Someone Like You

by Carmen, Andrea

  His heart was beating fast. He loved being so close to her he could hardly stand it. How was that even possible? He certainly didn’t want his palms to sweat—major, major turn-off. He was looking at her face, her neck (how the hell can a neck look so pretty, a neck was a neck!), the hair that shone under the lights, her eyes and her thick lashes and that shy smile he had come to love so well…

  The waltz ended and he bowed pleasantly as Alex curtsied a bit. The orchestra; however, continued with another waltz and more people flocked the middle of the ball room.

  “Well don’t you two make a lovely pair,” someone said bitingly.

  Alex and Lucas looked up and saw Jennifer dressed in brilliant red, standing to their right.

  “Good evening, Ms. Edwards,” Lucas said pleasantly, holding Alex’s hand.

  “Hi,” Alex said in a soft voice. “How are you?”

  “I’m fine as I’m sure you are too,” she said with her eyes narrowing.

  “Hey babe,” Michael said to Jennifer, coming up to them.

  “Don’t you dare call me that,” Jennifer snapped. “Did you bribe your brother into taking me to the gala so you could have fun with your plaything? Your pitiful excuse of a—”

  “There’s no need for name calling,” Lucas said mildly, holding Alex’s waist. She was trembling, he felt it. “Now if you’ll excuse us, I think Alex and I need fresh air.”

  “As do I,” Jennifer said.

  “What are you going to do with them, Jen? They’re boring,” Michael reasoned as he followed them out into the hotel’s botanical garden.

  “Shut it,” Jennifer said in a tone Lucas had never heard of before.

  “Please,” Alex began, feeling bile rise up her throat, “Please don’t—”

  “Don’t do what?” Jennifer hissed at them as they exited the ballroom.

  “Michael?” another voice interrupted.

  Michael looked up to see a woman dressed in a black, mermaid style dress with intricate beading. It was Vicky Stanton.

  “Hey,” Michael said with a forced smile. “Uhm…V!”

  “Don’t you V me,” she said approaching him. “Is this why you haven’t called me back after two months?” she said, eyeing Jennifer.

  “I’m sorry, but you’re not part of this scenario,” Jennifer retorted.

  “Michael dated me before he dated you,” Vicky said.

  “Michael only dated me so Lucas could date Alex,” Jennifer said nastily.

  “Alex?” What Alex?” Vicky asked, catching up to them as Alex and Lucas walked ahead. “Is that Alex? Alex Forbes?”

  “You know her?” Jennifer said, stopping in her tracks.

  “Know her? I despise her,” Vicky said with gritted teeth. “How do you know her?”

  “She’s Trekker’s model and she stole my date,” Jennifer said, walking for the garden.

  Michael felt a wave of panic course through him. He had never been involved in such a predicament like this. And he felt a tad bit worried for his brother and Alex, too. She seemed like such a timid girl...

  Lucas held Alex’s hand and it felt cold and clammy. He had never seen her so tense, so anxious. He gripped her hand tightly and she gripped it back as they walked into a well-manicured garden with a fountain in the middle of it.

  “You okay?” he asked her, not looking at her.

  She nodded once.

  “You’re a bad liar,” he said. “It’s going to be okay. Just ignore them-”

  “Ignore me? You don’t ignore Jennifer Edwards!” Jennifer interrupted.

  They turned around to see Jennifer standing with crossed arms and Vicky Stanton and Michael trailing behind. Vicky’s expression was livid.

  “Ladies, let’s not spoil the night,” Michael announced.

  Vicky slapped his face. “That’s what you get for not calling me!”

  “What the hell!” Michael exclaimed.

  “There was no need for that!” Lucas said in an annoyed tone.

  “You and your brother deserve it,” Jennifer said. “I genuinely liked you, Lucas Conrad. And this little tart of yours-”

  “Please stop it—” Alex reasoned.

  “Get away from Lucas. You’re the one getting in between us—” Jennifer began.

  “Stop it, Jennifer!” Lucas said.

