Chasing Circumstance Read online

  “I’ll take that as a yes then, Miss Amia. Be careful, you’re letting your horns poke through your halo.” He winked back and put his glass in the sink of hot water in front of him.

  “Why do you insist on calling me Miss Amia? And, be careful what you assume, you may just get gored by my horns.” Yep, the drinks were definitely going to my head.

  “Where I come from, Miss is used as a sign of respect, so get used to it, Miss Amia.” Chace turned around and walked to the other end of the bar again without giving me a chance to answer him. Ugh, I hated not getting the last word in moments like this.

  “You sure are full of spitfire tonight. Ready to go?” Jo finished her drink and stood up, barely. “Shit, I think I should call a cab.” She swayed a bit as she stood there.

  “Yeah, I’m ready. Why don’t we just walk to my place and you can crash there. It’ll be nice to have the company, and I can give you your gifts.” Finishing my French 75, I stood and looped my arm through Jo’s.

  “Sure, that sounds wonderful and much easier than finding a cab this time of night in this neighborhood. I still don’t know why you live here when you can afford to live uptown.” Jo slurred her words a little. “You know, you could just move in with me. I have a big enough house.” She stumbled a bit as we walked toward the door.

  Turning around toward the bar, I raised my voice so Chace could hear me, “Hey, we’ll be back tomorrow night to settle up the tab. Goodnight.” When he turned to look at me, I nodded and smiled.

  “Hey wait, I’ll walk you home.” Chace came out from behind the bar and helped me with Jo. We stopped at her car so I could grab my things and then walked down the sidewalk to my place.

  “This is me. Thanks, Chace. I’ll see you tomorrow.” Smiling, I accepted my bags from Chace and sat them by the front door and turned to get Jo. “I got it from here.”

  “Are you sure? I don’t mind helping you in.” Chace’s eyes sparkled in the light cast by the streetlamps as he spoke to me. His smile, soft and sweet, was almost mesmerizing.

  “Thanks, but really, I can handle this. Have a good night.” I didn’t want to give him the wrong idea by letting him in. We had been flirting quite a bit that evening and I wasn’t ready for things to go any further than where they were. I knew I would want to kiss him if he came in, and I simply couldn’t allow that.

  He stood there until I made it through the security door. “Alright then, but don’t ever say that I’m not a gentleman.” Chace turned around to leave. “I look forward to the next time I see you, Miss Amia.”

  We barely made it through my front door when Jo collapsed on my couch and passed out. I removed her shoes and covered her with the blanket from the back of the sofa. After tucking her in, I took out the robe, slippers, and bottle of moisturizer I had picked up for her in the hotel gift shop and laid them on the coffee table so she would see them the moment she opened her eyes in the morning. Bending down, I kissed her lightly on her forehead and wished her goodnight.

  I went to the kitchen, grabbed my watering can, filled it, and gave each of my plants a big drink. My poor plants were wilting and were thankful for the relief. I then picked up my laptop and headed to my bedroom.

  After taking a quick shower and changing into comfy pajamas, I sat on my bed, opened my laptop, and wrote tonight’s blog entry.

  “Dear You,

  Well, I did it. I made it through my adventures in Scotland and landed safely back in the States. None the worse for the wear, I guess.

  Isn’t it funny, in those moments of turmoil, how we feel as though we will never make it through them? How we wish the world would just open up, swallow us whole and end our misery? How we tell ourselves that we’ve never felt as deep a pain as we’re feeling at those moments?

  What’s even more entertaining is that once we stop to take a breath and clear our heads, we realize we were stronger than we thought all along.

  Maybe it is in those moments that our strength hides in the shadows and allows us to feel weak, so that we are more able to appreciate our own personal moxie. Maybe it is in those moments we learn lessons that help us forge ahead, cut our own paths, and realize we were doing it all along.

  So tonight, dear readers, I leave you with this question…

  Has there ever been a path we took, or a choice we’ve made that the Universe hasn’t helped us to solve in the end?

