by Rayne Reilly
Somehow, Marcy had struck gold with her new fiance and a well-paying job. Amara marveled at how their lives had taken such different turns. She had no luck with men and felt sure she wasn't ever going to find her Mr Right. All she found were lots of Mr Right-Nows and they always left her feeling disgusted with herself and her lack of willpower when it came to sleeping with them. Marcy knew all about her exploits with men and was the only person who didn't seem to judge her.
"Everything is set. I've got my dress,the caterer is arranged,photographer...everything, except I need my maid of honor here to go to my final dress fitting. Have you picked up your dress yet? Does it fit well? Are you excited?" she almost squealed with joy.
Amara grinned, sincerely this time. "Yes. All set and I am excited. I can't wait to see you and this perfect guy you claim to have found."
Marcy chuckled, "Have you given any thought to the other thing we spoke about a couple months ago?"
"The job? I'll talk to you about it when I get there. I am interested," she insisted.
She could hear Marcy sigh over the phone. "What's wrong Amara? Is everything okay?" she asked, lowering her voice.
Amara shared stories about her sex life with Marcy, but she never shared much about her work. She wasn't sure why that was, but told herself that it was best not to focus on the fact that the job had gone downhill for her. She didn't want pity and she certainly didn't want twenty questions about what was going on at work.
"Yes...of course. I just need a break, that's all. I have to go, I have a meeting," she lied, "I'll talk soon, okay?"
"Oh. Okay," Marcy sounded a little sad.
Amara ended the call and put her phone down on the desk. She had already booked the time off to visit her friend and attend her wedding, long before Mark had become more of a jerk than usual. She was still glad to be getting away and was looking forward to visiting her.
The plan was to visit a week before the wedding, so that they could do last minute things together in preparation for the wedding day. Marcy and her soon-to-be husband, Austin, were not going on a honeymoon right away, so she would have plenty of time to visit before returning home to the city.
That is, if she wasn't going to take the job with Bear Bones Construction. Marcy had asked Amara a couple of months earlier if she might be interested in a position in their marketing department and she had let Marcy think that she might be. She had been giving some thought to moving out of the city for about a year, but wasn't sure yet if it was the right thing for her. It was hard to imagine living in a small town again. Because of past events, there were elements about living in a rural area that scared her.
She wouldn't allow herself to think about that. Instead she would focus on the fact that she would be closer to her friend. A friend with whom she had been through everything in the past.
Having supportive people in her life wasn't happening in the city. She spent too much time worrying that if she let people get close to her, they would judge her.
No. Marcy was the only person who truly seemed to accept her the way she was. She had come from a small town out west, and ever since she was a teenager, she had only wanted to live in the city. Looking back, she could see how deluded she had been. Life in the big city was a bit alienating and lonely.
Amara's thoughts returned again to how things had been going recently at her job. Mark and his crazy mood swings were becoming a daily thing and his erratic behavior had made her begin to question if he was on something. Just last week when she hadn't followed up with a client quickly enough, he blew up at her, letting her have it with both barrels. I didn't go to university for this kind of treatment.
Amara spent the next couple of hours making calls to clients and doing her work as usual. She had always prided herself in her ability to do a good job but admittedly, lately she wondered if the work she was doing was even recognized or appreciated. With no support from her colleagues and the company going through financial difficulties, she knew she would be leaving this place soon, regardless. Might as well make it my choice.
Pushing away from her desk, she grabbed her coffee cup and headed for her umpteenth cup for the day. Heading down the hallway toward the break room, she heard Mark's voice. He sounded agitated.
Approaching the break room, she saw him in there on his phone. He made no effort to keep his voice down. She watched him from behind as he ran his hand nervously through his hair. His shirt looked crumpled and sweaty and his pants were hanging loosely on his hips. He was unkempt and appeared to be losing a lot of weight.
He was giving someone hell over the phone and turned to look over his shoulder as she entered, empty cup in hand. She averted her eyes and headed for the coffee pot. He lowered his voice, keeping his back to her as he spoke.
"I need it today...come to the office..." he said in a frantic tone into the phone.
Amara quickly filled her cup and headed out of the room, having no interest in being saddled with another one of his emergency meetings. She wasn't sure what was going on, but she felt sure that he was losing his mind a little. Sipping her coffee as she headed back to her desk, she heard his voice rising again in the background.
"Look, I don't care if you have concerns...I need some now!" he yelled.
Amara noticed that a few of the other staff members had turned their heads in the direction of the break room, startled by his shouting. She was glad to be back at her desk when he stormed past her, his hands furled into tight fists as he stomped down the hallway. Just a couple more hours and then I can get out of this shit-hole, she thought.
***
Amara tidied the papers and folders on her desk. She had already rinsed her coffee cup in the break room, ready for a new day.
Hitching her purse onto her shoulder, she took the elevator down to the parking lot. The senior staff had gone for the day and only Mark's BMW remained near the door. She was not important enough to garner such a sweet space and had to walk much further to get to her small car.
As she rounded the bend to where she had parked, she heard raised voices behind her and stopped in her tracks. Nervously peering over her shoulder, she couldn't see anyone, but thought she had recognized Mark's gravelly voice. Standing tall, she hurried to her car.
