Emerald Eyes (18 page)

Thursday, the day before Julia’s surprise party, is the day I finally reunite with Milan and Vera.
 

I used my lunch break to join them in the hunt to find something classy and sexy. We ended up in SoHo, our favorite area to shop.
 

“What about this one?” Vera asks, holding a hanger with a pale pink dress.

“Looks cute.” Milan and I answer in unison.
 

“I don’t want cute! I want sexy!” she whines, flickering her dark brown hair behind her shoulder.
 

“Well, if you want sexy, stop picking clothes I wore when I was ten.” Milan teases.

I pull a hanger with a simple, tight black mini dress with a generous square cleavage.
 

“Here, try this on. I promise, you will look amazing.”
 

Vera looks at the dress as if it’s a bomb that might go off at any second, but then she huffs and strides to nearest fitting room, dress in hand. Milan and I settle on the couches right outside the fitting room.
 

“So, are you going to tell me what’s going on?” Milan runs her hand on the silk top she picked for herself.

“What do you mean? You know Vera, she’s always the last to pick her outfit.”

“Don’t play dumb…” she frowns. “You’ll insult me. You know damn well what I mean. Why are you working?”
 

Of course I know what she meant. I just don’t want to talk about my own parents cutting me off, just because I didn’t want to follow my daddy’s footsteps.
 

I sigh, as much as I might not like it, I know I can’t hide anything from Milan. She’s like a human lie detector.
 

“Papa finally had enough with my partying I guess. He gave me an ultimatum, be a neurosurgeon or be on your own. I chose the latter. That’s what’s going on.” I shrug.
 

Milan’s frown breaks into shock and then sympathy.
 

“Oh… I’m so sorry, babe. I didn’t even think about that option. How are you handling it? I mean, it’s not like you got work skills or anything.”

“Jeez, thanks. I’m ok with it, I guess. It’s exhausting but I actually enjoy it sometimes.”
 

Especially when Mr. Miller is looking at me with those gorgeous eyes.
 

My eyes are nothing compared to his.

“And how’s your boss? Is he like, old?” Milan’s eye narrow slightly, “Is he one of those, ‘drop the pen, and pick it up slowly while I’m glaring into your ass’? ‘Cause that sexual harassment, you know that right?” she says deadpan.

A laugh escapes from my lips. “No, he’s insanely handsome and young…
but
he has a strong policy against mingling with the employees, so don’t worry about some old fart trying to get it on with me, I’m safe in that department.”
 

I look down at the heather-grey mini dress I’m holding in my hands. It’s sexy, not extremely expensive and
not
my first choice when we first entered this boutique.

God, I hate shopping on a budget.
 

“Deliciously hot, you say?” Milan puts a finger on her chin while her eyes drift into the distance and a ‘wolf got the sheep’ smile is plastered on her face.
 

“I did not say that.” I arch a brow then roll my eyes.
 

Although… That description would be dead-on.

“My, my… I’ll have to escort you back to your office, to make sure you arrived safely of course. You know how worried I am.” She winks and I snicker, “Sure, Milan.”
 

I would actually love to see her reaction to Mr. Miller.
 

“Well?” Vera pops out of the fitting room.
 

Just as I thought, the dress fits her flawlessly. Her curvy body is filling every inch of the dress to perfection.
 

“Well hot damn, cousin!” Milan gives her a wolf whistle.

I smile and clap my hands together. “Wow! You look amazing, just like I said. Now, let’s go to the register and buy these lovely clothes.”
 

I managed to navigate them out of the boutique before they set their minds to check out the shoe collection. As badly as I would like to pair my dress with those brand new Prada shoes, I can’t go around spending my money.
 

God, this sucks.

“Vera, take these, I’m going to Katya’s office. I want to check out her sizzling hot boss.” Milan holds her shopping bags out for Vera.
 

“What about me? I want to go see your office too.” Vera turns her warm chocolate brown eyes to me.