  “You’re telling me to stop. All those mixed signals whether you liked me or not—”

  “I don’t. I never gave you signals. We had lunches and dinners. That’s it,” Lucas told her. “And you don’t need to involve Alex at all.”

  “Alex,” Vicky began,” So the stories were right after all, you seduced this poor little rich boy into liking you and now you’re stealing him away from someone who had him first?”

  Alex took a step back. She was shaking and had turned pale. “I didn’t do any of those things. I—”

  “Leave us alone, Jennifer,” Lucas said, holding Alex’s hand once more.

  Jennifer took a step forward and raised her hand to slap Alex.

  Alex flinched as she stopped Jennifer’s hand in mid-air. Alex was holding her wrist. Jennifer struggled and tried to slap her again, causing Alex to fall backwards.

  “Alex!” Lucas shouted trying to catch her. He caught her by the arm yet she slipped on the marble tiles.

  Jennifer stood over her, seething.

  “Stop it, Jennifer,” Michael said. “Luke has no interest in you. You should have known that by now.”

  “Your father will know about this,” Jennifer spat out.

  “Margo is going to know about this,” Vicky said.

  “Shut up,” Michael faced her. “God, you’re such a vapid woman.”

  “Vapid?” Vicky began, not knowing what it meant but knowing it was a negative term.

  Alex stood up aided by Lucas.

  “Are you hurt?” Lucas asked her.

  Alex shook her head, her eyes welling up with tears. “I’m not hurt…” she whispered.

  “You’re not?” Jennifer said, taking another step forward. “I’ll make sure you—”

  “Ms. Edwards, I believe you and my son can have a good talk about this some other time,” a gruff voice interjected.

  They all looked at Charles Conrad’s direction.

  “Mr. Conrad,” Jennifer gasped. “I…I, your son needs to learn some manners about dating women. And his little harlot—”

  “Name calling is not necessary,” Charles said, his mouth pressed in a thin line. “Do take your leave Ms. Edwards. I believe your mother was looking for you.”

  Jennifer huffed, her eyes narrowing as she stared at Lucas and then at Alex. She quickly left, glaring at Michael as well. As she walked back into the hotel she passed by Jason Temperley.

  Vicky breathed in heavily, unable to say anything. Then she looked at Alex. “Well, I think you deserved that.”

  “Vicky, don’t bring your diva complex here,” Jason called out testily.

  Vicky spun around. “Your mother has to hear about this. Temperley’s reputation with the likes of her representing—”

  “Well my mother will have a talk with the both of you, then. Your date is waiting inside, I think. People have noticed the friction tonight.”

  Vicky hastily walked out.

  There was a moment’s worth of silence. Charles Conrad shook his head. Jason looked at Alex, his expression rather unhappy.

  “I expect you two to fix this,” he said to both of his sons.

  “I don’t need to fix anything,” Lucas spoke out. “Alex—”

  “Alex is not a part of the business,” his father coldly said.

  “Shut it, Charles,” Michael began.

  “I’ll deal with you later,” Charles told Michael. Then calmly left the garden.

  Alex was still shaking and she had gone pale. What was that? I can’t believe it happened? She felt humiliated and angry yet she couldn’t act it out. She wanted to cry, but not with Lucas or Jason or Michael around. And the way Charles Conrad looked at her. She felt like the lowest
of the low…

  It began to drizzle as Alex took a step away from Lucas.

  “Alex?”

  “I…excuse me,” Alex said, taking off her heels.

  She then fled, unable to fight back bitter tears. She had never hurt this much, not since her father died. Luke was just playing with her? Getting the best of both worlds? I believed in him, she told herself bitterly as she ran out of the hotel, barefoot and into the rain.

  Lucas began to run after her when Michael caught him by the arm.

  “Leave her alone,” Michael said.

  “But-”

  “That was too much for one night,” Michael reasoned, loosening his grip on Lucas.

  Jason sighed and shook his head. “You Conrad brothers are trouble,” he said. “I’ll look after her Lucas. But don’t you dare follow us.”—

  Lucas stood, stunned by the turn of events. He had been standing in the rain for five minutes when Michael called out for him.

