This story was inspired by a prompt I came across, as well as a Hallmark movie I saw once. Inspiration comes from all places, doesn't it?
Randi, I appreciate all of the time and effort you have put into this day. Thank you for everything (including editing this for me).
*****
But if there is any further injury, then you shall appoint as a penalty life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, burn for burn, wound for wound, bruise for bruise
.
—Exodus 21:23-25
PAST
She said her name into his ear as the bar pulsed rhythmically around them. She was Jasmine, she told him, and she was a graduate student.
"What are you studying?" he asked. The liquor he had downed heated him up from the inside, and being next to her, smelling her perfume and the lush scent of her hair made him sweat.
She tilted her head back on the seat next to him and watched him from heavy-lidded green eyes. "Archaeology." Jasmine licked her lips and moved closer to him. The warmth of her body against his made him want to pounce on her, which was unlike him. Her long, satiny black hair slid along the sensitive flesh of his arm. There was something intensely erotic about feeling her satiny hair touch his skin, and he attempted to remain calm as she explained her major. "My thesis statement is on Heinrich Schliemann's excavation of Troy."
"Troy? As in Helen of Troy?"
She grinned. Her full lips were soft and pink, and the only thing preventing him from leaning over and kissing them was that he didn't want to scare her away. He wanted her desperately, in spite of Scarlett and the ring that burned in his back pocket. "The very same."
"I don't really know much about it." The music seemed to grow louder, so he moved closer to her. Her eyes shone like jade beneath a very bright light.
"Troy was a lost city. Schliemann pursued it, and many believe he found the right location. Many also believe he totally destroyed the actual city. Archaeologists are still excavating the site."
As she spoke, he watched her mouth. He wondered if it was too early to ask her to come back to his hotel room. She appeared to be interested in him, but he couldn't tell how much. She could have just been one of those women who stuck around men so they wouldn't have to buy anything the whole night, but she didn't strike him as the type.
His buddy, Otto, was off somewhere with Jasmine's friend. He didn't catch her name before Otto began making out with her and drawing her onto the dark and crowded dance floor.
"So, what's your name?"
"Vincent." He winced when he realized he hadn't thought to lie.
Jasmine lifted the straw from her drink and licked it, keeping her eyes on his. "And what do you do, Vincent?"
"I work for a local supermarket distributor."
She smiled and put her arm around the back of his chair. Her blush-colored dress slid up her smooth leg. He tried not to be obvious about his staring, but her knowing expression told him he failed. "I thought you were going to tell me you were a banker or something. You look like a banker."
He put his hand on her bare knee. Her eyes swept down to where he touched her and then back at his face. "Should I take that as a compliment?"
Jasmine placed her own hand on his thigh. He closed his eyes and realized he was quickly approaching the point of no return. If he continued through with this, there would be no way for him to turn it around. He thought about Scarlett back home with her list of things he was doing wrong and shook his head.
Marriage wasn't suiting him well. Four months in and he was ready to quit. Admittedly, he was acting like an asshole. He thought marriage wouldn't change anything, but it had. Scarlett was a wonderful woman, but he felt caged, small, trapped. Every day was predictable and dull.
His mind was made up, and he opened his eyes. "Want to get out of here, Jasmine?"
*****
PRESENT
"He's definitely retiring soon. How many personal days has he taken in the month of January alone?" Otto tossed a tennis ball at me. "You're going to be CEO in six months. I swear to God."
"I hope you're right. Been breaking my back this past year to make sure George sees me and only me for the job. I'm going to be pissed if he even considers someone else."
George would be seventy-five the next month. He was one of the most driven, focused and successful man Vincent ever met. He was solely responsible for the success of H&H supermarkets throughout the northeast. Vincent had an excellent relationship with George; George was a mentor to him when he started. He frequently dropped hints that Vincent would be his successor, but Vincent wasn't blind to the fact that George had to interview other people. He was almost positive he would get the position, but "almost" wasn't good enough for Vincent.
"No one else can take it from you. You just keep on doing what you've been doing." Otto picked up a photo of Vincent's family off the edge of his desk. "He even likes your family. That's a good sign. He doesn't like that Lena and I aren't married. You know how he loves the wholesome family image thing."
"Right, except he should sit in a room with my kids for five minutes. Their language is unreal."
Otto let out a short laugh. "Wonder where they learned it from, Vin?"
"Every word out of Tara's mouth is bitch; every word out of Finn's mouth is fuck. Scarlett blames me, of course."
"Definitely your fault. Scarlett is an angel." Otto handed him the photo frame and walked over to the door. "Better visit George and suck up to him a little before the day is over."
"Yeah, yeah," Vincent said before Otto shut the door.