“Well, you can’t. You got that date with that guy, what’s his name... Andrew? Andy? Alex?” Milan frowns slightly as she tries to pinpoint the guy’s name.
 

“You got a date?” I ask with a big smile.
 

Vera nods and blushes, taking the shopping bags from Milan.
 

“Yeah, his name is
Aiden
.” Vera gives Milan a stern look then places the shopping bags in the trunk of her Benz.
 

“I met him at my tennis practice. He’s one of the sweetest guys I know.” She adds after closing the trunk.

“Well, get going then! I don’t want to hold you up. Milan will just catch a cab, so don’t worry about her getting home.” I glance at Milan and she nods enthusiastically.
 

Once Milan is buckled in my car, I cast her a quick look.
 

“Is she going to get hurt again?” I ask, all humor gone.
 

“No. No way. I’m keeping a close eye on this one. There is no way I’m letting her go through that hell again.”

I glance back at Milan and see her face is set in determination.
 

“Good. ‘Cause I don’t know how many heartbreaks she can withstand… or how many times I can see her broken.” I say quietly.
 

When it comes to romance, Vera is the unluckiest girl I know. And not because she’s not pretty or has a bitchy personality, she’s a knockout and a sweetheart, but that’s just what it is, she’s too naïve. Even at the age of twenty-four, she has the romantic mentality and common sense of a sixteen year old. So when a guy makes a fool out of her, she’s completely blind to it and when it’s suddenly all over, she simply falls apart and we’re are the ones who pick up the pieces and glue her back together.
 

But not this time... Milan got her finger on the pulse.

I walk Milan into the building and up to my office. Smiling at the stories she’s telling me about her time in the Alps.

Who knew tent sex on a mountain was something she was into?

The easy smile on my lips vanishes when I enter my office and look at Mr. Miller through the glass wall.
 

The sight of him holding Eliza tight to his body stops me at my tracks. His hand cradles her head as he murmurs something into her ear. She nods and wipes her cheeks.
 

She’s crying… what the hell?

As if he feels my presence, Mr. Miller turns his head and our eyes lock.
 

It startles me into attention and I look away, at Milan who is standing behind me with an embarrassed look on her face.
 

“What’s going on?” Milan whispers.

“I have absolutely no idea.” I whisper back.

“This is a bad time… I’ll leave.”

“Umm… are you sure?”
 

“Yeah, yeah, don’t worry about it. He’s hot like fuck. I’ll call you later.” She hugs me then turns and leaves.

I settle back into my chair, trying not to look at the warm display of affection that is happening beyond the glass wall. I put my focus on the unfinished reports I need to finalize. Ten minutes later, Eliza finally departs without even a glance at my direction. All that time, Mr. Miller was holding and comforting her and all I wanted was for the ground to open up and swallow me.

The glass door opens and my eyes shoot up, finding Mr. Miller advancing towards my desk.
 

“Who was the woman with you?” his tone is casual as he comes to a stop in front of me.

“My childhood friend, Milan. She wanted to see where I work, but I guess we picked a bad time for office sighting. Why was Eliza crying? Is she all right?”
 

“She had a death in the family. Not someone she was awfully close to, but still, it was her family member.” Mr. Miller sighs.

“Please give her my condolences.” I say with as much sympathy as I can find for her.
 

She basically used the death of her family member to get attention from Mr. Miller. What a disrespectful bitch.
 

Stop. That’s cruel, even if she wasn’t close to that person. She still hurts.
 

“I’ll make sure I’ll pass them to her. Are my reports done?” Mr. Miller crosses his arms across his broad chest, causing his biceps to bulge.
 

“I still have a few… shouldn’t take long.”
 

Mr. Miller nods then turns back into his office and I let out a shaky breath.
 

He sure is hot as fuck.

TAO is pretty packed when I walk in. The hostess leads me through a beautifully decorated corridor to the private room where the surprise party is taking place. The room is exquisite. It is decorated with warm hues and majestic Asian designs. The comfy chairs look extremely inviting and as I make my way through the room, I greet the people I know and smile politely at the ones I don’t. I find Milan and Vera at the bar, already sipping their drinks. I reach them and order an Apple Martini.
 