To exit the lot, she had to pass Mark's parked car. She could not help but notice that he was sitting in the driver's seat. A scruffy looking man glared at her as he approached Mark's vehicle. Pretending not to notice, she glanced down at the pavement in front of her car. She was almost out of the parking lot when she checked for her phone and discovered that she had left it on her desk. Damn it. Without any other phone at home, she couldn't afford to leave it at work, not even for one night.
She turned the car around and parked in a spot closer to the door, intending to run back up to the office, grab her phone and make a quick getaway. She heard the door to the building slam shut as she approached it from the other side and deliberately avoided looking at Mark's car as she walked past and went back inside the building.
She had to wait for the elevator, a sign that it had just been called up or that she had just missed it. It stopped on the fifth floor. Her floor. Staring impatiently at the numbers above the door, she watched as slowly, it made its way back down to her. Tapping her thigh with one hand, she huffed in exasperation as the doors dragged open and she dashed inside. She just wanted to get home.
Finally, the elevator opened on the fifth floor once again. The lights in the office had been lowered for the night, but she could still see well enough to hurry to her desk to get her phone. As she grabbed it, she heard male voices coming from down the hall in the direction of Mark's office.
It was unlike her to eavesdrop but she couldn't help herself as she neared his door. There was something going on with her boss and she was curious as hell. He had just been downstairs; why was he back in his office?
Quietly, she approached his door. It was open and light spilled out into the dimly lit hallway. She stood with her back against th
e wall so that he wouldn't be able to see her. What are you doing? she admonished herself. A male voice spoke, a voice she did not recognize.
"That's premium price stuff...you told me you had money up here...you owe me a thousand dollars...cash. If you can't pay...I'm leavin'" warned the man.
"Hang on, I've got your money..." came Mark's shaky voice, her boss apparently agitated and tense. Although he tried to hide his desperation, it was painfully obvious.
A drawer scraped open, followed by the rustling of papers – and then silence.
"Give me my stuff and get the hell out of here," Mark ordered the stranger.
Amara dashed behind one of the cubicles, barely escaping detection in the nick of time as the man rushed to the elevator. Staying out of sight until she heard its closing doors, she peeked over the cubicle to be certain that he was gone.
Still curious and not thinking things through, she headed towards Mark's office where all was quiet apart from the sound of sniffing. Peeking around the door jamb, see was horrified to see several short lines of white powder across his desk. Face down, Mark hovered above the powder with one finger pressed against a nostril.
"What the hell?" Amara blurted without thinking.
Startled, Mark's head popped up, eyes wide and loaded with guilt. On registering who had interrupted him, he glared angrily at Amara.
"What the fuck are you doing here?" he spat.
Amara backed up. Her stomach lurched as he jumped up and rushed toward her.
"Why...Mark...why would you be so foolish?" she scolded. Squinting back at him in anger, she thought, No wonder he's losing weight and acting so erratic, he's a goddamn junkie.
"You need to mind your own fucking business, you understand?” His face contorted with rage, he kept coming at her as she continued to back up. “If you tell anyone what you've seen here, I can make you disappear...got that?"
As he jammed a pointed finger hard into her ample chest, she seethed, "Don't you touch me!”
How dare he get angry when he's the one doing drugs...at work, of all things.
"So help me, Amara, if you breathe a word of this to anyone. I will kill you," his face was tense.
Amara didn't doubt it. From the look on his face and the way his body was trembling, she didn't doubt it for one second.
In that moment she knew her life was about to change. Whatever it was that had compelled her to investigate his actions, she was certain that it had set something else in motion. She knew it with every fiber of her being. She'd had enough of Mark Wilbur and his father's company. She wasn't going to stick around and be threatened while he brought the company down with his expensive addiction. Her temper flared; she was trembling with anger.
"Fuck you, Mark. Fuck you and this fucking job. You do nothing but treat me like a piece of dirt. Shove your damn job up your ass. I quit!"
Pausing, she turned and looked back over her shoulder. "And don't worry, dear old Daddy will find out on his own about your dirty little secret...especially seeing that you've taken to doing it at work. I don't need to do a thing to bring down this charade of a company. You'll do that all by yourself."
With eyes wide and fists clenched, he strode toward her in a rage. She was ready for him. In a split second, he was in her face. Unafraid, she knew she could fight him if she had to do it. God knows I'm bigger than he is. She bunched her fists, waiting to see what he would do. He was just a stupid human man. They didn't scare her. She knew how to handle them.
"If I see your face here again, I will make sure it is the last time that anyone sees it. Got that?" he warned, leaning into her face in a failed attempt at intimidation.
She wasn't scared of him;in fact, there was almost something humorous about being threatened by such a weak-willed fool.
"Loud and clear, Asshole." With a smug grin, she turned and strode swiftly to her desk while he stormed into his office, slamming the door behind him. No doubt, to get back to the expensive habit sitting on his desk.
Amara always kept a plastic shopping bag in the back of her desk drawer. Digging it out, she shoved her personal items into it as quickly as possible.
