Virtually Mine: a love story (15 page)

What
Eric had that he didn’t was beyond Dustin’s grasp. All he knew was that he
didn’t like the guy any more than the turn his life seemed to be taking.
Clearly, something had fizzled for him with Kate, though he couldn’t imagine
what on earth it was.

Dustin
studied Reesa as she rang up an order for one of their regulars. As soon as the
truck driver ambled out, Dustin sidled right up to Reesa. They exchanged an
awkward glance or two before Dustin took it as his cue to speak. “
Reesa, you’re a
woman.”

Reesa closed the register drawer. “You
had a fifty-fifty chance of getting that one right.”

Dustin lowered his voice. “Well, I was
thinking about getting back with Kate.”

An amused grin curled on Reesa’s lips.
“Casting babe shined you on, did she?”

Dustin nodded. “And trust me, I’ve
learned my lesson.”

Reesa put her hands on her substantial
hips. “And tell me, what is that? That lesson you learned.”

Dustin drummed his fingers on his cheek,
completely stumped. He thought about it long and hard, then shrugged his
shoulders. “Whatever. I just learned it. And I want to get back with Kate.
 
I’ve thought about it a lot, and I think it
would be best for me.”

Reesa shook her head. “For you.”

“And Kate, too. Obviously.”

Reesa leaned back against the counter.
“So, just what did you have in mind to do?
 
To get her back.”

What to do
, Dustin
thought. What he needed was a plan, a sure-fire strategy. His face lit up as an
idea struck. “Well, she seems to want me to know stuff about her. You wouldn’t
by any chance know anything about her, would you?”

♥   
♥    ♥

Rob Galloway opened his front door. There stood a muddy, drenched M.J. with a
sheepish smirk on her face.

Rob
looked around for the other dogs as he let a still damp Freddie inside. “Wow.
Where’s the rest of the pack?”

M.J.
glanced back toward the park sheepishly. “Kind of on a spontaneous field trip.
Freddie wasn’t so much on going, what with the bus ride and the name tags
and... You totally know I’m lying, right?”

“I
do.” In a way, it was a relief to Rob that M.J. fessed up. It saved him the
trouble of calling her bluff. “Sussing out the real deal kind of goes with the
therapist territory.”

M.J.
shuffled uneasily. “Yeah. Okay, here’s the thing. I’m not a dog walker.”

“You
aren’t.”

“And
there’s a fairly good chance that this is the extra meds talking and that I
won’t remember much of this tomorrow, but I’m a Meter Maid. At least I was,
till I saw you in the park and thought this might be a good way to meet you.”

Rob
couldn’t help back-peddling a bit. “You invented a business with cards and dogs
and—”

“Got
fired from my job, don’t forget that,” M.J. added.

Rob
looked at M.J. amazed. “You got fired?”

“I
did,” M.J. nodded. “And what, you might ask, is the point anyway? I mean, A) You’re
adorable. B) You’re completely out of my league, then C) I’m so freakishly
allergic to your dog that I’m at risk of becoming a rampant over-the-counter
drug addict and D)—”

“—and
D),” Rob interjected, “I don’t own Freddie. I’m just taking care of him this
month for a friend.”

Rob
watched as M.J. rocked back in shock for a moment, and then started to edge
away insecurely. “No, no. Erase, erase, erase. Freddie’s yours.”

Rob
shook his head. “Uh-uh.”

A
desperate look came over M.J.’s face. “He has to be. That way you can close
that door and I can go pine about how our sweet, sad parting was totally about
the dog and not about you rejecting me.”

“M.J...”

M.J.
raised a hand to stop him. “There’s a fine line between tragic and pathetic,
Rob. And I’m begging you, please. Let me stay on this side of it.”

♥    ♥    ♥

An assortment of
Virtually Mine
presents in his arms, Charlie stopped to
look at the white velvet box one more time. There was the little gold heart
necklace he could finally give to Kate, now that she’d signed up for the deluxe
level. Affectionately, Charlie closed the velvet box and put it atop the stack
of gifts he’d gathered.

