Kiss A Ginger Day: A steamy workplace romantic comedy

Chapter 9

“Patty?” Alice blinked at her friend as if she were a figment of her imagination. Hard to do, given her crimson-colored coat stood out like a cardinal against the last bits of snow and brown trees behind her. Running into someone you knew, let alone a friend from work, was almost unheard of in the city.

“Alice,” Patty blinked, her tone cautious. Probably because she stood frozen like a scared rabbit. She didn’t count on meeting anyone she knew with Theodore in tow.

“What are you doing here?” Instant regret filled her for sounding so accusatory. It wasn’t Patty’s fault Alice was out with their company’s new management consultant.

“Meeting Steph. She’s never seen the Jefferson before. Can you believe it?” Patty moved forward. “Then we’re going to the Mall to throw snowballs at hot men. It’s the new flirting. So, taking a little romantic stroll around the monuments?” She eyed Theodore up and down, who had stood up when Patty got near.

Theodore grinned back at her. “Yes, Alice thought I should see?—”

“Oh, no. Just taking a walk, and we ran into each other?—”

Her and Theodore’s words ran over each other in a mad gush.

Shit, shit, shit. Patty was no fool. She had a radar for two things: lies and sex. Her face practically reflected all the things Alice and Theodore had done the last two days. Things she wanted to keep to herself.

Alice cleared her throat and rose. “I mean?—”

“We talked about—” Theodore started.

“At the office?—”

“My ex-girlfriend and?—”

“How DC—” Would the man shut up already?

“Has so many monuments?—”

Jesus, Theodore. “That he’d never?—”

“And then peaches came up?—”

“Stop, stop.” Patty held up her hand, then twirled her finger in the air. “First, these are cherry trees, not peach trees. What’s really going on?”

Theodore’s smile grew even wider. “Damn. Caught.” He was having fun with it. Didn’t he get it? Patty worked at Edison Tech. She knew everyone and everything, and even though she was Alice’s friend, them being out together on a Sunday did not look good. Not at all.

“You can stop trying to make something up.” Patty drew closer. “Now, quick. Before Steph gets here. One, is this real love or a fling? And two, what counter-story do you want me to plant?”

Oh, thank God. Alice smacked Theodore in the chest with the back of her hands. “I knew it. Patty’s got our back.”

Theodore grabbed her arm and held it. “We don’t know yet.”

Patty crossed her arms. “Know? We need to come up with something. Fast.”

Theodore continued to hold Alice’s arm. His touch was not helping the situation.

“No, I’m answering your question,” he said. “Real love or a fling. We don’t know yet.”

Alice withdrew from his hold and slowly swung her head his way. “It’s a little early?—”

“To call it? Yes, I agree. We’ll have to see on National BAE Day.”

Patty raised her eyebrows. “What?”

Alice waved her hand. “It’s a day where lovers celebrate their one and only. Like ‘before anyone else’?”

Patty’s eyebrows nearly touched the clouds. “Are you serious? Here? The land of men married to their cell phones and laptops?” She scoffed, her breath a silver cloud hanging in the air.

“And here I thought you were the cynical one,” Theodore muttered to Alice.

The man was so na?ve. Alice turned her attention back to Patty. “The truth is, we have a … chemistry thing here. And we needed to assess it, ya know, and talk about it. Sort it out.”

Patty half smiled and nodded slowly. “Jamie Frasier did it again. Completely smothered any sense out of a woman.”

She had that one right. Then again, she was allowed to have a life, right? Look what focusing solely on work had gotten her. A stuck career. No radar for who was flirting and who wasn’t. Hello, Roger. At least Theodore was up front about his intentions.

“Well, we have to come up with something pronto,” Patty said. “After you left? There was talk. And Roger was being … himself.” She rolled her eyes.

Great. The rumor mill had already started about them. Why did she have to faint? And why did Theodore catch her? In front of everyone, to boot.