Vincent studied the photo of his family as his lips curved in a smile. His thirteen year old daughter, Tara, looked just like her mother. She was beautiful and intelligent, even if she was sarcastic all the time. Her younger brother, the ten year old comedian named Finn, grinned at the camera. Scarlett stood next to the kids, a calm smile spread across her face.
His family was more than he hoped for, and he sometimes wondered if he deserved them. He knew he could be quite the asshole, but Scarlett was patient with him, which wasn't an easy thing to do. She balanced work and the kids with such skill that he was constantly in awe of her.
So, his life was finally taking shape. Money was put in the kids' accounts, he was working hard to become the next CEO, and Scarlett was studying to become a nurse practitioner.
He should have known that the other shoe was bound to drop.
*****
He knocked on the door and entered when he heard George telling him to come inside.
"Vincent, how are you doing? Haven't seen you all week."
"I was smoothing over the Albany location crisis. Someone forgot to renew the business license on time, but I pulled a few strings."
George smiled approvingly, his sharp eyes taking Vincent in. "Good. You're always good at damage control." He motioned to the seat across from his desk and Vincent took it. He coughed and shook his head. "Can't shake this cold. Wife didn't even want me coming in today, but we have an interview scheduled."
Vincent's eyebrows rose. "We do? I didn't know that."
"New accounting position. Ross quit." George sighed and sat back in his chair. "Hate to lose Ross, but this woman comes highly recommended. I spoke to her on the phone and she sounds lovely."
Vincent glanced at his watch. "Great, what time is she coming in?"
George picked up the phone and dialed his secretary. She said the young woman was there and waiting for them, so George stood to get her. Vincent hoped it wouldn't take long. George loved chatting, especially with young women, and he promised Scarlett he would be home to take Tara to swimming practice.
"Vincent, meet Brooke Price."
He turned around in his seat and everything stopped. It was as if everything around him became heightened for one extraordinary moment, and then faded so quickly he thought he might fall over. His world froze as he met eyes with the prospective employee.
It was Jasmine. She looked almost exactly the same, except that her black hair was bluntly cut at the shoulders. She smiled at him expectantly, her hand out for a handshake, as she pretended as if she didn't know him at all. Somehow, he managed to tell himself to move. He took her hand and shook it, trying not to have a heart attack. George watched him closely as he sat on the opposite side of the desk. Jasmine took the empty chair next to Vincent and didn't look his way again.
The worst kind of anxiety boiled in his stomach. It had been fourteen years since they saw each other last. He feared she intended on fucking his life up, on ruining him, because of the way things ended. Part of him wondered why it took her so long. He also wondered how the hell had she became an accountant. He remembered her being a student, studying something relating to archaeology. Was she lying then? Probably. Vincent tried to remain calm but he felt his hands tightening into fists.
"I can start immediately," he heard her say, her voice as breathy as he remembered.
George wrote down some notes on her resume. "You come highly recommended by Allen. He said you were extremely valuable. On that alone, you're hired." He peered over at Vincent, studying him. He had picked up on his strangeness, no doubt. George was amazing at studying people. "Unless you have an objection, Vin."
He cleared his throat and tried to look at Jasmine, but he couldn't bring himself to even turn his head. He thought he might throw up. His life flashed before his eyes. Would she tell Scarlett?
"No. No objections."
"Wonderful. Brooke, do you need a few days to think about our offer?"
"No! I am very happy to accept. Thank you so much." She leaned forward to shake George's hand again. Vincent could smell her perfume, and he noticed her hair was as shiny as he remembered.
"I'll walk you out," Vincent declared impulsively. He avoided bumping into her as they both stood. Her heels clicked behind him, and with each step he felt his day of reckoning barreling faster towards him.
Once they were in front of the elevators, he spun around. She stepped back, obviously surprised. "What the fuck are you doing here?"
Jasmine blinked. "W-what?"
"Did you seriously think I wouldn't recognize you immediately? You're lucky I didn't haul your ass out the moment I saw you!"
She glanced around, nervous. He got a brief thrill when he saw that he had caught her off guard. Her only escape from him was the elevator, which he was standing in front of, and he sure as hell wasn't letting her go until she explained herself.
"You must have me mistaken for someone else," she whispered after she realized she couldn't run.
He moved closer to her, trying to threaten her with his proximity. "Oh, no. I know exactly who you are, Jasmine, so stop with your fucking games."
She shook her head and regarded him as if he were crazy. "His name is Brooke," she said slowly. "I just showed your boss my ID, my social security card, my..."
"I don't care about that!" he screamed. Then he looked around nervously, afraid someone would come to investigate. He breathed in deeply to calm himself and shot her a contemptuous glare. "Are you trying to mess with me? Do we need to have a conversation again?"
