In a Wild Moment(6)

But upon entering the office on the Monday morning, she was subject to some strange looks. Instead of ignoring her, people were gazing at her and whispering as she passed. Scarlett winced at the attention. Had she really done anything that embarrassing at the party? She quickly made her way to her office and shut the door. Peering through the blinds, she witnessed people pointing in the direction of her office and laughing. Scarlett would have given anything to know what they were saying about her. How was she supposed to make them respect her now?

She remained in her office, fearing the stares and gossips, and only communicated with them via e-mail, missing out on the Monday meeting by claiming that she had too much work to catch up on. Since she worked in advertising, she knew that image and reputation were everything. Had she already tarnished hers by getting tipsy at the party? A bad first impression is difficult to recover from, and she tried to put her own knowledge into practice to make people see her differently. If a client came to her with these problems, then she would have suggested an aggressive new campaign to reinvent their image. It was easier to do for a brand than it was to do with a person, but it wasn't impossible.

During the afternoon, after she'd been working on a plan for a while, she opened her door a crack and hissed to Mandy to join her. Mandy left her desk and crept up to the door. Scarlett gazed out, ensuring that nobody was spying on her, then shut the door. The blinds were still closed. If there hadn't been a large window that let the sunlight stream in, the room would have been incredibly dark.

Mandy took a seat across from Scarlett, while Scarlett remained by the window, looking out at everyone else working in the office.

“I know they're talking about me and I've thought of a way to change it. I'm going to go on the offensive but I need your help. I was thinking about baking some cookies or a cake or something. Did the woman I replace have any kind of specialty? I don't want to make the same thing as her. I want to make something better, something more unconventional that will really get people talking. And I want some dirt on Sam as well. I don't like him or the way he looks at me. There's got to me something that I can get on him so that he'll be forced to give my ideas the consideration they merit. There's gotta be something going on with him and that receptionist, right? I've seen the way they look at each other.” Her mind was whirling with machinations, and it was scaring Mandy. The mousy-haired woman looked at Scarlett with wide eyes and urged her to take a seat.

“I think you're thinking about this too much. And I can't blame them for talking to you. After what happened at the party, you shouldn't be surprised either.”

Scarlett whirled around, her eyes so wide that the whites were visible. She gripped the arms of Mandy's chair and looked at her new friend directly in the eyes, unsettling her.

“What do you mean what I did at the party? Did I do something that I don't remember? Was it when I knocked over those files on the way out? Are they really judging me on that? I wasn't the only one who got drunk, was I? God... Mandy, what did I do?”

Mandy looked at her with a puzzled expression and glanced at the door, wondering if there was a quick way to escape.

“Well,” she began, making sure to choose her words carefully because Scarlett seemed little unpredictable at the moment, and Mandy didn't know how she was going to react. “It's not so much what you did… I mean, you may not have done anything, but you know… it's not everyone that gets to spend time alone with Jack.”

“Jack...?” Scarlett asked, staggering back to her seat and falling into it.

“Yeah, did you not realize who you were talking to? That was Jack Keyes. I thought you knew.”

“Oh my god,” Scarlett said, placing her head in her hands.

“When we all saw him go into the break room, we were surprised. You guys were in there for quite a while. It was the only thing anyone could talk about. When he's in town, he never usually comes to the office parties, and if he does he only usually stays for a little while. Pretty much every woman in the office would give anything for some one-on-one time with him—hell, a lot of the men would too. So come on. I'm your friend. Tell me what happened.”

Scarlett only groaned. “I made a complete and utter fool of myself. You could have told me he was coming!”

“I didn't know! He just showed up. Why? What did you do? Are the girls right? Everyone thinks that something happened. Although… well, I don't know if I should tell you this, but some of them don't think that you're his type, and some are sure they heard that he's with a Russian ballet dancer at the moment.”

The thought of him with another woman was painful to Scarlett, but that feeling was still second to the embarrassment she felt.

