Breene, K F - Growing Pains 01

by Lost (and) Found (v5. 0)

  Joanna had been the girl Sean took home from the Christmas party. At least, that had been the rumor.

  “I know what she did to Joanna. I also know you didn’t join in on that.”

  “Uh…”

  “I didn’t sleep with her. It isn’t gentlemanly of me to say it, but we both tried to set the record straight, so I don’t think she would mind. You were never in the gossip circles, so you never got to hear.”

  “Uh…” Krista had no right to that information. She couldn’t even verify it, because Joanna got the hell outta Dodge when everyone came down on her. Plus, if that was true, then for that one time Sean did the right thing, there were a great many he didn’t. Krista had personally witnessed the morning after, and personally heard a chick or two crying in the bathroom. It didn’t change anything.

  Sean was staring at her, though, awaiting confirmation. Like a dog that sat on command, he wanted to know his good work was noticed. That ego of his—it was out of this world.

  “Well, that’s something,” she said unconcernedly. Sean went back to his beer. “Anywho, be that as it may, Cindy is a bitch.”

  Sean nodded.

  “Anyway—oh man, she told everyone I went speed dating?”

  “Yup.”

  “Said I couldn’t get a man the traditional way so I had to do it the new age way, or something stupid like that, right?”

  “In so many words, yes. How did you know?” Sean looked at her suspiciously.

  “I was in high school, Sean. This is classic girl clique crap. Oh man, if I wanted to, I could totally—yeah, I’m going to. Wait, no I can’t—WAIT! I can!” Krista was definitely buzzed now. And riled up.

  Instead of telling her to quiet down, or shut up, as Kate and Jaz might, Sean had that bemused expression again.

  “Sorry,” she whispered. “I just really want to take that bitch to the cleaners. I only have one friend, though. Tommy. He’s shit for this kind of thing.”

  “Wait until Marcus befriends you. You’ll have a lot more options.”

  “Marcus?—Oh, that hot guy on our team?”

  “Uh…the…”

  “Just say yes. You know he’s hot.”

  “I will not be admitting it.”

  “Whatever. He’s a gossip, is he?”

  “The biggest.”

  “Hmmm. Okay. Operation Cindy-is-going-down is in the works.”

  “She’s had rumors spread about her before, you know,” Sean warned. “She wasn’t the one who came out on bottom.”

  “She never went up against the Prom Queen, now did she? I know my way around girl-reputation-espionage. Not happily—I regret most of it, but she deserves it.”

  “True. So about speed dating.”

  “Oh right. So yeah …” Krista told him about meeting Paul and how he got her number. They’d gone out about a week after, to a movie and dinner. Since then, they’d kept up the dating game, trying to get to know each other. She wanted to fall in love and get over her trust issues and fears. Paul was a steady, safe approach to that dream, and she wanted it to work out.

  “And this Ben is …”

  “My roommate.”

  “Who helped you with the presentation?”

  “One track mind, jeez. Also correct.”

  “Well, then the dates must have been okay.”

  Krista hesitated. Sean wanted the dirt. He wanted her personal dating history. Krista could understand why—who didn’t want gossip?—but she didn’t want to share her personal life with this man. He was too close as it was.

  On that note, Krista decided it was probably time to call it a day. All she was going to do was get drunker and start revealing things she would rather not have a work person know. What’s worse, this road would lead her to the ex-boyfriend. For the second time. That was a scab she didn’t want picked.

  She finished her beer and shook her head when the bartender walked by. Sean followed suit. Apparently he was just as eager to leave his personal life out of his work life. Good news.

  They waited for the bill with various forms of small talk, neither wanting to divulge too much classified information, but having a hard time thinking of anything else. When the bill came, and before Krista could reach for it, Sean had his credit card down and was pushing it toward the end of the bar.

  “You don’t need to cover the whole thing,” she said, reaching the now-great distance over his large arm to recover the check.

