Chapter 8

I heard someone at the front door about thirty minutes later. Assuming it as Zac, I grabbed my purse and shoes and headed towards the door.

“Hey!” I said, walking up to him.

Zac grabbed my neck and pulled me closer to him.

“I don’t get a kiss?” he asked, biting his bottom lip.

I smiled and leant in for one, but then I hear Marissa making coughing noises from the couch.

“Yeah yeah, I’m leaving.” I said, shutting the door behind me.

Marissa smiled, and turned to Liz.

“So what are you doing tonight?” Marissa asked, eagerly.

“Nothing why, did you have plans?”

“Well sort of.”

“Who you hanging out with?”

“Well Taylor asked me to meet him at a club tonight if I wasn’t busy.”

“I was making fun of Catherine when you were the one with Taylor fever?” Liz said, grinning.

“I do not have Taylor fever; I just thought it might be fun…”

“Uh huh…well did you want me to go or something?”

“I just wanted to see if you were having someone come over tonight. I don’t want to walk in on anything unexpectedly.”

“Meaning what?”

“Well I don’t know if you and Isaac are doing the nasty yet.”

“Of course we aren’t! I just met him.” Liz said with her mouth open.

“Well I was just making sure! You never know…”

“Well you just watch yourself around Taylor; I heard some bad things about him.”

“Oh he can’t touch me, I got this.”

“heh, alright.”

“Well I guess I will see you later.”

“Alright girl, have fun.”

Liz watched as Marissa headed out the door. About ten minutes later, she picked up the phone and called Isaac.

“Hello?”

“Hey Isaac, its Liz”

“Oh hey, did Marissa decide to go?”

“Yeah, she just left.”

“Did you still want to hang out?”

“Yeah”

“My house or yours?”

“Better make it yours, Marissa’s getting suspicious.”

“Of what, we’re not doing anything.”

“Well…”

“Okay, we’re doing something…but we’re not having sex.”

“heh, I know.”

“Okay, well I’ll send the limo for you.”

“Alright, see you soon.”

(Catherine and Zac)

“You okay Cat?” Zac said while opening the car door.

“Yeah, why?”

“I was just wondering.”

“Well I did want to talk to you about something.”

“What is it?”

“Where are we?”

“This is where I write a lot of my songs. It’s a nice place to think. I thought id show you before we went to eat.”

“It’s beautiful.”

“What is it you wanted to talk to me about?”

“Oh, well I heard you’ve been getting some phone calls recently…”

“Where did you hear that?”

“Why didn’t you tell me?”

“I didn’t want you to stop seeing me.”

“Why would you think I would do a thing like that?”

“I don’t know...”

“Well, he better stay away from you. I’m going have a talk with him later.”

“Don’t even worry about it.”

Zac walked back to the car, and reached for something in the backseat.

“What are you doing?” I asked curiously.

Zac pulled out a picnic basket from the back seat, and shut the door behind him.

“You didn’t…oh my gosh…”

“What’s wrong?” He asked, concerned.

“You are getting some major bonus points for this.” I said, giving him a hug.

“Really?” He asked, grinning.

“Come on; let’s go find a place to sit.” I said, taking a hold of his hand.

We sat around talking for hours; it was so much better than anything I did with Michael. I still don’t want to get too attached; you never know what could happen. However, I am enjoying every minute of it.

“Oh hey, I almost forgot…” Zac said, while a huge smile on his face.

“What?” I asked, confused.

“Okay, a couple days ago I was at the studio working on my song, right? And I came home early to grab some music I left in my room, but as I was leaving, I heard some noises coming from Isaacs’s room…”

“What kind of noises?” I asked.

“…moaning noises” Zac said, smiling.

“No way!” I said, smirking.

“Don’t say anything to Liz”

“Don’t worry, I won’t…”

(At The Club)

Marissa walked into the club and looked around for a nice booth to sit and wait for Taylor. She sat there for about ten minutes until she saw him on the dance floor with four other girls around him. She decided to take matters into her own hands, and started dancing with some of the hottest guys in the club. Taylor did not seem to like that too much, and that made Marissa feel a little better. She saw Taylor sit down at a booth, and she walked over to him shortly after.

“Hey” he said, forcing a smile.

