Chapter 5
Chase
“Are you bringing anyone to Calvin’s retirement party next week?” Mitch asked. “Or are you going stag?” He sat across from me as we shared an after-hours drink in my office. “Sometimes it’s easier to go solo.”
It was easier to go alone, but it wasn’t as fun. The fact that it was on a work night could change my mind, though.
“Haven’t decided yet. If I do, thought I might reach out to Amanda. Haven’t seen her much lately.”
Mitch’s eyes went wide and he shook his head. “Bold move with that one, especially after last summer. Have you seen her since The Plaza party?”
“I’ve seen her out at the bars, but we haven’t gone out.
She seemed OK with me, ya know, considering.
” I knew ditching her that night wasn’t cool, but we were never more than a hookup.
It was always casual with her. At least I sent her home in a car.
Maybe Mitch was right. Heading to another event with Amanda where Maryellen would be wasn’t fair to either of them. “What about you? Asking anyone?”
“Nope,” Mitch said. “I’m going solo. Like I said, it’s easier. I can leave when I want and just head on home. I think you should steer clear of her if you want my opinion. After last time, she may not be your best option.”
I knew Gage wouldn’t mind if I went alone, but he was weird sometimes and liked both of us to have a date to these functions. Kind of old school, like my father that way.
“Yeah, you might be right. I think I need to figure something else out.”
“Smart man.” He stood, stretched his arms overhead, and walked his glass to the wet bar. “I’m heading home. You doing anything fun this weekend?”
Mitch would sometimes come to the karaoke bar with me and my college friends, but it wasn’t his favorite thing to do.
He’d rather hit the club scene. At my age, doing that should be my choice as well, but for some reason I felt like I was already aging out of it.
The girls there, although beyond pretty, weren’t what I was looking for.
Not anymore.
“Maybe the karaoke bar, if you’re interested.”
“Eh,” Mitch said. “I’ll let ya know.”
That meant no, but it was OK. I had my weekend planned with Ely and Sam. They were my tagalongs at Iggy’s and enjoyed singing themselves once in a while. The karaoke bar was where I felt most at home. The more time I could spend on stage, mic in hand, the better.
It made me feel whole. Singing the words, even if they weren’t my own, and experiencing what they did to the crowd made me feel alive.
Ten minutes on stage, and the energy I fed off that, gave me the strength to go into the office another day.
Over the following week I racked my brain on who to bring to this damn party. Every time I walked by Maryellen sitting at her desk, I only wanted to ask her.
In the end, I reached out to a girl named Lena, who I’d gone on a couple of dates with last fall. It was nothing serious, and I hoped this didn’t give her reason to think otherwise. She was a social person, so I knew I wouldn’t be tied to her all night. Exactly what I needed.
We arrived and once inside, an attendant directed us to the party.
“Chase!” Harper called out as soon as we walked in.
Every time I saw her, I grew happier for my brother. She was perfect for him and exactly what he needed in his life. She found him just in time.
Me, however, I’ve been struggling for so many reasons. Amy and I were together for two years. We met my senior year of college and stayed together once we graduated. I thought we were it for one another.
But I wasn’t “it” for her.
When she broke up with me, I went into a tailspin, and my raucous behavior from college came crashing back. That was until I convinced Maryellen to give us a try.
Harper and Gage made it over to Lena and me.
“Hi,” Harper said with a smile.
“Hey, guys, this is Lena. Lena, this is my brother Gage, and his girlfriend Harper.”
As expected, she went off with Harper to the bar, them both chatting like old friends.
“Another new one,” Gage said with some judgment.
“Yeah, whatever. I thought I needed to have someone on my arm tonight.” My eyes scanned the room, noticing very few people were here. “Is Cal here? I should give my congratulations.”
Gage looked around the room with me. “He and his wife are over there.” He pointed toward the front of the room. “And before you ask, his wife’s name is Laura.”
Yeah, I wasn’t planning on asking, but it was vital information.
“Calvin,” I said as I walked up. He took my hand and shook it firmly.
