And he steps out.
Her too.
Cynthia.
The beautiful blonde woman who called him a loser the night I saw her. Oh, and before that, she tried to kiss him.
She tried to put her mouth on him.
On the man that I want to kiss.
Even today I think she’s trying to do the same thing. Because standing at the threshold of his office, she’s turned toward him, looking up at him and smiling.
He, however, is looking down at his phone.
I can see him scrolling before he says, “I’m not sure at the moment. How about you let me look at my calendar, all right? And you really don’t have to take the trouble of driving all the way out here for that. Next time, just call.” Then, “Or text. Text works just as well.”
She smiles at him, her expression starstruck. “Oh, it’s no trouble at all. Although are you sure you can’t cancel this next appointment? I just —”
“Pretty sure, yeah,” he interrupts, still looking down at his phone but now he steps away from her a little.
She looks disappointed. “Okay, well, that’s a shame. And why don’t we just ask your assistant if you have any openings? That way, we can just make a date right now. I’d love to take you out to dinner to celebrate your grant.” She closes that distance that he’d created between them and puts her hand on his arm. “It’s truly incredible. I don’t even know how you do it all. You handle so many things and —”
“He does it all because he’s amazingly and incredibly hardworking,” I say from where I’m standing by Janet’s desk, propped against it now, my arms folded.
Looking like a picture of serenity.
But I’m not.
One, because I can’t stand how she’s looking at him with that hungry expression. Two, because I also can’t stand how she’s touching him without his permission or his desire.
I mean, he looks bored.
The man looks super disinterested. The man moved away.
Hello, lady?
He clearly doesn’t want her. So I don’t understand why she keeps touching him.
And third, because it’s the truth.
He is amazingly and incredibly hardworking.
And fourth, I plain hate her. She went to his high school and she called him a loser.
“And brilliant,” I add, now that Cynthia has her eyes on me and her hand off his arm. “I don’t blame you though. For wondering. Not a lot of people understand how gifted and brilliant he is.”
Her face sours with distaste but she manages to paste a fake smile on her face. “Of course, I know he’s brilliant.”
I fake smile too. “Just making sure.” Then before she can say anything, I wave my fingers at her. “Hey, Cynthia. Fancy seeing you here.”
“Hello,” she greets me back, as fake as ever. “I was just stopping by to see if Alaric,” I clench my teeth when she says his name, “is free for lunch.”
“Yeah, he’s not,” I tell her, tilting my head to the side as if I’m sad about it. “He has an appointment.”
“Yes, he told me.”
“With me.”
That’s a lie.
I don’t know who his next appointment is, if in fact he has one. I never got that far with Janet but I had to say it. I fucking had to even if it’s not accurate.
And it’s worth it because her fake smile falls off her face. “Oh, well, I didn’t know that.”
I raise my eyebrows. “Well, now you know. Who’s raining on your parade.” I put a hand on my chest in mock distress. “Although I feel like I’m always doing that. I’m always raining on your parade. Like, you had to leave the last time I showed up. You must hate me. Do you hate me, Cynthia?”
Her eyes narrow but all she does is smile tightly and say, “Of course not.”
“Then you’re a bigger person than I am, Cynthia. You truly are.”
Her eyes narrow further. “I’m aware that Alaric has many responsibilities. It’s okay.”
She really needs to stop saying his name.
Really.
“Oh, he does. He has so many, many responsibilities. Seeing as he’s the principal of this school.”
“Yeah. I’m so very proud of him. Alaric has really accomplished a lot.”
And this is the moment she seals her fate.
Because she not only said his name again but she also did the two things that I hate: smiling up at him and putting her hand on his arm.
“Yeah, I’m glad.” Then leaning forward I continue, “Although can I offer you a piece of advice?”
“Sure.”
“You might wanna slow down on your PDA there.” I nod casually but the anger in my eyes must be apparent. “It’s a school. Students don’t want to see their principal getting mauled in the hallway in the middle of lunch.”
Her hand jumps off his arm. “What?”
I point to Janet over my shoulder, who gasps behind me. “It makes Janet really uncomfortable. But she’d never say anything. So I’m just letting you know.”