Marked for Vengeance (2 page)

“Something funny,
Rayer?” Mona snapped as she slid open her desk drawer.

“Nothing’s
funny. Just reading an amusing email, is all.”
Someone needs their Midol.

Mona slung her
purse strap over her shoulder. “That’s what I thought.”

After she disappeared
around the corner, Alyx wondered what could possibly make someone so bitter.
Only
one chance at life and you walk around as if it’s a huge inconvenience,
she
thought and shook her head.
What a waste.

“Can you break
away for an hour?” Cindra asked as she rested on the corner of Alyx’s desk.

“Let’s make it
the rest of the day,” she moaned and closed her eyes.

“That good,
huh?”

She leaned into
her friend’s ear. “Mona’s been in rare form, grumpier than usual… if that’s
possible.”

Cindra gestured
as though she hung herself with a noose, and they laughed quietly. “HD1 today,
right?” Cindra asked. “Nothing a good hotdog can’t fix.”

“Sounds good. Let
me grab my purse.”

The elevator
doors opened, revealing a cabin filled to the brim with employees from other
floors, shoved in like a herd of cattle. Alyx offered an apologetic smile. “We’ll
wait for the next one,” she said and pushed the button again.

“Gotta love
lunchtime rush,” Cindra sneered.

The elevator to
the left of it came open with a ding, this one surprisingly empty, except for a
man who stood motionless in the back, left corner. He wore a black suit and a
matching wide-brimmed fedora that sat atop his shaved head, and his grey eyes
stared fixedly at the wall in front of him without bothering to so much as cast
a glance at the girls as they stepped on. Alyx greeted him with a cheerful
“hello” anyhow.

“Did you scare
everyone else off?” Cindra asked in an attempt to break the tension, but
received nothing in return.

On the awkward
ride down to the lobby, Alyx’s stomach churned with unease, and the hairs on
the back of her neck stood to attention. The unfriendly man behind them stared
a hole through the back of their heads, and Cindra’s uncharacteristic silence indicated
that she must have sensed it too. By the time they reached the ground level,
they burst through the elevator doors as soon as they opened and hurried toward
the lobby as the man crept behind them in slow, measured steps.

Alyx wanted so
badly to turn around and take another look at him but didn’t want to be too obvious.
Nobody’s presence had ever affected her that badly.

After exiting
the double doors, she heard the mysterious man’s footsteps take a right as they
went left. “What was with Creepy McCreeperson?” Cindra asked.

Alyx composed
herself with a deep breath so her discomfort wouldn’t reveal itself. “Who
knows?”
That almost sounded convincing.

Cindra laughed
it off as they walked. “He’s probably from the Engineering firm on twenty. They
have the personality of a wet mop.”

*
* *

HD1 was abuzz
with eager patrons who had filed into a tight line at the hostess’ podium,
waiting to be fed. Alyx wafted the promising scent of butter-toasted hot dog
buns and fresh-cut waffle fries to her nose. “I love that smell,” she said with
a deep sniff and swallowed to keep the salivating to a minimum. After only a
few minutes of waiting, a hostess with multiple piercings seated them at a
high-top table in the center of the trendy restaurant.

“I guess that’s
what we get for not coming early this time,” Cindra said as she glanced at the coveted
booths by the window.

The hostess
stuck her bottom lip into a pout, exposing the other side of her barbell
piercing. “Sorry, girls, you want the usual today?”

“You know us so
well,” Alyx replied and looped her purse over the back of the chair.

“I’ll tell your
waiter. Its Gavin today,” she said and left to seat the next customers.

With the mention
of his name, Cindra’s face lit up like a sparkler. “Thank you, Amber!”

Alyx crossed her
arms. “Will you get his number already?”

“It’s
complicated,” she replied, and her eyes dropped to the table.

“You’re a cute
girl. He’s
definitely
a cute guy. I’m having a hard time seeing the complication
here.”

