Finding Love for a Cynic (12 page)

“Oh God, here we go again!” Cara exclaimed, throwing the pillow she had been snuggling with across the couch.  “Are you serious?” she asked, placing her balled-up fists on her hips in frustration.

“It was a mistake!” Delona protested.

“A mistake is something you make when you turn on the dryer while playing outer space with your little brother!”

“What?”

“Never mind that!”  Cara said.  She waved her hand in the air as though waving off the memory associated with her last words.  “I’ve seen how you are together, Dee, and I know how you feel about him.  If you two ended up in bed together, trust me…it was no mistake.”

Delona was silent.  With all her heart, she wanted nothing more than to believe what her roommate was telling her.  The way he had touched her last night supported Cara’s theory, but she wasn’t sure if it had been her he was making love to or his deceased wife.  She didn’t want to share the fact that he had been drunk at the time or that he had been drinking at the office with anyone, not even her roommate.  As far as she was concerned, that tidbit would remain their little secret.

“I’m going to shower,” she said, standing up from her seat at the bar to go do so.

“Coward!” Cara taunted.

“Yeah, whatever!”

Chapter 14

If Friday had come too slowly, Monday had come all too soon for Delona.  If only for a brief moment she had hoped with all her heart that Koen would show up on her doorstep over the weekend and declare his undying love for her.  By Sunday night the cynic in her had taken control again, and she wasn’t surprised that he hadn’t.  It didn’t shock her that she was now left to deal with that disappointment and the added shame of having to lie to Roger for having stood him up.  To make matters worse, she wasn’t quite sure how she would handle it when she had to face Koen again.  The feeling of him inside her had lingered all weekend and carried over into work with her this morning, interfering with her ability to concentrate.  So far, she had managed to make it through most of the day without incident, but her coworkers had made it known that they felt something was off about her.

Before she could fully prepare for it, it happened.  She felt his energy before she lifted her eyes from her computer screen to see him.  What surprised her was how calm and collected Koen appeared, as though nothing had happened between them.  This didn’t sit well with her and served to reinforce her theory he had been thinking of his wife the whole time he was making love to her. 

“What are you doing for lunch, love?” he asked, beaming.  His smile fell when she failed to return it with one of her own. 

For once, Delona gave him a serious look.  “I think we need to talk,” was her response to his inquiry.

Koen stepped inside her office and closed the door behind him.  He seated himself on the edge of her desk, giving her his undivided attention.  “What’s on your mind, love?” 

She shifted her gaze from his gorgeous face to a spot on the wall behind him.  This was going to be harder than she’d thought.  She managed to swallow past the lump that had suddenly formed in her throat.  “I understand that what happened Friday night…was… unintentional.”  She swallowed again, trying to keep the hurt out of her voice.  “Please forgive me.   I feel I took advantage of you.  I shouldn’t have let it happen.”

*

A mistake?
  Koen heard what Delona had said, but he couldn’t quite get the words to register.  The lack of comprehension still didn’t keep her words from causing his love-swollen heart to shatter.  He kept replaying them over and over against the words he had hoped she would say.  After waking up and finding her gone, he figured she needed time and space to come to terms with what had happened.  Perhaps
that
had been the mistake. 

All he needed from her was some indication that she loved him.  If she had said those three simple words to him, or had at least hinted she had no regrets about what they’d shared Friday night, he would have forsaken his own sense of inadequacy and fought for them.  He would have buried Roger’s words and forced himself to concentrate on giving her the man and the life she deserved.  Instead, he now sat there feeling like a complete idiot and trying his damnedest to figure this whole mess out.  Before he could gather his wits about him, a knock at the door disrupted the tension in the room.  

Roger poked his head in.  “Hey, Koen,” he acknowledged respectfully.  However, Koen didn’t miss the flash of disdain that crossed his python-like features.  It did Koen’s heart some good to see he could make the proud man jealous.  Roger was slick enough to replace that nasty glare with a wide smile before Delona caught it.  “Hey, beautiful, I was in the neighborhood and thought we could grab lunch.  That is if you’re feeling better,” he added, with an air of concern in his voice.

