Free Unexpected Chance by Joanne Schwehm Page A

really wasn’t, but I
was in the two-can-play-at-this-game frame of mind.
    Fifteen minutes later, Mark came over to our table with a beer. “Hi,
ladies, thanks for the text, Julie; I was around the corner when I got it.” He
raised his beer to me. “Congrats co-worker.”
    We all smiled and clinked our glasses with Mark’s bottle. I
noticed that Tyler wasn’t at the bar anymore and that he’d been replaced with
Brett. Julie got up and went over to say hello. I couldn’t believe she’d waited
this long. I knew it was for my benefit. Brett must have sensed her. He looked
over and smiled at her. I was happy for her.
    Brett leaned over the bar and gave Julie a kiss. I saw them
talking but didn’t know what about. Then Julie nodded in the direction of our
table, and Brett looked over. His eyebrows furrowed together as he looked at me
and then Mark. Good .
    “So are you excited to start working?” Mark had no clue what was
going on around us, and I wasn’t going to point anything out.
    Mark got me out of my daze. “Yes, I am. It’s going to be so nice to
finally put my brain and education to good use.” I was smiling now. Mark was
really good company. I thought he could be a friend. He told me about the people
in the office. Someone named Lisa in accounting wore clothes too small for her
and thought she was the next Miss USA. Andrea in advertising made a play for
all the new hires. He winked at me and I laughed. He told me about his
girlfriend, Jessica. I didn’t know he had a girlfriend. I suddenly felt
horrible for asking him to come out tonight. I didn’t want Jessica to be upset.
    “Mark, I hope Jessica doesn’t mind your being out with us
tonight.”
    “No worries, I told her. She doesn’t mind; she has class tonight.
She’s studying for her Master’s. She’s almost done actually.”
    How nice would that be to have that kind of trust? “She sounds
great, Mark. I hope to meet her someday.”
    He smiled and nodded. He continued giving me the 411 on the
office staff. He was hilarious. I was in tears with laughter. And suddenly, there
he was; I could smell him before I could see him. I looked up and saw Alex. Was
he glaring at me?
    “Are you going to introduce me to your friend, Aubrey?” The
sarcastic way he said “friend” almost made me laugh, but the tone in his voice
begged me to do otherwise.
    I swallowed hard. Was he mad? What right did he have to be mad
at me? I smiled. “Alex, this is my friend, Mark. Mark, this is my friend, Alex.”
I made sure to stress “friend” when I introduced Alex. He nodded and they shook
hands. I hope he noticed that I referred to him just as my friend.
    Alex spoke to me. “So have you two known each other long?” Mark
looked at me. Knowing he could sense something was off, he excused himself and
walked over towards the bar.
    I looked at that gorgeous face that I’d dreamed about. “No, we
just met today, actually.”
    “You seem very comfortable with him.” Alex glanced toward Mark at
the bar.
    The nerve of him really! “How’s Leah?” I looked around at the bar
where Julie, Brett, and now Mark were . . . Hmm, no Tyler. “I don’t see Tyler. Maybe
he’s now the lucky recipient of her affections.” I couldn’t keep the sarcastic
tone out of my voice. He looked at me as if he just realized that I’d seen him
with her. I swear the color on his face changed, not to mention his expression.
“Look, Alex, not that I owe you an explanation or that you deserve one, but
Mark works for Walker-Stone. He has a girlfriend and is very happy with her. We’re
just friends.” I couldn’t do this anymore. I got up to leave.
    He didn’t let me get far. He held my elbow. “Aubrey, there is
nothing going on with Leah. Sometimes it’s easier to just ignore her advances
than acknowledge them. She was just sitting next to me.”
    “Whatever, Alex, I honestly don’t care.” That was a blatant lie. Of
course I cared. I pulled my arm away and walked toward my