Page 3 of The Attraction File

TWO

Evaleen

Five Years Later

“So many problems erupt when sex enters the picture,” I said just before lifting my glass so that the cool, refreshing gin and tonic could slide easily down my throat.

Aria shook her head. “Speak for yourself.” Her platinum blonde hair, a stark contrast to the dimly lit bar, floated around her head like a halo.

“You could get pregnant. You could get kidnapped. Or in Drake’s case, get fired. Twice.” I held up two fingers to make my point, but it only caused the laughter at the table to grow louder. Especially from me. I may have been a little drunk and exaggerated about the kidnapping, but there were a lot of weirdos out there. I’m just saying.

“Is it any surprise that they did it on the conference table? If it were me, I would have done him against the window, in the bathroom, and in the elevator by now. Henrik Payne is like Heathcliff and Mr. Darcy all rolled into an expensive suit,” Aria added just before popping the cherry from her whiskey sour into her mouth.

“Maybe it was a mistake. Henrik is so responsible, and even though I only met Morgana once, she seemed very nice. Why would they both jeopardize their jobs?” Tiffany’s brow wrinkled in an adorable way. She was like Mary Ann from Gilligan’s Island but with chestnut hair and Ginger’s body. I just wanted to hug her despite the naïve question.

We were in the middle of our Thursday night SWIM Meet. It’s an acronym that stands for Smart Women with Idiot Men. Last week, my coworker and our good friend, Morgana Drake was fired for having sex with her ex-boss, Henrik Payne, after a meeting.

She used to be Henrik Payne’s assistant. Over a month ago, I caught them fooling around on company property, which is why she is no longer at Mimir. In the span of just over a month she was let go of not one, but two different companies for having sex.

That was all Payne’s fault, yet he still had his job as an Executive with Mimir, and poor Morgana was left with nothing. Why was it usually men behind women’s problems? Perhaps that’s why I decided years ago to stay away from them.

Especially one man in particular.

Since I had been promoted to the head of human resources last year, I was the one that had to write Morgana up. This had been eating away at me for a while. Morgana was smart and a hard worker, she deserved better than being the one who left. She definitely deserved better than Payne.

As much as I disliked Payne, I understood Drake’s attraction to someone she worked with. Sometimes being in such close proximity every day made it hard not to let your mind wander.

Knowing what I did about both situations, I had been trying to figure out how to get Morgana her job back.

“Come on, Tiffany. You know what it’s like when you have the hots for someone. Location becomes irrelevant. You sort of forget you are at work, or in a bathroom, or at the circus.”

I frowned at Aria. Tiffany blushed.

“Yeah, I was like that with my husband when he was alive. Except we never did it at his job, or in a bathroom, or at a circus. We did do it once in his car after a Cubs game.”

Aria nodded and turned her head toward me. “How about you, Evaleen? You ever do it someplace wild like a conference table or a car?”

I had only known these women for a month, so explaining my sexual history to them wasn’t something I was prepared to do. Luckily, I didn’t have to as Tiffany’s phone began to ring.

She fumbled with her purse and pulled it out. I tried my best to give her privacy and turned my attention toward the rest of the bar, but when I heard her voice wobble with the words, “He took a step.” I turned my ear toward her.

When she ended the call, Aria and I gazed at her hoping to hear something good about her son, David, but what we saw was her hands covering her face as she released heavy sobs. Her body trembled as Aria scooted closer and wrapped her arms around Tiffany.

I placed my hand on her shoulder. “Oh honey, we’re here. Let it out.”

Her hands fell.

“It was David’s doctor. He called to tell me that when the therapist had him stand from his bed he took one step. The last time he walked was ten years ago when he was two years old. I never thought this day would come.” She raised her head, her face streaked with tears and the biggest smile I had ever seen. “It worked. The surgery worked. I have to go.”

I didn’t know all the details about what happened to Tiffany’s son, but I did know that when he was only two he was in a car accident that left him without the ability to walk. A few weeks ago, he had experimental surgery in the hopes it would help him. She had been at his side since and it took all our powers of persuasion to get her to take a break once a week. Just us girls. A chance for her to let go for a few hours.

Both Aria and I hadn’t known Tiffany long, but we could see she was a woman in need of a drink and some friends. Even if she could only spare a few hours a week.

Tiffany waved her hands in the air as her thick hair fluttered around her shoulders. “I need to be with him.”

I nodded. “Of course.”

Moving out of the booth, I gave her room. Aria grabbed her purse and gave it to her before she ran off.

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