Chapter 29
twenty-nine
left side of bitchy
M onday morning fully ruined the high Elissa had been riding since drunk texting Ryan on Saturday night.
She almost slept through her alarm, spilled coffee on herself, and, once she’d changed, her damned car wouldn’t start.
Her mood was on the left side of bitchy and was quickly approaching Wicked Witch of the West.
She caught a ride share into work, arriving a few minutes late.
After apologizing profusely to Karina, Elissa locked herself in the file room to finish the task she’d begun Friday afternoon.
By lunch, she’d verified all documents were present for all their clients, except for DeMarco Property Management.
She saved DPM for last and planned on tackling the boxes on a full stomach.
Elissa took her lunch outside, finding a sunny bench. She stretched out her legs and rolled her head around, trying to loosen muscles stiff after a morning hunched over boxes of paperwork. The sunlight and fresh air revived her, and she closed her eyes to listen to the birds in the nearby trees.
“Elissa?” a familiar voice broke the spell.
Who had the gall to bother her when it was obvious she didn’t want to be bothered? Ryan stood in front of her, blocking the sun. But not the Ryan she’d been lusting after. No, it was Beige-Flag Ryan, glorious in his genial blandness.
The Ryan she kept forgetting to call. The Ryan she needed to let down easy. Oh dear.
“Hi, Ryan.”
“Hi, Elissa. I was starting to worry you’d dropped off the face of the earth. You never called.”
“I’m so sorry. Things have been…” What had things been?
Pretty good, actually. She had moved out of her parents’ house, had a new man in her life who made her tingle in all kinds of places, and her mom was healthy.
A small alarm bell sounded in the back of her mind.
“Busy. Very busy. Is that why you’re here? Checking up on me?”
“I have an appointment to drop off my tax paperwork at your firm. I asked around, and JMS Accounting received great word of mouth. I didn’t think you’d mind.”
She didn’t, but it seemed weird. Out of all the firms, most of them well-regarded, he’d chosen hers. Elissa shrugged it off.
“No, I don’t mind. I’m on lunch break right now, but if you want to chat after, I’ll be right here.”
“That would be nice.” He turned and walked to her office, looking at her as he opened the door. When he made eye contact, his gaze quickly skittered to the interior.
Elissa pulled out her sandwich and fruit and enjoyed her lunch alfresco, ignoring the alarm that counting her blessings had sounded.
By the time she brushed the crumbs off her blouse, Mr. Beige Flag was walking toward her.
She still had fifteen minutes left before she needed to return to work, so she was stuck talking to the guy until she could politely excuse herself.
He sat down on the far side of the bench, giving her plenty of space. What tension had built as Elissa anticipated this conversation eased, if only a little.
“How have you been?” As an opening gambit, it was unimaginative, but not everyone could ask if a seat was taken in just the right kind of voice to send shivers down her spine.
“Busy, of course. Taxes are due in two months. Right now, most of our clients are businesses, but individuals will start trickling in.”
“Do you handle business or individual clients?”
“Mostly business, but a few individuals. We try to finish the businesses early so we have time to do individual returns.”
“You don’t have much time for a personal life right now, I bet, or else I think I would have heard back from you.”
Elissa cringed. It was more than fair to call her out.
“I’m sorry. I should’ve called. I moved out of my parents’ house, and tax season…
” And then the other Ryan had entered the picture, and any hope for this nice but boring man had evaporated like a puddle after a monsoon storm.
She had no excuse, other than avoiding the confrontation. Confrontation was not her jam.
He waved it off. “I get it. You’re busy. After April?”
He looked so hopeful, but it was best to burst his bubble now.
“You’re a nice guy, Ryan, but I don’t think it’s in the cards for us.”
Anger flashed across his face so quickly that if Elissa had blinked, she would’ve missed it. His hands clenched at his sides, and a strained smile found its way to his lips.
“Well, excuse me for thinking we’d connected. Sorry I was wrong. Have a nice life, Elissa.” He stood and hurried away, and the tension left her body with a long whoosh.
She’d dodged a bullet with him.
Elissa pushed into the building. If he came by again and sought her out, she’d let Karina know. Her boss would have her back.
She spent the afternoon concentrating on the DeMarco box.
She’d been so tired when she’d gone through the contents on Friday, she hoped she’d merely made a mistake.
Hours later, after going through every single damn—swear jar!
—piece of paper, she knew she’d missed nothing.
A few papers they needed simply weren’t there.
Glancing at her watch, Elissa still had thirty minutes before close of business.
Just enough time to call over to the DPM office so someone—hopefully not Ryan, she hated confrontation—could pull the files.
She stopped by Karina’s office to let her know what was going on before picking up the phone on her own desk.
“DeMarco Property Management,” a cheerful, feminine voice answered.
A part of her was deeply disappointed, another part greatly relieved. Ryan DeMarco had gotten under her skin in a remarkably short time.
“Hi, this is Elissa Wright with JMS Accounting. We seem to be missing paperwork. I was hoping to speak with Annetta or Ryan about stopping by tomorrow.”
“They have both left for the day. I’ll take a message, though.”
Elissa left her name and number and ended the call.
Karina paused by her desk on her way out the door a few minutes later. It was still early enough in the season most of the staff could leave at a normal time. In a couple of weeks, that would change.
“Were you able to talk to anyone at DPM?” her mentor asked.
Elissa shook her head.
“Stop by before you come in tomorrow. I’d like to start ASAP. There have been some changes with the death of Giorgina DeMarco last year. It might complicate matters enough to cause a headache or two.”
“I will. Have a good night.”
“You, too.”
She watched Karina leave and stared at her phone.
She hated mixing business with pleasure, and she hadn’t been lying earlier.
Despite making a date to go over Ryan’s business plan Thursday night, she had no time for extracurriculars at the moment.
She barely had time for curriculars. This entire enterprise was ill-conceived and would likely lead to heartache.
Can you live with the heartache of never trying?
She texted him anyway.
E: Hate to bother you after hours, but we’re missing some files. I’ll be stopping by first thing to look for them.
He texted back right away.
R: Yeah no problem. Do you have a list? Do you need to meet tonight?
She smiled. Though he could be trying to still get on her good side, something told her he’d offer the same to anyone. Maybe she was delulu, but she’d misjudged him on their first meeting.
E: Tomorrow is fine.
R: cu then
With a fluttering heart at the thought of seeing him twice this week, Elissa placed the list of missing files in her bag.
She checked messages again before turning off her computer for the night.
Ami had agreed to pick her up after work and look at old Bertha.
It was going to be a long night, but tomorrow morning was looking bright.