Taken (Dark Desires 1)

“What’s my real name, then? What is Jami short for?” She looked confused and just stared at me. “Come on. I told you on our first date and all you’d have to do was a quick internet search if you forgot.”

“Well…It’s a trick question,” she murmured, her face going red. “Jami isn’t short for anything.”

I stood up and grabbed her arm, tugging her towards the door. “I could handle the fact that you’re annoying. I could even handle your disgusting begging, but what I can’t stand is fucking liars.” I opened my office door and pushed her out.

She stood there, shocked and just staring at me. I was angry now. At first, I’d just been annoyed, but now I was pissed off. “Get the fuck out of here, Marie! And don’t every come to my offices again.”

“But—“

“Don’t ‘but’ me! My fucking name is Jamison!” I snapped, slamming the doors closed.

The office was silent for a moment before the muffled dealing resumed. I fell into my chair and put my head in my hands for a moment, taking a deep breath through nose before letting it out through my mouth.

People who knew me always asked why I didn’t date. They asked me why I’d rather just sleep around. I was thirty-two now and most people assumed that I would have settled down by now, but the truth was that I didn’t want to settle down and I had no real intention to. Women like Marie were the reason I didn’t settle down. For some reason, people thought that only men were able to be knaiving assholes, but the truth was that women were just as capable. I didn’t want to end up trapped in a relationship with a woman who couldn’t care less about me.

For a long time, I just sat there, trying to relax and get over the anger rushing through me. I needed to just let it go and continue on with my day, but I was struggling a bit. Encounters like the one I’d had with Marie got under my skin more than I liked to admit.

There was a knock at the door and I lifted my head, grunting softly. “Come in.”

Rachel walked in, a stack of papers in her arms. She set them on the desk and glanced at me. “You look sour.”

“Don’t ever let that woman in this office every again.” I sounded a lot sharper than I meant to sound, but I couldn’t help it. Marie had put me in a bad mood.

“Mmmm…Did she piss you off?”

“Damn right she did. And I mean it, Rachel. If you let her in here again, you and I are going to have some words.”

She held up her hands as if to silently say she understood. That’s one thing I could always count on her for. She made me deal with my shit, even if I didn’t want to, but she always listened when I said enough was enough.

“If she tried to come back on the premises, I will make sure she’s removed.”

“Thank you,” I murmured going through the files. “What are these?”

“It’s the paper work on the cook you hired for your new restaurant.”

“Oh?” Wonderful Maybe it had her home address, not that I was going to do anything sketchy. ?

?Perfect. Would you take down her address and have flowers sent over.”

Rachel looked at me, confused. “Flowers?”

“Yes. I want her to feel welcomed.”

“I don’t think It’s a good idea that you get mixed up with a new employee, Jami.”

I offered her a smile. “I ain’t getting tangled up with anyone. Just send her some flowers, alright?”

She rolled her eyes and took the paper. “When this comes back to bite you in the ass, I’m not cleaning up your mess,” she called as she leaved.

Once she was gone I closed the door and sat back down, glancing at the smiling face on the paper. Lena was gorgeous, and despite Rachel’s loving advice, I wasn’t going to give up until she was in my bed.

After all, it had been a long time since someone put up such a good fight.

Lena

There was nothing like the smell of freshly brewed coffee in the morning. Especially when it was brewed in your own coffee maker in your own apartment. I’d finally found a place and was eager to get settled into a routine. I’d never really had one before, but I wanted to try and ground myself. I was starting to get tired of running around without any kind of plan.

I settled onto my couch, folding my legs and staring blankly at the TV. It was weird having one of those again. I’d spent a lot of time in countries where the average family didn’t have a TV. Besides, I was often too busy running around exploring to stop and watch TV. Things were going to be different now that I was back in the States.