Sudden Devotion (11 page)

* * * *

Sara was having a great day. Two of the other secretaries had congratulated her for her chipper demeanor with Claudia. Word had gotten around the office the day before, and people were aware that Claudia had done something to upset her. Although they didn’t know the details, they knew it stemmed from an altercation in the copy room. Claudia, who loved to be loved and worshipped, was suddenly not the most popular girl.

Sara wished she could feel sorry for her, but she didn’t. The things she had said to Sara the day before were downright hateful. Not to mention the fact that she obviously knew there was something going on with her and Mitch, and then she threw herself at him, anyway.

While Sara had been grocery shopping the day before, she had silently chided herself for trusting in every word that Mitch had given her in explanation. She knew the unwritten rule that women followed was that men were slime and not to be trusted. At least, that was what all of the magazines claimed.

But she couldn’t ignore the most apparent piece of evidence. In the short time that she had known Mitch, he had never given her any reason to doubt him or mistrust him. But Claudia, on the other hand, was a different story. She had known Claudia for over a year, and Sara could count at least a dozen dishonest and hateful things that she had done to people. After analyzing that, it was clear to her who deserved her trust.

She had just come back to her desk with a fresh cup of coffee and was prepared to start her dictation when she heard a voice behind her. She turned around and looked up from her desk at the floral deliveryman standing before her.

“Oh my, those are absolutely beautiful. Who are they for?” Although, she knew they were probably for Claudia. The girl got more flowers than the ICU wing at the hospital.

Looking at his clipboard, the guy squinted in an attempt to read it. “I can’t even make out this writing.” Shaking his head, he gave it a try. “It looks like maybe Sara Col – Cul – heck, I can’t tell. Do you have a Sara here that has a last name that begins with a C?”

“Um, yeah. I am Sara Collins. I’m the only Sara at this office. Are you sure it says Sara?” She couldn’t believe they were for her. Claudia’s last name was Soto. She thought maybe they had the names reversed on the delivery manifest or something.

The driver squinted again before nodding. “Yep. I see it now. Sara Collins. Sign here.”

She reached for the clipboard and was about to ask if he was sure, but it definitely looked like Sara Collins. She wasn’t sure why he had such a hard time reading it. He obviously needed glasses. “Here, thanks so much!”

Grabbing the vase, she was surprised at the weight of the arrangement. The vase itself was a frosted blue glass which flared at the opening like a trumpet. Inside it were the most beautiful white Casablanca Lilies she had ever seen. There were well over a dozen of them surrounded by lush greenery. It looked like something you would see near an altar at a wedding. She sat back down in her chair and pulled the card out of its teeny envelope.

Sara,

Work is stupid. Let’s quit and go live

on a tropical island somewhere. We

can live off of lots and lots of hot sex,

and we’ll eat bananas and coconuts

for nourishment.

Anyway, I’m sorry I have to work late.

Think of me when you go to sleep.

M.

Sara’s huge grin was plastered across her face when Claudia walked by, taking a sip of her coffee. Sara’s grin only intensified at the sight of Claudia choking on her hot beverage from the shock of seeing the bouquet. While Claudia walked away in disgust, Sara thought silently how nice it would be to literally watch the woman eat crow.

* * * *

Mitch was typing on his keyboard when he heard one of the secretaries walk by raving about the gorgeous lilies that Sara had gotten from a mystery man. As their voices trailed off, he heard the woman condemning Sara for being so secretive over his identity.

He had gotten so busy the time had flown in the past couple of hours. He picked up his coffee cup and decided that an impromptu trip to the break room for a refill was just what the doctor ordered. And if he happened to walk past Sara’s desk and see her and her bouquet, well then, all the better.

He was disappointed when he rounded the corner to her desk and saw that she was speaking with one of the partners. He smirked at the bouquet. He knew that he had done a good job. They were gorgeous, and they looked fitting for her.

