by Beth Rinyu
He grinned and looked down at his desk. “Have you been talking to my father or something?”
“Really, I’m in no position to tell anyone how to run their life, but there is more out there than just work.”
“Maybe,” he muttered.
“Not maybe. Definitely.” I sighed. “My personal life pretty much sucks right now, but I still—”
“Why’s it suck?” he interrupted, taking me off guard.
“You really want to know?”
“Yeah.” He raised an eyebrow at me.
“Well, I had maintained a decent relationship with my daughter’s father for the past five years…until we decided we could function together as a couple. Let’s just say I found out the hard way we can’t.”
“Okay, so that just proves my point. Why invest time into things that are only going to fall apart anyway?”
“Because maybe one time they’ll fall together.”
He furrowed his brow in confusion.
“Look, you take risks all the time with your business…and sometimes those risks pay off—”
“Mostly all of the time,” he interrupted.
I shook my head and giggled. Of course it was most of the time. Why would I expect anything else from such a stickler like himself? “I never expected to be a mom at twenty years old. Hell, before I got pregnant, I didn’t even know if I even wanted kids. But, you know what? Now I couldn’t imagine my life without her. So I guess all I’m saying is, don’t be afraid to take risks with your personal life and live a little. Who knows, you may be just as successful with that as you are with your business.”
“Doubt it.” He was straight-faced.
I had probably overstepped my boundaries with this little heart-to-heart, judging by his matter-of-fact response. Sometimes I let my thoughts get the best of me. I was totally out of line, giving my boss, of all people, advice on his personal life. I cleared my throat, now feeling a little uncomfortable for so freely offering guidance from a train wreck like myself to a man who clearly had it all together. “Sorry, sometimes I get carried away. So let’s just agree to disagree on that matter and get back to business, shall we?”
Just because you think it, doesn’t mean you say it, Faith!
***
By the time the day ended, I still wasn’t much in the mood for attending Chad’s after work get-together. But when my mother called to tell me Joey wanted to spend the night at her house, I figured it would be something to do, instead of sitting around my apartment alone, brooding in self-pity.
Duffy’s Pub was a few miles up the road from work. I had never been there before, but I knew they were known for their green beer all year-round and live Irish music. I also knew it was a place that Cole and his friends frequented often. I walked in and unconsciously scanned the bar area for the genetic contributor, the title I had now deduced him to. I breathed a sigh of relief upon seeing no sign of him.
“Faith!” Chad called from the other side of the bar. A relieved smile fell upon my face as I walked over to where he and my other co-workers were congregating. “You came!” Chad beamed as I got closer.
“Of course!” I played it off as if I never had any intention not to. My eyes locked with the adorable, petite, short-haired girl standing next to him. I recognized her immediately as Chad’s fiancée from the many pictures on his Facebook page. “You must be Jane?” I smiled.
“Yup, that’s me!”
I knew just from my first impression and her bubbly tone, she was someone I could see myself being good friends with.
Chad ordered me a drink right away. “Stupid question, but is our fearless leader coming?” he asked as he placed a bottle of beer in my hand.
“Umm…he was cursing at his computer monitor when I left, so I’m guessing no.”
“Figures! He doesn’t like to socialize with us little peons anyway,” Chad muttered, bringing the beer bottle up to his lips.
“What are you talking about? You and Gabe are great friends.” I couldn’t believe he would say such a thing, considering Gabe was going to be his best man at his wedding.
“Yeah, outside of work we are. At work he’s just as much of a dick to me as he is to everyone else.”
I chugged down my first sip of beer and realized it was going down way too easy. Pace yourself, Faith. “Why does everyone have that impression of him? I think he’s a great guy!” I rushed to Gabe’s defense.
Jane playfully smacked Chad in the shoulder. “He is a great guy, Chad!”
“I didn’t say he wasn’t outside of work,” he clarified. “Look, I love Gabe like a brother. We were college roommates, but he makes no distinction of that when it comes to work.”
“I guess I’ve never seen that side of him.”
“Oh, trust me, it’s just a matter of time before you make one little mistake and you become a member of the Gabe Samuels is a dickhead club.”
I shrugged my shoulders, having a hard time believing I would ever feel that way about Gabe.
The drinks were going down easier, and my laughter was becoming louder as Jane and I got to know each other better. I was feeling a little buzzed. Actually, a lot buzzed as I played a few drinking games with my co-workers. I knew I had to slow down. My face heated, my stomach flipped, and my heart raced when my attention diverted to the door to find Cole and a group of guys entering the bar. As I stared past him, I realized it wasn’t his presence that was causing those feelings. It was the sight of the man behind him. The man who made my stomach go from cartwheels to double flips in a matter of seconds. The man who as of late gave me more impure thoughts than a horny teenage boy with their first Playboy magazine. The man my co-workers made out to be a dick. And the man whom I refused to see as a dick. Instead, I chose to imagine his dick…in a much different way.