“I know. I just
need some time.”

Alyx cocked her
head while studying her friend. She had always wondered why such a cute, funny,
sociable girl wasn’t enthusiastic about dating. It didn’t make sense,
especially as boy-crazy as she was. “I've known you over a year now, and you
have yet to go on one date. Not
one
.”

“We can’t all
have handsome, successful boyfriends,” she quipped.

Alyx bent down
to meet her friend’s stare, unaffected by her snippy tone. “You probably could
if you would take a chance!”

She smiled
half-heartedly in return. “We’ll see. But speaking of handsome boyfriends, how’s
Ben?” she asked in an obvious attempt to change the subject. “Oops, I mean
Benjamin.
He’s away at that medical conference, right?”

Alyx swatted
across the table. “Yes, and you really need to stop that! He’s a great guy. A
little pretentious maybe, but a great guy.”

“You don’t have
to defend him to me, girl. He treats you like a princess. Color me jealous.”        

“He emailed me
just before lunch,” Alyx said as her gaze moved toward the window. “His flight
arrives early Sunday morning. We have dinner plans for our one year anniversary
that night, but he won’t tell me where.”

“Oh! Do you
think that
means
…” Cindra squealed, bouncing in her chair.

It took Alyx a
moment to realize what she meant, and mortification flushed her cheeks, her
chest tightening. Her gaze snapped back to her friend’s smiling face. “Oh
god,
I hope not!”

Taken aback by
her immediate protest, Cindra’s expression soured.

“I love him, and
all,” Alyx insisted in an attempt to recover, injecting the statement with as
much sincerity as possible, “but I’m just not ready for that yet.”
I need to
get better at my recoveries today.
With that thought, she realized her
nerves hadn’t completely settled since running into the strange man at their
building.   

“So which part
are you not ready for… being married to a rich surgeon, or waking up in his
loving arms every morning?” she asked with a tinge of bitterness.

“I’m just not
ready,” she shot back.

“Understandable,
I guess,” Cindra conceded. “But if he dumps you, make sure and give him my number.”

Alyx flung a
napkin at her. “Like you would know what to do with it.”

“How are my
favorite girls?” Gavin asked in his raspy voice as he tossed coasters onto the
table. His electric green eyes studied Cindra for a slice of a second and refocused
on the glass bottles as he sat them on the table. “Amber told me y’all wanted
the usual. Here is your Diet Coke, Alyx, and Cindra, an Orange soda.”

Cindra flashed
her mouth full of perfect white teeth. “You’re the best.”

He pressed the
tip of his pen to the notepad and brought it to his face to conceal his
blushing. “You girls want an appetizer today? We have a new one on the menu… fried
pickles fresh from the-“

“Ooh we’ll take
it!” Cindra interrupted.

“Ok then, your
orders are coming up!” he said and scurried to the kitchen.

 Alyx leaned over
the table with narrowed eyes. “Have you
eaten
fried pickles before?”

“There’s a first
time for everything,” she declared as she brought the bottle to her lips.

“That’s exactly
the point I was trying to make earlier.”

She stuck out
her tongue in response, dribbling orange fizz onto the collar of her blouse.

*
* *

Frederick went
home after his lunch meeting, so Alyx had an uneventful rest of the day minus a
few appointment schedulings for current clients. The clock on the computer read
half past three.
Yes!
She locked the computer screen, grabbed her bags,
and made her way toward the elevators.

After rounding
the corner, she saw Cindra still sitting at her desk, staring at her monitor
intently. “You realize salaried employees don’t get paid overtime, right?” Alyx
teased, resting her chin atop the edge of her cubicle wall.

Cindra rubbed
her forehead with pinched eyelids. “I know, after I finish this report I’m
gone. I’ll see you tomorrow at eleven thirty, your place.”

Alyx continued
on her way. “See you tomorrow. Looking forward to it!”

“Have fun
sweating like a pig!”