When he first had the idea of flowers, he had almost automatically just sent roses. But something stopped him. He went online and browsed a few bouquets and was entranced by the beauty of the lilies. They had reminded him of the way he saw Sara. Beautiful but not ordinary, striking and elegant. They were the only flower that he saw on the whole website that even seemed worthy of her.

Her eyes locked with his for a moment as he passed. He gave her his customary wink and proceeded to head to the break room. He walked around the corner and right into Claudia. He hadn’t spoken to her since the situation in his office the day before. And other than business, saw no reason to do so now. He sidestepped her in hopes to avoid any contact whatsoever, but she followed him in. He poured his coffee cup and refused to meet her leering eyes.

When he turned to leave, she blocked him. Deciding he had enough, he thought it only fair that he fight fire with fire. “Look. I don’t know what your problem is, but I don’t appreciate your inappropriate behavior. I have made it abundantly clear that I am not interested in any way. For whatever reason, you are refusing to act like a lady about the whole thing. So if you can’t be a mature adult, I will be forced to take your conduct to the partners.” He stepped around her and headed out. But not before he heard her terse reply.

“Ha! That’s pretty funny, Mitch. They can’t do anything to me. I’m untouchable. I think you know why.”

Mitch had no idea what she meant. He ignored her and kept going. Shaking his head, he wondered what the world was coming to when a woman slept around like she did without any concern for the men’s spouses and still managed to actually sound proud of herself for it.

He passed Sara’s desk once more and found himself angry. The partner Sara was talking to was Peter. One of the men who, rumor had it, Claudia had slept with. The man obviously had no morals. He had a very nice and attractive wife that Mitch had met before. Seeing the slime ball standing over Sara’s desk no longer sat too well with him. He proceeded onto his office and got back to work.

* * * *

At the end of a very long day, Sara headed for the elevators. She had stayed an hour longer to help Peter and Larry prepare exhibits for an upcoming trial. She knew Mitch was still stuck in his office working. She hadn’t even seen him break for lunch, and she hoped he would be smart and at least order himself a sandwich or something to tide himself over. The elevator door was almost shut when she saw the unwelcome appearance of Claudia as she joined her.

Once the doors had closed, Claudia turned to her. “You think you’ve won, but you haven’t.” Her tone was mocking.

Sara lifted her hand and began studying her fingernails. Holding them out to admire her manicure, she sighed, hoping it gave off a look of boredom. She would not let Claudia get to her. She had promised Mitch, and she had promised herself.

“Don’t you ignore me, you bitch!” Claudia screamed.

Do not look at her. Sara began to whistle in tune with the elevator music.

Claudia acted enraged by Sara’s casual demeanor. “Fine. Don’t look at me. But you remember this.” Leaning close to Sara, she shouted in her ear, “He’ll get tired of you. Sooner rather than later. And when all is said and done, I’ll be the last one standing.”

Sara turned to her, with a cold stare in her eyes. “Really? That’s strange. If I were to believe all of the gossip around the office, I would think you would be lying on your back.” The elevator doors opened, and Sara all but skipped out with elation. The jab had done its job. Claudia’s jaw had dropped open. Obviously, she was used to being the one to hurt people’s feelings. She never actually expected anyone to say anything rude to her.

* * * *

Mitch sat in his office and hit save on the last set of questions that he had prepared for deposition. He glanced at the time on the bottom of the computer screen and cringed when it said 11:23. At around 7:30, when everyone else had gone home for the night and he was the only one left in the office, he had called Sara. She had picked up a roast chicken at the store and had a light supper. She had told him she was going to go to bed early, citing exhaustion due to her boyfriend preventing her from getting her full eight hours of sleep.

Mitch had laughed at her and told her he sympathized since his girlfriend was just as insensitive and kept him up constantly with her constant neediness. She had laughed hysterically when he went on to tell her that it wasn’t easy being such an amazing lover. He explained to her how it was a catch twenty-two because now his girlfriend just couldn’t get enough of his body.

