Fall into my Heart (The Subzero Series, #1) (3 page)

“Yeah you know the lift. You know you push the button and
the doors open. You get into the car and push the button for the floor you want
to go to and it takes you there.”

I stared at her. Did she think I was that dumb?

“Thanks Jocalyn. That really clarifies things.”

“Oh good! Glad I could help!” She plopped down in one of the
chairs on the other side of my desk.  “I saw Jack Riley at your door. Do you
fancy him?”

Ummm yes, of course I do, just as I am sure any woman
with eyes and a healthy sex drive does.

“Uh.....No. I don’t really know him.”

“Oh so I guess you can’t introduce me. I love him. So why
was he here?”

“I’m the new  publicist for his band.”

“But you don’t know him?”

“Not really. I was just given the job today.”

“Do you think someday you could introduce me?” Her green eyes
grew to the size of saucers.

“Sure.....someday.” I said.

She smiled at me, stood up and bounced back to her desk, her
curly blonde hair swinging as she walked.  

I glanced at the blinking red light on my phone again and
decided to check it after lunch. I took the elevator....er lift.....to the second
floor. The doors pinged open and I found myself standing in front of a glass
door that had the word “Café” written on it in fancy white lettering. Right
inside the door was a giant chalkboard sign featuring the specials of the day. After
staring at the menu for about ten minutes I decided to order a cranberry almond
chicken salad wrap, sweet potato chips and a bottle of water.

I started to head towards an empty table when, out of the
corner of my eye, I happened to see Skylar waving me over. I walked to where
she was sitting with a guy wearing black slacks, a black shirt, a black and red
striped tie and black Buddy Holly style glasses. Everyone looked so cool here.
Almost like rocker chic, I may need to rethink my wardrobe.

“Chloe, this is Wes Turner.” Skylar said.

“Nice
to meet you.” I said smiling at him.

“Likewise.”
Wes said running a hand through his short curly brown hair.

“How
is your first day going?” Skylar asked.

“Oh
just great,” I said sarcastically, “It turns out one of my clients is my new
neighbor who I seem to turn into a bumbling fool around every time I see him.”

“Oh
sounds like somebody has a crush!” Skylar teased.

“Not
even! I barely know the guy!” I exclaimed.

Skylar
and Wes looked at each other and laughed.

I
took a bite of my wrap and listened to them as they talked about a club they
were at Friday night.

We
finished our lunches and walked back to our offices, where I reluctantly
listened to my messages. I had two, both from tabloids, both about the band and
both asking me something about Tyler shaving his name into the side of some
drunks head at one of their shows. What have I gotten myself into?

I
shook my head as I searched my files for Tyler’s phone number. I could hear him
shushing someone as soon as he accepted the call.

“Hello?”
He greeted me cheerfully.

“Hey
Tyler, this is Chloe Carver from Drayton McGuire.”

“Chloe,
my love, miss me already?”

“So
I hear you had a really awesome show last weekend.” I said, ignoring his
question.

“That
we did. We always do.”

“Uh
huh.....anything else happen that night? Anything I should know about?”

“Well,
yes but I promise you she was twenty six and it was a one off .....Do you really
want to hear about me getting all rumpy pumpy with some other woman? I promise it
was nothing but a cock up. I was feeling a bit squiffy that night and it’ll
never happen again my lovely. You have my word.”

What.....just.....what?

“Well
A, I have NO idea what you just said and B, I’m pretty sure that’s not even
close to what I was talking about.”

“Oh.....well
just erase that from your memory then my love and we will be all good.”

“Well
since you are willing to divulge all the dirty details about your weekend, how
about you tell me about shaving your name into some drunks head. Please tell me
you did not do that.”

There
was complete silence on the other end.

“Tyler?”

“You
told me to tell you I didn’t do that and I cannot lie to you.”

I
sighed loudly. “Why on earth did you shave your name into the side of some
man’s head?”

“Well
you see my dear, sometimes life presents you with a golden opportunity and you
have to seize it. For if you don’t, you are tempting fate and that’s how you
end up with bad juju.”

“That
doesn’t make any sense.”

“Does
it make it any better if I told you he asked me to do it?”

“No
it doesn’t.”

“So.....I
take it you only heard about the head shaving?”

I
massaged my temples with my fingertips. “What else is there?”

He
hesitated. “Well.....after I shaved my name into his head, I may or may not have decorated
it by spray painting neon green and black leopard spots.”

What in the world?

“I
did not just hear you say that.....Goodbye Tyler.”

I
hung up the phone before he had a chance to say anything else. Is this some
sort of an initiation? Are they are getting paid to do the craziest things they
can think to see how I handle the situation? Most likely the answer to that
question was no. Somehow I think these shenanigans are a normal part of life
for these boys.