Alice swallowed. “Talk? Like what?”

“Tricia and Steph think you have a crush on Theodore.” As if on cue, a dog barked in the background.

Alarm bells went off inside her. Having a life outside of work didn’t mean everyone got to have a say in it. “I do not. Sorry, Theodore,” she added quickly.

An annoying twinkle formed in his eyes. “I wouldn”t call it a crush. More like …”

Before he could say anything else, because clearly the man had no sense of self-preservation, she held up both hands. “We need your help, Patty. To avoid suspicion. But first, is something going on?”

“Something set off Roger.”

Double shit. The last thing she needed was for Roger to be upset, especially after too many people watched Theodore carry her out of the lobby, and Roger found them together at her apartment.

Patty straightened her glasses, and cleared her throat. “Okay, before we create this false story—and I know it’s false so don’t argue with me about it”—she pointed at Alice—“here’s the current situation at work, the environment in which this counter-story will be spread. The office was a total mess when you two didn’t come back. Technically, when Alice didn’t come back.”

“What happened?”

“Harrison’s car wouldn’t start again,” Patty continued. “So, thank God you left the jumper cables, but no one seemed to know how to work them, and then when we got back in, Roger was muttering and kicking things?—”

Theodore’s twinkling ended. “Kicking?”

“A big shipment of paper came in, and the storeroom’s full, and no one knew where to put it, so it’s in the hallway, which is what got Roger bumping into things. He literally kicked a box until it split open. He was muttering something about The Twins coming down next week and not knowing what people are really like and?—”

Alice gasped. “The Twins? Come down? You mean”—she pointed her finger up and then down—“they’re leaving their penthouse view in New York to visit us?”

Suzy and Samuel O’Flannery weren’t technically twins. Rather, they were a brother and sister team that hit it big in the heyday of the internet bubble in the early 2000s as prodigal teenagers. In fact, they made so much money on their first venture that they could separately fund several new companies. It became a game for them, trying to one-up each other until they called a truce and formed Edison Tech and several other companies around the world together.

The staff saw them exactly once a year—the annual St. Patrick’s Day party. They stayed for thirty minutes and drank one green drink developed for the event. Last year, it was a horrid Girl Scout cookie concoction with real crumbled-up Thin Mints over whipped cream drizzled with crème de menthe. Alice’s stomach clenched as she remembered it.

Theodore rocked back on his heels. “It was bound to happen. They own the company.”

Of course, Theodore would know that. In fact, he’d probably met them already. But they really needed to focus on the issue at hand because Patty had more to say.

“Then, the copier”—Patty dropped her voice a whisper—“the Big Whale? Wouldn’t work.” She lifted her gaze to Theodore. “The copier is in love with Alice and only works when she’s in the building. That really put Roger in a tizzy.”

Theodore pursed his lips. “A copier? People still need those?”

“We do, and it needs Alice.”

“She does have a special touch.” He grinned down at her.

Patty’s eyes softened. “Aww, that’s sweet.”

“Patty.” Alice snapped her fingers in front of her friend’s doe-eyes. “I can deal with all that later.” She took in a large breath and blew it out, praying to God what she was about to tell Patty didn’t backfire on her. “What you don’t know is Roger showed up at my place on Friday afternoon after Theodore drove me home. He assumed certain things.”

Patty’s mouth dropped to an O, and then she stared up at Theodore. “You really are a Jamie.” She practically sighed the words at him. But then she raised her chin. “Okay. Spill it. What’s going on with you two? Start with after the big fainting episode. Yes, I heard about it.”

Everyone likely had. Theodore glanced Alice’s way but wisely didn’t address her humiliating moment in the lobby.

Alice clasped her hands together. “Theodore drove me home. We were talking at my apartment when Roger showed up,” Alice filled in. “Theodore made me … tea.”

