Annihilate Me (Vol. 1) (The Annihilate Me Series) (4 page)

“How
do you like it here?” I asked him.
 
“Assuming
you’re an employee.
 
Am I missing
out on something great?
 
Despite the
black witch of death back there, I feel as if I am.”

He
was looking at my hair, but then he appeared to check himself and he met my
eyes.
 
“Working here wasn’t exactly
part of my own plan, but here I am.
 
It’s OK.
 
It keeps me busy,
which is important.”

“What
do you do?”

“Just
business stuff.
 
I won’t bore you
with it.”

“I’d
loved to be bored with ‘just business stuff’.”
 

I
admired his expensive suit and the gleaming watch at his wrist, and decided he
likely was a senior director or something whose work was intense.
 
I looked fleetingly at his face, saw him
looking intently at mine, and I couldn’t deny my attraction to him.
 
How old was he?
 
Thirty?
 
Could he be single?
 
Looking like that, there was no way that
he was single.
 
Unless he preferred
it that way.
 
Not that it
mattered.
 
He was in a completely
different league than me—the cost of his watch alone probably could keep
me in my apartment for the next year—so when the elevator started to
slow, I was relieved.
 
I really just
wanted to get home.

“What’s
your name?” he asked.

As
hot as he was, I never gave out my full name to just anyone.
 
“It’s Jennifer,” I said.
 
I didn’t want to know his, so I didn’t
ask.
 

But
he offered anyway.
 

“I’m
Alex.”
 

He
extended his hand, which I shook as the elevator stopped and the doors
opened.
 

“It
was nice meeting you,” I said, aware of the spark I felt when we touched.
 
The palm of his hand was smooth and
unusually warm.
 
“Again, sorry for
venting.”

“It
sounds as if you had every reason to.”

Was
this guy for real?
 
A part of me
didn’t want to leave, but I did.
 
I
had to get home and start hitting the streets for a waitressing gig.
 
I didn’t have time for men, not even
this one.

“Have
a nice day,” I said.

We
stepped out of the elevator together.
 
I quickened my step to move ahead of him, but I could sense him behind
me.
 
I could hear his footfalls.
 
I could feel his eyes on me.
 
With my briefcase in my right hand, I
ran my left hand down the length of my suit to make sure it wasn’t wrinkled
when I walked outside.
 
I pulled
down my jacket, combed my fingers through my hair, and shook it out.
 
I pushed open the door, and waited for
him to grab it behind me.
 
He
didn’t.
 
When I turned to see where
he was, I saw him standing at the door with his hands in his pockets.
 
He was smiling at me.

I
smiled back, and then, to my horror, I collided with someone on the sidewalk.

My
briefcase was knocked out of my hand, and it fell to the ground with such force
that it sprang open.
 
In the sudden
suction of air, the extra resumes I kept within the case were set free and
started to swirl down Fifth.
 
The
older man I walked into told me to watch where I was going, and he walked away,
annoyed.

“Jesus,”
I said to myself.
 
I quickly started
to catch whatever resumes I could.
 
It cost a lot of money to have them printed on good paper.
 
Money I didn’t have to print them off
again.
 
I’d need them later when I
started to interview at restaurants.
 
“I can’t believe this,” I said.

The
door swung open behind me.
 
“We’ll
never get all of them,” I heard him say.
 
“But we can get some of them back.
 
Here.
 
Let me help.”

To
my surprise, he jogged down Fifth, where he weaved through the crowds on the
wide sidewalk and picked up whatever resumes were still within reach.
 
I did the same.
 
As we finished, I watched him stroll up
the avenue toward me, several resumes clutched in his hand.
 
On his face was a sheen of sweat.
 
It was hot as hell outside, but he was
more than enough to make that heat feel like an icicle.
 
He looked like a God to me.
 
I couldn’t remember being this
physically drawn to a man.
 
In fact,
I’d never felt this way before.
 
I
generally dismissed men.

“Are
you OK?” he asked.
 

“I’m
fine,” I said.
 
“Embarrassed, but
fine.
 
Thanks so much.”
 
I took the resumes from him.
 
“You didn’t need to do that.”

“Apparently,
the guy you bumped into wasn’t going to help you.
 
It was an honest mistake.
 
Sometimes I don’t understand why people
need to be so rude.”

“This
day needs to end,” I said.
 
“Thanks
again.
 
I appreciate it, Alex.”
 
Feeling like an idiot, I closed my
briefcase, said a quick, awkward goodbye, and walked away from him, even though
I sensed that he was about to say something to me when I turned to leave.

CHAPTER FIVE

When
I arrived back at my apartment, I was a sweaty mess.
 
I had soaked through my shirt and parts
of my jacket, my hair was damp and stuck to my forehead, the area between my
thighs felt raw, and my feet.
 
Good
God, my feet.
 
In three-inch heels,
I’d just walked several miles in ninety-degree heat.
 
I had a feeling that when my shoes came
off—if I could even get the damned things off due to the obvious
swelling—I would face some serious blisters.