  “Luke! Get in the hotel, asshole! It’s raining like hell.”

  “It already is hell,” he responded dully as he took off his coat. Lucas had never felt so vulnerable in his life.

  * * * *

  “There, there, just cry it out, it’s okay to cry,” Jason said soothingly. Alex was sobbing as Jason embraced her, patting her head once in a while.

  He had caught up with Alex who was running down Madison Avenue, drenched from head to foot. He had taken the first cab he could find and asked the driver to speed up and search for a woman in a long gown. She wasn’t too hard to find. Ten minutes later, he had caught up to her and gently persuaded her to get in the cab. Then Jason asked the driver to head down to his pad on fifty-seventh.

  They were sitting on his living room floor, both in their sopping finery. She hadn’t said anything since she got into the cab, but she began to cry the moment she stepped into his apartment. After a few more minutes, her crying slowed down.

  “I’ll get you some towels sweetie. I think mother’s left a few clothes here too,” he told her.

  Alex sniffed and took another piece of tissue and blew her nose. She looked at her reflection in an ornate, full-length mirror. Her makeup was ruined, mascara was running down her cheeks, her hair was in disarray, but she didn’t care.

  “Would you like a drink? Yeah I think we need a drink,” Jason called out to her as she changed into Margo’s grey silk pajamas which were a bit large on her.

  “Let’s drown your sorrows in Bordeaux,” he said as she came out of the bathroom.

  “Thank you,” she croaked, taking the glass and sitting on a black couch.

  “I’m so sorry about what happened tonight,” Jason sighed, pursing his lips. “What they did was abominable.”

  She shook her head. “Luke—he…he just played around with us? With me?”

  Jason shrugged. “Frankly, I don’t know my dear. You two looked divine together; I felt it was for real. If it was a joke, he had me fooled. too. Look, I get that you cried because they ganged up on you, but there must be another reason too.”

  “I—” she shook her head.

  “You’re in love, aren’t you?” he said with a raised brow. “Did you guys do it?”

  She shrugged. “I would never. I wouldn’t…”

  “Care? Know? Dare?”

  “I don’t want to think about it. I want to forget it. I should have never gone to the gala—”

  “It’s already happened. There’s no use crying over spilled milk. And you need makeup remover. Remind me, before you sleep.”

  She nodded. “Did you see how his father looked at me? Like I was some sort of worm?”

  “A very gorgeous worm in an Ellie Saab dress and Jimmy Choos?”

  She smiled a bit. “I took them off before I started running.”

  “Atta girl. But shoes shouldn’t be a major concern now,” Jason said, “Also it is unfortunate that Michael is a playboy. We would have been perfect together.”

  Jason’s Blackberry rang. He frowned. “Excuse me while I take this call,” he said stepping into his room.

  Alex nodded, hugging her knees as she sat on the couch, listening to the wind and rain outside. She had stopped crying, but she was hurt beyond belief. The pain felt so real, like it reached inside her guts, her heart.

  Meanwhile, Jason had already answered the call inside his purple themed room.

  “What do you want?” he said, annoyed.

  “Is she okay?” Lucas asked on the other line.

  “How the hell do you think she is?” Jason snapped. “The poor girl! You broke her heart you handsome but sick son of a—”

  “I didn’t know it would happen,” Lucas reasoned in a tired voice, “I’m glad you caught up with her—”

  “Yeah, she looked like a wet rodent by the time I got to her. You are so thick Lucas Conrad! If I could just pinch your ass in retaliation—”

  “God, don’t. Michael’s maybe. But really, do you think I could come over? I need to talk to her-”

  “Are you daft? Now is not the time. She’s been crying her eyes out and I’ve run out of Kleenex.”

  “When? Tomorrow?” he said, sounding fraught.

  “I can hear your desperation but the answer is still no. Leave the poor girl alone,” Jason said in an exasperated tone. “I have to get back and comfort her. Now you go back to your—well whoever’s waiting for you.”

  Jason hung up and sighed again. He went out of his room and plastered a smile. “Silly mother is half-drunk tonight,” he said.

