by J. S. Cooper
“Hey, slow down Isabella,” Abby held her hand up. “He’s really got you riled up, hasn’t he?”
“Yeah, of course he has. He just—” I forced myself to stop as I realized that I was talking a mile a minute. I sighed and closed my eyes. “It’s hard, girls. I mean, I don’t really know how to feel in this situation. We met on a date. The date was okay. I was really attracted to him. And then he ruined that. And then we met again and I thought, well maybe, just maybe, he’s an okay guy. And then he ruined it again. And now I just don’t want to deal with it, you know? I’m not looking for someone that’s going to hurt my feelings or make me feel bad about myself. If he doesn’t know and trust that I’m a good person, and if he doesn’t know and trust that I’m someone that he wants in his life, then he can just piss off. I’m not going to play these games with him.”
“Good for you, girl,” Emma said with a huge smile on her face. “I’m so proud of you for sticking up for yourself and for not settling. Just because he’s hot and rich doesn’t mean he gets to treat you any which way and then come back for more.”
“Exactly,” I nodded, “I’m glad you get it.”
“Of course we get it.” Abby squeezed my arm. “He probably regrets treating you the way he did. It’s probably because he’s only been around women that accept whatever he has to give. And now that he’s with a real woman who he can’t just treat like shit, he’s in denial and trying to just play mind games.”
“He was sending me knock-knock jokes,” I said in disbelief.
“Knock-knock jokes?” She looked surprised.
“Yeah. Like ‘Knock, knock.’ ‘Who’s there?’ ‘Lettuce.’ ‘Lettuce who?’ ‘Lettuce in. It’s only a joke.’”
“No way!” she giggled.
Emma started laughing as well. “You’re joking, right? Not Jack Morrison, NFL player, CEO, handsome bachelor. He’s sending you knock-knock jokes?”
“Yeah. Crazy, right?”
“I think it’s kind of cute,” Abby said with a grin. “I know you don’t want to hear that because we hate him and he’s a jerk, but I think it’s kind of cute sending knock-knock jokes.”
“I agree,” Emma said with a soft smile. “Most guys wouldn’t do that—But that doesn’t mean we forgive him. Right, Abby?”
“Right,” Abby agreed. “Stick to your guns, Isabella. A few knock-knock jokes aren’t enough to make things better. He has established that he’s an asshole.”
“Yeah, he is,” I sigh. “Okay, well, I need to get some stuff ready and then get ready for my date this evening. I’ll talk to you guys later.”
“Have fun tonight. Can’t wait to hear all about it.”
I arrived at the bar in the Lower East Side at about seven o’clock. I was apprehensive about seeing Max. Excited, sure. But still slightly apprehensive. I didn’t know what he knew about me and Jack, I didn’t know what he knew about me and Lucas, and I was hoping not to have to answer any awkward questions. I walked into the bar and saw him standing off to the side of the room. He saw me immediately, came over, and gave me a big hug.
“Isabella. I’m so glad you made it.”
“Me too. Thanks for the invite. I’m glad to be here.”
“What would you like to drink?” He walked me towards the bar.
“Something stiff,” I laughed. “It’s been a long day.”
“Oh, I bet. It’s been a long day for me as well,” he said. “I am glad to be off of work finally. Well, kind of.”
“Oh, what does that mean?”
“You don’t want to know.” He chuckled ruefully.
“Okay.” I wondered if he had a pager or was constantly getting texts about work or something. I didn’t want to ask him any more questions, though, because I didn’t want him to bring up Jack.
“Rum and Coke?” he asked.
“Sure, sounds good.”
I stood next to him at the bar as he ordered two rum and Cokes, enjoying the fact that I was out with a handsome man and was able to just relax. And then, who should I see but Jack.
I froze as he headed towards us at the bar. What was he doing here?
“Hi, Isabella. Hey, Max.”
“Hey, Jack.” Max gave him a pleasant smile. “How’s it going?”
