Page 5 of Soulmates

“Hello, Miles,” Beverly said when I walked into my office that morning. She was dressed impeccably in a white Dior dress that clung to her like a second skin and did a great job of highlighting all the right bumps. Her long legs were stretched out in front of her, red-bottom stiletto heels resting on top of my desk.

“What are you doing here, Bev?” I said, trying hard not to stare at those familiar legs.

“Aw, can’t I just drop by and say hi to my ex? I mean, we’re still friends, right?”

Friends? Friends?

“I’ve got a meeting in fifteen minutes, Bev,” I said, not wanting to argue. “What can I help you with?”

“Nothing,” she said, placing her feet down and leaning forward, her breasts practically spilling out of her low-slung dress. “I just visited dad and thought I’d stop by and say hi.”

I wasn’t sure if she was hitting on me or she was just being her usual seductive self. She always did get a kick out of making the men around her drool.

“So,” I said, sighing. “How are you doing, Bev?”

“Just fab, thank you, dear. And what about you? Dad told me you’ve been doing really great, knocking all those cases out of the park. He has been very pleased with you. Except today. Today he’s pissed at you. Something about some deposition you screwed up on. I wouldn’t go see him now, if I were you.”

The Kruger case. Fuck.

Beverly got up and I watched in a mounting panic as she made her way around the desk until she stood in front of me.

“He also said you haven’t taken a single day off in two years.” She placed her arms around me, her hands gently rubbing the back of my neck like she used to do.

“Bev, what are you doing?”

“I miss you, Miles,” she whispered in my ear, her breath hot, her breasts pressing against my chest. “I want you back in my life.”

I could not believe this was happening. It took me a long time to get her out of my mind, out of my system, and here she was again, threatening to destroy that wall of safety I had built.

“Bev, please stop.”

“Can we just go out, Miles? Catch up, have a drink or something? I can tell dad you’re taking a day off. He’ll understand.”

I grabbed her hands, brought them to her sides, and stepped back.

“Please, just go.”

She stared at me, a stunned look on her face, and that was when it hit me. Beverly Edsel always got what she wanted. No one had ever turned her down. Ever.

“Of course,” she said, breaking into a fake smile and caressing my face lightly. “I’ll see you later, Miles.”

I stood rooted to the spot long after Beverly had gone, a slow rage boiling in me. She had no right to waltz in on me after what she did. No right. And to think she can just pick up and act like nothing ever happened? The nerve of the bitch.

The shrill ring of my desk phone rattled my nerves even more.

“Hello?”

“Miles, get your ass in my office right now,” Tom Edsel said.

Shit.

I walked quickly to the corner office on the far end of the building. Brenda, his bombshell of an executive secretary, shook her head and made a face.

Watch out, he’s in a foul mood, she seemed to say.

“What the fuck’s wrong with you?” Tom bellowed before I had a chance to close the door behind me.

“What the fuck do you mean?” I snapped back. Most people would have gotten axed just by taking that tone with him, but I was still pissed with his daughter’s visit and I didn’t give a shit.

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