Alyx made her
way to the lobby where Deborah typed away on her keyboard behind the
receptionist desk. “Say hey to my Benjamin,” Deborah said as she spotted her by
the elevators.

“Will do. His
plane comes in late tomorrow night.”

She peered over
her glasses. “Going to dinner, I presume?”

By the way Deborah’s
eyebrows rose suggestively as she grinned, it was apparent that she knew
something, and was quite pleased that she did. Alyx’s face went pale as her
chest tightened again, but she kept her smile firmly planted. Maybe Cindra’s
instincts were more accurate than she first assumed. All she could muster in
response was a polite nod.

The elevator
dinged mercifully, rescuing her from Benjamin’s nosey aunt. “Have a good
weekend,” she said as she stepped inside.

“I’m sure you
will too!”

Deborah had
worked for the firm ever since Frederick founded it ten years ago. When he
hired Alyx on as an assistant, Deborah took a liking to her instantly, as most
people did, and immediately tried to play matchmaker with her nephew, Dr.
Benjamin Forbes. The first few times Deborah offered to give Benjamin her
number, Alyx gently turned her down, but she inevitably gave in. Mostly because
she’d had enough of the others in the office attempting to pair her with their
sons or family members, wondering why such ‘a pretty young girl’ was single.

Alyx didn’t know
much about Benjamin at the time other than the fact that he was, according to
Deborah, ‘a handsome young surgeon’ -- young, meaning thirty-five. Before they
met she had often wondered how a man of his position would need assistance
finding a date, but come to find out, that wasn’t the case. Deborah dished one
afternoon at lunch that she had grown tired of her sister’s constant
complaining over the airheads her son brought home, so in other words, she was
meddling, which ended up being a good thing.

After a few
phone calls to get to know each other later, Benjamin came to pick Alyx up from
her apartment for their very first date. She had to admit, he challenged her
resolve not be taken with him right away. He stood at an imposing six foot five
inches tall with broad shoulders, deep blue eyes that sat under his meticulously
groomed eyebrows, blonde hair that he combed to the side, and a smoldering
smile that formed a dimple on his chin. But she reminded herself as he opened
the door for her to sit into his convertible Mercedes Roadster to reserve her
final judgment for the end of the date.

His restaurant
choice for their first dinner together was the Sundial in midtown that rotated atop
the Westin hotel. When they pulled into the hotel parking lot in his sporty car,
she teetered on the conclusion that he tried
way
too hard to be
impressive, and despite his good looks, had nearly written him off before they
stepped foot into the building.

Benjamin took to
her instantly, however. It could have been because she was the only woman he
had dated that he could have a decent conversation with that didn’t revolve
around clothes and other superficialities, but it also helped that she was
stunningly beautiful and didn’t appear as though she knew it. When he dropped
her off at her apartment that evening, he admitted that those were some firsts
for him.

Needless to say,
he didn’t immediately sweep her off her feet, but something about him planted
itself inside of her, and she agreed to go out with him again. After their
first three dates, she came to enjoy his company rather immensely, which led to
an intense like, and eventually what she thought was love. They were upon their
one year anniversary this Sunday, and she had wondered if something grandiose lingered
up his sleeve, which his aunt just partially confirmed.

As Alyx stepped
onto the elevator, another momentary fear crept in that the same man in a black
suit would be in there, but thankfully, the empty cabin revealed otherwise. She
shook it off and pressed the button for the ground floor. When the elevator
re-opened, she took a right to head for the gym. Her afternoon routine of
lifting light weights and running on the treadmill helped her maintain her slim
physique and eat pretty much anything she wanted, like hot dogs for lunch.

She reached for
the long, brass door handle to the gym and paused. For the first time ever, all
she wanted to do was go home and rest, thanks to the tiresome affects of her
long, arduous work week.  Her four inch heels screeched on the floor as she
turned, and she walked as briskly as she could in them to her car.