“I did not.” He scowled. “There was nothing that resembled tea in that apartment.” He turned to Patty. “Then after retrieving her car from the impound lot?—”

“Impound?”

“It was still stuck from Thursday night’s snowstorm. It’d been towed, and thanks to this country’s adherence to the capitalist regime, we were able to liberate it for the bargain price of seven hundred dollars.”

Patty’s eyebrows were in the clouds now. “You went with her?”

“Of course. Have you ever been to that section of town? One would need nunchucks and a German Shepherd to get out alive. Then I took her to lunch, which, again, had no proper tea, I might add.” It appeared Patty wasn’t the only drama queen.

Patty leaned toward him. “You got a brother, Theodore?” If Alice didn’t know better, little invisible hearts were floating out of Patty’s chest.

“He’s married.”

“How about an uncle? Aging father who looks like you?”

“Patty!” Alice couldn’t watch the back and forth with the two of them anymore. The clock was ticking.

“Right. My entire future, including the children I’m going to have with someone from his chivalrous bloodline, can wait. We need to decide how to handle this. If Roger found you at home with Theodore … man.” She glanced at Theodore. “He’s a bit paranoid, you see. Always thinking someone is talking about him behind his back, which is ironic as hell, given what he does.”

Theodore inched closer to her. “What do you mean?”

Okay, regaining control of the situation just turned critical. She grasped her friend’s elbow and moved her to the bench. “We’re sitting. In case Steph walks up, it’s just you and me. We ran into each other. And Theodore … go…” she waved her hand. “… over there.”

“No,” Patty whined. “He needs to know the story, too.”

“He knows it already. As he said, on Friday, we got my car and then went to lunch and began our interview.” No need to talk about the ensuing thirty-six hours.

“And after?” She winked. “The interview continued? Inventoried all your, um, skills?” she whispered.

“Patty!” She was getting tired of screaming the woman’s name.

“Okay, okay.” Patty shook her head as if clearing her mind. “You can fill me in on the salacious details later.”

Absolutely not. “Nothing to tell.”

“Uh, huh. Sure, there isn’t. And what about Roger? What happened when he showed up?” Her eyes grew wide and her spine straightened as her hands clutched in two fists at her chest. “He was boss interruptus? Was there a duel? A fight for your honor? Dammit, and I missed it.” She stomped her foot.

Patty’s theatrics were at an all-time high. “Nothing like that. He was just checking on me.”

“His ego demanded to check in on her,” Theodore said, still not walking away.

“He does have a big one, and yes, I know all about you being Miss December, Alice, even if you didn’t let me in on it. I forgive you, by the way.” Patty raised one eyebrow.

Theodore’s brows furrowed. Great, she had to bring that up. Alice sighed. She didn’t want to revisit her unwise decision to have dinners with Roger, even if under the guise of work.

“Can you tell people tomorrow morning that you talked to me and I’m fine now? After Theodore and I had an interview lunch, he brought me back to my apartment.” Technically true. He just stayed. “You can say I spent the weekend in bed.” Also true, just with Theodore.

Patty’s smile returned in full force, and she nodded knowingly. “Because you weren’t feeling well?”

“You can say that.” A tiny lie. It wasn’t her fault National Pie Day was mentioned by the waitress and sent them into thinking it was kismet or something. It was her fault, however, for getting them to try out all the sexual positions she could think of for the ensuing thirty-six hours.

Guilt and a zing of satisfaction warred inside her. She wasn’t sorry about finally having some fun. Not even now after defying all statistical probability by immediately running into a coworker friend out of 5,490,000 people in the greater Washington, DC, area. Getting caught wasn’t something she’d ever believed could happen. So much for being in control.

She took her friend’s hand. “You didn’t see me or hear from me until right here, where I sat with you. Only you.” Also factual. Theodore remained standing.

“True. We sat together. Theodore is not on the bench.”

Alice always knew people underestimated Patty’s cleverness. “And on Monday, Theodore is launching into his set of interviews, which you are very much looking forward to, right?”

