Chapter 11
Z ack’s work in technology taught him patience. Many a night he stayed awake until dawn writing code that wouldn’t perform their intended functions. He’d learned to take breaks—walk around, drink coffee, tea, or whatever cleared his head.
Today, nothing helped.
Since asking Gina out, he glimpsed her coming and going, but deliberately stayed out of her way. He could have lied to himself about his logic, but admitted he didn’t want to give her any reason to change her mind. He had too much riding on this date.
One, it would prove what he told Eli—he was over Alana. Two, his brother would stop trying to find women for him if he snagged a date for himself. Something his brother thought him incapable of doing. Eli refused to believe Zack didn’t need a woman in his life.
Three, going out with Regina would help Zack decide if he could trust himself. The disaster with Alana made him doubt his judgment. At thirty-five, that wasn’t an issue he should have been battling, but he’d learned that life threw curve balls no one saw coming.
Alana was everything he’d wanted—smart, attractive, enterprising, a bit of a wild child, and she loved and supported him. After dating her for a year, he was certain they wanted the same things. They flew to Jamaica, and he introduced her to the family. He proposed weeks later and was ready to settle into a future with her.
The phone buzzed, and he picked it up. “Liz, are you checking on me again?”
“What do you think?”
He dragged a hand down his beard and shook his head. “Of course you are. Why don’t you micromanage your staff the way you keep tabs on me?”
“They know what they’re doing. You, on the other hand, are only around to remind them I’ve appointed a watchdog to keep them in line.”
“You shouldn’t have bothered. Half the time I’m getting in the way.”
“On the contrary, I hear you’re pulling your weight and that you’re good with the kids.”
“But you knew that, which is why I’m there and not Eli.”
“Yep. Whichever way your bet went, you’d be the one minding my business.” Lizette laughed, then added, “Can’t have that drill sergeant mucking up the works.”
Eli believed children were small adults and should be treated as such, which didn’t work the way he thought. Their niece and nephews—who were actually cousins—proved him wrong all the time when their actions didn’t fall in line with Eli’s way of thinking.
“Since I haven’t burned down the building, you can put your mind at ease. I have work to do.”
“Which is why I really called. I hear you took the day off.”
He chuckled, stood from the seat, and stretched. “In case you forgot, you’re not paying me to act as your stand-in.”
“Whatever. You weren’t at Wintertime, so I wanted to see if you’re all right.”
“Why wouldn’t I be?” Zack removed his glasses and laid them on the desk.
Lizette’s voice took on a teasing note when she said, “I hear you have a date.”
“Oh.” He rubbed his eyes and left the desk to walk around the room. “Now I know what you really want. To dip into my business.”
“Mmm-hmm. Eli told me, so I had to get it from the horse’s mouth.”
“The two of you are acting like I’ve never been out with a woman in my life.”
“I’m not saying that, but Alana turned you into a hermit.”
“You’re exaggerating.”
“Right, says the man who hasn’t looked at a woman in months.”
“Well, I’m looking at one now.”
“And I’m happy to hear it. Anyway, don’t get lost in your head and sit at that computer all day. Remember to authorize the transfers to my people’s bank accounts. I emailed you the payroll last week.”
“Yeah, you did, and no, I won’t forget.” He paced the room for a bit, then sprawled in the seat. “Still enjoying the conference?”
“Yes, the last session is this morning and there’s a shopping trip planned for later in the day.”
“Don’t spend all your money.”
“Love you, Zack. Mind your business.”
“Right back at you. See you soon.”
Talking with Lizette always made him feel better, and he was still smiling after ending the call. He rolled the chair back and went to the window to stare at the mowed area behind the property. Eli and he owned this house, where they grew up, and the familiar surroundings kept him grounded.
When their parents opted to downsize, Eli and he insisted on buying and converting the property into two connected living spaces with three bedrooms each. Neither of them had a family yet, but as their father often said, “Don’t wait until you’re in the middle of a battle to plan the war.”
Arms folded, he stared at the high wooden fence as his thoughts spun back to his time with Alana in Miami.
Each evening, she’d curl up on the loveseat in his living room, preparing marketing and promotional strategies for her clients. He’d be in his home office on his laptop, a few feet away.
When she was tired, Alana would lean in the doorway and invite him to stop working for the night. Sometimes, he did. Sometimes, he didn’t. It depended on what he was trying to finish.
By the time they were engaged, Alana came and went as it pleased her. Some nights, she stayed with him. At other times, she went home. Of course, Zack gave her free access to his townhouse.
The first clue something was wrong with their relationship was that she stopped checking on him when he pulled all-nighters. She understood his work, but in the early days she fussed if he worked too late into the evening.
Alana would hug his neck and whisper in his ear, “You won’t be of any use to me if you’re wearing yourself out in front of that screen.”
More often than not, her soft words and gentle invitation would make him abandon what he was doing to cuddle with her, or make love to her, depending on what she needed.
He blamed himself for not noticing when things changed. As their business expanded, he and Eli sat through extended teleconferences and worked together on projects for their clients.
Alongside their primary tasks, Zack was working on an app for Lizette, who planned to expand into preparatory learning for children aged six to twelve years.
EduAide would help parents and teachers keep abreast of their children’s performance, outstanding projects, and averages.
When he couldn’t talk to Eli, he spoke with Alana. She, too, shared ideas she wanted to present to the small businesses she serviced. During their discussion about EduAide, she agreed it would be a great resource.
“I can get feedback from a close friend who teaches middle grade students,” she offered. “He also has a background in IT, so a second pair of eyes may be useful.”
He knew the guy she meant but had no plans to share the app with anyone other than family. Over the laptop, he slowly shook his head. “It’s at ninety-eight percent, so I prefer to wait. Besides, Liz will test it for me and Eli is my second pair of eyes.”
