Chapter 15- Jennette

I clicked on the link that some random person sent me, of course it was spam. I was waiting for Dennis to text me back. "Hmm," I groaned, I sounded like Marge Simpson from The Simpsons, pocketing my phone. I leaned on the table, it was a slow day at work. I yawned. I should get out my sketchbook. Everything was done. Dennis's dinner party... his dad. Why was he so ornery? When he came back after the conversation with his dad, he was the same Playful Dennis. However, he kept giving this faraway look. After we left, it was silent. I wanted to make sure he was ok. The night of the party was tense. Dennis's dad was the fun guy I clinged to. He's changed, drastically. The smile I liked was replaced with a scowl.

I looked up to see Alejandro coming up to my desk. I perked up, pulling down the end of my shirt. "Alejandro. Hello. How are you?" I smiled. He's here again. I'm seeing him again. After the dinner, he kept his voice in hush hush when Dennis came around while talking to his father. And he seemed real close to his sister. His hands trailed her neck and arms while we ate.

"Jennette." He strided in closer, leaning his elbow against my desk. I laughed softly, feeling giddy and tingly when he came close. "I didn't know you knew the Sanatorios."

"I didn't know you knew them."

"Me and Dennis go way back in business. How do you know them?"

"My father. Family friend." I kept my answers short.

"Oh. We're running into each other a lot huh?"

"Seems so." I let out a soft haha and then cleared my throat.

Is this yours?" He pointed to my book.

"Oh. Yeah. I draw sometimes." I closed the cover, feeling shy.

"Wait." He opened it back, looking at my recent art. He tilted his head to the side, "is it someone you know?"

"It's a character. It came to me in a dream."

"You're talented. Really talented."

"Thank you." he flipped from page to page, he leaned in closer. He smelled heavenly, was it old spice? I leaned over, he was close enough. Cologne has a certain scent, it's intoxicating. I sniffed twice. His head snapped up, staring at me warmly. "Oh, "sorry. It's... you smell nice."

He smirked, "do you usually sniff people?"

"If they smell good. Not in a creepy way," I shrugged.

"I forgot to ask, how was the rest of the modeling shoot?" I noticed he left during the first hour.

"It was good, modeling is not in my near future but I understand why Talia loves it so much." I placed my scrapbook back in the drawer.

"Oh. A beautiful woman like you should have their picture taken all the time."

I squeezed my lips together, hiding my blush, "you're gonna give me a big head." He's gotta stop flirting but I didn't want him to."You're here to see Jeff, right?" I asked.

"Yes, is he in?"

"He is."

"Also, the man from the photoshoot. How do you know him?"

"What man?" I frowned. Was he talking about Dennis? Sam? Damon?

"The guy with the rough hair and five o'clock shadow."

"Damon?"

"Yeah, him," I nodded, he frowned, breathing in and out. He seemed... off. Where was the flirty side?

"I barely know him. That was my second time meeting him."

"Right." He tapped his fingers twice, stepped away. I frowned again, watching him head to Joe's office, he knocked on his door three times. Hard.

"Huh," I waved it off when more customers were coming in. Jeff finally came out from the toilets. He dried off his hands, stepping toward me. "Hey."

"Took you long enough," I told him in a humorous tone.

"Not my fault the ham sandwich I ate wasn't sitting right," he shook his head and patted my shoulder playfully.

"Bad diarrhea?"

"I take fiber." We both chuckled. "I heard Alejandro come in."

"Yeah, he's in Joe's office."

After I came back from the photoshoot, Jeff wanted to know every single detail that happened. I told him, plus the weirdness that was Damon. Jeff said he sounded hot, he liked the brooding dangerous type. I kept telling him he had this creepy thing going for him and he talked way too close to me.

"He probably wants you. Like Alejandro."

"And what makes you say that?"

"The way he looks at you, you spoke Spanish to him, he's too friendly."

"I spoke four words in Spanish. At least he's nice."

"Watch out for the nice ones, he could have an agenda."

I rolled my eyes, "I don't want Alejandro. He's handsome, sure, but..."

"You like Dennis."

I stopped before I spoke and sighed. Yes, I liked Dennis. He's one of a kind. The fact that I got to see him again made me feel all fuzzy inside.