What
Charlie wouldn’t give for Kate, he thought. She was like that pearl of great
price his dad always used to teach about from the pulpit. Charlie wasn’t sure
that his father would have completely approved of the way he was going about
things with Kate. But long ago, when they’d laid his mother to rest, Charlie’s
dad had said something Charlie knew he’d never forget.

“People
talk about there being a lot of fish in the sea,” his dad had said, “but there
was only ever one for me. That was your precious Mama. From the moment I laid
eyes on her, I was completely undone. That was it,” he’d said. “You’ll know
when you find the one who’s meant for you, too, Charlie. You’ll know.”

Charlie
wanted to believe his father was right, but he realized he had his doubts, not
so much about the knowing part—that part had already come true. It was the
practically impossible feat of getting Kate to notice him, too.

Charlie
had no illusions of grandeur. He knew he could never begin to compete with the
likes of Eric, or even Dustin in the looks department. He did know his father
was right about one thing, though. Whether Kate ever cast a glance his way or
not, there would never, ever be another girl for him.

Charlie
backed through the swinging doors of
Virtually Mine’s
stock room,
balancing his precarious pile of presents. He secured the white velvet box on
top, under his chin. As hard as it had been to motivate himself, he resolved
that he would do Samantha’s bidding. He would give Archie’s clients a more
reasonable amount of service. It would all be worth it, he thought, if it meant
one more moment with Kate.

When
Charlie rotated toward the office pool, his eyes widened in shock. There was
the company’s receptionist, Levon Mink, leading Kate into Samantha’s office.
Charlie teetered back and forth, unsure what to do. A
box of candy
hearts slid off of his stack and, as he tried to catch it, the whole load went
flying.

♥   
♥    ♥

As hard as Kate tried to keep herself calm, there was something about Samantha
Raznick that rattled her right from the start. From the moment Levon introduced
her, the woman’s steely gaze never left her. Kate waited for Samantha to blink,
but it seemed that she never did. Kate could feel Samantha studying her, head
to toe, as she waltzed around her desk.

“You
look vaguely familiar to me,” Samantha murmured.

Kate
shifted self-consciously. “I can’t imagine why.”

Sam
strode across the office toward Kate. “L
et’s get right to it then, shall we, Ms.
Mae? You are not, nor have you ever been in any way, shape, or form associated
with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.”

Kate fought for composure. “I can explain
about that.”

“No need. I admire your pluck.”

Astonished, Kate lowered her defenses a
tad. “You do?”

Samantha tipped her head toward the busy
office pool outside the glass walls of her office, amused. “And though I take a
certain pleasure in surrounding myself with men, perhaps I’ve been missing out
on a substantial portion of the market.”

Kate could hardly believe her ears. “I
was thinking exactly the same thing.”

“No, you weren’t,” Sam presumed. “You’re
a starving actress looking for a paycheck in a saturated field. But I suppose
your face could do rather well for us in a homespun sort of way.”

Kate mulled it over. “Actually, I don’t
want to be a face.”

“You don’t.”

Kate braved a step toward Samantha. “I
want the hands on, nitty gritty. I was thinking I could maybe be an Operator.”

Sam arched her brows. “You. A worker
bee.”

Kate nodded, her confidence growing. “I
can stir up the honey.”

Once again, Kate could feel Samantha
studying her. Exactly what was going on in the woman’s head, Kate didn’t know,
but she could tell from Samantha’s tightening gaze that the wheels of
consideration were turning.

Finally, Samantha gave Kate an affirming
nod. “Yes, Ms. Mae. I’m sure you can.”

Were it not for Eric’s sudden appearance
at the door, Kate might have relaxed. As it was, she quickly turned from him,
hoping against hope that he wouldn’t notice her.

Samantha motioned Eric toward her. “Eric,
come in. I take it you’ve signed out with business affairs.”

