Secondhand Boyfriends (5 page)

My work inbox was almost empty except for a handful of spam emails and two wedding announcement submissions. It was going to be a long four hours, but nothing I wasn’t used to.

I rested my head in my hands on my desk and spaced out for a bit. I replayed our Sunday night date from the weekend before in my head over and over. It was so nice having Bennett there. It was so nice of him to rent a chick flick and bring pizza. I couldn’t understand what went wrong and why he hadn’t contacted me all week.

His emerald eyes flashed in my mind. They contrasted perfectly with this thick, lush head of dark hair and his tan skin. The more I thought about it, the more I realized he was probably one of the best looking guys I’d dated in my entire life. If Sam was about a seven, Bennett would’ve been a ten. Maybe even an eleven.

I suddenly felt insecure. What did a guy like him want with a girl like me, anyway? I was blonde. I knew that much. I was average build and not stick thin. I had big, round, saucer-like blue eyes, and I was pretty sure I dressed nicely. Yet Bennett was clearly out of my league. That had to be why he hadn’t called.

I pulled out my compact and stared at my reflection while a cheesy Boyz II Men song played softly from my speakers. I glanced at my eyes. They had major bags under them. My lips were looking a little chapped. I’d been seriously neglecting the little things lately. If I wanted to keep Bennett, I needed to step up my game.

“Olivia, I think you have something in your teeth.” I heard a man say.

“Hi, Michael,” I replied without looking up. I could recognize his nasally voice anywhere. He was trying to be funny but it just wasn’t.

“So, slim pickings today, huh?” he said as he hung his arm over the edge of my cubicle wall.

“Just like any other Saturday in the office,” I replied, still not looking up. I knew I was being rude, but I wasn’t in the mood for casual conversation.

“So, seen any good movies lately?” he asked. Now he was just purposely biding his time.

“I don’t like movies, remember?” I replied. I looked up at him, and I was sure he could read the irritation all over my face. I just wanted him to leave me alone. He bothered me every single day at least once or twice a day. “No movies to review today?”

“I’ve got some,” he said.

Michael probably had the cushiest job in the whole office. He was only here maybe twenty hours per week. The rest of the time he could either work from home or spend endless afternoons at the movies. Popcorn oil seemed to ooze from his pores.

“I’ve got some submissions I need to go over,” I said as I pointed to my watch. “Might take me a while. Catch you later?”

There I went giving him false hope again. And I always wondered why he kept coming back to bother me all the time. I just didn’t have it in me to be mean to him no matter how much he annoyed the ever-loving crap out of me.

His face lit up. “Yeah, catch you later.”

I hoped he’d leave me alone the remainder of my short day. I just wanted to get my work done and then horse around and spend the rest of my time fantasizing about Bennett and his dreamy emerald eyes. And his broad shoulders. And his cleft, Superman chin. And his soft, full lips. And his long, dark eyelashes.

I drummed my fingers on my desk as I leaned back in my chair, thinking about nothing but Bennett. I remembered how he had kissed my forehead before leaving that morning, and nothing but butterflies and giddiness filled up my entire being. He kissed me. He has to think fondly of me, right?

I wrapped up work a few hours later and headed home, trying my hardest to get out of there before Michael saw me. He always liked to walk out with me, and sometimes it turned into a twenty-minute conversation when all I wanted to do was go home.

The moment I walked into the apartment, Claudia was lounged out across the sofa with a gossip magazine in one hand and the remote control in the other. She had some reality show paused on the screen.

“Hey,” I said as I kicked off my painfully beautiful heels and sunk into one of the arm chairs.

“So,” she said as she sat up. “Tell me about your date last weekend.”

I’d realized between our ridiculously opposite work schedules and the insane amount of time she’d been spending with Eric, I hadn’t even had a chance yet to tell her about my night with Bennett.

“Well, he didn’t show up until way past eight,” I said with an eye roll. “But he redeemed himself.”

“How so?” Claudia asked.

“He brought pizza and a chick flick,” I said. “It was sweet.”

“Does he know you don’t like movies?” she laughed.

“No, I didn’t tell him that,” I said. “We had fun though. He fell asleep here.”

“Really?” Claudia’s eyes widened. “Did anything… happen?”

