For the prequels to this story, please see Frenemies With Benefits chapters 1-5
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Jennifer:
John was quiet. He'd never, ever been the quiet type. And here he was, completely avoiding her every single day for the last month. He wasn't just avoiding her. He had hardly spoken anything outside of business conversation to anyone. She'd kept tabs. She'd watched him when given the opportunity. He never really spoke to anyone. God, what had she done?
Today was the day for quarterly performance reviews. And guess who had to interview John Tate? Why, she did, of course. She was shaking like a leaf, a complete and total nervous wreck.
Knowing what she'd done... how she'd made him feel had completely wrecked her this last month. She'd cried and cried (and she was NOT a crier). She'd even gone to Mike, begging him to help her fix the situation. He'd done his best, trying to reason with his friend, but to no avail. John wasn't budging. At all.
Needless to say, it was going to be hard to sit in front of him, and be completely professional.
The reviews went quickly, and she even got to steal a not-so-business-like conversation with Heather. They whispered and wondered over John, and how he would react... if he would even say anything to her.
All too soon, John walked into her office, his suit fitting him just right, his brooding face looking ever so sexy, and yet his eyes looked so, so very sad. She wasn't going to get through this alive.
"Good afternoon Mr. Tate," she stood to shake his hand. He denied the gesture, and simply sat down, staring at her blankly.
She cleared her throat and sat down, her hands starting to shake as she ruffled through some evaluations.
"Well, Mr. Tate, we have received very good word from your office staff that you have been a wonderful leader, are very efficient, and have wonderful work ethic.."
He nodded stiffly, and sat silently waiting for her to continue.
Again, clearing her throat, she felt her face heat up, and her words began to stumble. She tried her best to make it through the review, but messed up nearly every single word, never making clear eye contact, and her face was only getting darker.
Finally, she stuttered, "In.. In conc-clusion, you will actually be.. um.. receiving a raise..."
Looking up to gauge his reaction, she saw him once again nod, and he mumbled, "Will that be all, Ms. Brandon?"
"No.. well.. Yes."
He stood slowly, and began walking toward the door when she gasped, "John..."
He turned only a little and said, "Don't you mean Mr. Tate?"
"No... John.. please don't leave."
"Do you need me for further review," his voice became strained.
"No.. I just.."
"Then I'm afraid I have work to do," his hand grasped the door knob, beginning to turn it.
"John.. come over tonight.. please? Let's just... talk.."
"I'm sorry, but I have a previous engagement. Goodbye Ms. Brandon."
She sat, nearly dumbfounded by his coldness. There had to be a way to fix this. Even if she didn't get him back, there had to be a way to show how sorry she was.
She sighed when her mind pulled up nothing for her to do, and dejectedly went on to the next review.
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John:
That had been one of the hardest things he'd ever done. Ever. She looked... she was such a mess. Over him. Her eyes were sleepless, her hair undone, her face without make up, completely broke out... She was a mess. He hadn't really understood the effects of his aloofness..
But he couldn't go back. She'd hurt him.. so badly. What was to keep her from doing it again? Would she go out and fuck every single time they had a fight? Had she done that already?
Mike had tried to change John's mind several weeks ago. He'd said John couldn't expect her to not make mistakes, especially after how badly he'd messed up... But it was so different. John had never done anything to intentionally hurt her. That wasn't what he'd wanted at all. Yes, he'd been an ass, but never had he wanted to hurt her.
The way she'd looked at him that night in the club... Knowing he was going crazy watching her, seeing her with another man. She looked at him and knew she was hurting him, and did it anyways. How could she do that?
Though, she'd thought he was with another woman also. He couldn't really blame her for thinking that... still...
His cell phone buzzed, and he picked it up without a glance, "Hello?"
"John, this is Vanessa. I hope I'm not interrupting anything..."
Ooooh shit. He should have looked. "Oh hi. No, I'm not busy at the moment," even though that's not what he'd told Jennifer...
"Look... I was wondering if you wanted to meet up tonight. You know, Toby's or something. I... I miss you."
"Vanessa... I'm really in no position to be seeing another woman right now."
"Another? Are you seeing the girl that you... uh..."
"I was. A lot has... happened."
"Well, I promise, no strings. I just miss your company John. No worries, I won't be expecting anything."
"As long as you understand I have nothing to give, then I'll see you tonight at Toby's."
"Wow... she really did a number on you, eh?"
He paused for a long while, then mumbled, "I'll see you at seven."
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Jennifer:
Heather met her at her car at closing time, a light, very cold rain beginning to fall. It was supposed to be rainy all day. Heather was smiling in one of those "I feel sorry for you, so I'm going to try to make you feel better" ways.
"Heeyyy," she called out as Jennifer neared the vehicle, "Mike and I are getting drinks tonight at Toby's. Wanna come?"
"No thanks. I don't wanna be a third wheel."
"Geeze Jen, we're not going on a date or to a movie or anything. It's just drinks. We want you to come."
"...Well.. ok. I haven't been out in a while. I probably need to go."
"Yeah... just don't get smashed like that one time..."