Jonathan
stopped by my office before he left to tell me that I had two other clients I
was representing. He said he didn’t want to overwhelm me too much on the first
day, so he scheduled the rest of my client meetings throughout the week, which
I thought was nice.

He
left a few files with me that contained some information about my new clients. One
was an actress I had never heard of before name Julissa Patton and the second
was a surfer named Kyle Anderson. I put their names on my search list. I swear
I’m not a cyber-stalker or anything like that; I just don’t want to look stupid
in front of my new clients. Okay that and I want to stay busy.....and I’m a little
bit nosy.

At
exactly four on the dot, I put on my coat, flung my purse over my shoulder and made
my way out the door.

As
soon as I got home, I traded my work clothes for a pair of gray cotton lounge
pants and a long sleeve pink shirt. I walked into the kitchen and poured myself
a glass of Riesling, which is my favorite wine. Grabbing a book and my glass of
wine, I walked out to my balcony. Curling up into the chaise lounge, I opened
my book and began to read. I was so into my book that I barely noticed that the
sun was setting. All of the sudden, my belly started growling fiercely and I
realized that I was starving. I looked at my cell phone and was surprised to
see that it was already 6:45. No wonder I was so hungry!

I
reluctantly pulled myself up from the lounge and went into the kitchen to make
dinner. After spending the next fifteen minutes doing the shuffle between the
cabinets and the refrigerator, I gave up and decided to just eat a bowl of
cereal. After I was done eating, I decided to call Noelle and attempt to talk
some sense into her. She answered after the first ring.

“Are
you mad at me?” She asked.

“I’m
not mad but are you? And when I say mad I mean like in a crazy sort of way.”

“It
was so stupid, a big mistake. I tried to call and tell him that but he doesn’t
answer any of my calls.”

“So
you don’t have a thing for my brother?”

“No
not even! No offense, your brother is cute and he is a nice guy and all but I
don’t see him in that way. I mean this is the guy that use to put worms in our
hair and pull our dolls heads off.”

Ugh, well that’s a relief!

“Alright,
well I just wanted to make sure you’re okay.”

“Totally
fine, mortified maybe, but otherwise totally fine.”

We
both hung up. Well that was easier than I thought it was going to be.

––––––––

W
hen
I got into work I started going through the folder I had on the actress,
Julissa, since I was scheduled to meet with her the next day.  She is
apparently known for being high maintenance and she has a hobby for stealing
other people’s boyfriends and, in some cases, husbands. I saw something that
mentioned an ex-husband or two but it didn’t say to who or why these marriages
ended.

I
did a filmography search on my computer to see if I had ever seen any movies
she was in. She had a long list of teenage horror movie roles, that didn’t seem
like anything I would ever waste my time watching. I pulled up a picture of her
to see what she looked like. She was my age, but looked like she was eighteen.
She was pretty with long blonde hair and bright blue eyes. She looked like
someone my brother would date. I made a mental note to never let them meet if
he ever comes to visit me.

“Are
you doing anything next weekend Chloe?” Wes asked as I sat down with him and
Skylar for lunch.

Is that a joke?

“My
schedule is pretty much wide open.” I laughed.

“You
should go to Barnaby’s with us. We’re going to see this great punk rock band
called Fifty Three Stampede.” He said.

“You
totally should,” Skylar exclaimed, “You’ll have so much fun.”

“Yeah
sure! Sounds great!” I exclaimed.

I
was excited to have something to look forward to. As soon as I got back to my
office, I wrote “Barnaby’s with Wes and Skylar” on my desk calendar, put it
into my day planner, programmed it into my cell phone and sent myself a text
message to put it on my calendar at home.

After
work I changed into jeans and a green striped sweater and decided to go for a
walk. I walked to the sidewalk and glanced down both ends of the street before
deciding to head off to the left. My new neighborhood was pretty cute. There
was a coffee shop that had a couple of bistro style tables and chairs outside.
Across the street from the coffee shop was a cozy little Italian restaurant
called Leonardo’s. I could smell their food from across the street and it was
making my mouth water.

I
walked a little farther down and found a clothing store. I walked inside and
was instantly glad I left my wallet at home. The clothes were really cute and I
could easily blow a month’s salary in here. I made two laps around the store
and left with a mental list of things I intended to go back for. The delicious
aroma of meatballs wafting from the Italian restaurant was making me hungry. As
I walked up to the door of my building, Tyler and Noah were walking out.

“Let
me get the door for you beautiful.” Tyler said.