“Hey Taylor, what’s up?”

“Nothing…”

Taylor didn’t seem like the type of guy Marissa was looking for. He wasn’t trustworthy, and seemed wrong for her all together.

“Maybe this wasn’t a good idea after all…” Marissa said, crossing her arms.

“Yeah…you’re probably right.” He said, scratching his head.

“Well I guess I’ll see you around…” Marissa said, as she walked away from the booth.

Marissa didn’t want leave and feel pathetic, so she went to the bar and looked around for someone to talk to.

About ten minutes later, a man wearing a black Italian suit with a blue tie, came into the club. Something about him seemed to catch Marissa’s interest. She watched as he found a booth, and started going through his briefcase. Marissa then saw an empty booth in front of him, and thought she might head that way. Maybe he would notice her…

She ordered a drink, then went and sat at the booth in front of him. As she sat down, the man glanced at her and smiled. He is so cute, Marissa thought to herself. What am I doing? Why am I watching a complete stranger? It’s not like he’s going to talk to me. I should just leave…well I’ll leave after my drink.

About ten minutes later, Marissa saw him focus his attention on some girl who walked into the club.

I wonder who that is…

--

“Hey Trent” Nicole said, as she sat down next to him.

“Uh hey Nicole, how are you?” he said continuing to look through his briefcase.

“I’m fine…you look good in that suit.” She said, smiling.

“Oh uh, thanks…so you know what this meeting is about right?” he said, quickly changing the subject.”

--

Oh rejected, Marissa thought to herself.  Well he’s not interested in her, so he must have a girlfriend.

--

Nicole put her head against her palm and stared into space “the multi millionaire that we’re trying to persuade to join the company.”

“Just making sure”

“Why are we having a meeting at a club again?” Nicole asked confused.

“I was told to meet here, I guess the guys wanted to pick somewhere with drinks and women.”

He could tell that Nicole was coming on to him, but he knew it would be a bad idea to hit on a fellow co-worker. He did find her rather attractive, but he decided it would be best to keep that to himself.

“They’re here,” Nicole said, sitting up straight.

--

He must be a lawyer or something…Marissa said to herself.

Then, out the corner of her eye, Marissa sees a tall muscular man walking over to her.

“Excuse me miss, can I buy you a drink?” he said, looking at her from top to bottom.

“Um no thanks, I’ve had too many already.” Marissa said, trying not to be rude.

“One more couldn’t hurt,” he said smiling.

“Really, I’m fine.” She said, lifting her eyebrow.

“Oh alright…” he said, walking back to the bar.

As she resumed listening to the business meeting, she noticed Trent smiling at her again.

Marissa smiled back, and took out her cell phone. She figured she might as well talk to someone, so she didn’t look so lonesome.

“Hello?”

“Hey Catherine, what’s up?”

“Nothing, just hanging with Zac”

“Oh yeah sorry, I can call you later.”

“Nah girl, what’s going on? Where are you?”

“I am at a club.”

“Oh, is Liz with you?”

“No, I went by myself.”

“By yourself? That doesn’t sound like you…”

“Well I’ll tell you why later.” Marissa said, quietly.

“Oh okay, well I have to tell you something later too.”

“Tell me now”

“I can’t” Catherine said, in a whisper.

“Why not”

“Cause I can’t” Catherine said, clearing her throat.

“Oh, because Zac is there?”

“You guessed it”

“Oh alright, well I guess I’ll talk to you later.”

“Okay girl, love you.”

“Love you too.”

--

-The Meeting-

“Well the client isn’t responding to our offers.”

“Does he think we’re going to screw him over or something?”

“I have no idea, but it doesn’t look good.”

“Well have him call me tomorrow night, I bet that I can make him join.” Trent said, closing his briefcase.

“Yeah, we’ll just see.”

The two business men left the table leaving Trent and Nicole by themselves again.

“Well I guess I’m going to call it a night.” Trent said, grabbing his coat and briefcase.

“Yeah…me too,” Nicole said, scooting out of the booth.

“I’ll see you tomorrow at work.” Trent said, heading to the restroom.

Nicole didn’t feel much like dancing, so she decided to just go home. She headed towards the exit digging in her purse for her keys.