  ~ Amia”

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  I hated mornings, so when my alarm went off; I picked it up and threw it across the room. “Great, now I have to buy a new alarm clock.” I should have known better than to take my frustrations out on my clock radio. This would be the third one I had to purchase in the last four months. Good thing I was on a first name basis with the guy in the electronics department.

  Stumbling out of bed, I headed toward the bathroom and started the shower. As I stood at the sink brushing my teeth, I noticed a line of cockroaches parading across the counter as though they were a part of a Thanksgiving Day parade. I thought about Jo suggesting I move in with her at the bar that weekend and decided to talk to her about it at work.

  Stepping into the shower, I almost went into shock at the complete lack of hot water and was forced to take a cold shower. With my teeth chattering, I dried off, and made a mental note to talk to the superintendent about it on my way out the door.

  I retrieved my favorite blouse from my closet, removed the dry cleaner bag, and noticed there was still a stain on the front of it! Fuck! I just couldn’t catch a break today! I chose a simple white, button down shirt instead and wore it with my black pencil skirt.

  I went into the kitchen, filled the pot with water to make coffee, and as I turned to get a filter from the cabinet, I knocked the pot off of the counter, and watched as it shattered against the floor. “That’s it! I give up!” I put on my shoes, grabbed my jacket and satchel, and headed out the door.

  There was a coffee house next to the building I lived in, so I stopped in there to grab a cup of coffee. As I walked in I noticed the strange looks I was getting from some of the customers. I ordered my coffee, paid for it, grabbed the cup without a protective sleeve on it, slightly burned my hand, and walked out the door. That’s when I noticed my reflection in the window and realized I had neglected to comb my hair and put on make-up.

  I needed to run to the modeling agency before work, so I hailed a cab. When one finally stopped, I opened the door to get in, and that’s when I heard my phone ring. Before I started digging through my purse for my phone, I sat my coffee in the holder that was hanging from the door and sat down. Without looking, I grabbed the handle to close the taxi door, and as it swung closed, my coffee literally jumped out of the holder and spilled all over my lap and phone. “Are you fucking kidding me? Ugh!” The driver handed me a handful of napkins. “Griffin’s on 42nd and 7th please.”

  Noticing the stain on my shirt, I pulled a scarf from my purse, wrapped it around my waist like a belt to help hide the coffee stain, and called Jo back. “What do you mean they never got the email? I sent it out yesterday before I left work.” Just as I was about to tell her I would take care of it when I got into the office, my phone died because the coffee leaked inside. “FUCK!” Now, I needed to get a new phone as well.

  Throwing my phone into my purse, I pulled out a comb, and combed my hair into a ponytail, wrapped it into a French twist, and stuck a pencil through it to hold it in place. I then took out my make-up bag and did my best to look presentable for work. There, at least this day couldn’t get any worse.

  … And then we hit rush hour. Still 17 blocks from the agency, I paid the fare and decided to walk the rest of the way. When was I going to learn to not tempt fate by saying such things?

  After picking up the portfolios I needed, I hailed another cab, and hurried as fast as I could to work. It took me over an hour to make it there. Once I put my things in my office, I picked up my favorite mug, and went into the break room to load up on coffee since I still had not had any.
r />   “Well, good morning sunshine. You look like shit!” Jo was in the break room retrieving her own cup of get-up-and-go when I walked in.

  “Thanks, that’s just what I needed to hear after the morning I’ve had.” I went on to explain everything that had happened. We stood there laughing for just a moment. “So, were you serious about me moving in with you, or was that just the booze talking?” I stopped and looked at her with a serious expression on my face.

  “Absolutely! I’ve been waiting for you to come to your senses and realize you don’t have to live where you do. You can stay with me for as long as you want to.” Jo put down her cup and hugged me. “When are you thinking about moving in? Eeek! It’ll be like a slumber party every night!”

  “Did someone say slumber party? Can I watch?” Sam walked into the break room behind us.

  “Of course you can, Sam, as soon as you develop x-ray vision.” Jo sneered at him. “We’ll talk about this later, Amia. Come see me on your break.” She snatched up her cup of coffee and walked out of the room.

