“Second, all of my co-workers are staring at your back because they can’t believe you’re real. I’m pretty sure most of them thought you were a figment of my imagination and weren’t really a client.”
He takes a surreptitious glance around the room before facing front again. “Center of attention. Got it.”
“And third, I’m going to get you drunk properly on cheap beer and then hopefully hook you up with someone who didn’t just have her hands down my pants.”
Jessica shows up then with a water for Seth and another beer for me. I slide mine over to him. “Take this one to get started.” I turn to Jessica. “And keep them coming.”
“Somebody should get laid tonight,” I mutter once she leaves. “Even if it’s not me.”
2
I’m standing in the middle of a group laughing at my friend Anya’s impression of one of o
ur co-workers. Her impressions are always spot on and believe it or not, most of her targets are a great sport about it. Wallace, today’s unlucky pick, just rolls his eyes and finishes his beer before telling us he has to go. I wave at him before taking another swig of my beer.
Well, this is what I’m doing in reality. But in my mind, I’m back in the doorway of a bar bathroom staring at the biggest dick I’ve ever seen.
Unfortunately the biggest dick I’ve ever seen is attached to the biggest dick I’ve ever met.
He’s handsome, I have to admit that. With coal black hair, eyes as blue as the sky and cheekbones that could cut glass, he’s objectively beautiful. It almost makes me grumpy to admit that there’s good reason women throw themselves at him.
Doesn’t make me hate him any less.
“You hoo! Earth to Mya!”
I tune back into the conversation to find Anya and everyone else staring at me. Heat rushes to my cheeks. The last thing I need is for them to figure out why I’m spacing out. Anya would never let me hear the end of it and I definitely don’t want to be the subject of office gossip. I love her but she can’t keep a secret.
To distract them, I raise my beer in the air. “Next round is on me!”
At my announcement, everyone heads back to the bar, no doubt to put more half-priced beer on my tab. Not that I mind that much. It’s a company-sponsored event so Mirage is picking up the tab, not me personally. The whole reason we have these office happy hour events is to encourage camaraderie and make the junior staff members feel like valued members of the team. Now that I’m leading my own team, this is part of the job. I smile at the thought.
I’m leading my own team at only twenty-eight years old. Ever since I moved to Washington D.C. five years ago this has been what I’ve been working toward. One step closer to owning my own advertising agency one day. The only thing that could possibly stand in my way is currently sucking down cheap beer while flirting with the same bartender who just had her hands down his pants.
Milo started at the Mirage Agency a full year after I did. We weren’t always openly antagonistic towards each other. In the beginning, we were almost friends. Before he was hired, I’d spent the last twelve months busting my ass and taking on every client, no matter how big or small, to prove to James that I could handle one of the agencies core accounts on my own. I’ve always specialized in beauty and luxury brands and I was ready to branch out to handling a major client on my own. The Adler account, a premier jeweler, was the perfect opportunity. I wanted that account so badly. Which was something that I made the mistake of confiding to Milo.
And how was I rewarded? By watching him pitch an idea for the account to James. An idea James loved so much that he gave the account to Milo.
Ugh.
Anya steps in my field of vision, cutting off my death glare aimed at Milo’s back. “So are we going to talk about why Milo came out of the bathroom with that chick who got our beers? Right after you came out?” Then her gaze turns speculative. “Ménage?”
My jaw drops so fast it almost hurts. “Um, no thank you. I walked in right as the festivities were getting started. Or ending. I honestly couldn’t tell.”
Her eyes round. “Did you see little Milo?”
I take another sip of my beer to cover the disgruntled snort I can’t hold back. Little Milo. Too bad it wasn’t little because that would give me more ammunition in our war. But unfortunately no, the office playboy has a dick as big as his ego. Not that I’d ever tell him that. The ego in question needs no stroking, believe me.
“I didn’t see anything,” I lie. “Besides it’s not like I’d want to subject myself to seeing that anyway. It’s bad enough having to see his face everyday.”
“Right. Of course not.” Anya gives me a look that says she sees through my bullshit but isn’t going to call me on it. Smart call considering that her crush on our divorced boss is well known around the office. “I guess we’re also not going to talk about the fact that he’s currently talking to Seth Barrington’s fine ass over at the bar. How does he always get the best-looking clients?”
I roll my eyes and take another begrudging sip of my beer. It’s the same one I’ve been nursing all night. Rule number one of office happy hours is not to actually drink a lot. Most of the junior associates haven’t learned that lesson yet but even when you’re off the clock, you’re still being judged. And James does pop in to these things every once in a while. It would be just my luck that he’d choose to show up tonight while Milo is showing off his friendship with Washington D.C.’s own self-made Midas, Seth Barrington.
“He’s just showing off in case James shows up,” I reply when it becomes clear that she’s not going to let this go. As expected, the mention of James shifts her focus completely.
Anya pulls the bottom of her silk blouse down slightly. “Did James mention that he’d be stopping by? He hasn’t come to Happy Hour in ages.”
“No, he didn’t say anything to me. But who knows if he said anything to Golden Boy over there.”