunned. The man who haunted my dreams every night, the man I had met in Cancun, the man who had taken my virginity was the Brandon Fisher, the son of the CEO and founding partner of the company I was going to work for. This man, who I had fallen in love with and had broken my heart, was going to be my group leader. My boss. This was too surreal. My head was spinning and I could not think straight. How can this be happening?

  “Now that I have introduced your group leaders, why don’t we go through each group and have you guys introduce yourselves to your group leader?” Ms. Wilson’s words broke into my thoughts.

  Fear suddenly shot through me and I felt queasy. I wasn’t sure if Brandon had spotted me yet, but I wasn’t ready for him to see me. I wasn’t ready to face him.

  But before I knew it, I heard Sarah introduce herself next to me. “Hi, Brandon, I’m Sarah O’Brien and I’m on your team. I look forward to working with you,” she said as she beamed at him.

  Then to my horror, the entire room turned their attention to me, including Brandon. For a brief moment, I thought I saw a spark of recognition in his eyes, but then it was gone. Pain paralyzed me as he stared at me blankly. I expected him to look as shocked as I felt when I met his gaze. I expected—no, I needed—some reaction from him to justify this pain I’d carried inside my heart for the last six months. But I got nothing—his smile was warm but empty.

  Sarah nudged me. “Hey, it’s your turn,” she whispered. I blinked and realized the entire room was looking at me expectantly.

  “Um. Hi. I’m Emma,” I said slowly. “Emma Anderson, and I’m in Group B as well.” My face felt hot as I fought back the tears.

  “Hi, Emma. It’s very nice to meet you. I look forward to working with you,” Brandon said, his deep voice was warm and inviting. I looked at him in disbelief, confused by the sincerity in his voice.

  Can it be possible that he forgot about me?

  Finally, I inhaled deeply. “Thank you. It is nice meeting you too,” I said. If he really had forgotten about me, I refused to let him think that I had spent any time thinking about him since that night in Cancun. I could not give him that satisfaction.

  He smiled at me before his attention moved on to Josh, who began to introduce himself. Brandon’s warm smile was like a cold dagger twisting at my heart. Sadness overwhelmed me at the realization that if he had forgotten about me, then that night must have meant nothing to him. He hadn’t lost my number. He hadn’t called because he never wanted to see me again. I blinked back the hot tears that were threatening their way down my cheeks.

  After the introductions, the group leaders left the conference room, and the rest of the afternoon’s orientation session went by in a blur.

  At the end of the day, many of the new associates were heading to the Ferry Building down by the Wharf for happy hour.

  “Are you sure you can’t come?” Sarah asked.

  “Yeah, sorry. I have some other plans,” I lied. “But I’ll see you tomorrow.” I put on a fake smile.

  “Okay, sure. I can’t wait! We actually get to start working with Brandon tomorrow. He’s so hot,” Sarah said with a giggle.

  “Yeah, he is,” I said weakly. “See you tomorrow.”

  Chapter Eight

  “Emma, what’s going on?” Jill asked over the phone as I picked up. “I saw that I have five missed calls from you, but you didn’t leave a message.”

  “Oh, Jill. It was awful,” I exclaimed.

  “What was?” she asked. “Wasn’t today your first day at work? What happened?”

  “I saw him. He…he’s going to be my boss,” I said, still in disbelief.

  “Emma, I don’t understand. Who’s he?”

  The words rushed out of me. “Him. Brandon. The guy I slept with in Cancun. The guy from my dreams. The guy who never called.”

  “What?! You saw him again? In San Francisco?” Jill asked, still confused.

  “Yes,” I croaked. “He’s Brandon Fisher,” I said as I emphasized his last name, “As in Fisher & Morrison Consulting. He’s the son of the CEO and founding partner, and he’s going to be my boss.”

  “Whoa,” Jill said. “Let’s try to get Steph and Gloria on the line too to hear this. This just got crazy, and I know they’ll want to hear this.”

  Within seconds, Steph and Gloria came on the line.

  “Hey, girls. What’s up?” Steph asked.

  “Hi
, guys! I’ve missed you guys so much,” Gloria said excitedly.

  “Sorry for the late call, Gloria. I’m surprised you picked up. Isn’t it like four a.m. in Paris right now?” Jill asked.

  “Oh, right. I’m still adjusting to the time change,” Gloria explained quickly. “What’s going on?”