“Well, you look fuckable as always.” Milan blurbs out and Vera’s face reddens.
 

I arch an eyebrow, “Don’t tell me you’re drunk already.”
 

“Giddy… the word is, giddy.” She winks at me.
 

I look over at Vera and she just shrugs.
 

“How was your date with Aiden?” I ask Vera with a smile.

“Amazing! He took me to Central Park and we had a picnic!” she beams at me.

 
“He sounds romantic, I’m glad he makes you happy.”
 

“He does,” Vera mumbles and her eyes glaze over as her mind drifts into some tender memory.
 

The bartender winks at me as he places my Martini before me. He’s handsome, but he’s not my type, so I smile politely and turn to face the room then take a sip of my Martini. I scan the room to see if there are more people I know that I might have missed, and when my eyes fall on the back of a certain head, a wave of heat rushes over my body.
 

Wide-eyed, I slightly angle my head to the right to get a better view of his profile. What I see throws me into shock. In an instant my heart stops beating, and then it beats so fast I feel like its about to leap out of my throat.
 

“What the…” I hear myself whisper.

“Huh? Did you say something? Whoa! What’s with face?” Milan’s frown comes into my line of sight, blocking my view. “Hey, are you ok?” her eyes scan my face.

“I, umm… oh my God, what is he doing here?” I breathe out.

“What? Who? Katya, you’re starting to freak me out.”
 

I nod my head behind her and Milan turns around. After a moment, she immediately turns to face me.
 

“Well… this just got interesting!” her eyes gleam with mischief.

“What, What? Who it is? It’s not nice to be kept out of the loop! If you know who she’s talking about, then spill!” Vera whines.

“Her boss is here. Her very hot, sexy, yummy, dark and dangerous, push me against the wall, bend me over and give me the best O of my life, boss is here.” Milan wiggles her eyebrows at me while Vera is pretty much about to pass out, from what looks like her entire blood supply rushing to her face.
 

“Wh..aa..tt? where?” Vera gulps.
 

“You see that tall guy, with the black hair and black button down?” Milan asks.

Vera looks over Milan’s shoulder and a beat later she nods.

“Yeah, but I can’t see his face… nice bum though.” She smiles while her cheeks warm up.

“Yeah, well if you think the back is nice you should see the front.” Milan nudges Vera.
 

What
is
Mr. Miller doing here? This is not work related. Does Nick know him? Are Julia and Mr. Miller that close?
 

“Well, I can tell I don’t stand a chance.” Milan pulls me out of my thoughts.

“Chance at what?” Vera asks.

“At getting down and dirty with him.”

“Why wouldn’t you?” I ask surprised.
 

Milan never gave up on something or someone she was interested in. But while I ask her this, an ugly feeling named jealousy twinges inside my chest.
 

“Baby, just by looking at your face I can tell you’re into him, and I won’t ever do that to you.”
 

I feel my lips pull into a little pathetic smile, “Is it that obvious?”

“Well… yeah, kinda is.” She shrugs innocently.
 

I roll my eyes and turn back to the bar. I sit on a stool, trying to figure out how to be cool and collected when Mr. Miller and I see each other.
 

Oh God, this man got me breathless and flustered in less than a minute. What the hell is happening to me?

“Hi there.” A deep voice greets me from my left.
 

I turn my head and look at the man sitting on the stool beside me. His blonde hair catches my eyes first, it’s cascading in neat layers down to his neck. He swipes a few strands out of his eyes and smiles at me.

“I’m Will.” He holds out his hand.
 

“Katherine.” I reply and reach for his hand.
 

When Will has a hold of my hand, he gently picks it up, bringing my knuckles to his lips.

“Pleasure to meet you, Katherine. How do you know Julia?”
 

“She’s my cousin. How do you know her, Will?”

“She’s a college buddy. She’s like a little sister of mine, met her when she had no idea what life was all about.”