“I have never made her believe I’m even remotely interested in her,” I say.
Calvin looks surprised.
“I mean, when you think about it objectively, she is pretty smoking hot. Are you not remotely interested in her?”
I go to my desk to shuffle through some papers unnecessarily. I don’t need to answer that question. The truth is, yes, I thought Erica was sexy as hell when she first interviewed for the job, but my desire for her quickly passed when I discovered how immature she is.
Sure, I like a good lay from time to time. No strings attached. Just a good old-fashioned romp in the hay. However, the fun kinda disappears from it if you don’t want to listen their voice. Erica just doesn’t do it for me. Not as far as her personality goes.
“Okay, I see what’s happening here,” Calvin says, interrupting my thoughts. I’m not even sure what he’s talking about. I give him a puzzled look.
“You would have been interested in this one if it wasn’t for your perky neighbor. Am I right?”
“What the hell are you talking about?” I argue, and Calvin laughs.
“You keep yourself closed-up like a clam, and you think you’re doing a good job of being private. The truth, my dear friend, is that you are more transparent than a piece of glass. You have the hots for Blaire Crawford, and she is the only woman crowding your brain right now.”
I didn’t realize how tightly I was gripping the papers in my hands, and now they crumble into balls when I clench my fists. That makes Calvin smile even wider. This is some kind of joke to him.
“I am not interested in Erica, and I want to find a way to put Blaire Crawford in her place. That is the whole story,” I snap, and my friend nods.
“Well, then you’ll be happy to know that my plan has been successful. I’m just back from a meeting with Blaire.”
To hell with the meeting I was supposed to attend; I need to hear every detail of what transpired between Calvin and Blaire.
“I set up a meeting at her office for this morning and she was waiting for me. She had no idea why I wanted to meet with her. I guess she assumed we wanted her help with staffing.”
“And does she know your association with me?”
“Apparently not,” Calvin says with a shrug. “She didn’t let on for a moment. I told her we are interested in adding her company to our portfolio, and she said she has already been approached with other offers recently but she’s not sure if she wants to sell control of her company yet.”
I sit back in my chair, thinking.
If we actually went ahead with this, I would gain control of Blaire’s company to a large extent. Depending on how much she is willing to sign off. Is that a really shitty move? She is obviously going to find out about my involvement soon, and…I can’t wait to see the look on her face when she realizes it’s been me all along.
Calvin is watching me and clears his throat when he realizes my thoughts are miles away.
“This acquisition could be fun, unless it causes some serious damage,” he adds. “After I met her today, I’m not sure if we should be messing around with her. Blaire Crawford is a confident and successful young woman, but she has clearly worked hard for everything she’s earned.”
“And I have no intention of stealing anything from her. Or strong-arming her into selling control. We will only go through with this if she decides to do it of her own accord. We just needed to know if she is interested in this, and it looks like she is. Technically, it shouldn’t matter who she is selling to, right?”
Calvin nods, but he also sighs deeply. “Technically, no, but in this case, it will matter. She may enter this deal willingly and happily until she finds out about you.”
“And hopefully by then, it will be too late for her to back out of it,” I say.
“I know you don’t hate her. Not really. If you want her, I’m sure you can find a way to make that happen, right?” Calvin asks.
I spin my pen on the desk, focusing on the way it rotates and blurs in motion.
“I can’t have Blaire, not in that way. It will ruin everything with Anya. She is the first person Anya has let into her life since…Nicola.”