Delona’s eyes shifted to Koen, begging him to keep their secret.  He knew more needed to be said but also knew it would be unwise to say it in front of Roger, or anyone else for that matter.  She remained seated as though she were silently asking to be excused. 

This was Koen’s chance to lay all the cards on the table.  His first inclination was to walk around the desk, grab her up in his arms, and kiss the hell out of her just to piss off the smug bastard.  Such a proclamation might be all that was needed to send the devious prick packing.  However, he knew in his heart he would do anything for her, even if it meant handing her over to the man of her choice.  He nodded once, signaling to her that their secret was safe with him and thus giving her permission to leave the room.  He watched her as she quickly grabbed her light blue suit jacket and joined Roger at the door.  She cast a quick thank-you glance over her shoulder before preceding Roger out the door.  

Roger remained in the doorway for another moment, a complacent grin on his face.  “Enjoy the rest of your lunch.”  Lifting his right hand to his brow, he gave a stern salute as if to say “game over” and then followed Delona down the hall. 

Koen hung back, stewing in a mixture of anger and self-pity.  He wanted so badly to run after the pretentious bastard and knock that smug look off his face, but Delona would probably never forgive him if he did.  His other thought was to call his uncle, who was also his AA supporter, but he didn’t have time to fill him in on all the details of this mess.  Heading home to regroup before having to face Delona again briefly crossed his mind, but there was no time for it.  Unfortunately, he knew he had to face her again.  To make matters worse, the day was far from over. 

***

            “…and the models want to know if they can claim a bad weave as a wardrobe malfunction,” Renee read in conclusion of the meeting’s agenda.  It was a gathering of the usual executives and the company PR rep.

“Seriously?” Danny asked with nothing short of amazement in his voice.

“Yeah.  The skinny bitches have been watching too much reality TV in the break room again,” Renee volunteered.  “This is their attempt to get a full-time beautician in-house.”   

“Now, Renee, what have I told you about calling them that?” Myron chastised.  “They’re just young.”

“And hungry,” Cara chimed in, smiling like a Cheshire cat.  Delona didn’t like that look at all.  It gave heed that the blue-eyed beauty was up to something.

“Says you!” Renee retorted in response to Myron’s words.   “You don’t have to put up with their freaking drama on a daily basis.”  A slight, uncharacteristic frown marred her elderly face as she turned her attention to the smartphone she had retrieved off the table in front of her and began doing whatever she wanted with it.  It was apparent she had worked for Myron and Danny for so long that she obviously felt more than comfortable speaking her mind and doing whatever she pleased around them. 

Delona wondered why she got away with such behavior, mentally noting that each year of employment served to loosen the bold woman’s tongue even more. 

“I suppose you’re right.” Myron snickered, not seeming to care that his assistant appeared to have moved on to better things.

The meeting continued with discussions on issues, statistics, and the status of various projects.  Myron and Danny kept giving Delona strange looks as though they were trying to read her mind.  Delona wasn’t in the mood for their foolishness.  She shrugged their chaste glances off, while secretly concluding they had been spending too much time with their assistant and were starting to pick up some of her strange habits.  She was sitting beside Cara, using her as a barrier between her and Koen, instead of sitting next to him in their usual fashion.  She knew that things appeared to be weird between them, especially considering the way her brother’s eyes kept shifting back and forth between the two of them.  Things only got weirder when it was time for Koen’s weekly update.

“The last of the eligible bachelors have declined to go out with Delona since the incident with Edward Rainer,” Koen informed them.  He kept his eyes on his notes, avoiding the inquisitive glances his bosses kept throwing his way.

“They were probably afraid of what they’d have to face if they did.  I know I’d think twice about dating someone if it meant potentially getting my ass kicked,” Renee offered from behind her cell phone.

 “In my opinion, it just goes to show how spineless they were in the first place,” Cara said.  “I don’t know about the rest of you, but I don’t want to see her with anyone like that.  She should be with someone willing to step forward and knock a jerk like that on his ass for threatening her, to hell with the consequences.”  She smirked when Delona stiffened beside her.