“Thanks.”
I said as I stepped through the door. I wasn’t sure if I should stop and talk
so I kept walking. When I go closer to the elevator, I turned around and
watched the two of them walk towards the coffee shop. It was kind of funny
seeing the two of them together. With Tyler’s blue Mohawk and Noah’s bright red
hair, they almost looked like clowns. For a moment I wondered what they were
doing and whether or not I was going to get a phone call about it in the
morning.

~*~

I
walked into my office the next morning and saw a gorgeous, blonde haired, blue
eyed, tiny waisted woman sitting at my desk. I immediately recognized her from
my research the day before.

She
looked at me and narrowed her icy blue eyes.

“You’re
late.” She said sharply.

“I’m
sorry Julissa, but weren’t we supposed to meet at 11:30? It’s 8:45.”

“We
meet when I am ready.”

“Okay,
well let me tell you a little about myself I.....”

She
held up my hand to stop me. “No time. Next time you be here when I come in.”

She
got up and started to walk out.

I
was standing there trying to figure out what just happened when Jocalyn walked
in.

“Hi
Chloe, Jack Riley stopped by and asked me to give this to you.”

She
handed me a flyer for a show that Subzero was playing this Saturday night at a bar
called Stoaked. Julissa turned around and snatched the flyer out of my hands. Jocalyn
looked at Julissa like she had lost her mind before she turned to me.

“Are
you going? Can I go with you?” Jocalyn asked hopefully as she reached her hands
up and pushed her hair behind her ears.

“Yes
she is going. She is going to introduce me to Jack. He’s positively delicious.”
Julissa said. She looked Jocalyn up and down. “You are NOT going with us.”

Julissa
stood in front of me and looked me straight in the eye. “Do make sure you are
there when I arrive.” She gave Jocalyn the once-over again, scrunching her nose
up in obvious disgust before she turned and walked out.

“Ew.....What’s
up her ass?” Jocalyn asked.

“I
have no idea, but it must be very sharp and uncomfortable.” I said.

“So
are you going?”

“Probably
not.”

She
gave me a disappointed look and went back to her desk. I sat down in a chair,
closed my eyes and pinched the bridge of my nose with my thumb and index finger.
It was barely 9:00 and Little Miss Horror Flicks was already giving me a
headache. At that moment, Wes and Skylar came barging into my office.

“We
were wondering if you were going to get the diva!” Wes laughed.

“You
guys knew about this? Thanks for the warning.” I said sarcastically.

“When
Joanie left, some of her clients were getting moved to different publicists in
the office and some were going to you. We weren’t sure who was getting stuck
with her.” Skylar explained.

“So
is she always like this?” I asked.

“Yeah
she is quite the bloody pain in the arse.” Skylar said.

“Yeah
it seems that way. She pretty much demanded I take her to Stoaked and introduce
her to one of the guys from Subzero.” I said.

“Fun
place, good band,” Wes said nodding his head. “Just remember, there are three
things Julissa Patton cares about - herself, money and who can make her look
better.”

I
sighed as Wes and Skylar walked out. This ought to be interesting. First of
all, I had no interest in hanging out with Julissa and second, I am not
introducing her to Jack. I’m not playing matchmaker with my clients and even if
I was, I didn’t want to match someone like Jack with someone like her.

I
clicked back to my search engine and typed in Kyle Anderson. It seems Surfer
Boy Kyle has quite the reputation as a party boy. I was just thinking I should
introduce him to Julissa when I scroll down a little farther and found out that
they actually had a quickie marriage two years ago. They were only married for
forty two hours before he filled for an annulment. They got married after
knowing each other for three weeks.

Suddenly
I found a growing interest in Julissa’s past relationships, so I decided to
search her a little bit more. Aside from her extremely brief marriage to Kyle,
she was also married to a hip hop dancer for six months the year before. Her
list of ex-boyfriends was quite large an impressive. She’s dated half of
England. Her laundry list of guys ranged from young playboys to recording
executives to actors to musicians and, not surprisingly, an eighty year old
billionaire. He apparently died before she could fully sink her teeth into him.

Just
as I was turning off my computer Jonathan dropped by to remind me of our
meeting with Kyle tomorrow. I put on my coat, turned around and saw Jocalyn
standing in the doorway with a surprisingly timid look on her face.

“Ummm,
I’m off tomorrow and I just wanted to ask you something before I go.” She said.

“Sure,
what’s up?”

“I
know you said you weren’t going to go to Stoaked Saturday night but I was
wondering if you would ring me up if you changed your mind.”

“Sure.”
I said giving her a smile. I had no intention of going, but if I did change my
mind, I certainly didn’t want to go by myself.

