I knew it wouldn’t last, and that day finally came when Helena decided to leave Chicago and try to live a normal life. I pleaded with her to stay. I even asked her to marry me. Perhaps telling me no was her way of saving me from myself. After she was gone, the loneliness returned. It was months before I finally gave in and started looking for someone new to fill the void. None of the others compared to Helena. I found myself looking for something permanent, which was exactly what I thought I found one lonely night when I stumbled across a website for mail order brides. I couldn’t believe it was real. My heart skipped a beat when I saw Anastasia’s photograph. She was so beautiful and her eyes reflected the same sorrow I felt in my soul. I just didn’t know how damaged she actually was.
I married her as soon as she arrived from Russia, and on our wedding night, I was the experienced one, taking her virginity while she tried to smile through the pain. Anastasia was different than the whores I paid for sex. She needed me. She wanted me. The problem was, she needed too much. I wasn’t strong enough to be the rock she needed, so I tried to chisel away her rough edges and make her the foundation of our relationship. She was a lot better at adapting than I was. Once the power dynamic shifted, there was no way to reverse it. She made demands that were unrealistic and resulted in explosive fights. If I didn’t cater to her demands, she punished me by withholding sex and affection.
I found myself working more than I ever had before because I dreaded going home. That just made things worse and our marriage became toxic. When I came home late, Anastasia accused me of cheating on her. Our bedroom became as cold as the Chicago wind in December. I had no idea how to fix things. I loved Anastasia, but I knew there was a iceberg between us big enough to sink the Titanic. My job was the only thing keeping me sane. The harder I worked, the more I was rewarded, and that dynamic was one I could thrive in. I shouldn’t have been surprised when Anastasia served me with divorce papers. The marriage was over long before we made it official.
“Irwin, are you really going to eat junk food for dinner again?” Gina peeked into my office and gave me a disapproving shake of her head.
“Lots of work to do…” I didn’t even look up from my screen.
“Come on, none of us have that much work.” Gina walked into my office and sat down across from me.
“Wait until you’re a Senior Purchasing Agent, then you’ll be singing a different tune.” I finally looked away from my screen and sighed. “Your new account is a real doozy, trust me.”
“Yeah, it must be if you can’t get that old man to sell his store.” Gina chuckled and leaned back in her chair.
“We need it and it’s in his best interest to sell. He can barely afford to keep inventory on the shelves, and it’s not like he has any family to take over the store once he’s gone. We’re offering him a very good price.” I smiled and shrugged. “But maybe you can work your magic on him like you did on the guy who owned Hal’s Pub.”
“I might need a different approach.” Gina stifled a smile that tried to form on the corner of her lips. “I’ll give it my best shot, though.”
“You’ll have more time to devote to it, and that’s exactly what this account needs. I took it because I thought it would be an easy closure, but I’m too spread out to give it enough attention.” I reached for my bag of chips, but Gina grabbed it before I could.
“Not tonight, Irwin. I’m taking one of your accounts, right? That means you should have some free time. Let’s get some real food.” Gina tossed the bag of chips in the garbage can.
“Just let me kill myself with junk food in peace.” I waved her off and reached towards the garbage can.
“Nope.” Gina extended her foot and pushed the garbage can out of my reach. “You’re having dinner with me.”
She really is determined.
“Okay, fine.” I grumbled and shut down my computer. “Let’s go.”
I never socialized with people at the office unless it was a mandatory event like the annual Christmas party. Even then, I mostly kept to myself after I said hello to the right people. Gina was trying to pull me out of my comfort zone and I didn’t like it. She was a bit of an anomaly. I mean, I had eyes—I saw how beautiful she was. She was way too hot for someone like to me to even dream of dating. It was a friendly dinner and nothing more. I couldn’t even consider that it was more than that, no matter how hard my eyes fought to look down at her ass when we walked towards the elevator. Every man in the office noticed her the second she was hired, and if she let one of them put a ring on her finger, it certainly wasn’t going to be me.
“Why do you want to have dinner with me so badly?” I looked over at her when the elevator doors closed.
“Maybe I just need some advice from the office Yoda when he’s not distracted by his computer screen.” She winked at me and hit the button to take us to the bottom floor.
That makes sense, I guess.
Gina and I went to a quiet restaurant that was within walking distance of the office. She asked for a corner booth and immediately ordered a glass of wine when we sat down. I rarely drank, but I found myself craving something to take the edge off, so I asked for a beer. We talked about accounts, people at the office, and I tried to do it without getting lost in her emerald green eyes. Fuck, they were intoxicating. The way she laughed—it was like her whole body felt the excitement. I found myself asking for a second beer when my first one was done, and our food hadn’t even arrived yet. The buzz loosened me up a little bit, and my eyes started to soak in her beauty. God damn, she was absolutely perfect. It was easy to just look at Gina as a co-worker when we were at the office, but it was impossi
ble to ignore how stunning she was when my undivided attention belonged to her.
“Okay, I’m tired of talking about work.” Gina reached for her glass of wine. “Tell me something about yourself.”
“Me?” I blinked in surprise. “I’m not that interesting. I just work hard, feed my cat, and try to get a few hours of sleep every day.”
“While eating nothing but junk food?” She raised an eyebrow and tilted her head. “Please tell me that your cat eats better than you do.”
“Yes, Jabba eats very well.” I nodded and picked up my beer.
“Wait, you named your cat Jabba—like, after Jabba the Hutt?” She started to laugh, which made her eyes light up.
“Trust me, you’d see the resemblance if you met him.” I smiled and chuckled.
“Does he have a slave cat that he keeps on a leash?” She batted her eyelashes and bit down on her lip.
“No.” I shook my head and laughed. “Maybe when he was a stray, but he’s a bit too old for the ladies these days.”