“You’re right as usual, Cara.  But what’s going on with Roger?” Myron queried.  “I thought the two of you went out last Friday.”

“Yeah, the proverbial ‘they’ are saying he’s the one,” Danny added.  “Didn’t you have lunch with him today?”

Delona didn’t answer right away.  She was too busy choking back the awkwardness of the situation.  “Yes… we had lunch,” she managed to get out.  “But we didn’t meet on Friday.  I wasn’t feeling well.”  She herself was surprised at how unbelievable the lie sounded.  She knew her brother could read her like a book, and from the bizarre way he was staring at her, he knew something was up.  Lucky for her, he granted her the dignity of not calling her out on it in front of everyone.

Cara, however, was a different story.  “You still seem a little under the weather to me.  Perhaps we should have Koen take your temperature. I’m sure he wouldn’t mind.”  She tried to hide her smile behind her water bottle when Delona started gasping for air.

Koen’s cheeks reddened as though he were privy to their little inside joke.  “Well, it does appear that Roger meets the criteria of the men Delona stated do not exist.  Of course, if he’s the one, she has six more weeks before she has to make an announcement on Sonny’s morning show,” he said, a bit more sternly than usual.

“Maybe he
should
be the one since some of us seem to have trouble moving on,” Delona retorted defensively.  She stared at the clock positioned above Danny’s head, unable to meet the faces of the others in the room.  She could feel her face contorting into a grimace, providing evidence of her sarcasm.

“Maybe some of us would be more willing to let go of the past if we knew we had a future,” Koen responded.  He chanced a look in her direction while Cara, Myron, and Danny looked between them as though they were engaged in a tennis match.

“Kind of hard to do when one doesn’t know what that entails,” she retorted.  She crossed her arms over her chest and stuck out her chin in defiance.  She could feel his eyes on her, but she refused to meet his gaze.  

Koen stared at her, looking dumbfounded, while the others continued their silent back and forth inquiry.  “I think we’re done here,” he finally said.

“I agree,” Delona added.

*

Delona was out of the room in a flash with Cara hot on her heels.  Koen took a moment longer as he had to gather his notes and briefcase before departing.  Myron and Danny remained seated, their jaws touching the table in disbelief as they watched the others depart.

“What the fuck just happened?” Myron asked, at a complete loss.

“Um, I think that might be exactly what happened.” 

The two men slowly shifted their attention to Renee, who had just volunteered this information.  Wrapped up in the heat of the conversation, they had forgotten about the elderly woman and her ultra-keen insight.  They gazed at her as though waiting to hear more.  Instead of elaborating, the old woman simply shrugged and continued doing whatever it was she was doing on her smartphone.

Chapter 15

Delona entered her small apartment with Cara still hot on her heels.  She stomped around the bar into the kitchen, trying her best to contain her anger and put some distance between herself and the woman she currently wanted to murder.  Cara had caught up with her in her office, apologizing profusely and begging her not to call a cab.  Although Delona had found it difficult to take her seriously, especially since that impish smile kept sliding across Cara’s face the entire time she was “apologizing,” she had relented and allowed Cara to drive her home.  She was perturbed with Cara for the discomfort she had caused her in front of Koen and had punished her with the silent treatment all the way home.  Now, Delona leaned against the counter, fist supporting her chin, glaring at her roommate.

Cara appeared to be unfazed by her disposition.  She walked into the apartment, slowly removing her pumps and suit jacket.  She took the time to place her jacket on the couch and neatly prop her shoes up under the coffee table before taking a seat in one of the bar stools facing Delona. 

Delona could tell as she watched her that Cara was trying unsuccessfully to keep those rose-colored lips from twisting up into a smirk.  They had been here numerous times before in their friendship, and Cara obviously wasn’t too concerned about being here again. 

Just as Delona was about to lay into her, her cell phone began to ring.  It was Myron.  “Hello,” she answered none-too-sweetly.