I move my mouse to start up my computer when I notice some excess tea on my desk. Letting out a huff, I grab another tissue to wipe it down. This day needs to be over so I can crawl into bed and forget the world exists. Vicky raises her eyebrow at me and I unbutton the blazer that I had placed back on, revealing the stained blouse.
Unable to control herself, she laughs out loud, resting her hand on my shoulder with a sympathetic look.
“On the bus ride over here?”
“Nope, just an asshole that is now trying to get into Dee’s pants.”
“Haden? How can someone so hot be such a royal pain in the ass?”
“Hot? I can’t see past the arrogance and petulant behavior. He’s like a goddam box of mixed chocolates; you don’t know what you’re going to get next.”
“Dee told me he wanted a threesome on Saturday night. Tried to get with her and her sister.”
“Are you joking? How inappropriate.”
“Yeah, maybe, but Dee sure looks happy today.”
Just when I thought my opinion of him couldn’t get any lower, I am proven wrong.
Vicky’s cell vibrates on my desk and immediately she picks it up with an amused smile and shoves it in my face.
“What am I looking at?”
She points to the message from Jean-Phillipe; it’s hot, heavy, and wow, could this man talk dirty!
“What’s with all the hashtags?” I ask.
“Oh, it’s this thing we do. You know, rather than typing sentences together we just hashtag a word or a string of words which kind of mean the same thing.”
Right, I am so out of the loop. Is this how you communicate today with potential lovers? All in hashtags? What happened to old-fashioned flirting? You know, some playful banter face-to-face and a ‘Hey, how about a nightcap at my apartment’ type of wink at the end?
“So tell me, Vicky, what would you type to describe how much of an asshole Haden is?”
She places her index finger on the corner of her mouth, then as if a light bulb goes off in her head, she says, “Worst day ever #RuinedBlouse #Jerk.”
I smile instantly. “You summed it up perfectly. #Jerk.”
Chapter Three
Whoever invented the saying ‘time flies when you’re having fun’ had obviously never been knee-deep in manuscripts that required immediate attention. Thursday rolled around fast, and being the busiest day in the office, one person was always nominated to do the lunch run. With deadlines hovering over my head like a grey cloud, I was quick to pass the buck to someone else.
Deep into the second chapter of an erotic thriller, I feel the presence of someone beside me. The charcoal grey pants are a dead giveaway and inadvertently, I groan, granting myself some patience to deal with him today. Why the fuck won’t he just leave me alone? I’ve met my share of annoying human beings but Haden Cooper takes the cake.
“I’m taking orders,” he huffs in annoyance.
I give him my full attention and decide to have a little fun with him. After all, he did ruin a blouse that even the dry cleaners declared a write-off for. Yes, I will have fun. Serves him right for being such a jerk.
“At my beck and call? Well, I’ll have the roast chicken on rye, lettuce, tomato, and no mayo. I repeat—no mayo.”
He stares back at me without writing down my order.
“You might want to write it down.”
“I have a good enough memory.”
A loose laugh escapes me. “That’s funny, I think Trina down on ten would beg to differ.”
His eyes twitch, caught in an awkward moment. I want to see what pathetic excuse he has for this.