Trusting Jay: (A Chicago Suits Romance) (Loving Jay Book 1) (11 page)

I
n the morning
, I woke up earlier than usual but Jay was already gone.  He’d left a note stuck to the bathroom mirror,
had to be somewhere, would love to be looking at what you’re looking at right now.
 I plucked the note off the glass and held it to my face, inhaling it for any hint of Jay’s scent.

What did I see?  I looked into the mirror, my hair was sticking up and the corset had twisted on my frame.  The stockings were pushed down my legs and straining at the suspenders.  But still, I couldn’t deny what he saw in me.

I wasn’t quite ready to lose the outfit just yet.  I straightened the corset and tugged up the stockings.  It looked a little silly, with my bits bare but the ripped panties were dead at my feet.

Without feeling the least bit silly, I went into the kitchen to make a cup of coffee.  As I moved to the fridge, I came face to face with the jeans.  They looked stupid, duct taped to my otherwise pretty wall.  The gooeyness of the tape was probably ruining my paint.

As the coffee brewed, I picked at the edges with my fingers, worried that the paint would come off with it if I treated it like a bandaid.

It took awhile, but I sipped my coffee and kept working away at it until the jeans were freed.  I held them up in front of me.  Denim.  Nowhere near as hot as satin corsets.  I put them on the counter and made some breakfast.

I set the bowl of cereal and cup of coffee onto the table.  At first I went to sit in my usual seat, but decided it would be more fun to sit in Jay’s seat.  To have my bare pussy against the fabric that had touched him.

I crunched the Special K between my teeth.  From this seat, I could see the kitchen.  Jay must have sat here, eating with me while trying to keep a straight face at the constant sight of the jeans on the wall.

I put my spoon down, strode into the kitchen and tossed the jeans in the trash.  Good riddance.

* * *

T
here was still
plenty of time before I had to leave for work.  I sat around in my corset a little longer before realizing it’s mine.  That I can come home from work and put it on again.  I removed the stockings and unzipped it. 

Once off, I examined it a little more.  The label said Agent Provocateur.  I’d never heard of them.  My fingers skimmed over the label, and along the perfect stitching.  Somehow I didn’t think this had been made in a third world sweatshop.

I couldn’t resist.  I know it’s rude when someone gives you a gift, but I had to know.  I Googled ‘Agent Provocateur.’  Maybe I would buy another one to surprise him with.

Even their website was beautiful, and sexy.  Sexy like I wanted Jay back right now.  I clicked around until I found my corset.  I choked on my coffee.  That couldn’t be right.

The corset was two thousand bucks.  Easily more than the cost of Jay’s new car.  My brow furrowed in confusion.  This couldn’t be right.  I found the panties, the panties I’d barely worn before he ripped them off of me.  Ruined.  And they’d cost over three hundred dollars.  For almost no fabric.  How was that even possible?

It didn’t make any sense.  How did Jay have this?  Did he steal it?  No, that sounded silly.  But what possible explanation was there?  It’s true he always dressed nicely, in expensive looking stuff, and he wore a flash watch.  But he’d said he had all that from before he lost his job.

Now he drove around in a cheap old banger I’m surprised even runs.  That made sense to me.  That explained the contradiction.  Even quail’s eggs and champagne fit in.  It’s possible he’d had that champagne sitting around his house.  That he’d never had a reason to drink it until our picnic in the park.

And quail’s eggs.  Well, I have no idea what they cost, but they’re so tiny it can’t be that much.  Maybe he was trying to impress me.

But this lingerie.  What are the chances he’d had a brand new set sitting around, unused, in his home that happened to be my size.  None.  And what are the chances his last job paid enough money to blow almost three grand on a skimpy bit of cloth?  No one had that kind of money.  Except maybe movie stars.

The questions kept churning around in my mind as I showered and dressed.  I tried to push them down.  To not have them hanging over my first full day in my new role.  The closer I got to my office, the quieter the questions became.

As I stepped into the elevator of my building I laughed.  Not only would I never see Calvin again, I didn’t have to think about my bills. I grinned wide and punched the air.  It was a good thing no one else was in the elevator with me, or they would have been freaked out.

I
’d arrived before Sam
.  I went straight into Calvin’s office.  My office.  The cleaners had been, everything was sterilized and ready for a new inhabitant.  They’d boxed any paperwork, I’d have to go through them later to decide what, if anything, I needed to keep.  Lord knows I wasn’t keeping anything that even hinted at the prior existence of the Weeksend report.

After I’d finished my inspection of my new workspace, I headed back to my old desk to pack.  Sam still wasn’t in.  I checked the time, she wouldn’t be here for at least another ten minutes.

I hoped she felt comfortable with me being her new boss.  After all, she had been with the company a lot longer than I had.  And we’d become such close friends, I hope it didn’t feel too awkward for her.  Or worse, that she resented me for getting the position instead of her.  Perhaps I should talk to her about it?  I don’t know.

Someone had left an empty box on my old desk.  I dropped it on the floor, sat in my old chair and opened my old desk drawers.  I put the recycling bin beside the empty box.  Might as well clear out the files I don’t need now.

I started in the bottom drawer and was about halfway through it when I heard Sam’s telltale heavy feet.

“Good morning boss.”  I stood up at the sound of her voice.

