Adam’s Song

~“The world was wide, too late to try,”~

~The tour was over, we’d survived,”~

~I couldn’t wait till I got home,”~

~To pass the time in my room alone.”~

~– Blink 182~

***

Wynntec & Co. towered over midtown, a skyscraper that was hard to miss.

Just standing in front of the revolving doors, I felt a wave of intimidation. For a small company, the building was daunting. Or maybe it was just the building itself.

Same difference.

I gave myself a quick once-over, making sure my clothes were wrinkle-free. I had on my best slacks and a red blouse.

I’d even thrown on black high heels for a bit of extra oomph and pulled my hair into a high ponytail, letting my curls cascade down my back.

I’d opted for my glasses, hoping they’d give me a more sophisticated look. I’d even put on makeup: a thin line of black eyeliner, a touch of peach-pink blush, and a bold red lipstick.

I knew I looked good, and I felt like I looked good, but standing in front of this building, I wasn’t sure if my outfit would fit in.

“Just do it, Veronica,” I whispered to myself. I took a deep breath to steady my nerves before pushing through the revolving door.

Inside, the lobby was breathtaking: marble floors, a high ceiling with a grand chandelier, and people in formal attire striding purposefully across the floor. I felt like a fish out of water.

Holding my black bag close to me, a makeshift security blanket, I made my way to the reception desk. The receptionist was engrossed in something on her computer.

When I stopped in front of her, she looked up.

“Can I help you?” she asked. Her tone was polite, but I could hear the irritation underneath.

Damn techies.

“Hi,” I said, feeling awkward, “I’m the new employee.”

“Translator,” I added quickly when she raised an eyebrow.

She gave me a once-over, and from the way her lips turned down, I could tell she didn’t like what she saw.

“Are you Veronica Tanner?” she asked, her tone dripping with disapproval.

I stiffened. “I am.”

She typed something into her computer and said, “Mr. Cole is waiting for you on the twenty-ninth floor.”

Without another word, she turned back to her computer, effectively dismissing me.

Frowning, I headed for the elevator. When the doors slid open, I stepped in and pressed the button for the twenty-ninth floor. The building had nearly seventy floors. Impressive.

The elevator took a few minutes to reach the floor, and by the time it did, I was feeling a bit queasy.

I had a slight issue with heights. Anything more than twenty meters off the ground terrified me.

The elevator doors opened, and I stepped out onto a floor filled with offices, desks, and people hard at work.

Some were darting from office to office, some were grabbing coffee from the refreshment stand, and some were on the phone, closing deals and doing whatever techies do.

It felt like I’d walked onto a movie set.

Holding my bag even tighter, I walked stiffly to the first office I saw. No one even glanced my way. Maybe they didn’t care. Maybe I didn’t look as put-together as I thought.

Either way, I stopped near the first office, where a thin, pale man was eating a sandwich while playing Solitaire. So much for ~remarkable~ work.

I cleared my throat, and he shot me an irritated look. ~What was with these people~?

“Excuse me,” I said, forcing a smile, “I’m looking for Ja–Mr. Cole’s office.”

Luckily, I caught myself before saying his first name. It didn’t seem right to refer to him by his first name to his employees.

The man looked confused for a moment.

“You’re here for Jax Cole?” he asked, as if the idea was abhorrent to him.

Feeling a surge of annoyance, I crossed my arms and said, “Well, I wouldn’t have asked for him if I wasn’t, would I?”

“Wait a minute,” he said, his eyes lighting up with realization, “Are you Veronica Tanner?”

He didn’t say it loudly, but it seemed like everyone heard him, because suddenly all eyes were on me, filled with surprise or polite—and maybe not-so-polite—appraisal.

Feeling like a zoo exhibit, I blushed slightly and kept my gaze on the man. “I am.”

“Okay then,” he said, now looking at me warily, “Mr. Cole is with Mr. Bryson in his office there,”—he pointed at a set of shiny mahogany double doors at the end of the row of offices.

It made sense that Jax had a private office. He was in charge of everything related to the website. Everyone here worked under him and answered to him.

If this were an army, he’d be the commander, and everyone else would be his soldiers.

Shaking off the thought, I forced a smile and headed for the mahogany doors. I could feel everyone’s eyes on me, and it made my fingers twitch with nerves.

It wasn’t that I had a problem with being the center of attention, but the vibe I was getting wasn’t exactly flattering. In fact, I was pretty sure I could feel some hostile glares boring into my back.

I stopped in front of the doors. This was it.

Taking a deep breath, I knocked once, twice. The sound echoed in the eerily quiet floor. I didn’t dare look back to see why everyone had suddenly gone silent.

A deep, familiar voice called from inside, “Come in.”

Swallowing hard, I opened the door and slipped inside, closing it softly behind me.

I turned to take in the office and couldn’t help but be impressed.

Wooden cabinets filled with files, a parquet floor, a ceiling painted with an exotic sunset, and a desk cluttered with a large iMac computer and various office supplies.

Behind the desk, a large window revealed a stunning cityscape. Standing shoulder to shoulder next to it were Oliver and ~Jax~.

