Chapter 7
CHAPTER SEVEN
ADONIS
Lulu
I tried to warn you …
T his day is not turning out to be a good one. Filled with distractions and questionable decisions, I wish I could go back in time and start it off differently.
The knock on my door only proves to feed my frustration. I don’t look up. Instead, I drop my head into my hand and groan. There’s a headache forming just above my right eye, and I rub it like that’s somehow going to magically make it go away. It doesn’t.
“How can I help you?” I ask without looking up. I don’t really care who it is, just that they are bothering me.
“Still always so serious and harsh.” I cringe at the sound of the voice.
When I look up, the anger that rushes through me is hostile and fierce. I’m not sure I’ll ever be able to look at Lulu and not feel such strong hatred.
It doesn’t matter that she’s pretty or has the silkiest, long dark hair. Or that her curves are what fantasies are made of. I want her out of my life. Permanently.
“Get out of my office.” My words have bite, and she recoils but not enough that she leaves.
“No.” She smiles and steps inside, taking the chair opposite my desk.
“I don’t want you here,” I say. Nothing will ruin my day faster than seeing my ex-girlfriend. “Get out.”
“It doesn’t matter what you want, Donnie.” Her smile is sickly sweet and fake.
Everything about Lulu is fake. She’s always more concerned about appearances than anything else. Even if the appearance she portrays is a lie.
Lulu doesn’t come from money. She was born and raised in a struggling mining town in West Virginia. Her mom stayed home to care for her and her five brothers while her dad killed himself working twelve-hour days mining coal. They were poor and mostly uneducated.
When I first met her, she intrigued me. She came from a life so unlike mine. We didn’t have much growing up either, but that was more by choice than anything else. My parents made good money and saved a lot. It’s how they managed to retire early and travel beyond the borders of the US.
Living in a RV, moving from town to town, never staying in the same place for more than a month at a time … that’s the life my parents chose. My siblings and I were along for the ride.
Lulu’s life circumstances were not a choice.
Early in our relationship, I admired her. She worked hard to earn her bachelor’s degree and to get accepted to grad school. The mutual respect we shared was what brought us together.
Or at least I thought she respected me. Turns out it was all just a game to her.
“The hell it doesn’t,” I bark in reply. “This is my office, and you don’t belong here. Crawl back to whatever hell you came from. I don’t want to see you again.”
She laughs. Like full on bellow laugh. The furrow between my brow deepens. I can’t imagine why she thinks anything I said is funny.
“Get out!” I slam my hand on my desk, and she flinches. I never raised my voice with her once while we dated. Not even when I caught her cheating.
“So angry, Donnie.” She’s no longer laughing, but she’s still got that damn smile on her face. “And here I didn’t think you cared. You never showed this level of emotion the entire time we dated.”
“I showed plenty of emotions. That wasn’t our problem.”
“Oh wait, you’re right.” She taps her chin like she’s thinking, and her smile fades into something resembling disgust. “It was your weird sexual preferences that pushed us apart.”
I growl. Not because her words anger me but because they sting of truth. She’s not the only woman I dated that made me feel like my needs were unusual or wrong.
“It’s not my fault you have no sense of adventure.” I do my best to keep my voice void of emotion, but I fail. Anyone with ears can hear I’m bothered by her accusations. From the way she stares at me, I’m sure my expression gives it away too.
“Being arrested for public indecency is not my idea of an adventure.” She crosses her arms over her chest and glares at me. “It’s a crime.”
“I’ve never been arrested,” I argue.
“Not yet, but if you keep at it with your sick games, you will be.”
“I don’t play games. I’m not sick.”
“Say whatever you have to so that you feel better about yourself. It doesn’t change reality.”
“Why are you here, Lulu?” I yell. I’m tired of this conversation and just want to get rid of her. “I sure hope you didn’t come here just to rehash why I wasn’t good enough for you.”
Her smile returns to the same sickly sweet one she gave me when she arrived. “You’re right. I could really care less if you publicly expose yourself and get arrested.”
As my anger boils, so does my body temperature. I feel suffocated beneath my layers of clothing. I unbutton my suit jacket and shrug it off, hoping that will be enough to cool my skin so I’m not sweating like a nervous suspect under interrogation.
Lulu holds her hands up like she’s about to beg me to stop. “Hey, please don’t undress on my account. I’ve no interest in you like that anymore.”
“Get to the point, Lulu!” I say through gritted teeth. This conversation can’t end fast enough. “You know damn well that will never happen again.”
“You can say that again.”
I sigh and drop my head, rubbing my forehead. Definitely getting a headache. I can’t afford to get a headache right now.
“Will you please stop with these word games? I’ve got a busy schedule today.”
“Then you should have responded to my requests to talk.”
“I don’t want to talk. You mean nothing to me anymore.”
“Maybe so, but we’re going to be forced to see each other regularly.”
I snap my eyes to hers. The grin on her face causes me to clench my hands into fists. She has the upper hand about something, and I hate it.
“What are you talking about?”