  “Something crazy happened to Emma at work today, and I thought you guys would want to hear it from her,” Jill said. “Emma?”

  I told the girls in painful detail what had happened at work and my voice cracked several times as I fought back the tears.

  “What a fucking asshole,” Steph said as soon as I finished talking.

  “Right? How can he not remember?” Jill demanded.

  “Are you okay, Emma?” Gloria asked.

  “I don’t know. I think I’m still in shock,” I said. “You know, I was really excited about this job. Not just because it’s my dream job, but because part of me was relying on this job to keep my mind busy and off of him. I thought this would be my fresh start and I could put him behind me forever.” I sighed before continuing. “But now…now he’s everywhere. Even when I try to forget about him, he seems to show up—and at my job, of all places. And now, he’s my group leader, so I have to see him every day and I can’t even avoid him. And what hurts the most is that he doesn’t even remember me.”

  “What a fucking bitch,” Steph exclaimed. “You should sue him for sexual harassment. He can’t get away with this!”

  Despite my mood, I laughed at Steph’s words. “I can’t do that, Steph. He didn’t sexually harass me.”

  “Well he took advantage of you and you were drunk,” she argued.

  “But I wanted to have sex with him,” I said, feeling the pain of those words. “Besides, I wasn’t even working at F&M yet.”

  “Well, even so,” Steph retorted, refusing to back down, “you had already accepted your job offer at that point, so you were practically an employee.”

  I had to love Steph for her conviction and confidence, and I was grateful that she was on my side. “Maybe, but he didn’t know who I was when we met in Cancun or that I was going to be working at F&M. I never told him that.”

  “Well, you don’t know that. He could have seen your name floating around somewhere at work before meeting you, especially since you are in his group,” she reasoned.

  “Don’t you worry, Emma. You may have a case here. I’ll look into it. We’ll make it stick,” Steph said, and I could almost see her wink at me. “You know, I’m practically a lawyer. I’ve already completed one month of law school!” she continued.

  We all laughed.

  “And how many do you have left,” I teased.

  “Ugh, don’t remind me! There are still twenty-six fucking months left,” Steph groaned. “And let me just say, these single law school guys are either weird, ugly, or short—all of which I’m allergic to.”

  We all laughed. Steph was never one to hold back her opinions.

  “Thanks for cheering me up, Steph,” I said. “But really, how should I handle this situation? I don’t know how I’ll be able to face him?”

  “Pretend he’s hideous when you look at him,” Jill said eagerly.

  “Yeah, picture him really fat,” Gloria chimed in.

  “What?” The idea was so outrageous to me that I began to laugh.

  “With a distorted face,” Jill added.

  “And a humped back!” Steph threw in. “Oh, and imagine him drooling all over the place! Who would ever want to kiss that repulsive thing? Eww!”

  We all exploded in laugher.

  “So what you’re telling me is, you want me to picture him as the Hunchback of Notre Dame?” I teased.

  “Well, no. Of course not,” Steph said with a serious tone. “We want you to picture him as the Hunchback of San Francisco!”

  We were now all laughing uncontrollably, unable to speak.

  “Thanks guys. I really needed that,” I said.

  “That’s what we’re here for,” Steph said.

  “Yeah. I can’t imagine what you’re going through, Emma, but you’re one of the strongest people I know. I know you can get through this. We all know you’ve gotten through much worse,” Gloria said. I knew she was referring to that night from my freshman year and realized that she was right. I have gotten through worse.

  “He doesn’t deserve you, Emma,” Jill said. “You deserve a guy who puts you on a pedestal. A guy who, even if he had amnesia, would not forget you.”

  I let out a deep sigh. “You’re right. I can’t let him ruin my career and everything I’ve worked so hard for. If he’s forgotten about me, then I should move on. I need to forget about meeting him in Cancun. I’ve been holding on to the memories of that night and making them into something special and meaningful. But in reality, it’s not a night I should hold on to and remember. It was a night to forget.”

  “It’ll get better,” Jill said encouragingly.

  “So who else is in your group,” Steph said, changing the subject. “Any hotties?”

  I laughed. “Well, there are three of us in the group. This girl Sarah, who seems nice, and this guy Josh.”

  “Is he hot?”

  “He’s pretty cute, in that All-American-boy type of way,” I admitted.

  “Works for me,” Steph said. “You should go for him.”

  “You’re ridiculous sometimes, Steph,” I laughed.