  Sean shook his head and put his hand slowly, and hesitantly, on her shoulder to stop her reach. A blaze of warmth flashed into her arm from his soft touch. The heat turned into liquid fire as it raced through her veins. She felt a rush--like she was awake for the first time in a long time. The clouds parted and spring flowers bloomed. She made an “Oh!” sound as she turned to him, expecting him to be as mystified as she was.

  He was smiling at her with perfect composure, his gorgeous features alight in good humor. His body was at ease on the bar stool, drawing looks from all the women in line of sight. His effortless beauty radiated his strong body in repose. Krista wanted to run her hand up his shoulder and feel more of the molten heat. She wanted skin contact. Intimate skin contact in which to explore that feeling.

  Seeing her frazzled, searching look, Sean’s brow furrowed. “What’s wrong? You okay?”

  “Kate is going to be so pissed at me.”

  “For what?” Sean glanced around the bar, trying to identify the problem.

  “What? Doesn’t matter. Uh, but I can pay for half of that.”

  “Do you drink much?” Sean asked as the check was whisked away.

  She watched it go, aware Sean was watching her quizzically. She turned to him. “Do you ever get the feeling that the cosmos is playing one giant joke on you?”

  The quizzical look continued its path into baffled.

  “I can usually hold my liquor, yes. Just—I don’t know. No excuse for me.”

  “I take it this is not the embarrassing moment I should keep to myself?”

  “This? Oh God no. No, this is normal embarrassing behavior. Were you even there for my first week?”

  Sean sniffed, because yes, he certainly was, “Got it.”

  The check came back and Sean signed for it and gracefully got off the stool. He looked untouched by the Guinness.

  Krista slid off haphazardly. Her toe got stuck in the leg of the stool and she stumbled into the bar. She caught and steadied herself, keeping clear of Sean’s attempt to help. “Seriously—I got it.”

  He smiled, his eyes turning an intoxicating violet in the failing light. He obviously wasn’t convinced.

  “Can you get home okay?” he asked as he held the door open for her to leave the bar.

  “Oh, thank you,” she said as she went through. “How old are you?” she blurted.

  “Why? Doing a profile on me or something?”

  “Yeah, right. No, I was just thinking that guys my age don’t hold doors open, then wondering if you are perhaps not my age, which would still prove me right.”

  “You always like to be right.”

  “Yes. So I am twenty-five. Are you my age,,,uh…ish?”

  “I am old enough to know to hold a door open for a lady. But then, I saw a twelve-year-old doing it last week, so that doesn’t mean much.”

  “Well… okay. Regardless, no, I don’t need help. Yes, I mean, I’ll be okay to get home.” She realized too late that he didn’t offer to help. Also that she sounded ridiculous.

  “Do you take BART?” he asked, less than convinced she was okay by herself.

  “No, freaking Muni. The dredges of the transportation world.”

  They walked in silence for a minute, both heading toward the train station.

  “Where are you headed?” she asked him.

  “I need to send an email or two before I shut down for the day.”

  “Uh, but...” It dawned on her that he was walking her to the train station to make sure she got there all right. He had the manners of a gentleman from th
e 1800s rather than a skirt-chaser in his late twenties. She said as much.

  He laughed in that carefree way of his. “My mother always said, ‘You can only get respect if you show respect.’”

  “Yes but, it seems as though you aren’t respecting my ability to get home okay.”

  “It does seem that way, yes. However, showing ladies respect is making sure they get where they are going safely.”

  “That seems like a stretch.”

  “Okay, how about I enjoy your company and don’t want to part with you quite yet?”

  “Nope. Still not buyin’ it.”

  “Tough sell. Okay you got me—I have a feeling that if I weren’t here, you’d end up flat on your face in the gutter, and I would have to find a new Marketing Researcher to work on my team. His name might be Larry.”

  “Oh man! Not that guy! He stinks. But yeah, that sounds more like it.”

  They reached the train station.

  “I made it,” she informed him with a smile.

  He couldn’t help but stand mystified at her for some reason. Then he sported a goofy smile.

  Finally, he nodded. “Thank God for me, huh?”

  Sean winked and turned to walk back toward the office. “Oh, and remember to stop by my office tomorrow morning,” he yelled over his shoulder.

