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Chapter 4
Alexa
My aching feet echo on the empty stairwell as I drag myself up the two flights to my studio apartment. These all-night shifts at the diner will be the death of me, but it pays the bills. Almost.
Rounding the corner, I notice something stuck to the door, fluttering in the early morning breeze. No, it can’t be. Last month was Kami’s turn to pay the rent. Glaring red letters stare back at me. EVICTION NOTICE. Past due owed - 3 month’s rent. Due within 24 hours. Un-fucking believable. The paper crumples in my closed fist as I rip it off the door. The waded up reminder of the shit storm that is my life finds a new home in the bottom of my worn canvas bag as I search for my keys.
The keys jingle in my hand, my anger intensifying as I fight the ancient lock. Feet shifting back and forth, I’m anxious to get inside and ask my roommate what the hell she did with the rent money that I gave her. For the past three months.
“Kami!” I yell, kicking the door closed, turning around only to find that Karma wasn’t finished with me yet. My bag and my jaw simultaneously hit the floor as I take in the disarray that used to be my home. All that remains is my bed, my clothes and a handful of personal belongings. How could she have done all of this while I was at work? How could she have done this to me at all? The bistro set we picked up at that garage sale and the worn plaid couch we found at that amazing little resale shop on Valley Street? All gone. The T.V. was the only electronic item worth any money that we had except my laptop. My laptop!
I stumble as I rush to my bed and flip up the covers to see underneath where I stash my laptop. Gone. It’s gone! My breath escapes in a strangled cry, “No!” And it feels as if I can’t replace the air that has fled my lungs.
The cold metal frame digs into my back as I slump down onto the floor, my mind as drained as my body feels. Drawing my knees to my chest, angry tears burn down my cheeks.
“Stupid, stupid, stupid.” I scold myself for the choices I’ve made, especially the really shitty ones like believing my friend Kami when she told me that she was done with her loser boyfriend.
We met in college, total opposites, the eccentric art student and the nerdy business major. We became fast friends, even though I was five years her senior. When my scholarships ran out and I had to move out of the dorms, we decided to find a place together. It wasn’t anything fancy, but it was ours. It was great for about a year. But then, she met him.
Bad boy Spike was a habit she couldn’t break. Now that I think about it, it makes perfect sense he would want her away from me. I tried to warn her when his addictions became hers. Then, when he hit on me, that was the final straw. I was concerned for her, but he made her think I was just jealous. I really thought she was coming around. Guess I was wrong.
That’s what I get for trying to see the best in people. I should know, by now, they only prove you wrong. First my dad and his new wife, and now, Kami.
Something in me snaps, and I decide, here and now, never to let anyone have that kind of power over me. My cell phone chirps, interrupting my pity party, reminding me that I have a final in half an hour.
Dragging myself up off the floor, I cross the tiny apartment in search of my bag and find it on the floor right where I left it. Except now, half its contents are dumped all over the scratched wooden floor.
I gather my stuff and throw it back in haphazardly, when something shiny and black catches my eye.
I stare at the glossy business card, almost afraid it will burn me if I pick it up. Silver, embossed letters in a clean masculine font - Benjamin Hamilton with a phone number underneath. How can a name and a series of numbers be sexy? Hell if I know, but if it was possible it would be him.
He exudes power and elegance. I was only around him seconds before I figured that out. The thought of his warm brown eyes staring right through me causes my cheeks to heat at the memory of the electricity I felt when he brushed my hand, passing me his card. He propositioned me like this was some kind of romantic movie where that stuff really happens. Where the man sweeps in and saves the damsel in distress. I’m in a daze, trying to separate dream from reality before my mind cleared and remembered. I am just a waitress serving his pancakes.
A waitress who is putting herself though school – a twenty-first century woman who doesn’t need rescuing. Except now, I kind of do. I pick up the card, finding it doesn’t burn after all. It feels cool and smooth in my hand, and it feels a little like fate and a lot like hope.
Standing, I swipe my phone, lock the door and then drag myself to the kitchen. Thankfully I still have a coffee pot. Setting it to brew, I rush to the bathroom to start the shower. I need to make a list; it’s my way of still controlling a situation when my life feels like it’s spiraling out of control.
-First coffee because…Coffee.
-Call the suit and accept his proposition. No harm in a mutually beneficial arrangement.
-Shower. To wash away the smell of grease, along with my pride.
-Ace my last final of the semester, putting me one step closer to earning my degree.
What could possibly go wrong that hasn’t already? Wiping away the steam that’s beginning to build on the mirror, I take a long look at myself. After everything that’s happened, I’m still me. I just hope I can say the same thing after I accept this deal.
With trembling hands, I dial his number, and every ring echoes in my heart.
*****
Ben
I’m not sure what I was thinking, propositioning her like that. Such a douche move. I only knew that I needed to see her again and figure out what it is about her that draws me in the way she does. I felt more…more attraction… more everything than I felt in the entire three years with Tess.
Thinking back to what I saw last night, the betrayal I felt catching them, has me gripping the steering wheel in anger. She was supposed to be in New York already. I should have known she wasn’t “The One” and I was stupid to think she would be happy with me. Always so angry about me working so many hours, then she would pout if she didn’t get every little thing that she wanted. Tess was a spoiled brat, and I indulged her for way to long. Loosening my grip I think how they actually did me a favor. Now just to settle what I had been thinking about for a while, merging and dissolving HALtech to rid myself of them both.
I wasn’t lying when I told Alexa I needed someone in my corner. It was a little selfish…okay a lot selfish because she doesn’t exactly know what she’s agreeing to. But, if one night sitting in a dinner with her can make me forget three years with the wrong woman, I need a chance to explore what that means. I can’t have my head in San Francisco, while I’m supposed to be in New York, making the biggest deal of my life. Having her with me could be helpful.
