Requiem (3 page)

“
I’m sorry, Mr.
Patocka?”

“
Yes, Miss Grey?” he said,
obviously irritated. I was well aware that had any other intern
interrupted him they would have been promptly asked to leave the
meeting, but everyone knew, including Mr. Patocka, that I wasn’t
just an intern.

“
I think you’ve made a
mistake. Sasha isn’t staying,” I said as professionally as I could
manage.

“
Still not paying attention
to your briefs,” Sasha snapped. “I’m staying on through the school
year.”

“
What
?” I said, my tone more disgusted than I’d meant. I looked to
Mr. Patocka, who nodded while looking incredibly bored with the
turn the conversation had taken.

“
I…she….” I stumbled over
my words, trying to think of a way to save face after I’d made it
so clear that I was shocked and dismayed at the news.

“
It’s okay, Nina. We still
get to be office mates,” Sasha purred. Her smile was that of a cat
being polite to the bird just before she ate it.

“
Moving on,” Mr. Patocka
continued. “Sasha, you’ll be taking over Brad’s duties, Shannon,
you’ll be taking over Anna’s duties, and John will be taking over
Evan’s. I expect those departing to make sure those staying behind
have exact instructions.”

“
What about Nina?” Sasha
said, glaring back at me over her shoulder.

Mr. Patocka sighed. “Nina will be training
with Grant during the school year, Sasha. Try not to make me feel
as though I’m babysitting more than I already do, please.”

“
With
Grant
?” Sasha groused.

Grant was second in command at Titan. When
Jack died, he assumed the management responsibilities until I was
ready to take over. Working with him was not something I looked
forward to; I had spent my teenage years watching Grant suck up to
my father and, to Jack’s amusement, shamelessly flirt with me.

Jack saw something in Grant that I
couldn’t—or wouldn’t—see. Not only did he give Grant promotion
after promotion, he tirelessly tried to persuade me to go out with
his up and coming, incredibly intelligent, star employee.

While being within five feet of Grant
usually made me a bit nauseous, Sasha had been scheming to land a
job as his assistant since her first day. Mr. Patocka’s decision to
place me in the very position she’d been working for all summer
would no doubt push her beyond any irritation she’d had for me
before.

I smiled at the thought. This would mean an
all-out war.

“
Is there a problem,
Sasha?” I asked, trying to preserve a bit of respect from my future
employees.

“
Problem? Not at all,”
Sasha said with the sickeningly sweet laugh that liberated her from
most awkward situations she’d created for herself. “I apologize,
Nina. I didn’t realize you were so sensitive,” she
smiled.

I looked to Mr. Patocka. “Are we finished
here?”

“
I’m finished with the
meeting, but I need you to come to Grant’s office with me, Nina. He
needs to brief you on a few things before you start back next
week.”

The other interns filed out of the room,
shaking hands and saying their goodbyes. I nodded to each of them
as they made a bee-line to the elevator, but not before meeting
Sasha’s cheap grin with one of my own.

Mr. Patocka escorted me down the hall and
into the elevator, punching button four, where my father’s office
still resided. Grant’s office was on the opposite side of the
floor, parallel to Jack's. Half of his walls were covered in
degrees and pictures of polo ponies, and the other half allowing
the sunshine to pour in from large windows that overlooked Fleet
Rink.

Mr. Patocka knocked on Grant’s half-opened
door. “Er…Mr. Bristol? Nina’s here to see you.”

“
Bring her in.”

I walked into his office, sitting in a puffy
green chair, feeling amiable for a change. Grant had worked for my
father for ten years, and like every cliché rise-to-the-top story,
Grant started at entry level. The only thing that would have made
his story any more boring would be if he’d began in the
mail-sorting trenches, had we kept a mail room. But Grant didn’t
begin his days at Titan as a mail boy.

He began as an intern.

“
Nina,” Grant greeted me
over his thin, square glasses.

“
Grant,” I acknowledged
with a nod.