“Great,
thanks!” She said grinning from ear to ear. She thrust a piece of paper into my
hands and bounced off down the hallway.

I
grabbed my purse and headed off to home and a large glass of Cabernet Sauvignon.

~*~

Jack
and Tyler walked out of Jacks apartment the next morning just as I was leaving
for work. I quickly locked my door and was turning to head towards the elevator
with them when I stumbled backwards. They both stifled a laugh as I looked down
and realized I had shut part of my coat in the door. I freed myself and hoped
they had walk away, but unfortunately they waited for me.

“All
caught up there eh?” Jack laughed.

I
shot him an annoyed look. “Funny.”

“I
thought so.” Tyler said.

“Did
the girl at the desk give you the flyer for our show?” Jack asked me as we
walked outside.

“Uh,
she did but I’m not sure if I can make it.”

Jacks
face fell and my heart fluttered as I realized he was disappointed.

“Oh.....well
maybe another time.” He said.

I
nodded and turned around to head off towards the subway station.

“Have
a good day at the office my dear.” Tyler yelled out after me.

I
laughed to myself and shook my head.

Halfway
through my subway ride into work I realized I hadn’t eaten breakfast yet. By
the time I got to work my stomach was growling so loudly, I’m pretty sure
everyone in a ten mile radius could hear it. That was one nice thing about
working in a building that has a cafeteria. I popped in real quick and grabbed
a peppermint hot chocolate and a French toast bagel with cinnamon sugar cream
cheese. I think they used half a tub of cream cheese on my bagel but I ate it
all anyway. I’d have to be mad to waste perfectly good cream cheese so I made a
mental notation to go for a walk later. Besides, I felt like I earned it once I
got into my office and listened to my voicemail.

“Good
morning, this is Marleigh Tomkins with The Journal. I’m calling to speak with
you regarding the rumors that Noah Walker and Dean Marshall from Subzero broke two
barstools and a man’s leg doing back flips off the bar at Tomfoolereys.  If you
could please.....”

I
sat there in amazement. Really? Seriously.....this has got to be some sort of a
test or something right? Let’s see how far we can push Chloe like they are a
bunch of two year olds testing their limits with a new babysitter. I glanced at
the clock on my computer. I had a client coming in any minute so this was just
going to have to wait until later.

Just
as surfer boy Kyle was walking in, a young singer was walking out of Skylar’s
office. Kyle looked her up and down. “Well hello there gorgeous!” he said to
her with a wink.

The
girl gave me a look that clearly said “Is this guy for real” and we both shook
our heads.

He
watched her and her mom walk away and then he looked at me and nodded. “Sup?”

“She’s
like sixteen, that’s ‘sup.” I said.

“Overprotective.
I dig it.”

“I
take it your Kyle Anderson.”

“You
are correct foxy lady.”

Seriously? Who does this guy think he is?
Kyle sat down and we talked for
about twenty minutes, which was about as long as I could take him. It took
everything I had not to ask him about when he married Julissa. If he had stayed
any longer or if Jonathan wasn’t there I may have asked him.

After
Kyle left, Jonathan and I went down to get some lunch. Lunch with him was kind
of awkward. Jonathan is a nice guy and all, but he’s my boss and I had no idea
what to talk to him about. After forty five minutes of forced conversation
about work, we headed back upstairs. I had been back in my office for about
five minutes when Jonathan popped his head in.

“You
know seeing as it is your first week and it is Friday, you can head out early.
Get an early start on your weekend.” He said.

“Thanks
Jonathan,” I said with a hint of surprise in my voice,” That would be great,
just let me know when I should go.”

“Chloe,
go.....now.....start your weekend. Meet people and have fun.” He said with a smile.

“Are
you sure? Thanks!” I said as I grabbed my stuff.

“Have
a great weekend.” He said.

“I
will, you too and thanks again.” I said as I walked out.

I
got home and wondered if maybe I should have stayed at work. I had no idea what
I was going to do with my evening, let alone my weekend.

First
things first, I wanted to get out of my work clothes. I headed into the bedroom
and changed into a pair of jeans and a tan and pink striped sweater. I tried to
thinking of something I could do that would pass time. I grabbed a puzzle out
of my hall closet and sat down on the living room floor. I got the entire
outline of the puzzle put together when the most depressing thought of my life
hit me. I was twenty five years old and I was sitting at home...alone...on a Friday
night...doing a puzzle. Why did I even have this? I couldn’t figure out what my
thought process could have been when I packed this. I looked around the room
and a piece of paper sticking out of my purse caught my eye.

I
grabbed the piece of paper, opened my cell phone and punched in a phone number.

“Hey
Jocalyn, its Chloe are you still free tomorrow night?”