  “Well, you know my motto—work hard, play hard. And you have a high-pressure job, especially now with that asshole in the mix, so you’ll need someone to help you let out some steam. This Josh guy sounds perfect.”

  I laughed. “Well, I’ll think about it, but I don’t think I’m interested. Besides, I think Sarah may have a crush on him, and I think they’d make a cute couple,” I explained. “Plus, I already have Brandon to deal with on the job. I’m not sure I can handle another guy making me feel uncomfortable at work.”

  “I agree,” Gloria said. “Don’t shit where you eat.”

  “If only I had taken that advice six months ago,” I joked.

  After another half of hour of catching up, we said our goodbyes. Jill immediately called me the minute we had clicked off.

  “Hi, Emma. I just wanted to make sure you’re feeling okay,” Jill said.

  “Thanks, Jill. I do feel a little better. Thanks for talking me off the ledge,” I joked. “I really miss you.”

  “Aw, hun, I miss you too. And I miss your cooking.” She laughed and then stopped. “Actually, I’m serious about that. I’m starving.”

  I laughed. “Jill, for someone who loves food so much, you really should learn how to cook,” I teased.

  “You’re probably right. But I feel so lazy when it comes to cooking. It’s such a process,” Jill sulked.

  I giggled. “Sometimes you’re so spoiled, Jill,” I teased. Sometimes I felt like I knew Jill better than I knew myself. But maybe that was because a part of me envied her easy life. She never had to learn how to cook because her mom was an excellent cook.

  “How are your parents, by the way? I miss them,” I said. I loved Jill’s parents. They were caring and supportive—the way Jill was to her friends.

  “They’re good. They miss you, too. They’re in Europe right now, celebrating their twenty-five-year anniversary,” Jill said.

  “Oh, are they in London?” I asked with genuine curiosity.

  “Yes, I think they’re there now before they head off to Italy,” Jill said.

  I never grew tired of hearing about Jill’s parents and their perfect marriage. Jill’s mom had moved to the U.S. from China at the age of four with Jill’s grandparents, and Jill’s father was English. They met while Jill’s mother was living in London for a semester on a study-abroad program. They fell in love that semester, and Jill’s father was so in love with her mother that he moved to the U.S. to be with her. It was incredibly romantic, and every time Jill told me about her parents’ love story, I secretly wished that I would one day have such a passionate and c
an’t-live-without-each-other romance like that. I secretly thought that maybe, just maybe, Brandon was going to be the guy I would have that kind of romance with.

  But who was I kidding? I wasn’t Jill and I hadn’t grown up with her loving parents. Instead, I never knew my father and had grown up with a mother who had worked two full-time jobs to make ends meet for the two of us. She had never married, and I wasn’t sure she had ever trusted men after what my father did to her.

  “Emma?” Jill said, snapping me out of my thoughts.

  “Oh, sorry. What did you say?” I asked.

  “I was just asking you if you wanted anything from Italy? My parents asked me to check with you. They know you love to cook and thought you may want some cooking stuff from Italy.”

  “That’s so sweet of them, but I think I’m okay. Please thank them for me,” I said.

  “Okay. Emma? Will you be okay? Do you want me to drive up one of these weekends to visit you?” Jill asked.

  “Thanks, Jill. I’d love to see you if you have a free weekend.”

  “Great! I’ll try to come up in a couple of weeks. It’ll be so much fun!”

  Her excitement was contagious, and I giggled. “I can’t wait. Thanks for making me feel better. I should probably get some sleep. I’ll talk to you soon?”

  “Definitely. Get some rest, okay?”

  “Okay, thanks, Jill.”

  “Call me if you need anything. Sweet dreams!”

  That is what I am afraid of—sweet dreams, I thought but decided not to say that to Jill.

  “Goodnight. I’ll talk to you soon,” I said and hung up.

  I quickly got ready for bed and sank into the protective layers of my comforter. The cool breeze coming in through the bay window was soothing. I was exhausted and emotionally spent from today. As I closed my heavy eyelids and dozed off to sleep, I felt my body let go of the tension in my muscles. Things will be okay, I thought. It isn’t the end of the world. The girls are right. I am strong. I will get through this. He may have been my first, but I am not going to let him ruin my life because of it. He sure isn’t going to be my last.

  Luckily, I had a dreamless sleep that night—a night without Brandon evading my mind.