A strange sense of calm settled in her heart. It didn't feel wrong to be quitting. In fact, given what she had just experienced, it felt awfully bloody right. On top of that, ever since Marcy had mentioned the possibility of a job in Pleasantville, she had been giving the idea a lot of thought.
That surprised her. Well, it surprised her a little. Pleasantville was a small town but recently, she thought – or at least hoped – she might be ready to give up city life for something better.
As Amara made her way to her car, her thoughts drifted back to what she had just witnessed. She had pegged Mark as an entitled daddy's boy, but she never thought he would be stupid enough to waste his money – or his health – on drugs. For a brief moment, she pondered the notion of telling his father before deciding against it. After all, who was he likely to believe? Certainly not her, since he barely even knew who she was. No. She was turning her back on Wilbur and Company. A fresh start was just what she needed.
Chapter Two
The drive to the city was never something Bern enjoyed, but he liked to see to the start-up of new projects himself. This one would mean a huge spike in the company's annual earnings and he couldn't allow anything to go wrong.
Checking into the five-star hotel downtown, he frowned at the king-size bed in his room. He was getting tired of sleeping alone and more importantly, he was ready to settle down.
Now that his business partner and best friend was getting married in a few short weeks, the loneliness in his life was even more noticeable. He wanted to find his mate. He was ready for her.
Every time he visited Marcy and Austin, he could see they had everything he wanted. Austin had found his mate and they would be together forever. Now it was his turn. That is, if he had a mate out there.
He had met some women through his job, but none had been his mate. Growling, he tossed his suitcase on the large bed and opened it to begin unpacking. It was still early; maybe he would have a quick shower and head downstairs for dinner. His first meeting wasn't until ten tomorrow morning, so why not?
After he had eaten, Bern decided to go for a walk and have a couple of drinks at a local bar. The food at the hotel restaurant had been good but the atmosphere had been a little too stuffy for him. Even though he had plenty of money and could go anywhere he wanted, he was a down-to-earth kind of guy. The type of women he had dated in the past always seemed to be after him for his money or they weren't interesting enough for him to date more than a couple of times.
Here in the city, if he went to a more low-key spot no one would know who he was, and he appreciated that. Finding a sports bar that appealed to him, he sat on a tall stool and ordered a beer. There was music playing in the background, along with several television screens that were strategically placed throughout the establishment. Although he wasn't a big sports fan, when necessary he could pretend for his human contacts.
Being a bear shifter provided all the sport he needed. He loved the outdoors and fishing, but he used his bear paws, not a fishing rod. The great thing about Pleasantville and where he lived was that it had all the creature comforts of life without having to sacrifice the needs of his bear side.
Elsewhere, most people were still unaware of shifters living among them, but he was lucky enough to be part of the Pleasantville community where it was not only known but more or less accepted by the locals.
Bern was lost in his thoughts and nursing his second beer when he felt a change in the room. His bear shook himself from slumber. Sniffing the air around him, he was on the alert. A tingle raced up and down his spine, something he had never experienced before that moment. His curiosity was piqued. Something was definitely different. Scanning the room, his bear was awake and calling for his attention.
On the far side of the room in the corner, his eyes caught sight of a beautiful curvy, raven-haired woman. She was seated alon
e at a table and was just opening a laptop. A glass of wine stood next to it, virtually untouched. She couldn't have been there long; certainly, he would have noticed. Could she be the reason his bear stood at attention?
On seeing her laptop, his first thought was that this wasn't the best place to be working. It was noisy, with music, sports on the televisions and lots of raucous laughter and chatter.
He continued to watch as she focused her attention on the laptops screen, occasionally lifting the glass to her ruby lips and sipping from it. There was something intoxicating about her that left him feeling a little puzzled, as well as excited. His bear roared at him to approach her. But he wasn't quite ready to make his move. Waiting to see if anyone joined her, the last thing he needed was to get into a fight with a jealous husband or lover. Already feeling on edge, he needed to release some pent up frustration that had been broiling inside of him.
Although she had consumed a few glasses of wine in rather short order, no one had joined her. It was time to make his move.
Ordering another beer, he approached her table. Standing in front of her, he waited for her to notice that he was there. When finally she looked up from the laptop, she was surprised by his unexpected presence. He smiled at her and she warmed to him instantly.
"Noisy place to work isn't it?" he asked grinning. He wanted to reassure her that he meant no harm.
She shrugged, "I'm not exactly working. I'm looking for a job. I just quit mine. I thought I'd kill two birds...you know, find a job and celebrate," she chuckled and grabbed her wine glass. Clearly, she was feeling no pain.
"May I ask what you're celebrating? I mean, aside from quitting your job?" he asked. He was drawn to her and though he didn't understand why, he wanted to find out whatever he could about her. There was something magnetic about this woman's energy. With his bear screaming inside that she was his mate, he wanted to be with her. But for now, he pushed the thought aside.
"Leaving my job is the biggest reason to celebrate,” she explained with a nod to the waitress and raising her glass, indicating she wanted yet another drink. “My boss is an asshole and when he realizes that I did more work than most of my colleagues, he's gonna regret speaking to me the way he did." He couldn't miss the hurt and anger in her voice.