“I think I need to quit this job.”

“What happened?”

“I ended up practically crying on his shoulder. He made me coffee and asked me what was wrong, so I told him. Of course, because I was drunk, I ended up babbling and telling him much more than I should have, and now he probably thinks that I'm some kind of idiot. Oh God, he didn't even tell me his name. I had no idea who he was! That was unfair I think. I mean, he should have told me his name.”

“Was that it?” Mandy asked, still eager to hear more.

“No,” Scarlett said, and was then unsure of how much she should reveal to Mandy. But it was burning up inside her and she had to tell someone. “We ended up kissing.”

Mandy looked at her in shock. Scarlett, still with her head in her hands, moved her eyes to look at Mandy.

“That's um... wow, you are certainly going to be the envy of the office.”

“No... no no no. You can't tell anyone about this. I mean, what if it gets out? I don't want to be seen as the office slut. I've already got a bad image as it is. No, it was just… I don't know. It just happened. I was resting my head on his shoulder, and then I looked at him and he looked at me, and before I knew it we were kissing.”

“What was it like?”

“Amazing! Oh my God, it was just... one of those kisses where time seemed to stand still and it made me feel all tingly all over.”

“Did you, you know...?” Mandy said, making an expressive gesture with her eyebrows. Scarlett shook her head and finally leaned back in her chair, sighing heavily.

“No, he left pretty much right after it happened. Said that he didn't want to take advantage of me in the state that I was in. So... yeah, I can imagine that he doesn't have the best opinion of me right now. I mean, it’s my first week and I've already gotten drunk at work and made out with the CEO.”

“It's one for the record books, that's for sure,” Mandy said, and Scarlett made a face at her.

“Still, at least he rarely comes around here. I doubt I'll ever have to see him again, not that I wouldn't mind seeing him again... I can't get that kiss out of my head,” Scarlett said, a wistful look in her eyes.

“I hate to break it to you, but he's going to be around for the next few days. I'm surprised he's not in yet, actually. He must have another meeting or something,” Mandy said. Scarlett felt her heart fall in her chest and wished the ground would open up and swallow her whole.

“Well, that's it. My reputation here is officially ruined. There's no coming back from this.”

“Are you kidding me? People are going to want to talk to you to find out what happened. We've all wanted this. Even I'm envious of you. I mean come on, it's Jack freaking Keyes! He's the type of man that every woman wants to be with and every man wants to be. You know what people would give to make out with him? I can't believe I'm actually sitting here with someone who kissed him!”

“Well, don't get too excited. It was just one of those things that happened.”

“You never know...” Mandy said. Scarlett dared to dream for a moment but then quickly pushed the thought out of her mind. The last thing she needed right now was an unrequited crush on an unattainable man. It was just a kiss—an amazing kiss—and she would leave it at that.

The knock on the door made them both jump. Scarlett opened it.

“There's been a delivery for you,” the receptionist said, and handed Scarlett a big bouquet of flowers. There was a look of curiosity in the receptionist’s eyes, but Mandy told her to go back to front desk as Scarlett closed the door. Before she did so, however, she noticed that people were staring at her. Her heart raced as she took the flowers and smelled them. The bouquet was a flurry of colors and sweet smells, and was a delight to the senses.

“You don't think they could be from him?” Mandy asked. Scarlett shrugged, but it would certainly make the day better if they were. She didn't have time for an unrequited crush, but if he returned her feelings then who knew what could happen...

With deft fingers she pulled out the crisp card. A pattern of purple vines ran around the edge of the card and she opened it, wondering what message was held inside. But her hopes were soon dashed and she flung the card away, then pushed the flowers off the desk into the bin.

Confused, Mandy questioned why she reacted that way and picked up the card.

Good luck at the new job. Matt.

“Your ex,” Mandy said softly.

“He needs to stop this,” she said. There was another knock on the door, this time summoning Scarlett to the conference room for an impromptu meeting. The distraction was welcome.