Trent came out of the restroom and looked around for Nicole.  He didn’t feel right staying there, if she was there as well. Plus, he didn’t want anything to happen that could affect his job. When he saw that Nicole wasn’t anywhere in sight, he headed towards the bar and ordered a drink.

Marissa was trying to decide if she should go over there and talk to him. She wanted to, but she didn’t know what to say.

“Oh well, I might as well just go say hi.” Marissa thought to herself.

She stood up, and went for the stool next to Trent. She said “Hey” while she sat down and crossed her legs.

“Hey,” he said turning to face her.

“So what do you do?” Marissa said, smiling.

“I work for a Company.”Trent said, looking off into space.

“It looked like you were having a meeting of some sort.”

“Just business”

“Sounds fascinating” Marissa said sarcastically. 

“Well what do you do that’s so fascinating?” Trent said with a smirk.

“I’m a model.”

“I should have known”

“What does that mean?”

“Well…your legs are too nice to just be regular legs.”

Marissa busted out laughing, “What am I, an alien?”

“That’s not what I meant. They’re just really nice.”

“Well thank you.”

“I saw you watching me from the next booth”

“I was curious, it’s not often people have their meetings in a club you know.”

“That’s true, wasn’t my idea. Can I buy you a drink?”

“Sure, that would be great.”

(Next Day) (Catherine’s POV)

When I woke up, I was curled up next to Zac. I must have fallen asleep as we were talking last night.

“Oh crap! I forgot to call Trent!” I said, jumping out of bed. As I headed for the phone, I saw Zac stretch his arms, then put a pillow over his head.

--

“McKee’s Industries, this is Cheryl, how may I help you?”

“Can I talk to Mr. Anderson?”

“Who’s calling?”

“Catherine Ice.”

“One moment please.”

--

“Mr. Anderson speaking”

“Hey, this is Catherine, I am so sorry I just woke up.”

“It’s okay Catherine, but I could use you here in an hour…”

“Sure, I’ll be there soon.”

“Ok see ya soon.”

--

“Zac!” I said shaking him.

“Huh?” he said, taking off the pillow over his head.

“I have to get ready for work.”

“Oh, okay. I’ll take you home.”

“That’s okay; I’ll just call someone to come get me.”

“No don’t call anyone; I’ll have Stephan take you.”

“You sure that’s okay?”

“Yeah”

“Sorry for waking you”

Zac kissed me and picked up his cell to tell Stephan to meet me out front. I went into the living room, and saw Isaac sitting on the couch, smiling at me.

“Well well well, hey Cat, have fun last night?”

“Oh shut up.” I said smiling.

“Leaving so soon?”

“Yeah, I have to get ready for work. Stephan’s waiting outside, I’ll see you soon” I said walking out the door.

When I got home I rushed into my room, threw off my clothes, and jumped in the shower. When I finished, I dried myself off and looked in my closet for something to wear. I picked out a long sleeve white shirt, which complemented my black skirt, and heels.

After about twenty minutes of grooming, I grabbed my purse and headed out the door. I arrived at McKee’s industries, and found a parking space close to the entrance. I got out of the car and headed inside.

There was a different secretary at the front desk than before. I walked passed her, and headed towards Trent’s mailbox. There were bookshelves of boxes, with name tags on each of them. The bookshelves were to the right of the front desk, where the new secretary was sitting.

“Excuse me Ma’am!” She called out to me. “Can I help you?”

“I am Trent’s Secretary. I am getting his mail.”

“Well I wasn’t informed he had a new secretary. Please take a seat.”

She seemed rather rude, but I decided to sit down and wait for her to figure this out.

“What’s your name?” she called out to me.

“Catherine Ice.”

-----------

“Mr. Anderson, there’s a Miss Ice here claiming to be your secretary…”

“Yeah, send her in.”

“Is she really your secretary? What happened to Trish?”

“Cheryl, please send Miss Catherine in. Thank you.”

Cheryl hung up the phone rather perturbed and turned to look at me.

“You may go in now.”

“Thank you.”

I grabbed Trent’s mail and headed towards his office. I passed Nicole and waved hello as I turned the corner. I walked into the office and greeted Trent warmly.

“Hello Sir, here’s your mail.”

“Thanks Catherine, how are you today?”