Alana shrugged. “There’s nothing wrong with getting feedback from a wider audience.”
“I prefer not to do that yet, but thanks for the offer.”
“Fine. Have it your way.”
Her terse tone made him look up from the laptop, but he didn’t pursue the argument. That was the end of the matter until Eli phoned him one evening two weeks later. Without greeting Zack, he said, “How far along are you with EduAide?”
“Almost complete, except for a couple of bugs I need to fix.”
“Someone has something remarkably similar that I just came across online. Theirs is in the testing phase.”
“What?” Everything stood still as he processed what he’d heard.
Eli gave him the name of the tech website and, after speed-reading the article about EduFirst, Zack wanted to throw his laptop across the room. Someone had pipped him. He’d worked on EduAide for many months, but it was never about the money or fame.
Creating the program was something he was happy to do for his baby sister and, by the sound of it, someone had stolen it. His heart swelled to bursting point as the blood pumped in his ears and fierce anger blinded him. He didn’t register Eli’s voice until he spoke louder. “Zack, you there?”
He’d pulled in a deep breath, then sighed. “Yeah, I see it.”
“Is it possible that someone got hold of your work?”
“Aside from you, the only people who know about this are Liz and Alana.”
The silence was thick. He was about to hang up when Eli cleared his throat. “There’s something else I don’t know how to tell you.”
“You may as well get it over with now. What could be worse than this entire episode?”
Eli sighed, then said, “I’m sending some pictures. I took them yesterday and with this happening today ... please don’t shoot the messenger.”
He’d been reluctant to look at the images, but they cemented the reality he needed to face. In progressive shots, Eli had captured Alana and the “friend” she’d wanted to test EduAide inside a cafe. Their body language—heads close together, affectionate smiles, and the last picture of them kissing—told Zack all he needed to know. That, and the evening a week later when he walked in on them in her apartment.
***
Z ACK STUMBLED BACK to the seat, still in the grip of his memories. The day his life changed scrolled before him ... standing inside Alana’s apartment in the late afternoon, watching as she made love with the man she called a friend.
Since Eli’s revelation, Zack gave Alana excuses to prevent her from coming over and kept their telephone conversations short. When he pulled himself together enough to confront her, he drove across town to her place. He didn’t want her contaminating his.
A hundred questions swarmed in his brain. What gave her the idea to access his computer? How long had she been planning to steal from him? Where did she find time to see this other guy? Why hadn’t she told him she wanted out?
He’d let himself into her living room, prepared to wait, but she was at home and busy in the bedroom. The door was open and his feet led him to stand in the doorway. Zack wasn’t a voyeur, but couldn’t drag his eyes away as Alana collapsed on her back giggling, her legs tangled with those of her other man.
Her face froze and her amusement slid away when her eyes met his over her friend’s shoulder. At first, she pushed frantically at him, then she sighed, sank on the mattress, and pulled the sheet over her chest. The guy followed her gaze then rolled over, taking the sheet with him. He disappeared behind the door, but Zack wasn’t there for a physical battle.
Blinding pain shafted through his chest and he backed up. Zack then he held his ground because he’d done nothing wrong.
Alana rose from the bed, scrabbled around for her robe, and shoved her arms inside. Not once did her attention stray from him, as if she expected him to do something crazy.
Hands in his pockets, Zack stood motionless when she closed the door and dragged her hair from the back of the robe. He shifted his gaze, reminded of how he sometimes buried his face in her hair during their lovemaking. All the while, some other guy had been doing the same.
“Zack—”
“Why?” he asked, his tone harsh. “Was it so hard to tell me you wanted out?”
“I—”
“I don’t want to hear it.” Eyes closed, he said, “Tell me why you had to steal from me. You know how much that project meant to me, to my family.”
“That’s all you care about,” she spat. “ Your precious sister and your business. I got tired of listening to you and Eli yakking at all hours of the day and night about your blasted programming.”
“Bullshit.” Zack’s nostrils flared as his blood pressure rose. “That’s no reason for any of this. All you needed to say was—”
“I got tired of telling you what you should have seen coming. You got so comfortable with us , that you forgot about me .”
“That’s your excuse for sleeping with your so-called friend ? All this time, you led me to believe he was your buddy and now I find out ...” He wiped his mouth to prevent himself from saying something he’d regret, and filled his chest with air. “You know what? In my world, people in a relationship talk. They hash out stuff that isn’t working.”
He pointed over her shoulder. “They don’t run off and sleep with their friends.”
“They do, when it’s clear they’re in a relationship by themselves.”
Running a hand over his hair, Zack asked, “So, were you going to marry me?”
She looked away, but didn’t respond. When Alana finally met his gaze, malice flashed in her eyes and she scoffed.
“I get it.” Zack nodded. “You were prepared to string me along until you got everything you wanted. Now that you have it, I hope you’re happy.”
With her hands raised, Alana approached him, “It didn’t start out like that. Haydn and I have known each other for a long time and—”
Copying her movement, Zack shook his head and let his hands fall. “Nothing has changed, Alana. I don’t need to hear all the whys and wherefores. Far as I can tell, you stole from me out of spite.”
He walked away and spoke over his shoulder. “I can build a thousand more apps, but I can’t rebuild a relationship with a cheater, a thief, and clearly, someone I can’t trust.”
Something heavy crashed against the door when he stood on the other side. Zack walked away, shattered but grateful they hadn’t made it to the altar.
Next to his fingers, the cell phone’s ringer yanked him back into the room and the calm of the present moment. He couldn’t swear for Gina, but was willing to bet she wouldn’t do him dirty.
Still, he couldn’t go wrong guarding his heart.