We had a fondness for each other. When my father was still here, and I would visit as a younger child, Cal’s office was one I would visit often. He was nicest to me of the older employees.
“Congratulations on your retirement. I’ll be sorry to see you go. I’m sure Laura will be happy you’ll be home more.” Leaning in, I gave her a small hug and kiss on the cheek.
“Oh, I wouldn’t be so sure about that,” Cal said, laughing. “I think she’s already thinking about all the ways to keep me busy and out of the house.” He smiled warmly at his wife.
“Oh shush, Calvin,” Laura said. “That’s not true. I’ve got plenty of things to keep me busy and out of the house, don’t you worry. Chase, how is your father doing? It’s been a while since we’ve seen him. We were sorry to hear he couldn’t make it tonight.”
Laura and I continued talking for a few minutes while Cal greeted other guests arriving at the party. Out of the corner of my eye, I caught a glimpse of a gorgeous blonde in a simple black dress with sky-high red stilettos coming down the hall toward us.
It was Maryellen.
And she was with that asshole I saw her outside the bar with the other night.
Dammit. This night was gonna suck even worse now.
She approached Calvin. The proper thing to do would have been to excuse myself and allow Laura to greet them as well.
I chose not to.
“So, Laura, any travel plans for you two once Cal is home?” I asked.
She had an answer for my question; however, I couldn’t tell ya where they were going. Instead, I strained to hear Maryellen introducing her date to the guest of honor. There was too much background noise since more people had arrived and the hall became crowded.
The tool bag recognized me, I could tell. He stared me down as he stood by her side, making sure his hand was on her back. Refusing to play along, I finished my conversation with Cal’s wife and politely moved to the side.
And I waited.
I waited for them to move toward the room and walk right past me.
That was when Maryellen saw me. Our eyes connected, and I watched her steps falter the slightest bit, but she recovered well.
Keeping my eyes glued to hers as they walked by, I watched her drop her hand from his. It was subtle, and she tried to mask it by using her hand to touch her hair. But I saw it, and her widened eyes told me she knew it.
As soon as they passed, I felt a body sidle up next to me.
“Hey,” a warm voice said. “There you are. I wasn’t sure where you went.” Lena put her arm around me, pulling me deeper into the room, away from Maryellen. “Harper said we should sit with them.”
She continued to steer me toward a table near the front of the room. This was expected, of course, to sit with Gage. We would have to be a united front as co-CEOs of Parker Financial.
My plans of skipping out early were now dashed.
“Hey, Chase,” Harper said while coming up behind me.
Turning to her, I pulled her into a hug. “Hey, yourself. Place looks great. Did you have a hand in it?”
She looked around and smiled. “This one was more Maryellen than me. They provide their own flowers here. Maryellen found the space. It’s a great venue. And Gage got a band, so it should be a fun night.”
A band.
That meant a long night.
“Cal and Laura are sitting there,” Harper said, pointing to two of the chairs. “That’s me and Gage, so take any of the other seats.”
Turning to Lena, I gestured to the table. “You pick our seats, and I’ll head to the bar. What can I get you?”
As I would expect, Lena put her clutch by the chair next to Harper’s.
“I’ll have champagne, thanks,” she said.
The bar was getting crowded, but it was staffed well enough so there was no wait. After grabbing a glass of champagne and a bourbon, I started back to our table. As I approached the empty chair next to Lena, the one on the other side of mine was now occupied.
Christ.
“Here ya go,” I said, placing a drink in front of my date.
My voice gave my presence away. Maryellen’s head turned before I took my seat, and she looked up at me. A combination of delight and torment shadowed those crystal blue eyes of hers.
“Hi, Maryellen,” I said. “You look nice.”
My attempt at keeping it professional sounded abrupt. And fake. I hated not being able to tell her exactly how I felt.
That she was the most stunning woman in the entire room.
That the sun followed her wherever she moved, lighting her way.
That my hands trembled with desire under the table as I struggled not to reach out and touch her.
“Hi,” Maryellen said. “Thank you. You look nice as well.”
