Mina
Mina
M ina was clearing her desk for the evening when Rod McTavish asked if Eli was in his office. She nodded, and smiled, finding herself at a loss for words. God, all the rumors about the man were true—he was tall, dark, and handsome. And that Scottish accent of his was a knee wobbler.
She watched him go into Eli’s office and of course, she had to listen in on their conversation. Mina didn’t even bat an eye when it came to eavesdropping on Eli and Rod. When they got to the part about her possibly going to Colorado with him, she nearly jumped out of her seat and cheered. She’d finally have Eli all to herself for a whole week. Mina would have to fake a breakup with Ben, but then, she’d be able to turn to Eli for comfort. Would Eli actually fall for that though? The only way to find out would be to try and this seemed like a perfect opportunity to do just that.
She waved goodbye to Rod as he left and as soon as the elevator doors shut, she found herself making a beeline into Eli’s office.
“Everything okay?” she asked, pretending that she hadn’t just overheard their whole conversation.
“Yeah, everything is fine,” he said. “I have to go out of town for a week and I’m hoping to leave tomorrow. Can you arrange the flight and hotel room for me?”
“Sure,” she agreed, “where are you going?” she asked, already knowing the answer.
“They are sending me to Colorado. McTavish Industries is looking to buy a company out there and they want me to do a risk assessment before they go any further.”
“I see,” she said. Why wasn’t he asking her to go with him? Rod had said for him to bring along his assistant to take notes and help with reports. But Eli hadn’t mentioned her going along with him at all.
“Will you need an assistant?” she point blankly asked him. Eli squirmed in his seat, and she knew that he wasn’t going to give him a straight answer.
“I’m not sure if I’ll need an assistant,” he said. “If I find out that I do, when I get out there, I’ll hire someone locally.”
“You would rather hire a stranger out in Colorado than take me with you?” she asked. “And what am I supposed to do here for an entire week by myself? I’m your assistant, Eli,” she reminded. “If you aren’t here, I’ll do nothing but sit at my desk and answer the phone.”
“You’ll have an easy week,” he said. “You should be happy about that. Take longer lunches and leave early for the day.” She didn’t like any of his suggestions. What Mina wanted was to go with him to Colorado. She wanted a chance to spend some alone time with Eli. “You’ll have more free time to spend with Ben,” he said. “I’m sure that will make you both happy, right?”
“What do you mean by that?” she spat.
“I mean that you and Ben seem happy together and some extra time would be nice,” he said. Mina worried that Eli could see right through her scheme with Ben, but she wasn’t about to let him know that he was right about them.
“I’m sure that extra time together will be nice,” she agreed. “I just don’t want to neglect my duties as your assistant.”
“Don’t give it a second thought,” he assured. She was getting nowhere with her plan to make Eli jealous. Maybe “Breaking up” with Ben might be the way to go. At least, she could stop pretending to be falling for her gay best friend.
“Well, I’m thinking about breaking things off with Ben,” she said. Eli tossed the paperwork from his hands down to his desk.
“Oh?” he asked. “Why would you do that? You two seem so cozy together.” She squinted her eyes at him as if trying to see inside his brain. Did he know that she and Ben were just putting on a show for him? How could he—unless…
“Did Carrie and Evan tell you about Ben?” she asked. Yeah, she was about to spill her whole plan to make him jealous, but she had to know.
“Did they tell me what about your boyfriend?” he asked, emphasizing the word “Boyfriend.”
Mina sighed, “Did they tell you anything about him?” she asked. “Anything at all.”
Eli put his hand on his chin as if stroking an imaginary beard, pretending to think. “Let me think,” he breathed. “Oh—they did mention that you and Ben have been best friends for some time now.”
That was hardly a secret. “Well, I did tell you that. Ben and I were friends before we started going out.” That part was the truth. Mina had mixed so many truths in with her lies, she was sure not to slip up. But she had a feeling that Eli knew more than he was telling her.
“Right,” he agreed, “you did tell me that. It’s nice that you two figured out that you had feelings for each other so soon after our evening together.”
“Wait, you think that I fell for Ben to avoid talking about the evening that we had?” He was partially correct. She had been able to put off having to talk to Eli about the kiss that they shared that night, but she couldn’t stop thinking about it. She thought about it all the time, and that was the problem.
“I’m just saying that the two of you started dating rather quickly, don’t you think?” he asked.
“Just say what you’re trying to say, Eli. I don’t have time to play games,” she insisted.
“Sure you do,” he said. “You’ve been playing games with me this whole time. Did you think that Evan and Carrie wouldn’t mention that Ben’s gay?”
Shit, shit, shit. They had spilled the beans about Ben and Eli was holding onto that bit of news to spring on her. “His sexual preferences aren’t anyone’s business,” she said.
“So, you know he’s gay then?” Eli asked.
Mina shrugged, “Yes, I’ve known since I met him.”
“That means that the two of you aren’t really together, right?” he asked.
“We like hanging out together and enjoy each other’s company,” she insisted.
“You’re not really answering the question, are you, Mina?” he asked. She wasn’t, and she didn’t plan on answering him either. If she did give Eli a straight answer, she’d have to admit that she and Ben cooked up this scam to make him jealous. Eli would probably fire her for lying to him, and why wouldn’t he? She was crazy to think that Ben’s plan would work. Making Eli jealous was a stupid idea, but she only had herself to blame for going along with it.
“I told Ben about our kiss, and he came up with the idea of us dating, to make you jealous,” she whispered. “I’m sorry, Eli. It’s my fault too for going along with the plan. I should have told him no, but I had no other ideas.”
“You did all of this to make me jealous?” he asked. “Evan and Carrie weren’t kidding when they said that Ben’s gay?” He sat down in his chair behind his desk, and she felt awful for what she had done.
