“Just because you’re looking doesn’t mean you have to touch.”
I couldn’t help the laugh that escaped. “Now who’s delusional? The minute you manage to follow your ‘look but don’t touch’ rule, you let me know and I’ll write it down.”
“It would be a monumental time,” he sniggered. “But I made you laugh, and that’s all I wanted.”
“Thank you, Neil. For that and for remembering how hard this time is for me.”
“You’re going to be all right, Brian. You’re a good guy and the right man will fall all over himself to make you happy.”
I groaned. “I want to believe that. Right now, I’m content to indulge some of my boyhood dreams and enjoy my freedom. Maybe I’ll jump back into the dating pool someday, but not for a long time.”
“You’ll find the right man, Brian. And when you do, it’s going to hit you like a freight train, and nothing you do is going to stop it.”
5
Jeremy
I watched the gray and white tail swishing on the other side of the flowers that had sprung up around the trees in the weeks since I’d first seen the feral cat. After nearly three weeks cajoling him from the bushes every day to feed him, he’d graduated to sitting between the tree and the flowers, eyes and ears peeking through the greenery, tail twitching as he watched and waited. It wasn’t much, but it was more than I’d hoped for, and it was progress. Still, I didn’t move from my spot in the grass by the pond, his bowl near me as I sat cross-legged and ate my own lunch. Chewing slowly, I pretended to be interested in the fish swimming around, but this cat wasn’t so easily fooled.
“You’re clever,” I told him when I finally stood. “I give up for today, but tomorrow is another day, friend. And someday, I will pet you.”
The tail swished in response, but the feral cat made no move to run away. He knew I wouldn’t approach him, and that realization made my chest swell. It wasn’t the end goal, but that kind of trust from a cat who trusted no one meant the world to me. This time next month, you’ll be eating out of my hand, I silently promised him as I walked away. A quick glance over my shoulder had a smile on my lips. I wasn’t even out of the grass before he left his hiding place and started eating. I paused and he froze, but when I didn’t head back in his direction he went back to crunching away at the cat kibble. “We’re almost there, buddy,” I whispered, then I left him alone to finish my day at the office.
I was almost to the side door when a flashy red convertible caught my eye. Angled across the center line, it was taking up four spots, making the spots on either side unusable as well. It wasn’t like the parking lot was ever filled to capacity, but it still had my ire up. It was inconsiderate and showed a complete lack of self-awareness. Not that Dis-chord Records took up the entire building, so it wasn’t our problem. But if it was one of our artists, they were going to get a talking to. We relied on good relations with the rest of the building to work through times when we needed to use the courtyard or other facilities for our work. If artists started pissing people off it was bound to cause us problems.
Garret caught up with me before I made it to the elevator. “What’s up with you and the cat?” he asked.
“I’m just feeding him.” Garret smiled at me, pushing the elevator call button. “I’m surprised you noticed the cat. He’s pretty good at hiding.”
“I saw you carrying cat food from your car, then I saw you out there. I put two and two together.” He shrugged. “I didn’t realize the cat was there.”
“He’s really cautious.”
“Well, he must like you then,” Garret said, stepping onto the elevator car.
“Thanks,” I said, feeling a little suspicious. “By the way, do you know who’s driving that little red car? It makes us look bad when people are inconsiderate like that. If that’s your client you need to get that ish in hand now.”
“Not my client,” he said, stepping off the elevator and grabbing the door.
“So, the jackass isn’t here for us?” I let out a relieved breath and walked through the doorway behind him. “Good. Don’t want any problems with the other tenants.”
“Actually, the jackass didn’t see a reason to park more carefully in a half-full lot near the end of business day,” a familiar voice said from around the corner.
I froze, stunned to see Brian Hattersly appear with Laura right behind him. Garret smirked at me, then danced around me and out the door on his tiptoes, clearly amused by the foot I’d so forcefully shoved into my own mouth. “My apologies,” I stammered. “I didn’t realize,” I blew out a breath. “Brian, hi.”
“I’m sorry, have we met?” he asked.
My eyes widened. He seemed genuinely confused. Looking him over again, he was sober, clean-cut and more handsome than I remembered, but it was clearly him. Why didn’t he remember me? It had only been three weeks since that night. But I knew why. He’d been struggling to stand, words slurring, spilling his drink all over the place. He’d be lucky if he knew how he got home. When he’d woken up and realized how badly he’d looked shit-faced and at rock bottom, he’d want nothing more than to get rid of every bit of evidence of that night. Including my note and my number.
Laura and Brian were watching me, clearly waiting for my answer. “I must’ve confused you with someone else,” I said with a shrug. I shot Laura a frantic look, but she remained stoic with only a hint of a smile on her face. It wasn’t a good sign. “If you’ll excuse me, I have work to do.” I cleared my throat, but neither of them moved to let me pass.
“Actually, I was hoping you would give Brian a tour.”
“Didn’t you just-”
“I did, but Brian isn’t new talent; he’s going to be working with us.”
I wonder if he’s replacing Garret, I thought, my eyes lighting up. Laura shook her head, but she didn’t say a word. I knew she’d read my mind. After hinting for months that Garret was easy to replace, it wouldn’t take mindreading abilities to know what I’d been thinking in that moment. “All right,” I said finally. “What have you shown him already?”
“Everything but the cubicle across from yours and how to work the computer system. If you could train him today, that would be great.”
“Okay,” I said slowly. “What is he going to be working on?”
She shrugged. “We’ll find a place to fit him in. For now we’re going to show him the ropes and see what strikes his fancy.”
There was no way she was serious, but a single, delicately manicured eyebrow went up when I looked at her and I knew she was. Brian didn’t have a set job and I was his designated babysitter. Great, I thought. Having Garret around wasn’t bad enough. Now I had a rich man to entertain while I did my job, and we already had an uncomfortable history…that only one of us remembered.
I held back the sigh that wanted to come out and I forced a smile. “Sounds good. Brian, if you’ll come with me, I’ll show you your workspace and how to log into the system.”