“Morning!”  I hugged her.

We chatted for a few minutes.  I was confident Sam was happy, and it relaxed me.  I guess she figured never having to see Calvin again made up for not getting the promotion.

I sat back in my chair and returned to my task of sorting through the files.  Weird, the files at the back are all jumbled up.  Like a good accountant, I’m always careful to keep things organized.

After sorting through a few more papers I realized the file of damning emails I kept on Calvin was missing.  I riffled through the entire drawer and box again looking for it.  Strange.  I know it was there.  I had it in my hands ready to hand in so many times in the past few weeks.

Where was it?  Had someone been through my papers?  No one knew about it, other than Jay.  It must have been Calvin.  I bet he went through my stuff when I wasn’t at work and found it.  He must have known he was on the verge of being fired and got rid of any damning evidence.

The idea that he had been through my stuff, riffled through my tampons and Snicker bar stash, made me uneasy.

I sorted through the rest of my stuff and picked up the box.

“I’m outta here,” I said to Sam and laughed.

“Enjoy your ivory tower.”

“I’ll try to remember you.”

“Try not to forget who you really are.”

I blew a raspberry at her and walked the three paces to my office.  Was spending the morning organizing my stuff a good use of my time?  What would Richard make of it?  Already we were a body down.  Although that body was Calvin, and I’d never been convinced he actually did any work anyway.

* * *

I
shut
my office door and sat at my desk, enjoying my new digs. My cell phone rang, startling me from my thoughts.

“Hey executive lady,” Jenny said.

“Hey.  Guess what?”

“You’re the boss?”

I rolled my eyes. “Aside from that.”

“I hate guessing games, just tell me.”

I told her how Jay had been waiting at my condo.  And about the lingerie gift.  And most important of all, how Jay had spent the night in my bed.  I left out the mirror bit though.

“Did you guys have breakfast together?”

“Couldn’t.  He was gone when I woke up.”

“That’s really weird.”

I hesitated, unsure if I should tell her.  “I looked up that lingerie online.  It cost nearly three grand.”

I had to hold the phone away from my ear while Jenny screamed.

“Are you done yelling?”

“Yes.  But…”  I held the phone out again.  I knew I shouldn’t have told her.

“Sorry, I have to go, talk to you later.”

“Whatever, I am so calling Sam right now.”

“Uh huh.”  I hung up.

I tried to concentrate on work.  For almost two hours, I jotted down every idea I’d ever had, what I considered was missing from the current reporting process, and outlined how I envisioned the reports should look.  It would be difficult to transition over, but I’m certain management could make better business decisions with my ideas.

I pinged Richard an email, requesting some time to sit down with him to discuss everything.  With any luck I’d get the green light to hire another analyst to replace me as well.

I was about to grab Sam and go for lunch when my phone beeped.

A
m going
to have to lie low for a bit.  Hope you’re enjoying being the boss.  J

I
didn’t understand
what he meant.  Lie low? 

W
hat do you mean
?

I
mean
we can’t meet up for awhile.  Sorry.  J

???

I
kept
the phone in my hand, but no response came.  Was he a criminal?  That might explain the combination of unemployment and money to blow.  But.  I don’t know.  I feel like whenever I’m with him I can see right into his soul.  And I don’t see anything criminal in it.  A bit naughty maybe, but not sinister.  

I needed to get this thought straight in my head before I saw Jenny.  She’s already freaked enough about him, what’s she going to say about this latest development?

Sam appeared at my door.  “Ready for lunch?”

“Yes, I was just coming to get you.”

As we walked to the lunchroom, I churned Jay’s messages in my head.  Nothing made any sense.  Something didn’t add up.  I debated whether to share the issue with Sam, but work didn’t seem like a private enough place for such a crazy, bizarre, possibly overblown scenario.

There had still been no response from Jay, and an uneasy weight had settled in my belly.  It hampered my ability to concentrate on my work.  

“You go ahead and get us a table, I’ll be there in a sec,” I said to Sam.

I pulled out my phone. My finger hovered over the call button before I mustered the courage to press it.  As it connected, I wondered why I was so nervous to phone my own boyfriend.

It rang three or four times then went to voicemail.  I waited a few minutes and tried again, but the same thing happened.  He can’t be on the phone, or it would have gone straight to voicemail.  Was he hitting the reject call button on me?  Or was he rejecting
me
?

W
hat’s going on
?

I
couldn’t let
it drop.  It was too odd.  The low battery warning on my phone came on.  In the excitement of last night’s celebrations I had forgotten to charge my phone.  I picked up my desk phone and punched in Jay’s number.

“Yes?”

“Jay,” I said, my voice full of relief.

“Abbie?  I can’t talk now.  Something’s happening and I need you not to phone or text this number.  Not from your cell phone, not from your work extension.”

“What is going on Jay?”

“I’ll explain, please, trust me.”

“I’m all ears.”

His voice softened.  “I know this must seem so strange.  Something is happening right now and I need to cut off all contact with you until I sort it out.  This has nothing to do with my feelings for you.  I want nothing more than to be in your bed again tonight.”

“I don’t understand,” I said, twisting the phone cord in my fingers.

“I have to go, wait for me to contact you.”

The phone went dead, and I stared at the receiver in my hand.  Numb.