“Yes,” she breathed. “We did all of this to make you jealous and Carrie and Evan both knew that Ben was gay. But they had no idea about the plan or anything. That was all Ben and me. I’m so sorry, Eli. If you need to let me go, I’ll understand.” She turned and walked out of his office, not waiting to hear the words, “You’re fired.” That would just be too much for her to bear.
Mina was angry at herself for not only losing a great job, but she had also hurt a pretty awesome guy. Seeing the hurt and confusion on Eli’s face was too much for her, and leaving work early was her only solution. She cleared out her desk, knowing that having to go back the next day to do so would be a burden on both her and Eli. He didn’t need her hanging around the office, reminding him of her deceit. Mina had already hurt him enough.
By the time she got to her apartment, her box of stuff in hand, she had a gazillion messages on her phone from Ben. He was supposed to meet her after work, for drinks, and she had totally forgotten about their plans. She quickly dialed his number, and he answered on the first ring.
“Hey,” she said, “I’m so sorry that I forgot about drinks.”
“What the hell happened?” Ben asked. “I went to pick you up at work, and Eli met me at the elevator, telling me that the jig was up. Who talks like that?” he asked.
Mina smiled because she always loved it when Eli would say stupid stuff like that. “You talk like that, Ben,” she insisted. “I guess that’s why I find it to be adorable when Eli does it. You two are a lot alike,” she said. “In another universe, you two might even end up being friends.” But she had blown that from happening now. There was no way that Eli would forgive either of them for what they had done to him. They made him look like a fool, and that was unforgivable.
“You told him about us, didn’t you?” Ben asked.
“Actually, he already knew about us not being together. Carrie and Evan told him that you’re gay. I guess he asked about us being together and they told him the truth.”
“Shit, I’m sorry, Mina,” Ben said. “I didn’t mean for it to get this out of hand. Do you want me to talk to him?” That was the very last thing she needed.
“God, no,” she breathed. “Eli’s already been through enough. I don’t want to add to his load. Plus, I’m pretty sure that I’m fired, so it won’t matter.”
“He fired you?” Ben asked.
“Not exactly, but I’m pretty sure that it’s only a formality that he says the words to me. Or, if he’s smart, he’ll just have HR reach out to me.”
“I’m so sorry,” Ben said. “I wish that there was something that I could do to fix all of this. I messed everything up.”
“No, this isn’t all on you, Ben. You were trying to help me get Eli, and I went along with your plan. This is just as much my fault.” Mina put the box down on her kitchen counter and turned to shut the front door, finding Eli standing in the hallway.
“Your door was open,” Eli whispered.
“Um, Ben, I have to go,” she said, ending the call to Ben’s protests. She turned to put her cell phone on the counter, taking a deep breath before turning back to face Eli. “What are you doing here?” she asked.
“You ran out of my office so quickly, I didn’t get the chance to say what I needed to say,” he said.
“If you are here to tell me that I’m fired, I already know. I’ve even cleaned out my desk, so you won’t have to see me again. We’ll have to work out a schedule for the two of us to see Evan and Carrie, but I hope that you won’t try to push me out of their lives. Carrie’s like a sister to me.” She wished that she had given her plan more thought and considered how it would hurt everyone around her. She hadn’t even thought about having to give up her best friend. That was something that she’d fight Eli on though. She loved Carrie and her family as though they were her own.
“I’d never try to push you out of Evan and Carrie’s lives,” he said, “and, I’m not here to fire you.”
“You aren’t?” she asked.
“No, I’m here to tell you that I’m sorry,” Eli said. He took a few steps closer to her, keeping his hands in his pockets. “I shouldn’t have pushed you away after our kiss. I wanted to kiss you. Hell, I loved kissing you, but I acted like an ass, and I’m sorry.”
“You are?” Mina asked.
“I am. After that night, I avoided you and the topic of our date.”
“It wasn’t a date,” she reminded.
“I know that I said that, but it was a date. Honestly, I wanted it to be a date, too. I wanted you to kiss me, and God, Mina, I wanted you.”
“I wanted you too, Eli,” she admitted. She still did, but she wanted to wait him out to see where this was all heading.
“I’ve come here to ask you to come with me to Colorado,” he said.
“As your assistant,” she said, filling in the rest for him.
“Not just my assistant,” he said, “I want you with me,” he said, “in my bed. I’m here to propose that we take the week in Colorado to figure out if these feelings that we have for each other can work out.” She wanted to promise him that they could. Mina wanted to tell him that they’d be great together, but Eli was a visual learner. He’d need to see for himself that they would be great together before he’d jump in with both feet.
“I’d like that,” she admitted. “All of it, Eli.”
“Good,” he breathed. “We leave in the morning. The McTavish jet will be ready for us at seven. Can you be packed and ready by six?” he asked.
“Yes,” she agreed.
“Great,” he said, “I’ll be by to pick you up at six tomorrow morning then.” He turned to leave, and she wanted to protest. He wasn’t going to kiss her or touch her at all? Eli was only there to make her a proposition that she couldn’t refuse and leave her longing for more, and that sucked.
He turned back and smiled at her. “And Mina,” he said, “put your shit back in your desk when we get back home. Firing you isn’t part of the plan.” He turned to leave, and she just stood there, staring at him.
“Wait, there’s a plan?” she called after him as he shut her front door. He didn’t bother to turn back, but she knew Eli and Mina was sure that he was smirking at her question. He always gave her his sexy little half-smirk that made her girl parts want to melt.
“Well, crap,” she whispered to herself. She was finally getting what she wanted, and Mina wasn’t sure if she wanted to jump up and down or be worried that she had just agreed to more than she’d be able to handle. Eli was going to be quite a handful, not that she was complaining.