When they both swiveled to face me, I was taken aback by their striking good looks.

Oliver, with his neatly trimmed hair and fiery eyes, and Jax, with his wild dark hair and smoky midnight-blue eyes.

Despite Jax being taller, they somehow appeared to be the same height, thanks to their muscular builds. They were so attractive it was almost physically painful to look at them.

Finally, after what felt like an eternity since I’d entered, Jax broke the silence. “Good. You’re here.”

I fought the urge to fidget, knowing that any sign of weakness would be noted. I wasn’t weak. Not anymore.

“I guess I am,” I replied, trying to sound as confident as possible.

Oliver gave Jax a nod.

“We’ll pick this up later,” he said to his friend, offering a rare smile and a friendly pat on the shoulder. “See you at lunch.”

“I’ll be there,” Jax responded, mirroring the small smile.

Oliver strode across the room, stopping in front of me.

“I’m glad you decided to take this job,” he said, “it’ll be good. You’ll see.”

I gave a curt nod. He returned it, gave me an awkward pat on the head, and left, closing the door behind him.

Suddenly feeling exposed in the large office with Jax, I crossed my arms and moved towards the desk.

Jax remained silent for a few moments, his gaze fixed on the view outside the window, a furrow between his brows.

Then, abruptly, he turned away from the window and positioned himself on the other side of the desk, facing me.

The morning light streaming through the window behind him gave him an almost angelic aura.

Yeah. Angelic. That’s how I saw him, even though he was more of a cunning devil.

Something was definitely wrong with me.

“Welcome to Wynntec & Co, the illustration and design department.”

I just stared at him.

He took my silence as a cue to continue. “As you can see, I’m the head of this department. Everyone here works for me, and you’re about to join them.”

“You’ll have your own office, your own computer, your own equipment, and you’ll report directly to me.”

I was taken aback by his all-business demeanor, especially considering his insinuation a few days ago that he wanted to sleep with me again.

His smoky eyes had lost their warmth. He seemed distant and aloof, and for some reason, it left me feeling disappointed.

“I divide all the employees into collaborative teams, but you’ll be working alone, given the specific nature of your job. It requires a single person.”

“So, while it would be nice for you to get to know your colleagues, you need to understand that, like it or not, you’re on your own. Except for when you’re working with me, of course.”

“Of course.” I nodded sharply.

Despite his assumptions, I preferred working alone. Even at the bookstore, I never really meshed well with Patty or any of the other employees.

He’d unwittingly handed me my dream job. Seriously.

But his tone irked me.

If I didn’t know any better, and I guess I didn’t, when he mentioned working with him, it sounded like he was looking forward to it. Perhaps he found the prospect satisfying.

Although, on the surface, it seemed like he was just stating a fact.

“So,” he said, giving me a piercing look that made me swallow hard, “are you ready to start working, Miss Tanner?”

I couldn’t help but narrow my eyes. ~Miss Tanner~? Really? It’s not like we’re strangers! Why was he pretending I was just another employee, and he was the big, bad boss?

What was he trying to achieve?

I was tempted to say something to rile him up, but I held back. If he wanted to play, we’d play.

“I can’t wait, ~Mr. Cole~.”

My sarcasm didn’t go unnoticed. He moved from behind the desk and stood directly in front of me, his tantalizing body just inches away.

I tightened my arms around myself, using them as a barrier.

“Listen carefully,” he said, towering over me, “here, I am the boss. Here, I’m not Jax, Oliver’s friend, and you’re not Veronica, Oliver’s stepsister.”

“Here, I have a business to run and you’re an employee who works for me. As far as we’re concerned, we have no connection.”

His words brought a wave of relief mixed with a hint of disappointment. He didn’t want to sleep with me again after all.

I guess his previous comment about remembering the taste of me was just a mind game. I wouldn’t be surprised if messing with people’s heads was a hobby of his.

Feeling as if a huge weight had been lifted, I flashed him my best smile.

“I have no problem following that rule, Mr. Cole,” I said, suppressing the irrational disappointment.

Something flickered in his eyes. Whatever it was, it didn’t seem important as he nodded and gestured towards the door. “Now that we understand each other, let’s show you the office.”

I followed him out, noticing all my new colleagues looking up from their work to watch Jax.

The women swooned, whispering among themselves, while the men looked at him with admiration. I wondered what he’d done to earn such respect.

He led me to an office in the middle of the floor, right next to another one, which was currently unoccupied.

“Here’s your workspace. You’ll find USBs in the drawers with the text files you need to start translating, either to Russian or English.”

“If you need anything else, Miss Galloway is in the office next door. She can help you out. Got it?”

I flashed him a sweet smile. “Absolutely, Mr. Cole.”

His eyelid twitched and I couldn’t help but grin to myself. You can play it cool all you want, but I know I get under your skin.

“Good. Get to work,” he said, and briskly retreated to his office, shutting the door behind him.

I let out a sigh and noticed that everyone was staring at me, again. For the first time in months, I didn’t enjoy the attention. It made me feel like a spectacle.

Ignoring the stares, I pulled out the chair and sat down. I set my bag aside and powered up the computer.