Kate reeled as Eric stepped into the
room.

Samantha smoothly gestured Eric toward
Kate. “Eric, this is Katherine Mae. We’re talking about branching into
Imaginary Girlfriends.”

Eric smiled warmly at Kate. It was hard
for Kate to read exactly what he was thinking, but clearly he recognized her.
He almost seemed to be enjoying this happenstance.

As Kate reached out to shake Eric’s hand,
her eyes pled with him not to say anything. It helped that Samantha turned
aside and sauntered back toward her desk.

Kate shook Eric’s hand a little more
briskly than she normally would have, lightly emphasizing her words. “Eric, how
nice to meet you for the very first time.”

Eric winked at Kate cooperatively. “Yes,
my pleasure.”

Greatly relieved, Kate turned back to
Samantha. “Ms. Raznick, why don’t you go ahead and tend to your business with
Eric. I can just wander around, you know, get the feel of the place.”

Samantha slid open her desk drawer. “You
do that, Katherine. See if you can get one of the drones to acquaint you with
the software.”

Mouthing her thanks covertly to Eric,
Kate backed out of the office and closed the door.

♥   
♥    ♥

As Kate ventured into the office pool,
Eric watched her go, intrigued. There was
something about Kate that set her apart from most all of the girls he’d met in
L.A. Even in this ruse of a context, there was a certain genuineness in her eyes,
something he hadn’t seen in anyone else in a very long time.

The fact was, Eric was so distracted by
tracking with Kate as she passed through the Operator’s cubicles that he didn’t
notice Sam’s return until she cleared her throat just behind him. This time, he
would not let Samantha Raznick get the better of him. He turned back, and
seeing his final check in her possession, he instinctively reached for it.

With a retaliatory air, Samantha withdrew
the check smoothly and tapped it against her arm. “Interesting, the way it went
with you Eric. A blaze of glory, then nothing. You do understand that though,
sadly, our Operators are favoring other Imaginaries of late, your face will
still inspire your pre-existing hits throughout the term of the original license.”

Eric rolled his eyes. “Whatever.” He
reached for the check, half-knowing that she would still make him wait for it.
Samantha was becoming predictable to him, and try as she might, he resolved
that he would not let himself be drawn in by her again. As arresting a woman as
she had seemed to him at first glance, she had lost her power over him. He
stood his ground, silently waiting.

A moment or two passed before Samantha
put the check into Eric’s hand. Her expression hardened. What beauty she had
left her face. “Do let me know if you should ever...reconsider.”

In a way, Eric felt sorry for Samantha.
He stood toe to toe with her, holding her soulless gaze. “No, thanks. I think
we’re done.”

♥   
♥    ♥

As M.J. trudged up the stairs to her apartment, she hoped she could get inside
without seeing any of her neighbors. What with all the mud on her clothes,
there would be questions, questions M.J. wasn’t exactly in the mood to answer.
She was almost home free. At least she thought she was, till she spotted
Dustin, sitting outside her door, flossing his well-groomed teeth.

Dustin
looked up. “
Yikes!
You look horrible.”

M.J. fumbled for her key. “Thank you,
Dustin. Your opinion is oh, so crucial to me. What are you doing here?”

“Waiting for Kate.”

Heaving an exasperated sigh, M.J.
unlocked the door. “Well, she’s not back and I’m not staying. Turns out I
suddenly have laundry.”

Dustin stood to his feet. “Hey, do you
own a dictionary?”

M.J. marveled at just how random Dustin
could be. “Kate does. Why?”

Not waiting for an invitation, Dustin
waltzed into the apartment. “Reesa says I need to woo Kate.
 
But would she tell me what a woo is?
Noooooo.
 
She’s all “look it up.” Is that
even a real word?
 
I mean, woo?”

M.J. followed Dustin in and extended a
palm to direct Dustin back to Kate’s room. “Who am I to stand in the way of
higher education? Middle shelf.
 
Before
her journals.”