Grant looked at Mr. Patocka and smiled
politely. “Thank you, Eugene.”

Mr. Patocka ducked from the door and shut it
behind him. Even though I saw Grant as somewhat of a weasel, the
rest of the employees regarded him as their personal savior.

“
Okay, what’s with all the
formalities, Grant?” I said, crossing my arms.

“
Give me a break, Peanut,”
he smiled.

He sat in his chair, leisurely crossing his
ankles on top of his desk. I frowned at his ridiculous argyle
socks. They resembled the very thing I hated about Grant Bristol.
He was handsome in an annoying, maddening way. His light, brown
hair and clean-shaven baby face made most women at our office
swoon. He was well dressed and well spoken, and I suppose he was
even funny at times. All of which made me want to plant my fist
straight into his square chin. He reminded me of the token soap
opera star. His words were fake, his smile was fake, and his very
presence affected me like nails on a chalkboard.

“
Ugh
…you know I hate it when you call me that,” I groaned. “If
we’re going to work together you’re going to have to stop that,
Grant. I mean it.”

“
Anything you say.” He
smiled with his too-straight, too-white teeth. “I want you here
when you’re not in class. If I could do it, you can do it. No
excuses.”

Attempting to keep my temper in check, I
stood and offered a small grin. “See you tomorrow.”

“
One more thing…,” Grant
said. I turned and waited. “Nice skirt, Peanut.”

I stomped out of Grant’s office, trying not
to kick anything on my way out. When I pushed through the front
door, I saw Jared’s Escalade parked against the curb across the
street as usual, only this time he stood against his door looking
extremely uncomfortable while Sasha leaned against his car on her
shoulder, not six inches from him. I could see that he was trying
to be polite as he kept his arms crossed, careful not to react to
her flirtation, but my eyes zeroed in on Sasha giggling and
touching his shirt, chest and arms with every other word.

“
Nina! Hi, Sweetheart.”
Jared said, my interruption a relief. He pulled me into his arms
and made a show of planting a kiss on my lips.

“
Hey, Nina,” Sasha gushed.
“I was just telling Jared that we should double date
sometime.”

“
No,” I snapped, my
patience far beyond its limit. Jared walked me to the passenger
side and opened the door.

“
I can get into the car on
my own,” I said acerbically.

“
Nina….” Jared smiled,
amused at my mood.

“
Don’t Nina me,” I said,
looking straight ahead.

“
Well,” Sasha called from
the other side of the SUV, raising her eyebrows. “I guess I’ll see
you on Monday. It was nice to finally have a chance to talk,
Jared.”

Ignoring Sasha’s final attempt for his
attention, Jared watched me for a moment, trying to decipher my
emotions. Finally, he walked around to his side, and slid in beside
me. He watched Sasha trot across the street and then shook his
head. “You don’t honestly think I was—,”

“
No. I don’t think you were
flirting with her,” I grumbled.

Jared pulled away from the curb and nodded.
“Good, because that is completely ridiculous. Not only am I madly
in love with you….she’s….” Jared shook his head, making a series of
disgusted faces as he tried to think of the correct description.
“She’s something else.”

“
That’s a word for it,” I
said, crossing my arms.

“
How was your meeting?” he
asked.

“
You mean you don’t
know?”

“
I kept tabs, but it was
difficult to get the details with Sasha two inches from my face. Is
Grant still a jackass?”

“
Yes,” I nodded.

“
What’s wrong?” Jared
paused a moment and then his eyebrows shot up. “Oh.”

“
What is that supposed to
mean?”

“
Nothing. I didn’t mean
anything,” Jared said, trying not to smile.

I shook my head, watching the trees pass by
the window. Eli had once told us that when we made a commitment in
a physical way, Jared’s senses concerning me would be heightened. I
still wasn’t sure what that entailed. Jared never let on that
anything had changed, but when his former urgent curiosity about
the motives behind my moods or feelings had all but disappeared, I
knew something was different. I cornered him on more than one
occasion to explain his new attunement, but he always seemed to
maneuver his way out of the conversation with an efficient and
irresistible diversion.