I
climbed the four flights of stairs to my apartment, which just about killed
me.
 
I put my key into the lock,
opened the door and found Lisa banging away on her Mac.
 

It
was clear that she was on a roll.
 
So as quietly as possible, I put my briefcase down on the kitchen
counter, took off my shoes, saw spots of blood on the inside and several
blisters near my toes, and frowned at the sight.
 
This was ridiculous.
 
I had just ruined perfectly good shoes
and maybe even my only really good suit.
 
This was no way to live.
 
I
needed to do something about this fast.

I
had planned on taking a shower before checking out a few restaurants online to
see which were among the best, but that obviously wasn’t happening with my feet
in this condition.
 
I needed to take
care of them so they wouldn’t become infected.
 
Without disturbing Lisa, I could take a
shower, tend to my feet, and then Google some of the better restaurants in the
city.
 
If they had a “careers” link,
I’d see if they were hiring.

“How’s
it going, Jennifer?”

Lisa
was still typing like a fiend, but then she had that ability to focus on work
and still hold a conversation if the words were rushing out of her, as they
were now.

“You
don’t even want to know.
 
Look at
me.”

“Can’t.
 
Come over here.
 
Stand in front of me.”

Wincing,
I walked over and stood in front of Lisa.
 
She glanced up once, turned back to her laptop, and then stopped all
together when she shot me a second look.

“Holy
hell!
 
You look like shit.
 
And you never look like shit.
 
What happened?”

I
sat in the chair opposite her and told her everything.

“How
did you manage for all of that to happen within a few hours?”

“I’m
gifted that way.”

“I’m
sorry about Blackwell.
 
What a
bitch.”

“There’s
a special sort of Hell for a person like that.
 
Soon, the fires will nip at her ass.”

“Singe
it.”

“Burn
it.”

“Make
toast of it.”

“Blister
it worse than my feet.”
 
I stuck out
my legs.
 
“Check out these
beauties.”

“Oh,
Jennifer, I’m so sorry.
 
You don’t
deserve this.
 
You need to take care
of those now.”

“I’m
taking a cold shower in a few minutes.”

“There’s
hydrogen peroxide in the cabinet.
 
Use it.
 
You don’t want to
find yourself in a hospital with an infection.”

I
saluted her.
 
“Not that I have
health insurance or could afford it.
 
But noted, boss.”

“So,
who is this guy?”

“Lisa,
you should have seen him.”

“You
never talk about men.
 
Ever.
 
I totally get the physical attraction
thing—it can knock you senseless, make you stupid and essentially destroy
your life, as I know perfectly well from my last two relationships—so I
can only assume that he was gorgeous.”

“He
was.
 
Tall, dark, and handsome to
the tenth degree.
 
Blue-green
eyes.
 
Body to die for.
 
This really sexy stubble on his
face.
 
And he was kind.
 
Maybe that’s what really did me in.
 
He seemed like a sweet guy.
 
Generally, the two don’t go
together.
 
Is there a disconnect
there, or is it just me?”

“Maybe
he was being kind because he got a look at your ass.”

“Leave
my butt out of this.”

“I
just wish I was packing what you’re packing.
 
I’m as flat as my mother is, and you
know what that looks like.”
 
She
looked at me.
 
“You know, I wasn’t
joking.
 
You never talk about
men.
 
I know the reasons why, but
this is unusual.”

“What
can I say?
 
I’ve never felt like
that before.
 
He was amazing.
 
Totally my type.
 
And obviously wealthy, which means we’re
on opposite ends of the financial spectrum, and thus not compatible.
 
But, God, what a stud.
 
Well dressed.
 
This beautiful, masculine watch on his
wrist.
 
Great shoes.
 
Groomed to perfection.
 
And there I was, turning back to look at
him with my stupid smiling face, only to collide with some fat old fart who
nearly flattened me right then and there on the sidewalk.
 
I’m such a class act, someone should
write a paper about me.
 
You just don’t
see class like this every day.”

“So,
how did you end it?”

“I
walked home.”

“You
didn’t exchange numbers?”

“Are
you serious?
 
Lisa, I need to focus
and get myself out of this mess.
 
He
was a hunk with nice manners, but that’s where it ends.”

“At
some point, you’re going to have to trust someone enough to let it begin.”

I
looked at her but said nothing, even though I knew she was right.
 
At some point, I needed to let it all
go.

“Go
take a shower,” she said.
 
“I’m
worried about infection setting in, especially in this heat.
 
You know I write about zombies.
 
If your feet get infected, it might lead
to the wrong kind of infection.
 
And
then what are we going to do?”
 
She
winked at me.
 
“Seriously, your feet
are swollen and they don’t look good.
 
Please go and take care of them, or I will.”

“Will
do.
 
And thanks for the cab
fare.
 
I have a story to tell you
about that later.”

“I
told you not to worry about it.”

“But
I do.
 
When I get out of the shower,
I’m going to start researching restaurants online to find out which are the
best and whether they are hiring.”