  “What no ‘please’?”

  “Don’t deserve it,” he called.

  Krista could hear the smile in his voice. She watched him walk away for a minute, admiring his carefree saunter with his long, graceful steps. Then she turned to go home.

  ~*~*~*~

  Sean walked into his house and paused. It suddenly felt empty. He put his stuff on the counter, as he usually did, and headed for the fridge. Cold beer in hand, the next place of interest was the couch and the sports channel.

  He couldn’t get his impromptu late afternoon lunch out of his head.

  Krista was so laid back. So down-to-earth. She was calm and normal, but unique. She was interesting and intelligent. The things that whirled around in that head of hers had him mystified half the time. Despite that, she challenged him in a fun way. Coaxed him to step out of his business suit and laugh about the small things. It was refreshing.

  She was so out of his league.

  As the images flicked through the TV screen, Sean couldn’t help but feel the quiet of the house descend. It wasn’t a giant residence, three bedroom, but for one guy who tried to never be home, it was too big. Too much empty space.

  As he always did when he got twinges of loneliness, he reached for his phone. Then he hesitated. He wasn’t in the mood for a booty call. He had a few women to choose from, all eager and willing, but they were dense and unsatisfying in every way. All they were good for was a warm body, and that wasn’t good enough. At least not tonight.

  Putting the phone down, he settled more firmly on the couch, a strange melancholy overcoming him. Drowning him.

  Chapter Eleven

  The next morning Krista was refreshed and energized. She barely noticed the pulsing white blanket of thick San Francisco fog. The clunky, dismembered train and its hard seats didn’t get her down, either. Even her newly coiffed hair immediately frizzing didn’t bother her in the least. She was flying today!

  She’d been seeing Paul over the last few months. They’d been going strong with dates and hanging out now and again. It was a slow, mild way back into dating and trust. Paul was nice, no two ways about it. He wasn’t prone to outbursts of anger, he always thought of her first—well, often he thought of her first—and he listened when she spoke.

  Krista had really tried to get out of her own way, quit second-guessing the reasons he was being sweet, and give in. She wanted to love him. She wanted to make it a thing with him. The problem was that, while he was certainly attractive, she was having a hard time with chemistry. They could talk and laugh, but…there was something missing. Thinking it was her fault, she talked to him about it, giving him a rundown of her current emotional state and difficulty trusting.

  He said he was content to be a booty call. Krista couldn’t tell if he was joking, which was a bit unsettling because that wasn’t really what she was after…

  Regardless, last night she’d had to work out some lust issues, and they totally went for it. She came hard and fast. So did Paul.

  When her alarm started singing at the usual time, she gave it a tap and was up to start her day. Thank goodness for sex and small miracles.

  She walked in the building with a bounce in her step and a jingle in her jangle. She felt great. She was excited to start the day with a new assignment—hopefully that gave her plenty to do.

  She needed to see Sean but she also needed coffee. Being that it was his usual time for the break room, she headed there first. He wasn’t there, but a mystified Cindy was. She apparently didn’t understand why she was getting a smiling hello. By the “sniffing-shit” look on her ugly mug, she didn’t trust Krista’s good mood.

  As well she shouldn’t.

  As soon as Krista could, she planned on befriending Marcus and figuring out a way to get Cindy back for being such a fat cow. Now, however, she had more pressing things to think about.

  Like a new opportunity!

  Sean was at his desk with his perfect suit in place, his perfect hair just slightly disheveled, and a pair of perfect bags under his eyes. That was about when the record needle screeched off its perfect track.

  On closer inspection, it looked like a ghost haunted him. He had a five-o’clock shadow and a wildness about his eyes that wasn’t there yesterday.

  Krista gingerly knocked on the partially open door.

  He looked up.

  Krista was struck by a blast of unresolved desperation. It looked like something was eating away at him. His workload, which was currently stacked on all available space on his desk, probably had something to do with it.

  “Hey Krista, how they hangin’?” Sean asked as he shuffled some papers and sat back tiredly.