“No, no, no,” I said, waving my hands in front of my face. “It wasn’t like that. It was completely innocent. He ended up leaving around two thirty. Got called into work.”

Claudia pursed her lips. “Seems rather odd to me.”

“Not given his line of work,” I said, defending my new Prince Charming. “They captured some guy he’d been after for a long time. He went in to question him. It’s his weekend on call.”

“Okay,” Claudia said. “Fair enough. I just know how you get sometimes. You see what you want to see in people, especially guys. I just like to be the voice of reason for you.”

“Noted and appreciated,” I said. I stood up, stretched and headed back to my room to slip on some comfortable lounge clothes.

I sauntered back out and hit up the freezer for a salty frozen dinner. They’d become a staple meal for me lately. Ever since Sam and I broke up, I’d stopped cooking. Occasionally Claudia and I would whip up something together, but that was rare. We often had such different schedules and such different tastes in food. God forbid she found a tomato chunk or a mushroom piece in anything. I’d never met anyone so picky before.

“How was your date with Eric?” I asked as the microwave hummed behind me. “Or your week with him, I should say.”

“Good,” she replied. “So far, anyway. He seems interesting. Nice enough. I think my mom would like him.”

“Does he still talk about Ayla all the time?” I asked.

“Actually, no,” she said with a smile. “I think he only did it that one night because he was trying to impress me or something. He’s never brought it up since. Can’t say I blame him. If I dated a local celebrity, I’d probably embrace those bragging rights too.”

“Hm,” I said. “Makes sense.”

Claudia flipped her show back on as the microwave beeped. I pulled my piping hot plastic container of salty mush out and let it cool on the stove for a bit. I grabbed a bottle of water from the refrigerator and took a few swigs.

“We’re getting low on everything,” I said as I noticed the lack of milk and general food in the refrigerator.

“Yeah, we should go to the store soon,” Claudia said. “We’ve both just been so busy this week.”

I grabbed my food and went back out to the living room, plopping down in the chair once again.

“You know,” I said. “I just realized that I haven’t even thought about Sam once today.”

“Ha,” Claudia laughed. “That’s, um, good.”

“Ever since I found out about his engagement, I’ve been obsessed,” I said. “He’s all I’ve thought about.”

“You only want what you can’t have,” Claudia said, rolling her eyes at me and pulling her throw blanket up to her neck. “Typical you.”

“Whatever,” I said between forkfuls of unevenly heated food. “I just think maybe meeting Bennett was a sign that it’s time for me to move on. Maybe he’s the one for me?”

“Aren’t you kind of jumping the gun?” Claudia asked. “You’ve only known this Bennett guy for—what, a week or two? Slow down, little filly.”

“I’m not saying anything definitive,” I said. “I’m just saying maybe it’s a sign. That’s all.”

“So are you officially back to being over Sam?” she asked. “Like no more stalking him? No more stalking Ayla? No more obsessing over why you shouldn’t have dumped him and how much happier he is without you? No more—”

“All right, all right,” I said. “Enough. I get your point. And my answer is I don’t know, but I’m certainly trying to be. Bennett is a good distraction for me right now.”

“That’s good,” Claudia said. “Because you know Sam’s going to marry Ayla and there’s not a damn thing you can do about it.”

I knew Claudia was right, but her words still stung. As excited as I was about the prospect of dating Bennett, deep down it didn’t fully change the way I felt about Sam. On the inside, I was a complex, emotional, hot mess of a woman.

“Your phone just went off,” Claudia said as she pointed to my purse on the ledge by the door.

My big leather purse was so thick I could hardly hear my phone when it was in there, but Claudia had impeccable hearing. I usually just relied on her to let me know when it was going off.

“Text or call?” I sprung up and ran to grab it.

“Text, I think,” she replied. Her eyes glazed over and fixated on the T.V. screen.

I couldn’t whip my phone out fast enough, and the moment I saw who the message was from, my heart skipped a beat or two.

“It’s from Bennett,” I said in a sing-song voice. I could feel my grin growing wider by the millisecond.

“And?”

“He said sorry about last night. Sorry about this morning. And can he take me on a real date next Friday,” I said. I did a little happy dance and hoped to God Claudia didn’t see me.

“You’re such a dork,” she laughed. She totally saw me. “Don’t reply too soon. Make him wait a little bit. You don’t want to seem desperate.”