“Great and you?”

“Doing pretty good…”

“That’s good.”

“Nicole’s working on a bunch of paperwork I need finished today, would you mind going and taking some of that off her hands?”

“Sure.”

“There is a set of computers next to her; you can work next to her, or in here. Where ever you’re comfortable.”

“Thank you.”

I headed out the door and over to where Nicole was sitting.

“Hey girl, what’s up?”

“Nothing, just trying to finish all of this…” she said showing me a folder that was stuffed full of paperwork.

“Well give me some,” I said pulling up a chair.

“Does Trent know?” she asked confused.

“Yeah, he told me to help you.”

“Oh, good! Here ya go.” She said, handing me half the stack of papers.

“Trent is so nice.” I said, as I turned on my computer.

Nicole stopped typing and turned to face me.

 “Yeah he is…” she stopped and turned back to her computer. It seemed like she wanted to tell me something, but then decided not to. I pulled up Microsoft word, and started typing.

(A Couple Hours Later)

“How far are you?” I asked, as I hit print key for the last paper.

“I have a couple more pages to finish.” Nicole said, still typing.

I was about to head back to the office when I heard a familiar voice call out my name. Please don’t be Michael, I said to myself. I turned around hopeful, but there he stood gazing at me from the front of his office. I turned back around and grabbed the papers out from the printer, and put them neatly in the folder.

“Hey Nicole, I am going back into the office now, okay?” I said, as I pushed in my chair.

 “Catherine!” Michael called again.

This time he was right behind me. Nicole watched suspiciously.

“Follow me” I said, to Michael while heading towards the copy room. He followed close behind. When we were inside, I turned to face him.

“You need to stop calling me Michael. I am with someone now. I know you put in a good word for me here, and I appreciate that. But you need to let me keep my work, and my social life separate. Do you understand?”

Michael just stood there smiling, as if he didn’t hear what I just said. He finally responded with “sure” and turned to leave the room.

“Michael!” I said before he left.

“Yes Cat?”

“If I hear you left just one more threatening message, you better hope you don’t see me again.”

“Oh Cat, you’re cute.” He said, walking back to his office.

I waited a couple minutes to make sure I was calm and collected before I went back to work. Don’t want to make a scene, I thought to myself. I left the copy room and saw Nicole glace my way, then back at her computer screen.

“Great. I hope she doesn’t have a big mouth.” I said under my breath.

I turned the corner and headed back to the main office. When I walked in, Trent was pacing back and forth talking to someone on the phone. I quietly shut the door, and walked into my office.

He seemed frustrated, so I waited until he got off the phone to hand him the folder. Shortly after heard him hang up the phone, so I grabbed the folder from my desk and walked over to him.

“Nicole should be in here any minute with her half.” I said, handing him the folder.

“Great” he said, trying to be polite.

“You okay Trent?”

“Yeah. I’m fine.”

“You know, if you wanna talk, I’m here.” I said sitting at the edge of his desk.

“Thanks Catherine, but really, everything’s fine.”

Right after he said that, Nicole walked in with the other half of papers under her arm. She seemed rather shocked I was so close to him.

“The rest of the papers are done,” she said, putting them in the folder with the others.
“Thank you both for all the help today, I really appreciate it.”

Nicole just stared at him as if yearning for his affection. I quickly said something to snap her out of her trance.

“Hey Nicole, can you help me with something.” I said walking towards my office.

She followed behind me, and I shut the door as she entered.

“Okay so, I don’t need your help. I just wanted to talk to you.”

“I figured as much.” She said, forcing a smile.

“You might wanna lower the flirting bar a little.” I said, trying to be polite.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” she asked, frowning.

“Well…”

“I get it; you’re just trying to get me out of the picture so you can have him for yourself. He’s such a nice guy, as you said.”

“That’s not it Nicole, I like someone else.”

“So? That doesn’t mean anything.”

“I’m sorry; this is none of my business. Do what you want.”

I turned away from her, and went to sit at my desk.

“I’m sorry Cat; he’s just been distancing himself from me lately, and I’m just being paranoid.”

“It’s fine, but I really don’t like Trent like that. He just seems like he doesn’t want an inner office thing though I know he thinks you’re attractive. What if something went wrong in the relationship, and he ended up getting fired? Or, you get fired. Either way, I don’t like the possible outcome.”

