Calia Read - Unravel

I heard his silent toast echo in my ears: Get Ready.

And even in this scalding heat, I shivered.

Taking a deep breath, I followed Lana’s directions and crossed the main lobby. My flip-flops sounded against the black granite floors. I signed in, grabbed a visitor card, and went right to the elevator. I was surrounded by men in suits. They spoke quietly on their cell phones or to each other. I stared at my reflection in the elevator doors and knew that I stood out in my white short shorts, and green racerback tank.

The doors finally slid open. I pressed seven. My fingers drummed against my thigh as I watched the numbers flash above me. It was crazy, but I was starting to get nervous. Maybe this wasn’t the best idea. Maybe Lana was right.

2, 3, 4…

I took a deep shaky breath.

5, 6…

My grip tightened on the papers.

7…

The doors slid open to a typical office. Plush, black chairs against the wall. Black and white pictures of high-rise buildings. Magazines on the end tables. Green plants placed throughout the space. Right in the middle of the room was the secretary’s desk, with a pretty brunette behind it.

I put one foot in front of the other.

Get this done and get out of here, I said to myself.

The brunette looked up. She gave me a friendly smile. But she took in my dress code and her smile waned. I couldn’t really blame her for judging. I looked at the name on the counter. Sophie Miller.

“May I help you?” she asked.

I lifted the stack of envelopes in my hand. “I need to drop these off.”

“You can just hand them to me. I’ll make sure he gets them.”

“Thank you,” I said.

Sophie grabbed a pen and notepad. “Who should I say this is from?”

I leaned on the counter and smiled. “I’m Starlight from the local strip club. Your boss has a running tab and I was just delivering his newest bill.”

Pen dropped. Sophie’s head shot up. Mouth was hanging open. This was fun. Some of my anxiety began to fade.

And right when I was starting to relax, the door behind her opened. A man walked out. He wasn’t Max.

I smiled.

I wanted to sigh with relief, but right behind the man was Max. My smile faded. My body started to tingle. He had on a white dress shirt, tucked into navy blue dress pants. A striped tie, and a tailored vest showcased his wide shoulders. He crossed his arms and I saw the silver watch on his wrist.

My body felt leaden. My movements were slow. And it was all because of him. I gripped the counter. It didn’t even matter that he wasn’t looking my way. His magnetism fell off him in waves, pulling me under, drowning me slowly, making my lungs constrict with every breath.

Max had a focused look on his face as he talked. I knew he was in his element. He was a shrewd businessman. One that was intelligent enough to know when to shut up and listen, and when to speak.

My resistance, the little I had built up, was starting to fade. I had to get out of there fast. I attempted to get Sophie’s attention. Attempted was the key word. She was fixated on Max.

I tried using my manners. In a polite voice, I said Sophie’s name. She didn’t look at me.

I tapped the counter. Still nothing. I glanced over at Max. He was wrapping up his conversation. My heart started to race. I felt like these were the final seconds I had before a bomb went off and exploded in my face.

“Hey,” I snapped my fingers. “Sophie!”

She jerked her head back to me and gave me an impatient look. “Yes?”

I quickly rushed my words. “I need to be going. Can you just say that Naomi stopped by to drop these off for—?”

Max stopped mid-sentence. So I stopped mid-sentence.

His head turned in my direction. I silently cursed myself. He had been gesturing with his hands but now they were frozen in the air. He blinked and looked at me as if I weren’t real.

I wished that were the case. I wished I could snap my fingers and disappear that second.

His silence made the man next to him stop talking and stare at me. The man looked between Max and me, and excused himself.

“Naomi?”

How did he do that? How did he make my name sound so… sinful?

I cleared my throat. “That’s my name.”

He walked over to me. “How are you?”

I shrugged and gripped the envelopes tightly in my hand. “I’m all right.”

He tucked his hands into his pockets and leaned against Sophie’s desk. “Having a good summer?”

I stared down at the counter as I answered, trying to appear unaffected. “I am. Just been really busy. You know how it is.”

“Ah, of course. Busy,” he repeated back.

My eyes lifted and were caught by this gaze.

“Yeah, just visiting friends and running errands. I figured I’d make the most of my time while I’m here.”

That was a lie. If Lana hadn’t woken me up this morning I would’ve slept until noon and sat around watching re-runs of reality shows with a plate of brownies on my lap.

“How long are you home?” he asked.

“Until September.”

Maybe it was my eyes, or my mind playing tricks on me, but I swear he was slowly inching closer to me. Or maybe I was. Either way, the space between us was slowly starting to disappear.

I looked down at my hands. I was gripping the papers so tightly that in a few minutes they would be wadded up in a ball. My mind kicked back into gear. I shoved the envelopes at him.

“I’m just dropping these off.” Max looked at the envelopes and back at me. “For Michael,” I said dumbly.

He said nothing. Just smirked and reached out his hand.

If this were a movie, I would press pause at this part. And I would point to my hand on the screen. I would show you how I made sure to grip the very edge of the papers. How I went out of my way to make sure we didn’t touch. Then I would press play and when I did, you would see his fingers grazing the back of my hand and me standing there frozen solid. And if you listened very carefully, you would hear the sound of a faint tear. That was just the sound of my heart unraveling like a torn ribbon.

All from one touch.

“Thank you,” he said.

I took a step back. “I’m gonna go. Sorry for interrupting.”

“You’re not interrupting.” He held up a finger. “Just wait.”

He looked back at Sophie and told her she could take lunch early. She grabbed her stuff. When she passed me she looked me up and down curiously. I wanted to tell her to stay. I was even willing to go as far as to tell her I was sorry for being a smart ass earlier. I was that desperate.

But she left. The door clicked shut.

There were no noises. Phones had stopped ringing. Printers and fax machines were silent. No voices or laughter. Not even footsteps. Nothing. Just the two of us.

This time it wasn’t really in my mind. This time, we really were in our own world.

“What was that?” Max said.

“What was what?”

“The look my secretary gave you.” He opened up the paperwork as he talked to me. I watched his hands. Long, tapered fingers. Bluish veins traveled up his arms. A vision of those hands wrapped around my waist, pressing into my skin, guiding me closer to his hard body flashed through my head. It was gone in an instant. But my gut twisted and that greed I had for him intensified by a million.

“Did I miss something?” he asked.

“Oh, it was nothing,” I said evasively.

He lifted a brow. I changed the subject.

“So,” I drew out slowly, trying to think of a new topic.

Max leaned on the counter. “No, no, don’t try to change the subject. What happened between you and my secretary?”

He was persistent. Why was I so surprised?

“I might have introduced myself in a not so professional way,” I said.