16. Zander
16
ZANDER
I watch as Oscar’s car leaves the parking lot. When the red taillights disappear in the dark night, I turn to the hotel building where a few guests are still celebrating. But the party that had me excited for weeks has lost all its appeal and is now just a boisterous room to me. I call my driver, Greg.
When he arrives with my car, I get into the rear seat. “To a bar.”
He turns and looks at me over his shoulder. “Any particular one, Mr. Teager?”
I shake my head. “No. Just someplace quiet.” My head meets the padded headrest as I close my eyes.
Marr’s back, her wet puffy face, her words… God, her words. Something dark claws around my throat, and I loosen my tie.
Time ticks by, but I’m too lost in my thoughts to notice it.
“Mr. Teager, we’re here,” Greg announces, and I open my groggy eyes, looking out of the car window. Neon red block letters shine, forming the word Rendezvous .
I step inside the bar with a single aim: to dunk all the uneasiness that’s gripping my chest in booze. There have been a handful of moments so far in life when I wanted to forget everything over a bottle of Scotch, but today is the worst of all. I perch on one of the barstools.
“What can I get you?” the bartender asks.
“Scotch. Neat.”
I grab the faceted glass and take a sip of the amber liquid. My mind wanders to my girl. Feelings of anguish that gathered around me when Marr recited about her childhood still aren’t gone. I remember her raw voice, her corded neck muscles, her clenched fists holding the blanket, shielding her from the cold and dark that engulfed us in that room.
Someone taps on my hand covering the now-empty glass, and I look up to find the bartender glancing my way, an eyebrow raised.
“Girl trouble?” she asks as I point for her to refill my glass. “You look pretty damn worked up.”
“You mean fucked up.” I shoot the liquid back, not giving a shit that it’s intended to be savored.
She fills my glass again when I ask her to keep them coming.
“That girl must be something. You have a pretty face over there, and by the look of you, you seem loaded too. If I didn’t have a five-year-old hunk at home, I’d so be hitting on you.”
“Yeah, she is something. She’s everything.”
“Wanna talk about her? The bar is pretty much empty.” The bartender nods toward the neighboring vacant barstools.
I shake my head.“No.”
“Come on, man. It’s only you and me here. Your story can compensate for all the tips I’m missing tonight.”
I point for another refill when she doesn’t do it on her own.
“Don’t down this one like the others,” she mutters, filling my glass and placing a bottle of Johnnie next to me. “I want to hear the complete story before you pass out on my table. ”
“If I pass out, call my driver. He’s outside.” I’m so gonna pass out. I already feel lightheaded.
“Okay. I promise you’ll be in your bed tonight. Now, I guess I deserve a story in return.” She bats her eyelashes at me.
“You are in the wrong profession, persistent woman,” I slur. Shit. How much did I drink already?
“Maybe, but I do just fine.” She places a glass of water in front of me, which I ignore, of course.
When she turns to attend to the two old fellas at the other end of the bar, a hand grabs my shoulder.
“What the—” I try to get up from the stool but stumble. I hold the bar just in time to prevent falling on the floor.
“Fuck. Zander, you’re wasted,” Zach states as he and Zane glare down at me.
“What the hell are you two doing here?” I rub my forehead to ward off the growing headache. I just wanted to be alone with a bottle of Scotch. Instead, I got the persistent bartender and now my brothers breathing down my neck.
Can’t a man have a moment of peace?
“Part-t-ty’s over. We could-dn’t find you, s-s-so I called Greg.” Zane plops down on a barstool beside me.
“What the fuck is going on, man? Since when do you keep secrets from us? First a secret girlfriend, now a secret bar visit.” Zach slams his hand on the bar, making my empty glass jerk.
The bartender rushes to us, removing the glass along with the bottle of Johnnie Walker before giving us the stink eye. But Zach doesn’t waver. His fist remains clenched, and his lips pinched tight. He shakes his head and mutters, “It’s like we don’t know you anymore.”
I hate the expression resembling betrayal on my brothers’ faces.
“She isn’t my girlfriend, or wasn’t until this evening. ”
“We’ll need a little more than that, Zander.” Zach crosses his arms over his chest and looks down at me.
I know he isn’t knowingly trying to overpower me. It’s a defense mechanism we developed as teenagers for every time we felt the need to protect ourselves from someone or something.
“Can you please sit?” I nudge the next barstool closer to him with my foot.
Zach shakes his head before settling down and ordering a drink. Taking a large swig of his beer, he inquires, “Are you going to say something or what?”
I look at my brothers once again and then tell them everything from the moment I caught Marr falling from the couch the first morning till tonight when I walked out of the hotel suite with her.
