Page 2 of Drunk In Love
I instantly recognize the deep baritone of Zach Stapely, my boss Brandon’s friend and my office building crush. Zach works for the Financial Journal one floor below us and had been there the same number of years that Tri-State Security has been in business. He and Brandon were tight, and Zach occasionally came to visit Brandon in our office. Zach was brown-skinned, built with sinewed muscle, and wore wire-thin glasses. He could have passed for a young college professor with his sartorial style. I could feel my heart rate quicken whenever he was near.
Zach and I had built a friendly rapport, but the more I saw him, my crush only intensified.
“Hey, Kamaya,” Zach says in greeting as he steps into the elevator.
“Hi, Zach,” I say, my voice cracking on the hi. Oh boy, I was a grown woman acting like a schoolgirl.
Maxwell and Zach exchange brief nods, acknowledging each other. Maxwell never had too much to say to the other man, seeming to take an instant dislike of him. As far as I knew, the two men never had any issues in the past, but they never appeared too friendly toward each other either.
“How’s your day going so far?” Zach says to me.
“Gwell,” I say too quickly. I’d started to say “good” and that sounded trite and then my brain autocorrected to “well” and that’s how I end up with gwell. Smooth, Kamaya.
I can’t even look at Maxwell to my right, though I can hear him choking back laughter.
I clear my throat. “It’s going well,” I correct myself. Before I can say any more, we’ve reached Zach’s floor.
“Good seeing you both,” he says before stepping out of the elevator. He takes one last long look at me before the doors close, and then Maxwell and I are alone again.
“Smooth,” Max says once the doors have closed and we ascend up one floor to our office.
“Shut up, Max. Don’t judge me!”
“If this is how you react around men you like, then I don’t know what to tell you,” Max says, trying unsuccessfully not to laugh.
“Stop it. It’s not funny,” I say, sitting down at my desk and removing the wraps from the brown paper bag. My desk is always full of random sticky notes and reminders to myself scattered over the many monitors that I use each day. Max’s workstation, on the other hand, is pristine at all times.
Maxwell throws his hands up in surrender. “I’m only playing, but seriously, you can’t expect anything to happen with Zach if you keep behaving that way.”
Much as I hate to admit it, Max is right. If I continue on with my awkward behavior, I’ll face more pitying looks from family members in the future and articles my mother forwards to me titled “Ten Tips On How to be Happy — Solo”.
“Oh good, you’re both back,” Brandon calls out as he makes his way over to our desks. Max sits opposite me with a low partition separating us.
Our boss is in a bespoke suit. Ever since he met his fiancée, Ava Wells, he typically sports a more casual look, having loosened up with her entrance in his life. When he appears in the office in a suit, that usually means he has an important meeting.
“I didn’t realize you’d be in today. I thought for sure you’d be heading to Greenwich for wedding preparations. You know, big weekend and all,” I remark.
Brandon smiles. “Ava will have my hide if I’m not there by this evening. This was an addition to our schedules. The three of us will be meeting with Zach and Cecily van Zandt.”
“Your friend Zach?” I question. Almost saying my Zach. Luckily I caught myself.
“Yes, the very one. I’m not sure what the meeting is about exactly, but he asked for a meet-up,” Brandon says.
Maxwell raises a brow at me when Brandon mentions Zach’s name. “We’ll be there,” Max responds.
“Perfect,” Brandon replies. “See you both in an hour.”
Once Brandon is out of earshot, Max lowers his voice before continuing. “Looks like you’ll be reunited with your crush.”
Maxwell only laughs at my glare before I ignore him and take a bite of my lunch. I’m looking forward to seeing Zach again.
“Time to go meet your beau,” Max says, leaning on the partition separating our desks. I glance at the time on the laptop screen and realize we have three minutes to make it to the conference room.
“I’m not going to dignify that with a response,” I say, shutting my laptop and taking it with me, along with my Moleskine notebook.
Max chuckles at my unamused attitude and falls into step beside me as we make our way through the office. The large monitor with a map of the tri-state area shows the location of Bree and Westin, other members of our team who are in Connecticut finishing up a security detail assignment.
“What do you think this sudden meeting is about?” Max asks.