⧫WILLIAM⧫
Settling into a booth, the atmosphere in the club is pulsing with energy. I haven't had time to come in the last few weeks due to the internal investigation underway. The production deadline of our upcoming ads for several clients is quickly approaching and we have already had to start from scratch on the sketches that were stolen.
The surprising silver lining to the stress this whole ordeal is causing, is having the opportunity to work alongside the ever optimistic Katerina. A part of me wondered if her cheery disposition would be too much to be around but I find myself looking forward to working with her and learning something new about her each day.
I've learned she doesn't like silence. If she's not talking, she's quietly singing or humming along while listening to music on her phone as she works. Though, I'm not fond of how often her phone goes off, vibrating with each call or notification she gets. On more than one occasion I've walked in on her answering a call saying something ridiculous. The most recent being,"Thank you for calling Tony's Pizza, how may I take your order?"
The first time it happened, she smiled sheepishly, saying it was a spam caller; she seems to get those a lot.
I sit back when a waitress smiles, approaching me. The sway of her hips becomes more exaggerated, and leans slightly forward shifting the opening of her shirt which is already exposing enough of her ample cleavage.
"What can I get you, handsome?"
"Bourbon straight."
"You got it." She winks, sashaying her way to the bar. Adam brushes past her and swivels his head, watching her briefly. He turns back to me with a grin.
"I see you are already starting the fun without me."
"No manches. I'm not here for fun, I just wanted to unwind from all the hell going on at work." I tell him, even though my eyes sweep over the stage and then the room. (No way)
Pollyanna and I have continued texting but there's an obvious shift in our dynamic. The flirtiness betweens us seems to have fizzled, not completely, but it just feels different. I didn't tell her I was coming tonight and I'm curious what her reaction will be like, but she may not even be here.
"Alright, what's her name?"
"Who?"
"Whoever you're looking for," Adams says, raising his eyebrow and leans back, resting his arm on the back of the booth. The waitress reappears with my drink and then she takes his order. Not surprised, she's focusing her flirting on him now.
He wiggles his eyebrows after she leaves. "You're losing your touch. Usually, the girls can't take their eyes off you to even notice I'm next to you."
"Don't be so dramatic."
The DJ's voice booms through the speakers. "Alright, folks. Put your hands together for Savannah, Cherry and Pollyanna!" Applause, cheers and whistles erupt all around us and I find myself clapping.
Adam's eyes narrow observing me and he leans forward. "Is the investigation really that bad that you came here on a Wednesday?"
But my attention is on the stage. Pollyanna stands between the other two women, who are dressed in black bikinis with neon tassels hanging from their bras and panties, wearing stiletto high heeled boots. Pollyanna is donning her signature mask and tonight her wig is neon blue, but the outfit is the most daring ensemble she's worn.
A black bodysuit, cutout on the sides and center revealing the curves of her torso and stomach. Her thigh-high boots standout, glowing white under all the strobe lights. The song is slow as they free-style, dancing sensually, but then the electro-mix mashup picks up tempo and their movements match the beat and the room erupts with enthusiasm. People begin dancing near the stage joining them.
As usual I'm mesmerized by Pollyanna's movements. The fluidity of the way she swings her head, arms and rolls her body with the music. She drops into a split and the room goes crazy.
"Earth to Will!" Adam whistles from across the booth.
"What?"
"I asked if there's been any new developments with the investigation? Or would you rather not talk about work and women instead?" His gaze shifts to the three women on the stage.
"No new developments. The list is dwindling, but no one remaining looks suspicious." Running a hand through my hair, I sit back and take a long drink. Even fucking Malcolm came up clean. Not that I was hoping or expecting him to be the spy, but I've never met anyone that just gets under my skin for no damn reason.
But the memory of the kiss he planted on Katerina today after he interrupted to 'check in' is burned in my head. For her part, she looked embarrassed and even angry at him after he pulled away.
"You know what they say, it's always the ones you least expect," Adam says, absentmindedly, watching the dancers. But his eyes widen when he realizes what he said. "Lo siento, I didn't mean to bring up old shit."
I wave off his apology. "I know, but you're right." Betrayal tends to come from where you least expect it and it fucking hits worse when it's someone you'd never suspect. He changes the subject, updating me on the latest from the New York office and shares the details of the construction loan approval for the new office in Henderson.
"Gentlemen, this is a no work zone." Pollyanna's sweet accent reaches my ears. She smiles and focuses her eyes on me; they're violet today. "I was beginning to forget this beautiful face of yours, William."
"My deepest apologies."
"You've been busy with work, I know. Or perhaps someone?" Her eyebrow rises with an expectant look and her red lips curve in a knowing smile.