I watch as everyone, including the bartender, an additional audience to my story, throws back a few shots. They all flinch when I tell them about the scars on her back and the incidences that led her to having those wounds. Fuck, I flinched myself while narrating the story.
“You like a girl named Rose? Fuck, Zander. Why didn’t you say anything?” Zach looks at me in confusion.
“I wanted to know what it was first, for myself.” I look away from his perplexed stare. Is it so weird that I like someone named that ?
“And you d-d-do now?” Zane raises an eyebrow, his demeanor much cooler than Zach’s.
“I know that I like her.” As I say the words, a strange thrill unfurls inside me.
“She is different. You need to be sure before this goes any further.” This is something I never thought I would hear from Zach. He’s never been the caring one, especially when it comes to the feelings of a woman.
“What, man? Stop fucking staring at me like that. You do not mess with girls like her. I might act like…” He pauses, trying to find the right word.
“An asshole,” I supply, causing Zane to chuckle.
“Yes, and I don’t regret it. But you cannot be an asshole here, Zander. She has suffered a lot.”
“Give it t-time. Who knows, maybe sh-she won’t like him for long.” Zane chuckles.
“Fuck man, it stings.” I snicker, rubbing my forehead. Talking to my brothers about her is liberating. My heavy chest unclenches.
“Does this mean one of the hottest bachelors in the country is no longer on the market?” Zach playfully shoves me forward.
“It appears so.” My adrenaline spikes just saying those words. Hope builds inside me. Maybe she and I, two broken souls, can rescue each other after all.
“I’ll drink to that.” Zach waves his hand to the bartender, who instead of making our drinks, scowls at me.
“You left her?” she mutters in disbelief.
“What?” I have no idea what she’s getting at, but her voice hurts my head. Maybe I should’ve skipped that last drink.
“She told you about her, and you said, Okay, thanks. But now you need to leave with your friend .” Her glare could’ve burned me right here, the bar providing enough tinder for her cause.
“I did not,” I sputter. “ I just needed some time to get my shit together.” I glance toward my brothers, but their blank faces are no help.
I look at the bartender, who throws her cleaning rag toward me. My reflexes being at their worst, the cold cloth hits my face.
“Call the girl,” she comments begrudgingly .
“Isn’t it better to go in person?” I ask my new friend. She appears to be having the best advice right now .
“You’re too wasted to go anywhere but your bed. Call her now and then visit her tomorrow morning.”
I hop off the barstool and drop several hundred-dollar bills on the counter. I certainly owe this woman.
“I’ll be outside,” I tell my brothers before making a beeline to the door.
With trembling fingers, I dial Marr’s number. It rings twice before she picks up.
“Hi.” Her soft voice sounds like heaven.
“Hey. Reach home safely?” God, could I sound any lamer?
“Yeah. We’ve been home for some time now.” Her voice sounds guarded as she waits for me to say something, to explain where we stand after tonight. The bartender chick was right; I did leave her hanging.
“So, the general consensus is that we’re together.”
She takes a sharp breath, making my complete body shudder. “Are you sure?” Her voice is almost a whisper.
“I told you, nothing you say will change my mind.”
“Oh.” I picture the O formed by her puckered lips and her eyebrows knit together. “You didn’t say much,” she finally murmurs.
“It was a lot of information, Marr, and unexpected.” I pinch the bridge of my nose. “I’m sorry. Not only for now.” I don’t know what else to say. What can you tell someone who has suffered so much? Sorry seems so scant .
“It’s okay, Zander.” Her concluding tone makes me change the topic.
“You looked beautiful tonight.”
“Thanks, but you already told me that.” Thank God for her tiny giggle.
“Earlier, I told that to my friend. Now, I’m telling my girl that she looked breathtaking. Fucking cute and adorably sexy.” I take a chance, my chest light and warm for the first time this evening. How does she do that? Lighten up my mood like that. A moment with her is like the best thing that has ever happened to me.
“Zander!” The mix of surprise and delight in her voice tells me she’s not offended by my comment.
“What?” I grin, too happy to care for anything else in the world.
“You can’t say things like that.” Her breathy voice makes me crazy. I want to jump inside the phone and hold her tight in my arms and do so much more.
“Why not? It’s under my rights as your boyfriend to say all the sweet and sexy things to you and…” I pause dramatically.
“And?” Her hoarse voice is making me crazy.
“Curious, Ms. Marlin?”
“Um, no,” she whispers. I can imagine her fixing her glasses, wetting that plump bottom lip nervously.
“Really? Not curious at all?” I chuckle. “But I think I’ll deliver the rest of my thoughts about my rights face-to-face.” My lips curl into a shit-eating grin.