“What about you and Michael, she asked hesitantly.”

“Whoa, hold on. Michael and I had a thing about a year ago. He cheated on me, and recently he’s been trying to get back with me. I do not have anything going on with him.”

“Did you know he worked here?” she asked curiously.

“Well…he put in a good word for me, but that was before I knew he was up to. I never would have accepted this job, but once I got here, I loved it. I don’t know what to do.”

“Oh…well there are two sides to every story.” She said, waiting for my response.

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Well Michaels been saying that you have this major infatuation towards him, and he wants you to back off. He says you keep coming on to him at work.”

“What?” I could feel my whole body stiffen, as her words repeated in my head. Nicole sensing my hostility quickly added,

“Not that I believe anything Michael says. He’s always talking about people behind their backs. I just thought I should let you know.”

“Didn’t you see him practically running after me earlier?”

Before I exploded, I told Nicole that I needed to finish my work. She nodded in agreement and opened the door to leave.

“I’m sorry I was being mean earlier,” she said, shutting the door behind her.

The rest of the day seemed to go on forever. I was so frustrated. Michael must have some nerve, how dare he spread rumors about me. I mean, how childish can you be? He’s trying to get me fired. It’s no use; I might as well talk to Trent about it. I walked outside my office door, and over to where Trent was sitting.

“Trent?”

“You know, most people call me Mr. Anderson.”

“Oh I’m sorry”

“That’s okay, I like when you call me Trent, just messing with you. What up Catherine?”

“I don’t know quite how to say this…”

“What’s wrong, are you okay?” he said, sensing my frustration.

“Well apparently, there are rumors being spread about me. I mean, I don’t care what people say, but I don’t want it to affect my job. Maybe I just shouldn’t work here.” I said, dodging his eyes.

“How could it affect your job? What are people saying?”

“It’s about Michael and me.”

“Oh.”

“I just don’t want you to get in trouble.”

“Look Catherine, people are going to talk about you no matter what. Especially since you got the job everyone else wanted. The rumors will spread and soon everyone is going to be talking bad about you. They are just trying to make you quit so they can have your job. As long as there isn’t any inner office relation issue, I think you should stay.”

“Well that’s just it; they’re saying that I am coming on to Michael. That I have an infatuation with him.”

“With Michael?” He said confused. He’s always making up stuff. Don’t worry about it; everything’s going to be fine.”

“Okay, sorry if I disturbed you.”

“You’ve been here for awhile. You can go home now. I’m almost done with everything anyway.”

“Okay, should I come in tomorrow?”

“Yeah, let me make you a schedule before you leave.”

Trent grabbed a notepad and wrote down the days he needed me the most.

“This will be your usual set schedule,” he said, handing me the paper. But if something comes up, just come and talk to me about it.”

I examined the days and hours he wrote down, expecting terrible hours and shifts, but to my surprise, everything seemed perfect.

“This is great.” I said, smiling.

“Okay, see you tomorrow.”

“Trent, you’re such a good guy.” I said, as I left the office.

(Trent’s POV)

“I feel so guilty” Trent mumbled under his breath.

He knew that Michael only wanted Catherine there to trick her into being with him again. He doesn’t understand what Michael is thinking, and after everything he has done in the past why hasn’t he learned his lesson by now.

Michael hasn’t changed since he was fifteen. They grew up together and were roommates for a while, until I decided to get a real job. Michael never really cared; he figured he could leach off my success. It never really bothered me until now. We never really hung out anymore, weren’t even close friends. Why am I still doing favors for him? It’s not like Michael deserves it.

--

(Hanson House)

Isaac and Zac were in the living room playing pool when Taylor ran downstairs in search of something.

“Hey Tay, what are you doing? You wanna play some pool?” Isaac asked, knocking in the queue ball.

“Nice” Zac said, amused.

“Nah man, have you seen my blue tie?” Taylor said, still looking around the living room.

“I put it in your closet.” Isaac said, frustrated

“Oh”

Taylor ran back up the stairs and grabbed his tie out of the closet.

“Isaac, chill out.” Zac said, turning up the music.

“He thinks he’s too good to for us. All he cares about is girls.”