"I do, I do. I'm trying to take this slow. It's been a while since I've seen him."

"When was the last time you got laid?" he raised his eyebrows suggestively.

"Jeff!" I'm not speaking on my sex life while at work, if our boss came in and heard us. No way.

"Come on. How long?"

"Besides myself?"

"Yes," he nodded while eye rolling.

"Um." I tilted my head up in the air for thought. When was the last I got any? "Maybe five, seven months."

"That long?!" he sounded outraged. He opened his mouth wider.

"So?"

"So? Why?"

"There hasn't been anyone I want to sleep with lately."

"Before Dennis?"

"Before Dennis. I don't even know if he's single or not."

"Ask him."

"Maybe I could. He invited me to his mom's birthday." At his mom's birthday. I wasn't sure at first, it's been a while since I met his parents from high school. His dad was intimidating. His scowl was still burned in my memory. The entire night, he was distant, held my hand. One of my coworkers, Aria, came out from the back, she asked me for help in the storage room for paper. "I'll be there in a sec," I told him.

"Wait, he invited you? To something personal?" He followed me from behind.

"It's not a big deal," I sputtered, opening the storage room.

"Not a big deal, she says." I heard the disbelief in his voice. "Remember that guy I went out on one date with? He took me to his sister's bat mitzvah. On a second date. It means he wants to see you again. It's been a long time. You're not in high school."

I scoffed, "what?" A loud bang rattled us, something hit the floor, I jumped and held onto Jeff's shoulder. "What the hell was that?" I asked in a hushed tone. I squeezed my hand harder into his arm, pulling him in front of me.

"You're hurting me." He strained his voice, removing my grip from his arm.

"Sorry," I let go, looking right at the corner to see what fell. It was a box. I shook my head, searching for the paper. I couldn't find it.

"Maybe it's on the top shelf. Aria doesn't have an eye of attention." I nodded, walking over slowly to see the issue. I searched for the box on the floor, but there was nothing there. I inched closer; Jeff was by my side tiptoeing the same way. There was something on the floor but it wasn't a box. It was someone's purse. I grabbed a box cutter, I pushed the blade out, in case we were in danger. Oh, it's Alejandro. I rolled my eyes. He was on the phone, angry, wailing his hands over and over. His face was flushed, pulling at his hair. Jeff tapped my shoulder and discreetly left. He hung up and cursed, startling me my back bumped into something and it fell to my side.

I rolled my eyes, "shit."

"Ms. Mcyntire," Alejandro said when he saw me. He fixed his tousled hair and grinned. "What are you doing back here?"

"Um paper. Refilling paper for Aria," I stuttered, holding the pack against my chest.

"Oh. Are you doing overtime?"

"No, after I give her the paper, I'm going home." I walked up slowly, trying to brush away from him. He gripped my upper arm gently, I gulped and smiled. Our eyes were locked. His eyes were so... dark. And hooded.

His thumb brushed against my arm, "You can't stay for me?" He tilted his head and smirked.

"Tempting. I don't like overtime." I clock in, clock out. Get paid. Do my freelance. No stress. A little stress. My heart's beating fast as he moved in close.

"Shame, bella." He leaned in, oh my god, he's not gonna? He picked something off my cheek, waved the piece of paper in front of me. "Careful." I giggled.

The door rushed open, I gasped trying to back away. But he stayed. Still holding me. "It's not what it looks like." I mumbled my words.

"Of course not. Alejandro, my office, please." Jeff gestured to him to follow behind. Alejandro obliged, looking back at me with no worries, no big deal. Like he wanted to get caught. He smirked, closing the door behind him. I felt my jaw pop. I needed to go home.

xxx

All I wanted to do was come home, eat my snacks. Maybe take a nap and draw. I'm stuck in a triangle of lust between Talia, Sam and Damon. Really, Talia? I gave her a scowl, shaking my head. I had to be dragged into this. However I did have a choice. But she's my friend. I got her back, she's got mine. It's truth time, and Talia needed to provide it. She ran to her room when her boys left. I had to pretend I was sleeping with Damon. He wasted no time playing along. He kept holding my hands, grabbing my thighs and trying to kiss me. I had to kiss him. He tasted stale. Ew.