  “Sam, I’ve warned you before about your inappropriate behavior in the office. This is not the place for such antics. Consider this your last warning. If there is another issue, I am afraid we will have to take action to correct the situation.” I picked up my cup of coffee, and without giving him a chance to respond, I went to my office to continue with the crap-fest that had become my day.

  I had just taken care of the mix up with the email when my intercom buzzed. “Miss Durant? You have a personal phone call on line two.” Jenny, my assistant’s voice, crackled through the intercom.

  “Thank you, Jenny.” I picked up my phone. “Hello, this is Amia.” I tucked my phone against my shoulder so I could continue checking the rest of my workload for the day.

  “Hey, Amia, this is Isabella. I was wondering, are you free for lunch?” It was a friend of mine from college. She had gone to business school with me but had become an actress instead.

  “Oh my goodness! Hi! Sure, where would you like to meet?” Isabella and I chatted for a few minutes and made plans to meet for lunch around the corner from the office. I was excited to see her. It had been almost a year since we had communicated through any means other than email.

  After meeting with the art department and receiving some photos for an ad campaign for a new energy drink coming out on the market, I went to Jo’s office during my morning break. As usual, she was on the phone with a potential client, working her magic, and getting them to sign on the dotted line. I was in such awe of this woman. She was a true salesperson and there was no one better at their job than her.

  Jo hung up the phone and asked, “So, when did you want to move in?” She sipped at a cold cup of coffee that was sitting on her desk.

  “I was thinking around the end of the month. I need to give notice to my landlord, but I don’t see that being a problem since I’ve been having so many issues lately.” I felt bad because I was drinking a cup of hot, freshly brewed coffee while she drank her cold coffee from that morning.

  “Wonderful! You can have the loft bedroom. It has a huge walk-in closet and its own bathroom. You’ll just need to hang curtains over the glass walls so you have some privacy.” Jo stood up from behind her desk. “I’ll be right back. I need some more coffee.” She touched my shoulder as she passed me.

  I stood up, sat behind her desk to use her computer and started looking at moving companies. Though I loved the thought of moving in with Jo, I hated the thought of doing the actual work. It’s one of the reasons I hadn’t moved before. The thought of all that packing overwhelmed me.

  “Am I sensing a coup here?” Jo laughed as she walked back into her office and saw me sitting in her chair.

  “Not at all. I wouldn’t want your job if you paid me to take it. I’m not a sales person. It’s all about the art for me.” I got up from her chair and walked around to the other side of her desk to sit back down.

  “Are you sure about that? I just heard from Noraprise and they were thrilled with your presentation. You sold them on a five year contract with us. Kudos, Amia. There will be a little something special in your paycheck this week.” Jo sat down and looked at what I was doing on her computer. “Moving companies? Wonderful! But, I know a couple of guys you can hire to do the job. I hired them when I moved the last two times. They not only do a great job, they are fine as fuck, and there’s nothing wrong with a little eye candy.” I loved the duality in Jo’s personality. She could go from business woman to a foul-mouthed, dirty girl in two point two seconds.

  “Cool, email me their info and I’ll check ‘em out.” I stood to go back to my office and get some work done. “Oh, by the way, I’m having lunch with Isabella today, so I’ll meet you after work for drinks at Brady’s if you want instead.” Stopping at the door, I turned to talk to Jo.

  “That’s fine. I have a lot to catch up on.” Jo didn’t look up at me but instead busied herself again with something at her computer and waved me off.

  I had so much work to do myself that the next two hours flew by. We were working on three different ad campaigns to present to the energy drink company, and I had to work on the art layout and design concepts for those ads because the art department needed them by the end of the day. After finishing the initial layouts, I emailed them to the people that needed them and headed out to meet Isabella for lunch.

  Isabella was vegan, so we met at a restaurant called The Garden of Vegan. It was a quaint little place with an outdoor patio. I saw her sitting at a table as I approached. She stood up and hugged me. “It’s been too long. I already ordered us iced tea.” She handed me a menu as we sat down.

  “Thanks, that’s exactly what I was thinking about having. How have you been?” I thumbed through the menu she handed me and decided to have a sprout sandwich and pumpkin soup.