“
Do we still have lunch
plans?” I asked, my attention still focused on the passing
landscape outside the window.

“
Absolutely. I have a
surprise for you,” Jared said, taking my hand and pulling it to his
mouth.

My mood quickly changed as the warmth from
his lips shot up my arm. “I love surprises.”

“
I know,” he said against
my skin.

Chapter Two

Gone

“
Carved your name. In
a
tree
? That’s so
sweet!” Beth squealed.

“
Yes, in a tired,
done-three-billion-times kind of way,” Kim droned,
unimpressed.

I ignored her, smiling at Beth. “He brought
me to a field that had a lone Oak tree in the center. We rolled out
a blanket for the picnic lunch he packed. It was perfect.”

“
You’re up,” Kim said,
elbowing me.

“
Oh,” I said, briefly
glancing to the menu hanging from the ceiling. “Large coffee.
Black.” The girl behind the counter nodded, and punched the buttons
on the register, waiting for my check card. I nudged Beth. “Did you
want anything?”

“
Nah, not
today.”

I rolled my eyes. “She’ll have a Large
Skinny Mochachino, please.”

“
I said I didn’t want
anything,” Beth said, feigning annoyance. “And since when do you
drink your coffee black?”

“
We’re not going to have
our morning coffee talk on the first day of school without coffee,”
I said, “I know things are tight for you and Chad right now. Moving
is expensive. It’s not a problem.”

“
I’m not a
mooch.”

“
Southern hospitality.
Isn’t that what you call it?” I winked.

“
You’re a Yankee,” Beth
muttered.

The girl turned to make our drinks, and Beth
leaned in. “So the tree….”

I smiled. “The carving was amazing.
Brilliantly detailed. I’ve never seen anything like it. He walks me
to the other side, and his parents initials were carved there, too,
from like…years ago.”

“
No way!” Beth shrieked.
She looked around, settling down before her next question. “So have
you guys set a date? For the wedding?”

I looked down. “Er…no. But it was a nice
lunch.”

“
A nice lunch?” Kim
asked.

“
He didn’t mention it,” I
said.

“
Well, that’s a first,”
Beth teased.

It wasn’t hard to guess why Jared’s
questions about a wedding date had tapered off—he was worried about
the nightmares, and he didn’t want to make them worse. I knew Jared
wanted to set a date. As the weeks passed and I was still reluctant
to discuss it, he had begun to get anxious. Once the sleepless
nights began, the wedding was the farthest thing from his mind.

We took a spot by the window, and updated
each other on our summers. Beth and Chad had cut back on their
hours at their jobs because of the fall semester. Money was scarce,
but they were enjoying playing house. Kim had traveled to see
family, but returned early.

“
My dorm room missed me,”
she smiled.

“
How did you get them to
let you in?” Beth asked.

“
I have the gift of
persuasion,” Kim said, rubbing her fingers together.

“
So you traveled most of
the summer, didn’t work, and you had enough money to bribe the
powers that be at Brown University?” I asked. “Right.”

Kim shrugged. “I robbed two banks and a
liquor store on the way to Chicago.”

“
Nice,” I said, taking
another sip.

“
So Ryan’s in the Army?”
Kim asked.

“
Kim, Jesus,” Beth said,
shaking her head.

I nodded. “Wrote me a letter, and just
popped in the mail on his way to war. Like it was nothing. Like a
freakin’ birthday card.”

“
Or a post card,” Kim
added.

“
With soldiers on it,” Beth
said. She looked down, trying not to smile.

“
With green and black
faces, and big guns,” Kim smiled.

Beth waited a moment, and then spoke again.
“In camo speedos.”

“
Lying on a hammock on the
beach, with ‘Greetings from War’ in big, yellow, bubble letters,” I
frowned.