I could feel my palms sweat a little as I clutched my phone, my fingers aching to type back a message right away. But I had to listen to Claudia. She was so much smarter than me when it came to dealing with people. I was much more impulsive and naïve. I believed everyone and rarely tried to read between the lines.

“Hey, Eric and I are going to grab dinner tonight,” Claudia said. “You want to join us?”

“Oh,” I said. “You’re going out with him again?”

“Yeah,” she replied with a half-smile. “Is that okay with you?”

“Of course,” I said. “Just surprised. It’s not like you. Usually you play coy for a bit and make them chase after you.”

“He’s different,” she said. “I don’t feel like he’s a game player, so I’m trying not to be a one, either. You have to adapt, Liv. No two men are alike. You have to realize that.”

“I don’t want to be the third wheel,” I said. The idea of sitting at home, alone, on a Saturday night with nothing but some wine and a head full of irrational thoughts didn’t sound too appealing though. I could always call Amaya, but she was usually DJing on Saturday nights at some local club or another.

“You wouldn’t be the third wheel,” she insisted. “I want my best friend and the guy I’m dating to know each other. And I want your opinion on him. He almost seems too good to be true.”

“You want
my
opinion?” I asked, raising an eyebrow.

She laughed. “Yes. I feel like my judgment is a little clouded right now because I’m really starting to like him.”

“Who are you, and what have you done with my Claudia?” I teased. “Fine, if you want me to, I’ll go. But only if you want. And only if it’s okay with him.”

“It’s not his call,” she said. “He’ll have to deal with it. It’ll be a test to see how he reacts.”

“Great,” I said as I carried what was left of my lunch to the kitchen trash. “Just glad I can be of service to you.”

“You’re the best!” Claudia yelled out.

Claudia and I got ready together again that night, and it felt good to have the pressure off me for once. I didn’t feel the need to get dressed to the nines. I had no one to impress.

I did Claudia’s hair and makeup once again and helped her pick out the perfect date night outfit.

“What’s he going to say when he realizes that you don’t usually wear your hair and makeup like this?” I asked as I dusted setting powder over her face.

“Oh, he’s seen me in my natural form, don’t worry,” she said, shrugging one shoulder. That seemed to be her attitude towards most guys. She had no qualms about being single or tossing a guy to the side if he didn’t like something about her that she had no intention of changing. I always admired that about her. “He hasn’t run away screaming yet.”

She checked out my work in the mirror and tossed her long, dark hair over her shoulders.

“Can I borrow your perfume?” she asked as she reached for it.

“Then we’ll both smell the same tonight,” I said.

“And your point?” She spritzed a few squirts onto her neck and wrists. “I need to get me some of that.”

“Yeah, you do. It’s like, one hundred and fifty dollars an ounce. You owe me five dollars now,” I teased.

We grabbed our things and locked up the apartment, heading out to a little sushi place on the north side of town. It was close to the police station, and part of me wondered if we might run into Bennett. I half hoped we wouldn’t. I didn’t want him thinking I stalked him. I felt like I ran into him everywhere all the time, almost too often for it to be a coincidence.

“There he is,” Claudia said as she pointed to Eric, who was sitting in a booth by himself in the corner.

“I like that he’s not glued to his phone,” I said. “Shows he’s not insecure and not afraid to sit by himself and look like a loser.”

Claudia nudged me and then grabbed my hand, leading me inside. I saw Eric’s face light up the moment he saw her, but it quickly changed to a perplexed look as soon as he saw me.

“I hope you don’t mind, I brought Liv tonight,” she said as she scooted into the booth next to him. “She loves sushi.”

It was a total lie, but now I was going to have to eat that raw fish like I meant it. Gross.

I flashed him an awkward smile, which he kindly returned, and slid into the booth across from the two love birds.

The server took our drink orders and I placed a request for some seaweed salad and miso soup, two of the things I could usually tolerate at a Japanese restaurant.

“Aren’t you going to have some sushi?” Eric asked.

He obviously wasn’t going to forget about Claudia’s little fib.

“We ordered a big boat, so you can just share with us,” Claudia said, winking at me. I shot her a glare as soon as Eric looked away. Next time we cooked, I was going to force her to eat a mushroom. A whole one. I promised myself that.