“What are you doing here?” I said, not bothering to hide my disgust at seeing him.
He looked at me as if I was stupid. “This is my event, so what do you think I’m doing here?”
Max gave me an awkward smile. “Oh, did I forget to tell you that this was a work thing?” He made a face. “I thought I would kill two birds with one stone.”
“No. You didn’t tell me.”
If he had told me, of course I wouldn’t have come. And what sort of date was this? Who invited someone to a date at a bar for a work event? Two birds with one stone? I tried to figure out whether I should leave or go. Max squeezed my hand.
“Sorry. I thought …” he paused. “Actually. I don’t know what I thought. This was a bad idea. We can leave after a couple of drinks.”
“You can leave when I say you can leave.” Jack glared at Max. “We can’t go anywhere until the clients are satisfied. Do you hear?”
“Yes, sir. I know,” Max nodded and made a face. “Hopefully we can do the deal soon?”
“Hopefully. Come with me, Isabella. I have a quick question for you,” Jack said.
I glared at him, but I didn’t want to make things awkward for Max with his boss, so I followed him to the other side of the bar.
He turned to me with his arms crossed over his chest. “This is why you couldn’t meet me this evening? This was your big plan? Drinks with Max?” He shook his head. “Really? You like Max?”
“Max and I had a date planned for tonight, and I wasn’t going to cancel it to meet you at your whim.”
“He invited you to a work event at a bar that I’m picking the tab up for,” Jack smirked. “But okay. That was too important for you to meet me.”
“Well, weren’t you going to be here anyway? Wouldn’t you have been inviting me to the same work event?”
“I’m the boss,” he laughed. “I wouldn’t have been here if you would have agreed to meet me.”
“So, you would have blown this off?”
“In a heartbeat,” he said and stared at me for a few seconds. I stared back at him, noticing that his green eyes looked golden in the dark light. He was so handsome. I could fall into his eyes.
“So how have you been?” he asked.
“Fine. Busy. Working.”
“Been working on dates as well?”
“Jack, I don’t really know what you want from me or what you want me to say.”
“I don’t want anything from you, Isabella. I just want to make sure that my cousin is going into business with someone who’s trustworthy, and he doesn’t seem to know what’s going on with the art gallery side of the coffee shop. So I thought I should speak to you.”
“Okay, then. So, we’re here now. Let’s chat.”
“No, I think we should meet tomorrow with Lucas and discuss. The three of us.”
“I have a class that I’m teaching tomorrow.”
“Send me the hours of the class and we’ll meet before or after that.”
“Okay, fine. Is that it?”
He brought his fingers down to my chin, and I stared at him obstinately.
“That’s it,” he said, moving his lips closer and closer to my face. I held my breath as I waited for him to kiss me. I wanted him to kiss me, but he didn’t.
Disappointed. I was disappointed when I realized that he wasn’t going to kiss me.
“Have a good evening, Isabella. You and Max enjoy the night.” He gave me a quick smile and then turned away and left me standing there. I felt annoyed and slightly embarrassed as I walked back over to the bar. Max was standing there with the two drinks in his hands.
“Conversation done?” he asked.
“Yeah,” I nodded, waiting for him to ask me what the conversation had b
een about. But he didn’t, he just handed me the drink.
“Come, let’s go and join the others. Maybe we can dance tonight,” he said with a smile.
“Maybe,” I said.
We walked back over to the group of executives that were on the other side. I saw Jack standing there, and I resolved that I wasn’t going to make eye contact with him.
Well, first I was going to glare at him. Then I was going to ignore him.
I stared him down, but he didn’t look at me. Instead, he flirted with some beautiful redhead whose hands were all over him. I could feel myself growing jealous. Who the fuck was this? And why was she touching him? And why was he looking like he enjoyed it so much?
Max followed my gaze and shook his head. “Ah, that’s Davina,” he laughed. “She’s had her hooks into Jack for a long time. Or, rather, I should say she’s tried to get her hooks into Jack.”
