Caught in the Middle

Chapter 1

I was in big trouble when I saw a hunk of a man passed by my best friend, Irene Shover, and me. He didn't pay any attention to me. His eyes drifted to Irene before looking away.

"Oh Tessa, did you see that?" Her cherry red lips cracked a smile at me. "He was so giving me the eye."

I rolled my eyes at her reaction as she shifted toward the edge of her seat to see him going in the direction of the men's room.

"And he's looking back this way," she said. Her perfectly arched eyebrows rose. I couldn't help myself as I craned my neck to see his brown eyes boring into her green ones.

I turned back and sighed. "Well, what you're waiting for? I think he's giving you the signal to make the next move."

She was already pushing her seat back so I wasn't sure why she bothered to ask me the next question. "Are you sure you're going to be okay on your own?"

"I'm fine," I waved my hand at her. "Now go! Don't make him wait all day."

"Alrighty," she said. She stood up, grabbed her handkerchief to wipe around her mouth before throwing it on our table. She faked smiled as she motioned to her mouth in a silent gesture for "do I have anything on my face?"

A chuckle erupted from me. I shook my head as she eyed me suspiciously.

"No, you're fine," I assured her. "Besides, when did you start listening to me anyway?"

"You have to be kidding me? I can't believe you'll ask that stupid question," she retorted.

"You better hurry, Irene." I glanced over my shoulder to see him exiting the men's restroom. Subtly, he glanced at us and I noticed how his eyes smoldered as he eyed Irene like she was a piece of candy. I would have felt offended by that look but Irene glorified in it. She grabbed her expensive little Coach bag on our table blew me a kiss.

"You take care of the check."

"Yes, I got it."

Her back was to me as she was dashing to the man's side. "I owe you one!" she yelled.

People from the tables around us glanced at her. I buried my face in my hands to hide my mortification. Irene was my best friend since our first year in college. She was the wild one and I was the introvert. She could get along with anyone because of her bubbly personality and I shied away from big crowds. I rather hide myself behind novels or paintings. She didn't care about what people thought about her and I was always self conscious. We were the exact opposites but we were two peas in a pod.

She took the big risks and I was the one to support her. But it was her aggressive nature that landed her the big job at Rushmore Industries while I worked a full-time position in a small bookstore, Thorton's Bookstore, and I had a part time job at the Netsworth Café. One job gave her the financial opportunity to own a grand one bedroom apartment in lower Manhattan and two jobs barely sustained me with paying rent and food. Paying utilities, cell phone and health insurance was another matter.

Sometimes I didn't know how I was able to survive.

"At least I can count my lucky stars that I was able to sell another painting on ebay or else I won't be able to pay for our meal," I muttered to myself while I was gathering my purse.

"Excuse me," a rich masculine voice said. His voice shook me to the point I dropped my bag on the floor. My cell phone and wallet fell out.

"Damn!" I said as I bent down to retrieve my stuff. The man knelt down to help me too.

"Oh no, you don't have to do that. It's my fault," I tried to apologize as I kept my head lowered. For some reason I couldn't raise my head to look at his face because if he was as handsome as his voice was hypnotic, then I was in big trouble.