She nodded vigorously. “Oh, yes. Very much. Bring a family tree of all the single men in your family, Theodore. So.” She slapped her lap. “I see Steph over there, so run away, you two. I got the story.” She rose and held out her hand, which Alice took. “Good and done.”

“Good and done,” Alice repeated and began to push Theodore away. “Let’s go, let’s go, let’s go.”

Theodore shook his head. “You two scare me.”

Alice grabbed his arm and pulled him away. Right then, she realized the whole story they concocted could have been done over the phone. They could have made a clean getaway before Steph even showed. Something about Theodore made her lose all sense, which was not her usual state.

When they were a safe distance away, meaning Patty and Steph were nowhere to be seen, she stopped short. “I want you to know I don’t fabricate stories like that. But this is a unique circumstance.” Her breath came out in puffs. The temperature had to have dropped another ten degrees since they’d been outside.

“I get it. But why do you do all those things?” His too-blue eyes bore into her.

A breeze blew hair in her face, which she angrily swiped away. “Do what?”

“Jumper cables, storeroom inventory, copier maintenance.”

She rubbed her hands together. “That’s all you’re worried about? We almost got caught, Theodore.” How could he not see the danger ahead? A small throb began behind her left eye.

“And what’s this about Miss December?”

Her belly twisted. “It’s nothing.” Please don’t ask me about that, she silently begged. It was humiliating enough she’d been so blind to Roger’s ways, bouncing from one woman to another. It was a whole other mortifying scenario that people thought she was one of them.

Then again, he’d linger at her office door when she worked late and brought her doughnuts in the morning. How could she have not seen his motives? He was flirting all that time.

She’d picked the right New Year’s resolution, and she was exercising it right now.

“We can’t do this.” She swished a finger between them. “Ever again. It’s too dangerous.”

“Oh?” His lips thinned, his features stilling.

“This … was a mistake. Huge, actually.”

“I see.” His mouth set in a hard line, his tone sharp as a stiletto. “And to think I’ve been accused of putting work over everything else.”

Oh. Maybe she’d hurt him. What man didn’t want his conquests to be fawned over, especially by the woman involved? But Theodore didn’t seem the type to need his ego stroked that much. And he’d started it all. Sort of.

She reached for his arm, but he pulled it away. “I meant?—”

“I know what you meant, Alice. And you’re right. I should prepare for tomorrow. See you around.” He spun away.

She stared at his back, and her heart split in two. One half jumped for joy that they were going to go back to their original plan: Be all business until June 10 when it was National BAE Day. She understood a plan. The other half, however? Crumbled to dust by his cold turn.

She sucked in a long cold breath that nearly froze her lungs. The whole scene was absurd. She’d known the man for mere days. Granted, they’d done things she’d never done with anyone, but still … They’d done things.

Maybe they just fizzled out?

She shook her head a little as if that would make her brain gain some sense. “I should probably go to Edison, too,” she called after him. If that was how he wanted to play it, she wouldn’t stop him.

He turned in profile. “No, you should go home. I’ll take the office.”

Oh, he was delineating territory already, was he? Before she could argue, he marched away. With every step, the side of her heart that was Team Theodore beat louder and louder. But she held her ground, watching his broad back, his long strides taking him away from her. Her pride demanded she not run after him. Instead, she stood there, stupidly pining for … what?

Alice’s romantic experience was pretty minimal. A high school boyfriend she gave her virginity to. A college boyfriend who studied chemistry and was far too into edibles to make bedtime antics wild. A few dates here and there after school and fumbling a few times in one or two of their beds in their cramped suburban apartments after a wine festival in Southern Maryland or a day of bar hopping in Georgetown. How boring it all seemed now that she’d spent time with Theodore.

But she was a big girl, and, actually, running into Patty could’ve been a gift. Fun times were over. She had a promotion to secure.