Page 16 of Ace of Swords

Chapter Six

It had been a few dayssince the graduation party, and so far there didn’t seem to be any blow-back from my indiscretion. I’d talked to Sergio several times since, and he hadn’t even mentioned Tatiana’s name to me.

I was on edge though, waiting for the other shoe to drop. I imagined my colleagues talking about me in the break room. So when Dianne asked me out to drinks at Little Pete’s one evening, I said yes. It caught her by surprise; me too. But I needed to test the waters and allay my concerns that Tatiana and I were the latest gossip.

On Wednesday night, when I’d typically be working out, I was seated at a large table of colleagues and listening to their conversations. The air reeked of stale beer. The jukebox played one terrible song after another. It was definitely not how I wanted to be spending my evening.

I’d almost convinced myself that this excursion was useless and I should head home, when RJ Dalton, a supreme douchebag from the marketing department, caught my attention. “I’m not saying I wouldn’t hit that, dude,” he said loudly. “Jesus, that dress Tatiana wore at her party? It was fucking perfect.” My ears burned as I tuned in. I hated the idea ofanyonelooking at Tatiana like I did. “It’s just not worth the risk. Montalla would have my nuts in a vise if I even glanced in her direction.”

“It wouldn’t be worth your time either,” a man who could be RJ's twin said. “That chick is so stuck up. Can you imagine how high maintenance she would be?”

“I heard Mr. Montalla basically paid for her to get that degree,” a blonde woman—I recognized her from the front desk of the office—said. “You know rich girls like that. They never have to lift a finger or work a day in their lives.”

I grit my molars. The Tatiana in their imaginations didn’t match the Tatiana I knew. I could feel myself growing defensive for her, wanting to explain to them all about her interest in water management and how hard she’d worked through college. But what did it matter to me what a bunch of office sad sacks thought about her? I didn’t care about them, and I certainly didn’t,shouldn’t, care about Tatiana.

I started to sweat and my hands were twitching with the urge to knock out RJ. It was time to go. There hadn’t been the smallest hint that anyone at this table suspected anything happened between Tatiana and me. If someone did see us, it wasn’t any of these yahoos.

The paranoid voice in my head had quieted down, but it was replaced with another that whispered tender thoughts of Tatiana. And tender thoughts about Tatiana always led to veryimpurethoughts about Tatiana. I checked my watch, deciding I could make it the gym and work off some of this tension before it got too late.

The cool air outside the bar was a welcome sensation on my skin. Without the jukebox’s assault on my ears, I could really think. It had been days since I kissed Tatiana, since someonemayhave seen us together. There was no indication anyone I know saw us. If someonehadseen us, what would the motivation be to spill? And if they were motivated to tell our secret, wouldn’t they have done it already?

Carefully considering each of those facts, I put the matter to rest. What happened the other night, it happened. I couldn’t turn back time. Our paths had no reason to cross again anytime soon. It was time for me to move on with my life. My predictable, well planned life.

Had it always felt so hollow?

****

Driving over to LakesidePlaza the next morning, I wasn’t exactly sure what I was doing. Sergio’s phone call had woke me before my alarm even went off. I was annoyed my schedule for the day had been disrupted. There was no arguing with the boss, though, especially since he seemed on the brink of offering me full access to the books at work. I knew I could work more efficiently without Marcus as a go-between.

Sergio said he had a special assignment for me. The details were vague but since I was going over to a shopping mall, I assumed I’d be looking at some commercial property he was considering buying. With that in mind, I was mentally going over the checklist of questions I’d have for the realtor before reporting back to Sergio.

I arrived at Lakeside Plaza exactly on time. I grabbed a black coffee while I waited at the main entrance, exactly as Sergio had directed me. It was ten minutes past my appointment time. With whom I was meeting, I still didn’t know. I was getting antsy from the uncertainty and feeling like I was wasting my time.

Just as I pulled out my phone to text Sergio, a sleek, black Maybach pulled up to the valet. The driver, decked out in black brimmed hat and white driving gloves, opened the back passenger’s door. A gorgeous bare leg extending out of the car caught my eye; I swallowed in anticipation to see the beautiful woman attached to it.

My eyes traveled up that body, taking in the tight denim skirt, the loose fitting flannel shirt knotted just above her navel, unbuttoned at the top revealing just a peak of cleavage, all the way up to... Tatiana Montalla’s infuriating smirk.

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