I pushed him fast enough before he tried to put his tongue down my throat. I told him I knew what was going on with him and Talia. His face turned blank, seeing the dread fill his skin. I said I won't tell Sam, as long as he wouldn't be creepy around me since we were pretending. I had to lie to Sam that we were just hooking up. I licked both of my lips.

"We need to talk." I gestured for both of us to go to the room. She looked down, opening it widely for me to enter. She followed behind, closing the door and locked it. "What the hell?" I asked in a hushed voice.

"Look-" Talia started but I cut her off.

"Why didn't you tell me what was going on?" I shut the door. "Damon? Really? With two of them?" I widened my eyes."Aren't you serious with Sam?"

"Yes," she answered.

"Then Damon..." I gestured my hands behind me.

"I met Damon while I was with Sam. And you know," she trailed off, laying on her back and crossed her arms over her face. "It's a hookup. That's it. He knows."

"You could have told me so I can prepare myself." I sat on her bed. She groaned, shaking her head.

"I know." I wasn't judging her in any shape or form, however I thought we were closer for her to tell me any of her secrets.

"How long?"

"How long what?" she questioned.

"The affair with two of them."

"I've been hooking up with Sam for a few months. Damon, a few weeks later," she shrugged.

"Wow, and Samuel had no idea." She shook her head. "Talia," I threw my hands up in the air.

"Don't judge me," she said, pointing her finger at me.

"I'm not. You do you, it's your life. Next time, give me a heads up. I'm not interested in pretending to be one of your lover's girlfriends."

"Noted." She nodded.

"So, am I off the hook or is the charade continuing?"

"Afraid it continues, my friend," she scrunched my face. I lifted my head up. As much as I don't want to, I have to. No harm done, as long as I get to hang out with Dennis.

"Oh lord, what do I have to do now?" I'm so tired of these favors.

"Damon asked me for a favor. A colleague of his wants to meet us."

"For what?" I curled an eyebrow.

"You know Bennett Falls?"

My eyes widened, "as in the richest man in town that owns everything since his father passed. Who doesn't? How does he know Damon?"

"Yes. I'm not sure. He said he met him a few weeks ago and saw us."

"Huh. So what is it?" I asked.

"He said he might want to hire us?"

"For his company? Does he offer the three or four day workweek?" I giggled.

"I hope so." She chuckled.

"When does he want us to meet him?"

"Tomorrow."

"Tomorrow? So soon? You don't find that suspicious?"

"He's a business man. Time is money," she said in duh tone.

"As much as I want to meet him, it seems weird."

"It's not. It's public. At one of his hotels."

I sighed, "alright. This is the last thing. After this I'm done. Are sam and Dennis still here?"

"They're waiting for us."

xxx

I swallowed, adjusting my top. He was supposed to meet us here in ten minutes. I wore this dress for an impression. I was told not to tell Jeff. It was still weird. "Relax," Talia said, looking through the US magazine.

"You want me to relax. We're meeting a stranger that wants to see us personally for reasons unknown."

"He wants us to work with him," she shrugged.

"He could call Jeff and have the message forwarded to us." The door opened. A man in a suave suit walked in. "Oh, my God." My bottom lip quivered. That's the guy. The guy I bumped into at the party. He looked over at us and grinned. He's walking over.

He's walking over. I nudged Talia for her attention. She complained, looking up, she cursed. "Holy shit."

"Ladies. Hello." He stood in front of us, buttoning one of his suit jackets in the middle.

"Hi. Hello. Good sir," I shook my head. What? "Hi." I stood, dragging Talia up with me and she greeted him. "I'm Jennette. This is Talia." I introduced myself.

"Pleasure. My name is Bennett." He still had that same deep timbre in his voice when we crossed paths. My hands were clammy, I giggled uncontrollably as we released.

"So you know Damon. Does he owe you money?" I asked.

"Jen!" She hit me in the rib of the stomach.

He chuckled, "Damon owes. But he always pays back. He paid me back ten times." He looked at us from head to toe. My body grew goosebumps.

"Shall we? I reserved a table for us." He gestured to the restaurant side. We both nodded and followed him behind. His fine behind.