Chapter 17
Gabe
After staying late to get caught up on the days we’d be closed for the Thanksgiving holiday, I finally gave into Chad’s relentless texts, badgering me to meet up for the get-together he had planned. Normally, I would make up an excuse not to attend these little after-hour gatherings, but tonight I was feeling differently. I pulled my phone from my pocket and immediately sent the call from Phoebe to voicemail. I hadn’t been seeing much of her lately and when I did, it was for only one thing. She was a great girl, but I just didn’t have the time required to maintain a relationship, and I wasn’t going to lead her on by pretending what we had was anything more than just sex.
I immediately spotted Chad and Jane as I walked into the bar.
“Well, well, well, the boss man has made it!” Chad bellowed.
I tried not to make it obvious that I was scanning the area for Faith, but Chad caught on right away.
“She’s right over there, my man.” He smirked while I tried to remain expressionless. “Yo, Faith. Look who showed,” Chad shouted.
“Hey!” Faith stumbled over, and I could tell right away that she’d already had a little too much to drink. “You owe me ten bucks, Chad!” she shouted over the music.
“For what?” I asked.
“He bet me you wouldn’t show.” She pecked my chest with the tip of her finger as she inched closer to me. “But I had faith in you, Mr. Samuels.” She giggled loudly. “Oh my God, did that sound perverted?” She was way beyond a little too much to drink and bordering on wasted.
“Faith, I think you need to start drinking water or something.” I took her drink from her hand.
“I’m perfectly fine...I think.” Her face went pale and she stumbled into me.
I grabbed the bottom of her elbow to balance her. “Do you feel like you’re gonna be sick?”
“I think I just need to sit.” She staggered off to an empty bar stool.
“How much did she have to drink?” I asked Chad, whose fiancée was hanging on to him, looking very much in the same condition as Faith.
“I don’t know…not much. She had a rough week, dude. Her boyfriend jilted her for someone else. She needed to let
loose.”
I turned my head in Faith’s direction before turning my attention back to Chad. “She looks like she’s gonna pass out,” I scolded.
He held up his hands in defense. “Hey, don’t blame me. I told her and Janie not to do another shot.”
“Another shot? How many did they do?”
“Too many.” Jane’s words were barely audible.
I slowly approached Faith, who was laughing away with one of the guys in the marketing department. He cleared his throat and gave me a nod, becoming more serious. “Hey, Mr. Samuels,” he muttered, taking a step back and turning around to the group of people next to him.
“Faith, have you eaten anything since lunch?” I asked while taking a seat next to her.
She reluctantly shook her head.
“Why don’t you let me take you to get something to eat and then drive you home?”
“I’m okay. I promise.” She went to get up and sat back down after losing her balance.
“Come on, at least let me take you to get coffee or something.” I figured this would be a start just to get her out of the bar and away from her car. There was no way in hell I was letting her drive anywhere tonight.
“Okay...” She finally relented. “But, Gabe,” she said in a loud whisper as she inched closer to my ear. “The genetic contributor is sitting over there.” Her warm breath on my neck reeked of tequila.
“The what?” My eyes shifted across the bar to the group of guys, trying to figure out which one she was referring to.
“Joey’s dad, and up until the other day, my boyfriend.”
“Okay.” I wasn’t sure where she was going with this.
“Well, I just—”
“Your turn, Faith!” Chad roared over the music.
“Her turn for what?” I asked.
“We’re playing a game of dare. She has to either take the dare or drink another shot of tequila.”
“Chad, she’s had enough to drink.”
“Nope, fair is fair. We’ve got money riding on this, so if she doesn’t want to pay the piper then she either has to drink the shot or take the dare.”
Faith rolled her eyes. “Well, I’m not relenting, so what’s the dare?”
Chad rubbed his hand down the side of his face, looking deep in thought. I remembered playing these drinking games with him back in college and some of the ridiculous dares he would come up with. I could only imagine what he was conjuring up for Faith.
“Okay, I’ve got a good one. Kiss Gabe like he’s going off to war.”
We both looked up at him and shouted, “Seriously?” at the same time.
“Do it or take a drink.” He slammed the shot of tequila on the bar and Faith’s face turned ten shades of queasiness.
Faith looked at Chad once again and widened her eyes.
“Do it!” he challenged, causing the group of people around us to start chanting, “Do it! Do it! Do it!”
“I’m sorry,” Faith mouthed to me, stepping off her barstool and inching closer.
I should have stopped her. I should have just paid whatever money she’d be losing by reneging on this stupid game. But part of me wanted to know what her lips felt like on mine. She placed her hands on the sides of my face and took a deep breath as the onlookers cheered her on. Her lips met mine and for the sake of the show she was giving everyone, my tongue found its way into her mouth to make it more believable. She responded back just as eagerly and the hoots and hollers around us became louder. Our lips disengaged and she stared up at me in bemusement. Her deep brown eyes were glazed over. Her usual ruby red lips were pale and a little swollen over the intensity of our kiss. I hated myself for not being able to chase away the thoughts of how damn hot she looked at the moment. I took a deep breath, trying to pull it together. My insides were definitely awakened a little, which would have been okay if Faith were just some random girl at a bar. But she wasn’t. She was my employee. I grabbed the shot of tequila that was meant for Faith and slammed it down. The slow burn going down my throat felt good in comparison to the self-loathing I was wallowing in at the moment.