She sighs as if she’s the one who’s exhausted by this conversation. But I know it’s just an act. She’s proud of whatever she’s about to tell me. “You’re looking at the newest post-doc to join this department.”
“What?” I blurt out before her words fully register. “You can’t.”
“I can, and I did.” She pushes to her feet, walks around my desk, and sits on the edge next to me. “It’s a great opportunity. I couldn’t pass it up.”
“No.” I close my eyes and shake my head several times. “This can’t be happening.”
She chuckles. “Oh, but it is.”
She reaches out to adjust my tie, and I push to my feet, knocking my chair over as I do. She’s much too close. I take several steps backward until I knock up against the floor-to-ceiling bookcase covering the side wall of my office.
“You can’t do this,” I say.
She chuckles. “Why not?”
“There are thousands of universities you could’ve taken a post-doc with. Why mine?”
She rolls her eyes. “This is not your university, Donnie. Selfish much?”
“You know what I mean. Look for an opportunity somewhere else. I need this job.”
“You don’t get to tell me what to do. I need this job too. Just because there are thousands of universities out there, doesn’t mean there are thousands of jobs. We have to take the opportunities we find.”
“But this is my opportunity!” I whisper-yell. I’m trying my hardest to calm down, but she’s making it next to impossible.
“We can coexist just fine.” She says in a tone that suggests she’s bored.
“Coexist? You slept with half the department while you were living with me.”
“Well, that’s an over exaggeration.” She pushes to her feet and turns to face my desk. She picks up a copy of the proposal I’m finalizing that has Dr. Carver’s note scribbled on it. “It’s not like I’ll be working with you directly.”
I reach over and snatch it from her grip before she can read it. What I’m working on is none of her business. “Doesn’t matter. I never want to see you again.”
“Too late for that. I’m already here.”
I open my mouth to respond, but I don’t get a chance to say what’s on my mind before I’m interrupted.
“Everything okay in here?” Dr. Carver’s voice cuts through the air with authority. I don’t know how much of this conversation he overheard, but from the frown on his face, I’d say enough that he knows Lulu and I have a past.
Lulu doesn’t miss a beat. She puts on her best smile and walks toward Dr. Carver with her hand held out. “Hello. I’m Lulu Keller. Dr. O’Connor’s new post-doc.”
Dr. Carver stares at her for a moment like he’s trying to recall if he should know her. He shakes his head and forces a smile before shaking her offered hand. “Of course. Dr. Carver. I was on vacation when you were here for your interview.”
“Yes, I was sorry that I didn’t get to meet you until now.” She turns that fake smile to me. “I just stopped by to say hello to Dr. Rosi. I haven’t seen him since he defended his dissertation.”
“So you two know each other?” he asks.
“Not well,” I say at the same time she says, “Oh, yes.”
She chuckles as Dr. Carver looks back and forth between us. “Donnie don’t lie to Dr. Carver. I’m sure our past relationship will eventually get out.”
“Past relationship?” He raises a brow and looks at me with concern.
I let out a deep breath and tell him the truth. “Lulu and I dated. We were in the same grad program.”
“Oh, come on. We didn’t just date. We lived together.” She adds with a hint of pride behind her words. “But don’t worry, that’s in the past. There are no hard feelings between us, and whatever spark we once had is long gone. Isn’t that right, Donnie?”
I glare at her for over sharing information about our past. It’s no one’s business, especially not my bosses.
“I guess that’s good.” Dr. Carver says to break the awkward silence. His concerned look turns to confusion. “I don’t care who my faculty date as long as they remain professional and don’t let it interfere with their work.”
“That’s not a problem. I assure you,” I say. “I don’t have time for romantic interactions. I’m dedicated to my work.”
“Well, a little fun is healthy.” Dr. Carver lets out a nervous laugh. This conversation went from awkward to downright miserable. He turns toward the door and abruptly stops. “Aw, Miss Clover. You’re here.”
I look past him and into the hallway, and I can’t believe my eyes. “What?”
“Come on, Miss Keller.” He smiles at Lulu and waves her toward the door. “Let’s get out of Dr. Rosi’s way.”
Lulu gives me a sultry wave before she follows Dr. Carver out. I’m left staring at the woman standing in my doorway. Stunned doesn’t even begin to describe how I feel seeing her here.
“Why are you here?” I ask.
“Donnie?” She looks just as confused as I feel. She steps into my office and whispers, “Why are you here?”
“I work here,” I say a little too harshly.
She glances around as if she’s looking for clues to help her make sense of this situation. Then she stares at the doorway like something important is clicking in her brain. I wish she’d share it with me because I still have no clue why she’s here.
When she looks back at me, her eyes are filled with panic. “You’re Professor Rosi.”
It’s not a question, but a declaration.
“Obviously. This is my office.” I step around my desk, right my chair, and sit. “The real question is who are you?”
She sighs and drops her messenger bag to her feet like it suddenly became too heavy to carry. “I’m Clover Davis. Your new PhD student.”