"Just work." Though a pair of doe eyes framed in glasses flash in my mind, including the sporadic late nights working together over the last few weeks. A few after hour dinner's have happened, but it's all been done while working..
Adam clears his throat. I sit back, noticing the smirk on his face. I quickly make introductions. "Pollyanna, this is my cousin, Adam Solano. Adam, Pollyanna."
"Mucho gusto, señorita." He takes her hand, placing a kiss on her knuckles.
"The pleasure is mine." She tilts her head with a smile.
"You speak Spanish?" He inquires, a look of piqued interest in his eyes.
Pollyanna lifts a shoulder. "Un poquito. Enough to get by."
"You're a wonderful dancer. Couldn't take my eyes off you," he tells her, but then grunts from the swift kick I send his way under the table.
They both face me. Ignoring the glare coming from Adam, I smile at Pollyanna. "I wasn't sure if you were working tonight. I assumed it was only on the weekends that you're here."
She sighs, exhaustion comes through in her voice and in her body language with her shoulders slumping a bit. "Usually weekends, yes. But sometimes I need more hours." She straightens her posture and giggles, almost like she forgot where she was. "Enough about me, what brings you here tonight. Celebration? A birthday?"
Adam shakes his head. "Just needed an escape from the real world for a moment. How long have you been working here?"
"Almost four months."
The waitress returns with his drink and brings me another. The women share a glance and smile at each other. "Well, I must return to work. Lovely to meet you, Monsieur Solano."
"Le plaisir est pour moi." He picks up her hand kissing it again, trying to impress her with his limited French. "I do hope to see you again."
"Unfortunately, the new office will keep you too busy, cuz," I state, narrowing my eyes at his not letting go of her hand.
"I'm not that busy," he replies, without looking at me and smiles at her.
"Nonsense, you'll be drowning in meetings and financial deadlines..." I say. He finally stops ogling Pollyanna, glancing at me. My pointed look does nothing as he squints at me. I gesture with my eyes for him to get the fucking point.
"Oh, right, right, right. I'm a busy man."
He smiles when I roll my eyes at his horrible attempt of backtracking. Pollyanna looks between us and giggles. "I must go. As they say, duty calls." We watch her walk away but Adam stands in my line of vision.
"Vaya, Vaya. Primo. Look at you."
"What?"
"You fucking like her. Don't tell me you've been stalking her ever since I brought you here on your birthday?"
Ignoring his fucking smug grin, I take a drink. "Not stalking."
He bursts out laughing. "No mames! I can't blame you, she's gorgeous."
"Yeah, you got some drool right there by the way." Tapping his chin he jerks back with a laugh.
"No doubt." He chuckles and sits back down across from me. "What's her name?"
"I introduced you, pendejo."
"Her real name, idiota. What else does she do? Where is she from?"
Blowing out a breath in frustration, I lean back observing my glass. It hits me then, the stark difference of how much I've shared with her and the sparse details she's given me about herself. "At this point, I know more about Katerina than I do Pollyanna."
"Who?"
"Katerina, my sort-of-assistant."
"Right." Adam nods. "She's a cute little number. Maybe too young for you though, you just hit thirty."
My eyes snap to him with annoyance. "Thanks, I hadn't realized. And she's twenty six, for your information."
"Twenty six? Huh. We're the same age."
Recognizing the look on his face, the overwhelming urge to punch him right out of the booth surprises me. But I settle for reminding him of his self-imposed rule. "You don't date people you work with. You forget how you reminded me of that after what happened with me and Fabiana."
His lips curve into a cocky grin. "Someone's always worth the exception." He takes a sip of his drink, flashing his teeth from the burn of the liquor. "I recently read that forty-three percent of people marry someone they met at work."
He's got to be kidding. "You don't even know her and you're already talking about marriage?"
A single shoulder lifts in a shrug. "I'm not getting any younger and she made an unforgettable impression." He smiles behind his glass before taking another drink. "There's just something about her..."
Tossing back the rest of my drink, I slam my glass down. "Well, someone already beat you to it. She's dating Malcom Wright—works in the strategy and planning teams."
"I know, but they don't seem like a good match. Don't you agree?" He asks as he looks over the other dancers behind me. I'm feeling uncomfortably hot suddenly and I remove my jacket, and undo the top buttons of my shirt to get some relief from the stifling heat. The fact that he's been asking around about Katerina is not sitting well.
"She's too good for him. But let me get this straight." I lean forward and move in his sight line to get his attention. "A few minutes ago, you were all about Pollyanna, now you're into Katerina?"
"What's your problem?" He chuckles. "You can't gatekeep these beautiful girls to yourself, especially since you're too much of a pussy to make a move either way."