Once it was up and running, I checked the drawers and found the USBs Jax had mentioned.

There were thirty of them. If I was right, each one held about five or six files…

That’s a lot of work.

Excited, I took one and plugged it into the computer. A window popped up; there were ~seven~ files.

Grinning like a kid in a candy store, I opened the first file, simply labeled “One,” and found it was ten pages of Russian text.

After reading it without any trouble, I opened a new Word document and started translating.

Half an hour later, my office neighbor returned from wherever she’d been.

She was a beautiful woman in her mid-twenties, with long golden hair, stunning light hazel eyes, and a tall, slender body with curves in all the right places.

Her skin was the kind of flawless creamy complexion every woman dreams of, and when she smiled, she looked angelic.

I would’ve been jealous if she hadn’t rolled her chair over to me.

“Hi!” she said with a burst of energy, “You must be the new girl!”

Caught off guard, I replied, “That’s me.”

She whistled. “You’re even prettier than everyone said. You're a knockout.”

Wow. “You’re very direct.”

“I hear that a lot,” she grinned. “Anyway, I’m Josephine, but you can call me Jo. Everyone does. And you’re Veronica, right?”

“Just call me Nix or Ver or whatever,” I said, offering a tentative smile, “Veronica is a bit of a mouthful.”

She laughed. “I hear you. Fine, I’ll call you Nix. It’s a cool nickname. Sounds like a vixen.”

~If she only knew.~

“Well then, Jo,” I said, now smiling fully, “I think we’re going to get along just fine.”

Chuckling, she agreed, “I think so too. Well, I have work to do now, so let’s catch up at lunch, okay?”

“Okay,” I said, grinning, and we both turned back to our work. I’d made a friend in my first hour here. Things were going to be okay. Everything was going to be okay. Even Jax would be okay.

But why was he acting so cold and distant when just a few days ago he couldn’t take his eyes off me?

When lunchtime rolled around, I’d already translated seven pages of the first text.

Jo and I headed down to the first floor together, where the cafeteria was—and here I thought I’d left this behind in high school and college.

After we got our food, she led me to a table where two more women from our department were sitting. They introduced themselves as Erin and Lucy and were almost as friendly as Jo.

Almost, because while Jo was very open and carefree, the other two were more reserved and observant, but still friendly.

They did most of the talking, and their favorite topic was company gossip.

Like any other woman, I love a good piece of gossip and listened carefully to what they had to say so I’d know who to watch out for.

“There’s this intern,” Lucy said, taking a sip of her coffee, “who’s a total slut. She sleeps with practically ~every~ higher-up to get better grades on her internship tests.”

“That’s low,” Jo agreed passionately, “you should earn your place, not sleep your way to the top.”

“I completely agree,” Erin nodded, “and rumor has it she’s got her sights set on Mr. Cole now.”

That last bit of gossip made me freeze mid-bite, but luckily none of them noticed.

“I heard that too,” Lucy said, grimacing, “well, she wouldn’t be the first one to try that.”

“Yeah, for some reason all the women here think they have a chance with him, interns or not,” Erin ~tsked~. “Poor girls. They need to realize he’s out of their league. Out of all of our leagues.”

“While I’m a firm believer in the equal worth of men and women, I have to agree,” Jo said. “No one in the company has ever managed to catch his eye.”

I found myself asking doubtfully, “Really?”

All three of them turned to look at me, surprised. I guess they forgot I was there.

“Really,” Jo confirmed, “I don’t know why, though—bosses here sleep with their employees all the time. Jax is the only one who doesn’t.”

Maybe he valued his job too much to risk it. I remembered Oliver telling me how he’d vouched for Jax. Maybe Jax just didn’t want to lose it. Either way, I couldn’t tell them that.

“I see,” I said, frowning.

“Oh, there she is,” Lucy said, looking past me toward the door with a sour expression, “and she’s hanging all over Mr. Cole and Mr. Bryson, the slut.”

Jo, Erin, and I turned to see who she was talking about. When I saw the familiar face laughing at something Oliver had said, my eyes widened and my jaw dropped.

Jax was there too, a hint of a smile playing on his lips. The three of them together were a sight to behold—Oliver and Jax with their rugged good looks, and the young woman, barely twenty, radiating a beauty that was hard to match.

Her hair was the same glossy auburn I remembered, cascading in soft waves down her back. Her eyes, a unique shade of coppery-brown, sparkled with the same mischievous glint they used to whenever she caught sight of me.

Her figure was still petite, with a slender waist, curvy hips, and full breasts. Her skin held the same sun-kissed glow, as if she’d spent just a tad too long basking in the sun.

“Hailey Pritchard?” I murmured, my voice laced with a mix of disbelief and dread.

“You know her?” Erin’s surprise was evident in her voice.

I turned to face them, noting the widening of their eyes as they took in the cold sweat trickling down my forehead and the pallor that had likely washed over my face.

“Oh, I know her,” I managed to say, struggling to keep the rising panic at bay, “I could never forget that face.”

“How?” Jo’s confusion was clear as she tilted her head to one side.

The words tumbled out before I could stop them.

“She’s the one who turned my high school years into a living nightmare.”