  “It’s been crazy, but good crazy. I landed a lead role with a local theater group. I’m playing a Mistress that sacrifices her subservient staff to try to appease the gods in hopes that they will bring her one true love back from the dead.” Isabella took a drink of her tea. “I was told that it’s based on a true story!” You could tell she was an actress because, even in her daily life, she was very animated.

  “That sounds so intriguing. I look forward to seeing it!” The waitress stood at the side of our table, wrote down our orders, and said it would be about fifteen minutes until they were ready. She was a lovely young woman with long, dark brown hair and her eyes were a beautiful deep green. I wasn’t sure if there was a vegan look, but if there were, she would have been the epitome of it.

  “So, tell me about you. How is work? I read your blog. I’m so sorry things didn’t work out for you in Scotland with Stuart.” Isabella reached across the table and squeezed my hand while offering a consoling smile.

  “Please, don’t be sorry. It worked out exactly the way it was supposed to.” I squeezed her hand back. “As far as work? It is going amazingly well, except for this guy I work with, Sam. He’s a total chauvinist and is driving me insane. Hence, the frown lines on my forehead.” I unfolded the napkin next to my plate and placed it across my lap.

  “I also saw on your blog that you are on a journey of sexual conquests, or am I mistaken?” Isabella’s smile turned from soft to leering. Her life revolved around getting attention and having sex. There wasn’t much more to her, but I loved her nonetheless.

  “I am, kind of. It’s not going so well. I thought about making Sam a part of that journey, but I’m afraid he would like it too much.” We paused our conversation while the waitress came to fill our glasses.

  “Oh my God! I just came up with an idea!” Isabella looked around and then leaned over the table to whisper her plan into my ear.

  I listened to her and felt a sly smile cross my face. “Isabella, that is fucking brilliant!” I covered my mouth and looked around, realizing I had just cussed out loud in public. “When we are finished with lunch, you should take a cab with me and we’ll go get the hotel room. I’l
l slip him the key and you can take it from there.” I clapped my hands together and giggled.

  “It’ll help me as well. There’s nothing better to prepare you for a role than to have real life experience with it.” Isabella winked at me and touched her tongue to her teeth. Just then, our waitress brought us our food and we chatted quietly about the specifics of the plan while enjoying our meal. We agreed that there would be no sacrificing though. We wanted to humiliate him, not kill him.

  When we finished eating, I paid the tab, and we jumped in a taxi together. Traveling to the seedier side of town, I booked a room in a cheap hotel for the following night using a fake name. I gave Isabella one of the two keys I had received and then took a cab back to work after dropping her off at the theater.

  Jo called me into her office as I walked past. I thought she was going to say something to me about being tardy, but she only asked if we were still on for drinks after work and wondered if I wanted to cut out early.

  “Sure, I’m almost caught up. Give me a couple of hours to finish up and I’ll meet you at Brady’s.” I re-adjusted the scarf around my waist that was hiding the coffee stain from that morning and then excused myself to finish my work.

  A couple of hours later, I went to the copy room to make copies of the notes I needed for the presentation I had to give the following week and ran into Sam. “Oh, hey, Sam, I was just looking for you.” I put on my sexiest smile and stepped toward him.

  “Well, you found me. What can I do to you?” His leering expression was expected as was his answer. Sam’s answers were always so predictable that I wasn’t sure if there was anything original about him.

  “That’s a good question.” I moved toward him until he was pinned flat against the wall and had nowhere to go unless he stepped around me. “But, I think the better question is, what can I do to you?” I took the hotel key out of my pocket and held it in my hand. “I’m tired of playing this game of cat and mouse. The time for games has passed and it’s time to get down to business. I trust you will keep this between us. Meet me here, tomorrow night at seven.” I ran my hand and the key up his thigh and tucked it into his pocket, reached around, cupped his ass and gave it a squeeze. Leaning in, I whispered into his ear, “Be a good boy, and don’t be late.” Noticing the shocked look on his face, I smiled, turned around, and went back to my office to finish things up before I met Jo for drinks at Brady’s.