She hums before asking, “Zander, are you all right? You sound different.”
“I had a few drinks. But tonight, it’s you, couch girl, that has me zonked out.” I hear her breath hitch and press the phone closer to my ears. Her breathing travels directly to my groin. Before my inebriated mind schemes something for which she isn’t ready yet, I rush out, “I gotta go now, but I’ll talk to you tomorrow. Sleep tight and dream of me.”
She laughs softly and it’s music to my ears. “Good night, Zander.”
Before the line goes dead, an idea forming in my mind manages to find voice. “Marr, won’t you give your boyfriend a goodnight kiss?”
The call disconnects, but not before I hear her gasp.
Life is going to change, and it’s going to be fun with my couch girl. I walk inside the bar with the biggest grin on my face.
“Hey, man, you look like a fucking whacko. Stop smiling. You’re scaring us off,” Zach hollers from the bar.
“Zander, get-t up. Get-t up, man.”
“What the hell?” If not for the panic in Zane’s voice, I wouldn’t have bothered to reply after the events of last night.
“Zander, it’s serious.” Zach shakes my shoulders, waking me up from the beautiful dream.
“What’s going on?” I sit upright on the bed. As I try to stand, everything around me spins.
Shit. I drank too much last night. I hold the headboard for support and rub my throbbing head.
“Th-this is no t-time for a hangover.” Zane hands me a glass of water and two pills.
I gulp them without question.
Zach hands me my iPad. “Open your email.” While logging into the company server, I try to recall any major projects, but fuck, my head has nothing but pain. What the hell happened in the last ten hours?
I open my official email account—thirty emails, and all under the same subject line.
I’m fucked.
“Non-Fraternization Policy at Elixir Inc.” I somehow read the typed letters despite my blurring eyes.
Holy Fuck. How the hell did I miss this?
“Who?”
“Vanessa.” Zach spits out her name.
It fucking makes sense.
I rub my head, remembering when we were discussing company policies in her father’s dining hall. Mathew Hilbert brought up the subject of a non-fraternization policy, stating that it might be a good idea to keep it, at least in the early days. I’d planned to remove it later at some point, but that point never came and it just slipped my mind. Vanessa was right there, sitting across from us with her mother, aware of everything.
“When?” It seems one-word sentences are all I can manage at this point.
“After your gigantic romantic gesture, she devised her horrendous plan. Everyone received the fucking email. She even mailed the investors and stakeholders.” Zach’s words are filled with hate, as he explains what happened in the world while I was fucking asleep.
“Everyone?”
Zane nods. “I s-saw it at t-two in the morning. Already talked to Beas-st and Mat-thew.”
I have no clue when Zane sleeps. He’s the first to act when a crisis like this arises. I’m sure he already has a fix for the situation. Calling Mathew Hilbert was definitely a step in the right direction, but I have no idea how Beast will react.
As if reading my mind, Zane adds, “Beast isn’t pleased-d, especially when there’s a girl involved-d.”
“Shit. I need to talk to him.” All this new information is just increasing my dizziness. I grab the table next to me for support.
“Yeah, you do. But everything is under control.” Zach grabs a chair and slides it behind me. I gladly accept and flop down on it. “Don’t get anxious, Zander. Zane has issued an email stating that the non-fraternization policy has been annulled since last week. We have the official changed policy signed by the board,” Zach explains. “It’s a no-brainer to guess the reasons for the change, considering Vanessa’s email. But at least we are legally safe. Plus, Zane has removed the security footage from the party where you heroically announced your relationship with Marr.”
Hearing her name brings back memories of the day before. I had planned to visit her first thing in the morning, but fuck, she might have already seen the email.
“IT just now removed all t-t-the unopened copies-s-s of the email from our s-s-servers. But if Marr already read…” Zane doesn’t finish.
I know he’s done all he could. “It’s okay. But how did you manage to remove footage?” I ask warily. I don’t want him to get involved in such stuff.
“Don’t worry. I didn’t do anyt-t-thing. I called Luke. He had-d-d a talk with the hotel manager,” Zane explains, but I have a good idea what he means by talk.
Of course, it’s Lukas Spencer, Zane’s closest friend, to the rescue. As always, my jaw tightens hearing his name. Knowing that Zane sought him out to clean up my mess gives an immeasurable boost to my headache. I try to hold on to the fact that at least my brother wasn’t directly involved in all the talking , so that’s a relief.
“What’s next?” It looks like they have everything under control, and I’m grateful for that, as my fucking head is useless this morning.
Zach hands me my phone. “Call Beast and then Marr.”