“Oh, so are they sleeping together?” I asked lightly, pretending I didn’t care.
“Who knows?” Max shrugged. “Probably. I’m pretty sure Jack’s slept with half of Manhattan. Not that he stays with them,” he laughed. “Jack doesn’t date. He just sleeps around.”
“I see,” I nodded. I guess I was in that number of women.
I was annoyed and pissed off at myself. And then I felt Jack’s eyes on me. I knew that I was acting immature, but I turned to Max and I touched him lightly on the chest.
I stretched out my arms and rolled my hips. “Let’s dance.”
Max grabbed me around the waist and pulled me to him. “Of course. I love to dance, especially with a beautiful woman like you.”
We’d danced for only a minute before I felt the presence of another couple next to us. It was Jack and the redhead. He didn’t look at me, but I knew he’d moved there because of me. His hands were moving up and down the redhead’s body. And she was pressed into him tightly, laughing, whispering something in his ear. I glanced over at him and for a few seconds, his eyes met mine and he just winked and turned away.
I could feel my face burning, but I wasn’t going to let him know he got the better of me. I downed my drink and continued to dance with Max. I wanted to leave, but I’d wait a couple more hours. I’d pretend I was having fun. But then I was going to go home, and I was going to block Jack from my phone. I hated the way that he made me feel. I hated the way that he was trying to make me jealous. I hated the way that he flaunted this woman in front of me. Who did he think he was?
He was just an asshole. Just because he had money and he was hot, he thought he could tell me what to do and when to do it. Well, he had the wrong woman. I was nobody’s concubine, and I never would be. As far as I was concerned, Jack Morrison and Davina or whatever other woman he wanted to be with could dance the night away because I did not care.
Chapter Twenty-Three
Jack, Lucas, and I were going to meet outside a coffee shop at four p.m. My class ended a little bit early, so I headed over there. I figured I could get a coffee and some cake and give myself some time to just relax before I had to deal with Jack again.
But apparently, I wasn’t the only one with that idea because when I arrived, Jack was already there, sitting at a table in the corner. I debated pretending not to see him, but who could pretend not to see him? He stood out like a sore thumb, with his crisp white shirt and faded blue jeans. He looked like an Adonis. He looked up as soon as I entered, as if he knew I’d be arriving early.
“Hey,” he said. He gave me a slight smile, not as self-assured as normal. I nodded in acknowledgment. “Would you like something to drink?” He stood up and headed over towards me.
“I’ll get it. It’s fine.”
“I don’t mind getting it. I did invite you.”
“This is a business meeting, it’s not a date. I can get my own drink.”
“But I owe you. From the time we did go on a date.”
I shook my head.
“Please, I’d like to get this for you.”
I was a bit perplexed about his sudden change in demeanor. He wasn’t the same Jack that I had gotten to know. Shoot, he wasn’t the same Jack that I’d seen last night.
“Fine, if you really want to buy me a drink, go ahead. I also was going to get something to eat so …”
“I’ll get whatever you want, Isabella.”
“Okay. I just don’t want you to think I’m using you for your money.”
“I think I can spare $20.” He laughed.
“Yeah, I’m pretty sure you can. So, did you have a good day at work?” I figured I could at least be polite.
“Yeah, it was pretty good.”
“Great. It must be very intense having to run a multi-billion-dollar business.”
“It is.” He nodded, not giving me much.
“I guess it’s very different to when you were a football player?”
“It’s very different. Do you remember me now, then?”
“Ha, ha, very funny.”
“How was your class? You said you taught today, right?”
“Yeah, I taught at a senior center in Queens. It was okay.”
“I’m sure they must love having you there.”
“I think they do, but it’s challenging, you know?”
“Oh, why is that?”
“There are so many of them and they all want to create the finest art possible, which is totally understandable, but I just don’t have the time or resources to help everyone, you know? So, I always feel like I’ve let someone down. It’s disappointing.”