  Did he think she was his new buddy from the gym or something?

  She figured if he wanted to paint her with a pair of balls, she would play it up like they were magnificent balls indeed. “Hi-ya Sean. They’re hangin’ low, down to the flo’.”

  “What’s up?” He didn’t even give her a smirk. She wondered if his boss shat on his desk last night. Clean up would put anyone in a bad mood.

  “Well, O-Captain-my-Captain, you said to report to you first thing in the morning. Here I am.”

  “Oh right. Yes, please follow me.” Sean got up, waited distractedly for her to get up, and gestured for her to lead him out of the office. Once out, he took over the leadership role and headed up two floors, and then to the right. He stopped in front of an office about the size of the one he currently occupied. It had a new, ornate desk, two chairs in front of it, and a plush leather chair behind. There was a plant in the corner, two file cabinets, and one window to look out onto the floor.

  Krista looked around confusedly. Sean waited patiently, looking the office over. A computer was already set up with two flat screen monitors and newish office supplies, all arranged on the desk, waiting to be used.

  “Umm, what’s happening?” Krista asked, staring at the shiny surface of the desk. She had expected to sign some papers. Or maybe get her assignment with the promotion and raise to follow later. What she saw was a deserted office.

  Sean looked at her in a dazed sort of way. She could see the tiredness draining his energy.

  “There wasn’t anything suitable near your department. With enough privacy. John wants what we do kept in the strictest of confidence.”

  “But…wait…are you trying to say I get to work here?” She turned to him suddenly, making him back up. “Do I get an office? Are you saying I get an office? Do I get to work here? With a door? Sean, tell me you are kidding. Tell me right now that you are kidding or else I might try to click my heels!”

  Despite Sean’s attempt to be grumpy, a twinkle infused his troubled eyes and
the corner of his lips lifted. “Yes. Will it work?”

  “Oh my god! Yes!” She gushed. With a ten-gallon smile, she nearly threw herself at him for a hug just as big. Obviously, she refrained. Randomly hugging bosses was probably not the model of professional behavior.

  “Yay! Thank you!” She moved through the office as if she was born to it. Behind her desk, she sat in her new seat. It was cush, just like Sean’s.

  “Did you hear that?” she asked, bobbing in the chair a little.

  Sean’s brow furrowed and he looked around. “What’s that? Something wrong?” His tired eyes turned back to her.

  “Listen.” She couldn’t help her goofy smile as she crouched halfway out of her chair, put her hands out to the side elegantly, and sat down again with the cush.

  “Oh, man. This chair is so nice!” She swiveled like a five-year-old as she checked out her surroundings. Sean, perking up at her pleasure, fully entered the office and sat in the visitor chair with a lopsided grin.

  “So it works?”

  “Does it work? Wait—“Krista jumped up, ran to the door, and closed it. “I have a door, Sean! An office and a door! Does it work—what a dumb question! Definitely!”

  He regarded her for a moment longer. She gazed back with a beaming smile, waiting for her good mood to seep into his tired and cranky visage. Instead, as he took her in, his brow knit and he became distracted.

  “All right,” he smoothed his trousers over his knees. “I will be moving up here eventually as well. They’re making a corner office ready for me. For now, I’ll stay put. Good?”

  “Aye, aye, Captain.”

  “Great,” he got up and made ready to leave. “Anything else?”

  “Um, well, what am I supposed to work on? And do I take orders directly from you, or does Mr. Montgomery still dictate my time? I don’t have to deal with Dan crop dusting me anymore!”

  Sean’s mental path visibly stuttered. Halfway through whatever he planned to say, he paused with a wrinkled nose. “Crop dusting?”

  Krista, swiveling in her chair, had her eyes on the comfortable arm rests when she answered. “Yeah, you know, walking by while farting. Office crop dusting they call it.” She glanced up. Seeing his look of hopeless confusion, she explained, “You know, when people walk through the office while letting out a silent but deadly one? They spread it out so no one knows who did it…” She raised her eyebrows, mostly unbelieving he didn’t know of this practice.