Ian's POV
"How are you doing?" I asked Marco, seeing him in the break room for once. He'd been hiding out, trying to avoid the looks of pity everyone was giving him. His attempts to repair his marriage had only further pushed his wife away. In the end, she decided to file for divorce, not just separation. Even I found myself giving him those very looks he dreaded without meaning to. It was hard not to show the sympathy I felt for him, knowing how much pain he was in right now.
He was trying to mask it with frivolous hook ups, and obvious flirting. At times, he would cross the line, no longer seeing one. I am pretty sure he felt he had nothing left to lose, having lost the love of his life in his eyes. If only there were something I could do to help him.
"Just peachy. How about yourself?" He gave me a half convincing smile, having gotten down that fake smile to a science.
"You don't have to do that with me. You don't have to put up a front around me, Marco. I know how much pain you must be in."
"I don't want to talk about that, Ian." He stared down at his coffee as if his most sorrowful days were contained in that very mug.
"I'm here if you ever do. Just don't lose sight of yourself, Marco. You still have kids to take care of."
"Yeah, if she'd ever let me see them. She doesn't even trust me with my damn kids!" Marco suddenly snapped, hurling his cup across the breakroom. The ceramic broke into a million pieces as it hit the wall. Dark liquid splashed around, staining the walls and surrounding areas.
"I'm so sorry, man. Can she do that?"
"Apparently." He shook his head, leaning over the counter with his head hung low. "I hate this! What am I supposed to do?"
Just as I was going to respond to him, I heard Vic's voice approaching from the hall. "He should be in here. I saw him come this way just a minute ago."
"Okay, thank you so much," Hailey's sweet voice responded, already causing a smile to spread.
It quickly vanished when I looked at Marco. He didn't need to see a budding romance. However, it was too late, as Hailey now stood in the doorway with Vic, who was giving me a thumbs up from behind her. My gaze met hers, melting right into that warm smile of hers. I find myself walking towards her already, as she did the same. She hugged me tight before giving me a quick kiss.
"You weren't kidding, were you?"
"Nope. I said I was coming, so I came." She wiggled her eyebrows at me playfully. "Now introduce me to people like you're actually happy I'm here."
"You know I am." I smiled down at her, pulling her to my side. "Marco, this is my girlfriend Hailey. Hailey, this is my friend Marco."
Hailey extended her hand out to Marco with her friendly smile, the one that could light up a whole room. Surprisingly, Marco reciprocated it, shaking her hand politely.
"Lovely to meet the lady that's been making this one smile more," he said, pointing right at me.
"He's going to show me around for a little while, but after we are getting lunch. Would you like to join?" she asked him, surprising us both. Marco looked at me as if to ask if it were truly fine, to which I nodded my head lightly.
"Sounds great. Thank you for the invite."
"See you later then. I am going to steal this one away." She dragged me out as if she knew where she was going, stopping at the end of the hall and turning to me. "So, which one is she?"
I laughed, having forgotten the whole reason she decided to come. She wanted to see who Heather was. Grabbing her hand, I walked her towards my office, picking up a file I needed to take to accounting. It would give me an excuse to be on the floor Heather was on.
"So she's not on the same floor as you?"
"No, she's not. I told you, I don't see her very much. She's the redhead behind the counter when the elevator doors open." I let her know, already certain she would compare her to Liv. In all honesty, Heather's red hair is what interested me.
"You have a type, got it." She nodded her head, teasing me as she tensed up.
I could tell she was trying to make light of it, but it had made her insecure. Deciding I didn't care how inappropriate it may be to do at work, I wrapped my arm around her, dragging her towards me. My lips crashed into hers hungrily, with my tongue running along her lower lip, seeking entrance. She allowed me in as her arms wrapped around my neck, deepening our kiss further.
Only the ding of the elevator doors opening brought us back to reality. We released each other with goofy grins as we headed out of the elevator. Hailey stifled her giggles as I hurriedly led her away from the group of people that had been waiting for the elevator to open. They had seen more than they should have.
Our giddiness died down as we approached the double doors of accounting. Holding the door open for Hailey, I allowed her to enter first. She waited for me as I stepped through, placing my hand on the small of her back and leading her towards Emmy's desk. She was in charge of the accounting for my department, which was only me. So pretty much, she was in charge of my finances for work. As we headed back, the loud clearing of a throat stopped us in our tracks, obviously trying to catch our attention.
"Only employees can go to the back. She'll have to wait out here." Heather glared at Hailey as if she were the most vile creature she'd ever seen. The look only angered me, making me want to take Hailey back there anyway, but I knew I couldn't. With a sigh, I gently cupped Hailey's face.
Ian's POV
"I'll be right back, Mi Amor. Don't go anywhere. I love you." I wanted Heather to know that in the grand scheme of things she didn't mean as much to me as she thought she did. It was Hailey who needed to know that she mattered more than anyone else in this building.
"I'll be right here waiting. I love you, too. Don't take too long. You know how I am."
"Impatient," we both said in unison, smiling widely. Hailey let out a light laugh as I began to walk away. She stood in the small waiting area, mousing from picture to picture.
I reached towards Emmy's desk, giving her the file really quickly before returning to the front. Only when I rounded the corner did I find Heather was no longer at her reception desk. Instead, she was in front of Hailey with her arms crossed and a smug look on her face. What is the matter with this woman?
"He's just telling you what you want to hear. He doesn't actually mean it."
"And you know this because?" Hailey snapped back, giving her more attitude than I thought possible. Maybe it was wrong of me, but I hung back, wanting to see what Hailey would do or say.
"Because I know Ian. I don't know if he's told you this before or not, but we used to date. We were in love once too." That's the biggest lie on this planet. Heather is on some high grade crack, if she believes that. I worried for only a second that Hailey would believe her, but the feeling quickly faded as she began laughing in Heather's face.
"That's the funniest thing I've heard all day." She pretended to wipe at a tear in her eye. "Oh man, thank you. I really needed a good laugh."
Heather just stood there dumbfounded for a moment before she spoke once more. "What's so funny?"
"That you ever thought Ian loved you."
"What would you know?" Heather scoffed.
"As the woman I actually love, she knows a lot." I stepped in, causing Heather to jump as she hadn't noticed me. "Don't go spreading lies. I never once said I loved you. In fact, I told you that we would only be messing around and what we had wasn't serious. It seems you can't separate fantasy from reality."
Heather stayed silent as I grabbed Hailey's hand and led her out. She was smirking widely as I dragged her behind me to the elevator. She squeezed my hand as we ascended back to my floor.
"How private is your office?" She asked as she stepped in front of me, grabbing my balls firmly through my trousers. She's going to suck me dry.