  Alex said nothing as she sipped her wine.

  Jason breathed out deeply. “Sweetie, just don’t go to the office, all right? Not unless I give you the go-ahead.”

  She bit her lower lip. Vicious Vicky was going to drop a word or two about tonight for sure. And Margo—what would Margo say?

  “Am I going to get fired?”

  “If I don’t interfere,” Jason said, snapping his fingers. “And you should be more worried about your heart than your job.”

  “I don’t want to dwell on this. To think I believed him-”

  “Just… just drink up,” Jason said, emptying the remaining contents of the wine into her glass.

  Chapter Eight: Little Realizations and Big Determinations

  Lucas arrived late that dreary Monday morning. Alice said nothing as he went past her desk and into his office. She knew about what had happened. Snippets of gossip reached the lower echelons of the office. She had heard that Jennifer Edwards had slapped Alex (the poor girl, she thought) and that there was a dramatic confrontation at the gala. She saw the peeved look on her boss’s face and decided to say nothing. It looked like he hadn’t slept or eaten.

  She took a deep breath and pressed his intercom.

  “You have a meeting at one o’clock. Should I cancel it?”

  There was few seconds’ worth of a pause. “No,” he replied shortly. “This is with the Shinseki group right?”

  “Yes, sir.”

  “Make sure there’s tea,” he added.

  “Will do.”

  He said nothing more as he held the tip of a pen against his temple. He tapped it twice then put the pen down. His fingers skimmed against his MacBook’s keyboard, not typing anything. He gave a deep sigh. He tried not to let it bother him, he had tried to sleep. Who the hell was he kidding? It was like he thought about her every second, the scenes from Saturday replaying. He envisioned ways to stop her, to man up against his father and defend her, to have said something harsh without regard for Jennifer’s feelings.

  Too late, he thought wryly, she’s probably cursed me for a lifetime of heartache.

  His brother came in without warning, lighting a cigarette as he closed the door.

  “Could you not?” Lucas said with a sigh.

  “It helps relieve stress, Luke.”

  Lucas opened a window. “It’s gonna stick to the couch.”

  “It won’t,” Michael said, approaching the window that was open. He blew smoke out and looked at his
younger brother. “You look like crap.”

  “I feel like crap.”

  “You’re that affected?”

  “What? You’re going to screw me up today, too?

  “Just observing,” Michael said. “What happens now?”

  “What? I go on with my life, she goes on with hers.”

  “You do realize she models for Trekker.”

  “Thank you for pointing that out,” Lucas huffed. “Did you see Charles today?”

  “Avoided him like a plague. He’s still pissed.”

  “What has he been doing?”

  “Yesterday Ben told me he went to a few art galleries.”

  “Typical,” Lucas said.

  Michael stubbed his cigarette on the windowsill. He eyed his younger brother’s home screen. It was a picture of him kissing Alex. He grinned.

  “God, you’re in love with her,” he said.

  “What?” Lucas said flustered.

  “Isn’t it obvious? And here I thought you were the smart one,” Michael said, rolling his eyes.

  His intercom rang.

  “Lucas, your father wants to see you,” Alice said.

  “Damn,” Lucas groaned.

  “Good luck,” Michael said, taking his leave.

  Lucas rode the elevator, his mind devoid of thoughts. He felt empty. Like nothing was worth it anymore. He entered his father’s office without saying hello to his father’s secretary.

  “Yes?” Lucas said as he closed his father’s door.

  His father had his back turned against him. “The Shinseki group—is it good to go?” he said in a gruff voice.

  “Yes,” he said dully. “Look, I have to get back.”

  “How do you find this painting I bought?”

  Lucas stopped midway and sighed. “What painting?” he said as he turned around to face his father.

  His father walked towards a small painting framed in black wood. Lucas walked towards it.

  “What? My opinion for a painting matters now?”

  His father said nothing as he looked at his son and back at the painting. Lucas’ eyes narrowed. It looked so familiar…

  “It reminds me of something,” Charles said suddenly, in a soft voice.