The vibration started up again and I couldn’t take it anymore. I wrote him a note.
If you’re not going to answer it then switch the goddamn phone OFF.
His response came fast.
No one else is complaining.
Infuriated, I ripped his note up in tiny shreds.
“Life is so unfair,” Sienna complained, throwing her phone on her desk. “My sister lost a job position to a guy even though she’s more qualified. She really wanted the job. Do you ever think the world will be fair and equal for everyone?”
Before I could stop myself, the words poured out of my mouth in a rush. “Yeah, right around the time Ezra grows a beard.” Sarcasm was evident in my tone as I mocked Ezra’s clean-shaven jawline.
Frank laughed. “Damn man, that one hurt.”
Ezra scoffed. “Thankfully masculinity and maturity aren’t determined by a beard. What about height or even accomplishments?”
“You lack those too,” I said.
Ezra snorted but said nothing further. Sienna gave me a harsh look as if ordering me to apologize. I rolled my eyes and got back to work.
“You should be nicer to him,” Sienna whispered. “He’s a cool guy.”
“Really?” I answered and turned back to my computer.
Close to lunchtime, Frank said, “Who wants to go out and get some pizza. I know this dope place not far from here.”
Pizza. The thought alone had my mouth watering. I hadn’t eaten all day and I was starving. Stacie and Sienna eagerly agreed while both Ezra and I remained silent.
“What of the two of you?” Frank asked.
“I have somewhere to be,” Ezra said.
“And I have some stuff to catch up on.” I had nothing to do. I would probably sit around watching dog videos on YouTube. It was better than being tempted to go with them.
They tried to convince us both to go until they exhausted all their arguments. Frank placed his hand over Stacie’s shoulder and the two left with Sienna right behind them. I envied that couple, not in a bad way. They were what I wished to have one day. Frank loved Stacie and vice versa. The ease of their relationship made it special. They were that type of couple who everyone hates because they were so perfect for one another.
I waited for Ezra to leave but he wouldn’t go. I took an energy bar from my bag and ate while scrolling through YouTube when a note was stuck on my side of the partition.
Could you chew any louder?
I wasn’t a loud chewer. Outraged by his comment, I purposely chewed with my mouth open making as much noise as I could while he sighed profoundly annoyed. I wrote him a note.
Could you breathe any louder?
I thought you had somewhere to be!!!
His response came shortly after.
I thought you had work to catch up on?
My body heated over as I wrote.
I’m trying to do that but you’re ruining it.
- I hate you!
His answer was almost instant.
The feeling is mutual.
At least we agreed on that.
A loud knock on the door caught my attention. A well put together blond man in a black suit sauntered in. Ezra rose to his feet in haste, his chair fell backward hitting the floor with a crash that made me jump.
“I told you to never come here,” Ezra hissed, his shoulders tensing.
“See the problem is that you never take my calls,” the man said, stepping further into the room. “I always have to go to extreme measures to talk to you.”
“We’ll talk later. I got your text.”
“I want to talk now.”
With a head jerk in my direction, Ezra said, “I’m not alone.”
The man scanned the room until his eyes landed on me, peeping my head on the side of the partition. He smiled and I smiled back but not with the same brightness.
“Why don’t we talk outside?”
They both left and I couldn’t help myself. Once they were out, I tiptoed to the door and pressed my ear against it. I couldn’t make out a word they were saying but the tone they spoke in was harsh—mostly Ezra’s. The other man’s voice was kept modulated and even.
Ezra
Rowan should have never come here. He knew my office was off-limits.
“Are you crazy?” I muttered through gritted teeth, looking over my shoulder. “What the fuck? Do you want to get caught?”
“Caught doing what?” Rowan laughed lightly, as if, he couldn’t see the gravity of the situation. “I’m just checking in on a friend who doesn’t take my calls. I was worried.” He took a step closer and adjusted my collar. “Why do you insist on ignoring me?”
“Because I was busy.”
He shook his head but the smile never faded from his lips. “When I call, you should never be busy. You work for me.”
“I can’t drop everything when you call. People will get suspicious. Hell, my uncle is always asking where I disappear to all the time.”
“Not my problem.” He waved a hand dismissively. “I need you to come by tonight and work your magic on some money that needs to be rerouted. The people on the other side don’t like to be kept waiting, you know that.” Gently, he slapped the side of my face twice.
I stepped back, away from him. “Fine, I’ll be there.”
“Atta boy.” He pressed the elevator call button. “I like you, Ezra. Have I told you that before?”
I didn’t answer and the elevator doors opened. I held my breath when I saw Frank, Sienna and Stacie on the other side. I moved to the right, creating a greater gap between Rowan and me.
“Where are you headed?” Sienna asked as they stepped out of the lift.
“I, um, I—I was about to go down and get something to eat.”
Rowan slipped into the elevator nodding at my friends. “Should I hold the elevator?” Rowan offered with that smug look of his. “I heard you were going down.”
“That’s okay, sir, I’ll catch the next one. Thanks.”
They all turned back to me not making much of Rowan’s presence. As the doors slid shut, he blew me a kiss. The man was deranged.
“I told you he wasn’t going anywhere,” Stacie said, raising the box in her hand that until then went unnoticed by me. “They were trying to avoid each other.”
I gave them the first excuse that popped into my head and when they all went back to the office, I snuck to the breakroom to put my head in order.
Things were getting out of hand. I needed to put an end to this. My life no longer belonged to me. It was time that changed. I pulled out my phone and sent the message I’d been debating sending for a while. But it was time.
Seconds after I got a response, Frank came in eyeing me with suspicion or maybe just curiosity—I wasn’t sure.
“You’ve been off lately? And even more so since Christina started working here. Are you okay, man?” He bumped his shoulder to mine. His way of offering support.