Author's note: Thank you to JK Moreland for his editing help once again. ~ellie
Grace had floated through Monday, flirting with Tristan via email, text and an evening phone call; even work seemed more enjoyable for Grace. Adam rang Tuesday and reminded her they had a date at the club Friday night and asked if she could possibly take Friday off work.
"Are you kidding? I have already taken a week off for your art's sake. If I have any more time off they'll fire me," Grace complained.
"So quit, you hate that job anyway. Lad or Lance would give you a job waitressing I am sure until you found something else," Adam was blasé about it.
"I don't want to be a waitress, I wouldn't know the first thing about it," Grace shook her head, "It's not that easy for the rest of us who have to pay rent Adam. Most people have to hold down a proper job to survive." She knew she shouldn't say that and she regretted it as it came out of her mouth but sometimes he needed a wakeup call. He had inherited his godmother's house and a sizable sum of money when she had died. With good investments he could exist just on the dividends and the money his art brought him was a bonus.
"So move in here, there's plenty of room. I have offered how many times?" Adam wasn't letting her off the hook.
"Adam we both know that's a bad idea. After a week of living with you I needed three days sleep; you're like an energiser bunny that never runs down. I need my own space for my girlie stuff," Grace patiently explained for the millionth time.
"I can do girlie stuff," Adam said with mock femineity in his voice.
"I'll see what I can do about Friday, no promises," Grace as always gave in wanting to be off the phone in case Tristan rang again.
"Thanks Gracie, I knew you wouldn't let me down," Adam said happily, "Sweet dreams."
She hung up wondering how she was going to manage it. Adam had no idea about working in the real world. By nine O'clock Tristan hadn't called so she turned on her computer to check her emails. She considered calling him but didn't want to appear needy. It wasn't like they were actually a couple. They hadn't even had a proper date yet. Maybe he had realised he had made a mistake in starting a fling with her. It felt like more than a fling or a two night stand or something casual but she had read a guy's signals wrong before. She composed a text message in her head five times before picking up her phone to send him one.
To her horror she found a message blinking. It must have been left when she was on the phone to Adam. She kicked herself for not checking when she had hung up and listened to the message. While not quite angry Tristan's deep voice held an edge when he said that he was disappointed not to have been able to speak to her.
She swung between indignation that he would assume she had nothing better to do than hang by to phone for him to call, to sadness that she had disappointed him and she stared at the phone once again wondering what she should do. She could call him back, send the original message she was going to or just ignore him and prove she was not one of those sycophantic girls who would hang on his every movement and words. In the end the real Grace won out and she called him ready to apologise that she had missed the message when she had hung up from Adam.
Tristan did not answer and the phone went to his message bank, "Bullshit excuse number sixty-three, I was on the phone arguing with Adam when you called and I didn't check if there were any messages when I hung up. I am sorry. Sweet dreams, Sir Tristan." She hung up quickly, putting her phone on charge and getting ready for bed.
She had fallen asleep reading a book and came awake suddenly knocking it to the floor when her phone rang. She blinked her eyes reaching out for it and answering sleepily, "Hello?"
"I don't take bullshit excuses," Tristan's deep rumble greeted her. Grace gave a sleepy laugh. "What did you fight with Adam about?" He asked.
"It wasn't really a fight," Grace started, "He lives in this Adam world where everyone can do what they want, when they want and damn the consequences. He doesn't like that I don't live in a similar place where I can just drop everything for him and take days off work."
"Why do you need a day off work?" Tristan seemed genuinely interested.
"Friday is the night the finalists are supposed to go to The Zoo. He has some new costume and the body paint he does takes hours because he is a neurotic artist type," she laughed.
"Your boss won't let you have the day off?" Tristan probed.
"I doubt it. I took a week off to help Adam do that first package for the contest. Nerds aren't supposed to live exciting lives that require so much time away from work, and my direct boss is king of the nerds. I have heaps of vacation time owing but he acted like I was asking for blood last time," Grace laughed.
"What is it you do exactly, Miss Nerd?" Tristan asked.
"It's too boring to talk about, business accounts and data analysis in a nutshell," she said lightly, "for Morgan Black."
"The Telco firm?" Tristan seemed to be weighing his words.
"Yeah, I thought they would be a bit cool and up with the times, they have come up with some really innovative designs but it's a stodgy old boy's network and well, you don't need to hear about that I expect."
"Actually I am fascinated," Tristan said sounding sincere.
She told him about how Morgan Black recruited her straight out of university offering her great advancement opportunities and bonus packages and so on. The reality was though that nepotism ruled and those with enough brains to ride off the back of the nerds who actually did the job properly got the bonuses and promotions. She claimed that if one more young guy who happened to go to some elitist school sailed past her while she banged her head on a glass ceiling yet again she may just quit like Adam wanted. Tristan stopped her every so often to ask questions and let her carry on.
"Oh god," she groaned. "Did I tell you I suffer from verbal diarrhoea as well as lame excuses. People will be following me around with shovels one day," she laughed in a self-depreciating way. "Go with Adam's explanation of my job. He tells people I am an accountant rather than an accounts manager, it's simpler that way."
Tristan had laughed and wished her sweet dreams, saying he was looking forward to their date. Grace picked her book up from the floor and tried to go back to sleep. She was happy, Tristan was certainly an unusual man but he seemed to just get her. He wasn't as foreboding as he came across as and best of all he seemed genuinely interested in her and her life. She hadn't had a steady boyfriend in what seemed ages, especially not one who seemed as in control of his life as Tristan. She didn't want to get her hopes too high, they hadn't even been on a real date yet, but so far things were looking great.
It was as she was arriving at work the following morning that her phone rang. It was from a number she didn't recognise. Grace almost didn't pick it up when she wondered if it could be Tristan on a work line. She moved slowly through the lobby as she said softly, "Hello?"
"Grace?" A deep voice asked.