“Oh, I guess I can see how that would be. What would you suggest to fix it?”
“Smaller classes?” I shrugged. “I don’t know.”
“But smaller classes would mean not everyone would get to partake in the experience, correct?”
“That’s correct.”
“And do you think for some, just being around others and painting is part of the experience that makes it fun?”
“That’s true.” I nodded. “I hadn’t thought about it like that.”
“Do you think that it’s better for 20 people to be somewhat happy with their pieces and enjoy the company as opposed to five people being very happy with their pieces and enjoying the company?”
“I mean, I don’t know.” I shrugged. “I just feel like so many people have so many questions, and want so much help, and I always feel guilty that I’m not able to help each person as much as possible.”
“You really love what you do?”
“I do,” I said. “I really do.”
“Most people, they don’t like to teach. They just like to do. As an artist, don’t you wish you could just spend most of your time painting as opposed to teaching classes?”
“Why do I feel like this is related to the coffee shop?”
“It’s not,” he said, sincerity in his voice. “I’m just curious. If you had a million dollars and you didn’t have to teach classes, would you focus just on your art or would you also teach classes?”
“I’d teach as well,” I replied. “I really like teaching. I thought I’d be a teacher one day, you know?”
“And you don’t want to be a teacher?”
“I didn’t enjoy teaching in schools as much as I thought I would. Too much bureaucracy, too much that’s not about the art, you know? I like to be one-on-one. I like to be creative, and I like to bring out the creativity in other people. Everyone has a creative side to them.”
“Not me.” he chuckled. “I don’t have a creative bone in my body.”
“I bet you do.”
“I bet I don’t.”
“We’ll see,” I said with a small smile.
“So, I will get a mocha, and a ham and cheese croissant. And a red velvet cupcake. Oh, and a bag of chips. Anything else?” he asked.
“Maybe an apple.” I rubbed my stomach. “I’m hungry, really hungry. I didn’t get to eat lunch, and I rushed here right after class.”
“So, is this going to be enough? Would you prefer to go somewhere else? W
e can get some real food if you want.”
“No, this is fine. And Lucas is meeting us here.”
“I’m sure Lucas will be late, and he’ll be happy to meet us anywhere I say.”
“No, it’s cool. I like this coffee shop. I’ve been here once before.”
“Okay. Well, a ham and cheese croissant, it is,” he said.
I realized that this was maybe the first normal conversation we’d had. There was no bickering or bantering back and forth. There were no cheap digs, there were no flirtatious conversations and comments with sexual undertones and innuendoes. We were just being us. Normal. Talking about our day, talking about our likes and dislikes, a little bit of teasing. It felt nice.
“So, Jack?” I asked after he paid for my drink and food.
“Yes, Isabella?”
“I was thinking about the other night.”
“Which night?” he said.
“When we were at your grandparent’s house, in the bedroom.”
“Yes?” His eyes darkened.
“And I just wanted to say that I can see where you probably have a lot of responsibility on your shoulders—”
“I do.”
“If you ever want to talk or anything like that, I mean. I’m sure you have plenty of friends, and probably a therapist, and lots of other women to talk to. But if you ever want to talk, I’m here.”
“Thank you.” He looked surprised. “I appreciate it.”
“Cool.” I smiled, happy he hadn’t shot me down immediately. “So, do you want to talk?”
“No. I appreciate the offer, though.”
“Okay.”
I was disappointed as we walked back to the table. I’d really hoped that he’d let me in a little bit more. I wanted to know more about this man. I wished that we could go on our first date again, that we could get to know each other as people got to know each other when they first met. Even though we’d had a first date and it’d been crazy and not fun, I felt like I knew him a little bit better now and would approach the situation better, but there was no point in wishing for another first date. It was never going to happen.
About ten minutes later, Lucas walked into the coffee shop. “Hey, hey, I’m not late or anything, am I?”