Faith placed her hand on my thigh, trying to steady herself. The color drained from her face right before my eyes. “I think I’m gonna be sick,” she murmured, finding her balance and darting outside.
“Didn’t know you had that effect on women, did you, buddy?” Chad chortled.
But I was finding it anything but humorous. Faith drank way too much. I just allowed her to kiss me in front of my employees. And I liked it.
“You’re such a jackass sometimes,” I snapped at Chad, grabbing Faith’s coat that was sitting beside me and heading outside to make sure she was okay.
The bitter cold air hit me in the face as soon as I stepped outside. I looked around the dark parking lot to find Faith sitting on the curb, hugging her knees.
“Hey, are you okay?”
She looked up at me with the remnants of her eye makeup running down her face. “Yeah—I mean no. I’m so sorry for doing that, Gabe.”
“It’s fine. I’m glad you didn’t let Chad win,” I joked, hoping to cheer her up a bit.
She shivered, and I took a seat next to her, wrapping her coat around her shoulders.
“It’s official. I’m a screwup with everything I do.” She stared straight ahead, trying her best to wipe the tears away.
“Why do you say that?” I asked.
“I just made a total ass out of myself and out of you in front of everyone from work.”
“Faith, half of them are drunk off their asses. I doubt they’ll even remember it by Monday.”
Letting out a deep sigh, she turned toward me and rested her head on her knees. “So I’m not fired?”
“No, Faith, you’re not fired.”
She pulled her coat around her a little tighter and exhaled deeply. “Can I ask you something?”
“Sure…why not?”
“Why did you hire me? And don’t say because I was the best qualified for the job because we both know that’s not true.”
I raked my hand through my hair, trying to come up with an answer to that. But the truth was, I didn’t know the answer myself. “You’re right. You were extremely underqualified, but I guess there was just something about you that made me feel like I needed to give you a chance. I’m not sorry I did.”
“Thank you for that. I promise I’ll always do my best to not screw up. I don’t want to become a member of the club.”
“What club?” I asked.
“Oh, never mind. I don’t make any sense when I’m drunk.”
“Are you feeling any better?”
“Yeah. I think I just needed some fresh air.”
The couple exiting the bar caught her eye. She lifted her head and shook it in disgust upon seeing the guy she pointed out in the bar and a blonde getting into a car.
I stood up and extended my hand to her. “Let me drive you home.”
She didn’t put up a fight, entwining her hand around mine as I pulled her up from the curb.
Faith’s apartment complex was on the outskirts of town, bordering one of the less desirable cities in the entire state. It definitely wasn’t a good place for a single woman and a child to be living in. She had sobered up a bit by the time I pulled into the dimly lit parking lot of the place she called home.
“I can’t thank you enough for doing this for me. And I’m so sorry for what I did in the bar back here. I normally don’t drink…”
I put my hand up to stop her, but she wasn’t relenting. I didn’t need any justification. I was perfectly fine with what she did. Too fine.
“I just had a really bad week. You see, Joey’s dad kind of manipulated me into thinking he wanted us to be a family. Turns out he only really needed a place to live.” She shook her head. “And then Monday when I came home for lunch I found him having sex with someone else. In my bed. Bastard couldn’t even get a hotel room.” She was on the verge of tears.
“I’m sorry, Faith.” I didn’t know
what else to say. I was never good at being the shoulder to cry on because the truth was, people never really confided in me with their problems.
“I’m...I’m so sorry for blurting that out. That was a little TMI.”
“No, really, it’s fine.” I stared out the window, trying to make out the apartment building in the darkness. “So, this is where you live?”
“Yeah, this is it. I’m hoping for not much longer, but I’ll see about that.”
Ask her where she’s planning on moving. Do something to make her think you’re interested in hearing what’s going on in her life, instead of being consumed in your own little world. But the best I could do was give her a curt nod.
“Thanks again, and can you please forget that kiss ever happened?”
I didn’t want to forget it, but I knew I had to. “Yeah, sure,” I whispered.
“Happy Thanksgiving, Gabe.” She smiled. It wasn’t the same full-fledged one that would brighten my morning each time she walked into the office. But it was beautiful nonetheless. I wondered if she knew how much power just one little facial expression of hers possessed. Every single day no matter how frazzled she was, she always managed to have that same beautiful smile plastered across her face. Which in turn made my day a little better.
“Oh…umm. Let me at least walk you to your door.”
“I’m fine—”
I was out of my car before she could even finish putting up a fight. “You really need to tell your landlord you need better lighting out here. It’s not safe for you and your daughter at night.”
She guffawed. “You mean my slumlord. I’m lucky if the heat and hot water works most days. I hardly think he’ll care about the outside lighting,” she remarked as we made our way to the building.
I cringed, just thinking about the way she was living. “You shouldn’t stand for that. If you’re paying rent then he has to address your problems.”
“From your mouth to his ears.” She giggled as we finally made our way to the broken concrete steps of the front porch. “I know it looks really bad from the outside, but I actually made it pretty homey on the inside. Want to come up and see?”