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“You two know each other?” Chandler asked, his mouth agape.
“We met at the party last night,” I said, my eyes inextricably locked with her gaze.
“Oh, well, that’s convenient. Can you get someone to put together a dossier on the Mastercraft project and get it to her by this afternoon, Stan?”
“Yeah, no problem, I’ve got extensive notes. I’ve done a lot of research on this one, Chandler.”
“Don’t convince me, convince her,” Chandler said with a chuckle. “Well, I need to brief Ivy on some of her responsibilities while I’m gone. If you’ll excuse us?”
“Nice seeing you again,” I said, taking her hand. Her touch sent a cool blue electric thrill through my nervous system.
“Likewise,” she said, her eyes sparkling. I could tell she fondly recalled the previous night just as much as I did.
She headed out the door, and Chandler turned to face me.
“Listen, Stan,” he said with a sigh. “I’m sure you’ve noticed that Ivy is very attractive—”
“Nah, went right over my head.”
“I’m being serious, Stan.” His lips became a tight line. “She’s very young, eager to please, and you probably think that this fact makes her easy prey for your charms. This is on-the-job training for her, man. She’s a star on the rise and I want her at our firm. You should too.”
“Jesus Christ, man, all right. Do you think my dick is like the pied piper of financial department interns or fucking what?”
“No, I think that sometimes you like to think with the little head instead of the big one. And I think that if you make the mistake of doing that with Ivy, you’re going to cost this firm a valuable resource.”
Chandler chuckled, his lips pulling back into a toothy smile.
“What are you grinning at, asshole?”
“Oh, I was just thinking. This rule of not shitting where you eat won’t apply if you fall in love with her.”
“You’re kidding.”
“Of course I’m kidding.” Chandler rolled his eyes. “I’m speaking to a man whose vanity plates read SYNGL4LYF. I know that you’re never going to settle down. You tell us every single day.”
He clapped me on the shoulder and left me to stew in my own juices. I was more than a little bit pissed at him, but at the same time, his words planted the seeds for a really clever idea.
One thing I was glad for: Ivy hadn’t blown our cover. A lot of folks would have aired our dirty laundry in the hopes of getting preferential treatment, but she seemed determined to keep it on the down-low.
I felt like I could respect that. I thought maybe we’d even be able to go about our business without it being too awkward.
On the other hand, she’d be working closely with me. I was starting to wonder if I could even avoid the phenomenon of a repeat performance with Ivy.
And what really scared me the most was, I was wondering if I even had a problem with seeing her again.
It was enough to make a man drink. Which I did, but it didn’t help. At that point she’d already wormed her way into my mind like a thorn, so deep in that it would probably hurt to try and dig it out.
Little did I know it was only the beginning of my problems—and my salvation.
Chapter Four
Ivy
Dinner with my folks took on a whole new dimension when I headed to their place on Staten Island after work. I wanted to tell them about my good news, and the way I was in line for a possible promotion.
I didn’t just want to blurt it out, though. There’s a certain unwritten rule at my parent’s house for dinner, that you keep it cool and light at least until the dessert course has made an appearance.
I took a cab over to the Island and arrived at my parent’s place. They’d moved into the efficiency apartment over the family dry cleaning and tailoring business after my oldest sister got married and moved out.