"You don't know shit." Raising my hand in the air, I hail down a waitress walking by and ask for another drink, making it a double.
"Whatever you say, cuz." Adam chortles, sipping on his drink.
⧫ ⧫ ⧫
"Good work today, Ms. Ramos. You've done great with the tasks and extra responsibilities you've been given."
"Thank you, sir." She beams, sitting straighter in her chair.
"With my trip to New York next week, I wanted to ask how you felt about coming along?" It's a struggle to keep from smiling at the range of emotions that flicker on her face.
She manages to close her gaping mouth and clears her throat. "You...want me to go with you?"
"You'd be coordinating my meetings but it would also be a good opportunity to meet and network with some of our long term clients with the parent company. What do you think?"
Her eyes sparkle with her smile, but then she looks away, her face reddening. "I'd love to. I've never been, but um...I don't think I'll be able to swing such an expense right now."
"Business trips are covered by the company." I tell her with what I hope is an encouraging smile. "So, what do you say?"
"I'd love to go."
"Great, I'll need you to add the changes to the flight itinerary and hotel." I hand her my company credit card.
She nods, taking it in her hand. "Will do." She lifts her gaze and gnaws on her lower lip. "Now that we're nearly finished with the internal investigation with no results, what's the next step?"
Turning away from my computer, I exhale. "We broaden our search. But we will outsource the investigation to a third party since it will involve looking into board members next."
"Well, I hope it all gets resolved sooner than later for you, sir." She clicks her pen and gathers her things, slipping them into her work bag. "Oh, don't forget about your nine a.m. call in the morning and your financial meeting at eleven. I input them in your calendar, just in case."
Opening my schedule app, I'm met with a rainbow of colors. "You color coordinated my schedule?"
Katerina walks around the desk. "I hope that's okay, but the standard black and white made it hard to know what was critical and what was more flexible." She leans down and uses my mouse to point out the differences. Her soft fragrance comes over me and I find myself edging closer to her, finding it familiar and comforting.
"See, the red are your non-negotiable meetings, the orange are deadlines with board member meetings. The yellow are monthly meetings with team leads, the turquoise are personal appointments, which reminds me you have a dentist appointment after the New York trip." The cursor moves to the next color. "Blue are meetings with potential clients for the month."
"What are the purple blocks?" I ask looking over the sporadic color on the calendar.
"Oh, those are just times I blocked out for you." A nervous smile pulls at her, doll shaped lips as she pushes her glasses up the bridge of her nose. "I...I just figured someone so busy needs a few minutes or an hour here and there to just breathe. Decompress."
Her eyes dart over to me and her breath catches when she notices our proximity, her gaze falling to my mouth. I've never met anyone so unguarded with their thoughts and expressions.
"Thank you." My eyes are drawn to her mouth too, when she pulls her lips in, moistening them.
"You're welcome," she replies, slanting toward me. My gut instinct to give in to the instinct of capturing those doll lips of hers, overtakes any rational thought. Except...She's taken. The sickening feeling that I'd be doing something I'm completely against makes everything come to a screeching halt.
Leaning away, I focus on closing the app on my computer. "Goodnight, Ms. Ramos. See you in the morning." She doesn't move right away, but her audible swallow reaches my ears, followed by her rapid breathing.
"I...Yes, in the morning," she mutters, bumping against the cabinet behind us and then stumbles over her feet, barely catching herself from falling. "Sorry." She mumbles, frantically grabbing her things, and rushes out of my office.
I lift my gaze covertly watching. Her face is flushed, speed walking down the hall. I hold my head, groaning. What the hell are you doing, Will?
Shutting down my computer and locking up my office, I confirm Joe has the car ready out front. Before walking out of the building, I stand at the glass doors to watch a frantic Katerina run out of the parking garage, dropping several things in her wake. I step out as she yells, "Stop! Please! Please, stop!" I realize she's chasing after a tow truck with a small car hooked to the back of it. Once the truck rounds the corner she slows her pace, panting, but even from my distance her quiet sobs reach me.
I gather her keys, phone, bag and notebook on the sidewalk and approach her. "Kat–er Ms. Ramos?"
Her shoulders stiffen and she quickly wipes at her face, sniffling. She doesn't turn right away, but she greets me with a shaky voice. "Oh, hi, Mr. Cardona."
There's no point in asking the obvious considering her current state. Handing her belongings to her, she thanks me quietly with shuddering breaths. "Can I give you a ride home?"
Her large, brown eyes brimming with tears lift to mine and when she gives a single nod, the tears cascade down over her cheeks. My hand twitches, wanting to wipe them away, but instead I gesture toward the waiting car.