The guy Maryellen brought was busy talking to Cal’s wife Laura, and I was thankful I wasn’t sitting next to him. That combined with bourbon wouldn’t end well.
“You’ll have to introduce me to your date,” Maryellen said. “She’s very pretty. Are you two seeing each other?”
Maryellen was an abundantly nice person. No one ever had a bad thing to say about her. So, when I heard an edge in her words, I was shocked.
There was no way I was willingly introducing them.
There was no reason for her to be jealous, considering she also brought a date.
Who I had no interest in being introduced to.
Yet I was sure I couldn’t avoid an introduction all night considering we were sitting at the same fucking table. How convenient.
“No, not exactly. We just go out occasionally. What about you and your date? Seeing each other?”
Truth was, I really didn’t want to know, though it was the polite thing to do.
“Um, second date. Poor guy agreed to come to a work event on our second date. And now he’s stuck talking to the guest of honor’s wife.”
Gage struck his glass with a fork. The tinging sound got the crowd’s attention.
“Welcome,” Gage started. “Thanks for coming as we send off one of our best. Calvin Waters is going to be missed. When I was young…”
My mind shut down on the story my brother told when Maryellen’s leg rubbed against mine.
And she kept it there.
It could have been that the table was crowded and the chairs were close together. But Lena and I weren’t touching.
My finger tapped against the empty glass in front of me, hoping if I stared at it, more bourbon would appear.
By now Cal stood and was addressing the room, but I still couldn’t concentrate on anything being said.
My eyes wandered to Maryellen’s slender hand as she grasped her wineglass, her shiny red nails a stark contrast to the white wine.
Slouching in my chair allowed me to have a better view. Her classic profile as she listened to Calvin’s speech, her occasional smile at his corny jokes. Every move her body made created a need in me. I had to force myself not to reach out and touch her.
Her leg moved away from mine as she leaned over to speak to the guy she was with. It made me wonder if I’d imagined it all.
The room broke out in applause and snapped the trance I’d been in.
“Could you get me another drink?” Lena asked.
“Absolutely.” Anxious to get up, I shot up from my chair and raced to the bar. Even though it wasn’t crowded, I decided to spend a few minutes away from the table. Once I got my drink, I took a sip, allowing myself to enjoy the burn of it going down my throat.
“How do you drink that stuff?”
Even asking me a question like that, her voice melted me on the inside. No one else had this effect on me.
“How do you not like it?” I asked her.
Maryellen scrunched her face up in disgust as she flagged down the bartender. She ordered another white wine while I ordered Lena’s champagne.
“It’s too…alcoholy.” Then she laughed. “I know it’s not a word.”
I laughed with her. “It gets the point across.”
She nodded and then took a sip of her pinot grigio. “Now that’s nice.”
“I enjoy a good wine, too, ya know.”
She looked my way, and our eyes connected. She didn’t take her gaze from mine when she responded. “I know you do.”
Everything around us went away in that moment. There were no other voices. There were no other people.
It was only her and I.
Until he showed up.
“Hey, there you are. Didn’t know what was taking so long.” The guy she came with was at her side, claiming his stake.
“Just chatting with one of my bosses,” she told him.
He craned his neck to look around her. Now I wasn’t sure he recognized me from outside the bar, because he reached out his hand.
“Hi, I’m Garrett Anderson. I believe you’re Chase Parker, correct?” he said.
His handshake was OK, better than I thought it would be. And he impressed me by knowing who I was. All that meant was he was in the industry.
“Yeah, nice to meet you,” I said. “What firm are you with?”
“I’m at Goldman.”
His chin went up when he said it because he thought that meant something. But management at Goldman burnt them out so bad and the turnover rate was awful. I’d give it another two years before he was at our doorstep.
“Cool, man,” I said and turned away.
Even though her attention was no longer on me, I could still feel her presence nearby. Her body was a magnet to mine, pulling me to her wherever she was, but I resisted. Grabbing Lena’s champagne, I was about to return to our table.
Right when she leaned up against me.