“Well let him do what he wants. He’s not that fun to hang around with anyway. No one is as fun as me” Zac said, grinning.

“Yeah, it’s your turn. I believe I’m winning.”

“Don’t be so cocky, I’m just letting you think you’re going to win, and then I am going to make my move!”

 “You better hurry; I only have two balls left.”

“Don’t rush me.”

--

(Catherine’s House)

I walked through the front door ready to spill my frustration to the girls, but to my surprise, no one was there. The house is rarely empty, unless we all go out together. A couple minutes later, I hear the phone ringing. I walked towards the phone, in no hurry to see who it was.

“Hello?”

“Make it home okay?”

“I thought I told you to leave me alone Michael.”

“What’s wrong, nobody home to talk to?”

“…”

“Just wanted to see how you’re doing.”

--

I hung up the phone. Was he watching me? He is really starting to freak me out. I picked up the phone again and tried Marissa’s cell, straight to voice message. So then, I tried to call Liz but it just kept ringing. I started getting a little frightened. Michael knew I was alone and no one is answering. I picked up the phone, and called Zac.

“Hello my lover” Zac said playfully

“Hey Zac, are you busy?”

“Nope, just kicking some ass in pool”

I heard Isaac say “dude you just lost” in the background.

“Why, what’s up?”

“Well I just got home, and no one’s here. Then Michael called me, and he knew I was home alone. Neither Marissa or Liz are answering their phones.”

“I’m coming over.”

“You don’t have to Zac…I wanted to know if you think I’m just being paranoid.”

“I’d feel much better if you were with me.”

“Would your brothers mind if I came over? I don’t want to interrupt anything.”

“I’ll come pick you up Cat, okay?”

“Okay.”

“Lock the door.”

“Okay, bye.”

--

A few minutes later, I hear a knock at the door. Oh my god, I thought to myself. That can’t possibly be Zac. I crept slowly to the door, and looked out the peephole. Nicole? What is she doing here? I looked to see if anyone was with her, then I opened the door.

“Hey, what’s going on?” I asked, confused.

“Sorry, I looked up your address. I hope you don’t mind.”

“No, is everything okay?”

“Can I come in?”

“Oh sorry, come on in.”

When she came in, I quickly locked the door.

“I overheard Michael talking to his friends at work. He’s saying some really nasty things.”

“What’s he saying?”

“He apparently admitted you guys used to date, and he was talking about how you were in bed.”

“I can’t believe this…”

“He caught me listening in…he didn’t seem too happy.”

“I would imagine.”

“I have this weird feeling he’s watching me.”

“I know how you feel, thanks for telling me this. I wish I knew what he was up to.”

“Sounds like he’s trying to get you fired.”

 “I think it’s more than that. He doesn’t like the fact that I’ve been hanging out a lot with this guy.”

“He’s definitely up to something. When he looked up and saw me standing by the door, I walked away trying to avoid any confrontation. Then as I went to my car to leave, I saw him staring at me from his office window.”

“How long ago was this?”

“About two hours ago.”

“This is big…” I said, heading towards the sofa.

“I always thought Michael was a jerk, but this is different. He seems to be determined about something.”

“I don’t like you being involved in this.”

“It’s too late now.”

“Oh I have to change. Did you want to come with me, or wait here?”

“I’ll come.”

We walked to my room, and I grabbed some blue jeans and a black tank top from my dresser.

“My friend’s about to be here any minute”

“The guy you like?”

I smiled and nodded my head. I took off my work clothes, and put on the clothes I just picked out.

About ten minutes later, I hear someone knocking again.

“That’s probably him.”

Me and Nicole walked through living room to the front door. I wanted to make sure it was Zac, so I checked the peephole. relieved, I opened the door.

“He looks familiar.” Nicole said, as I let him inside.

“This is Nicole, I work with her.”

“Hi nice to meet you,” she said shaking his hand.

“I just came by to tell her a few things, I should be going.”

“Nice to meet you too” Zac said, smiling.

“Bye girl thanks again.” I said, letting her outside.

“If you need anything, call me. My number is super easy to remember. 555-7272.”

“Okay I will”

Right when I shut the door, I wrapped my arms around Zac. I didn’t want to admit it, but I was actually scared.