They had spent fifteen minutes on the phone until he was forced to go. Knowing he would get nothing accomplished if they stayed on the phone and continued to talk about sex.

Mitch all but staggered to his car and got behind the wheel. The combination of the lack of sleep of the past couple of nights and the day he had made him dead on his feet. He drove home with the air condition on high and with the loudest rock music he could find blaring though the radio. Although he wasn’t sure he would ever get the constant banging of drums out of his head, he figured it was better than falling asleep behind the wheel.

He got out of his car and almost started to head for his apartment. But he stopped himself and went around the other way. He knew it was late. He also knew he shouldn’t wake her. But he also knew he could be a selfish bastard, and he needed to sleep next to Sara. He had barely seen her all day.

Walking up the stairs, he leaned against the door frame and knocked. He closed his eyes as he waited and could have sworn he dozed off for a minute when he heard her voice through the door.

“Mitch?” After looking through the peephole she unlocked the dead bolt. Finally, after the last lock had been disengaged, she opened the door.

He gave her a lazy smile and placed a small kiss on her lips.

She smiled as she led him in. Closing the door and locking it back up, she turned to him. “I didn’t know you were coming by. Did you just get off of work?”

“Yeah, and I’m beat.” He reached over and gave her a hug. “And, I missed you.”

She took her hand and brought it to his face. “You look horrible. Were you staring at the computer all night?”

He nodded. “But I needed to see you. Let’s go to bed, honey. I’m so tired.”

Sara wrapped her arm around him and walked with him back to the bedroom. He stripped out of his clothes and plopped in bed. Curled on his side, Sara came to lie beside him. She began massaging his shoulders and neck and smiled at him when he groaned.

“Oh, that feels so good. Did you like your flowers?”

“I love my flowers. Now relax, and go to sleep.” She continued to massage him, lulling him to sleep, when he quickly turned over.

 
Automatically, he lifted up his arm and watched her as though he was waiting for something. “Come on, honey, I’m tired.” Mitch waited.

“What do you need?” she asked him with a look of confusion on her face.

His arm was propped up like it was being suspended by an invisible wire.

He rolled his eyes and kissed her forehead. “My body has already become used to feeling you against it all night. Now come here. I’m not going to be able to get a decent night’s sleep if you’re not lying against my shoulder.”

She kissed his shoulder and nestled into his side. “Good night, Mitch.”

“Typical woman.” He snickered, his voice fading.

“Pardon me?”

“It’s all your fault, you know. In a matter of days, you have become like a habit to me. I can’t even sleep without you.” He took a deep breath as his words got even quieter and harder to interpret. “Nope. No more. You’re too damn import…”

“Mitch?” She quirked her head up and saw he had fallen asleep. “It’s okay, Mitch,” she said as she re fingers across his chest hairs. “I know the feeling.”

Chapter Nine

It was Friday, but it seemed more like a Monday. Murphy’s Law was in full force as anything that could have gone wrong did. While Sara had been making copies for the Jennings Arbitration, the copier had jammed. Following the instructions on the screen, she attempted to clear it but was forced to call their service company.

Then after she had begged and pleaded with them to come out today, she was forced to listen to the copy service they had used on occasions for big trials, list all of the reasons why they wouldn’t be able to help her today. She was absolutely ready to pull her hair out. She had actually been so busy she hadn’t even had a chance to daydream about Mitch all day.

He had worked late again last night. But, before she left the office, she had slipped him a note reminding him that he had a key. With a nod and a smile, he had mouthed the words ‘thank you’ before she left. She had a vague memory of him crawling into bed last night after one o’clock. But he had already been gone by the time she woke up. She knew he had been there, though. He had started a pot of coffee and wrote on the bathroom mirror that he missed her. She tried to be angry that he used her favorite lipstick to do it in. But the sentiment was too sweet to let it be tainted with annoyance.