#Snapped *on hold*

Chantelle Donovan-Pierce

Chantelle Donovan-Pierce

It was seven o'clock on a Friday evening and there were a billion places I'd rather be than at the office trying to make myself look busy. The club, for example, would have more than a few eligible men looking for a good time. Unfortunately for me and fortunately for them, my taste didn't really include cheating losers and loose men. I lived for the chase, so men who had no idea that they were looking for a relationship were my preferred poison. Men who used work instead of alcohol to fill the void they didn't even know they had. Men like Jake Harper.

Just the thought of him made my blood hum in excitement. I pushed away from my desk, rolling backward in my black executive computer chair, hoping to catch a glimpse of him running a copy or pulling a file. As luck would have it, he was standing near his cubicle stretching his tensed muscles.

"Calling it a day?"

Even though we had at least fifteen different places we could check the time, he always wore a watch. He gave it a cursory glance. "A night, more like, but only if you are. Can't leave a lady at the office by herself, now can I?"

I smiled, relieved that he was finally ready to go. You'd think a Master's Degree in Business Administration with a focus in Accounting from one of the most prestigious universities in the nation would have taught me patience, but if I had to sit here for five more minutes playing Minesweeper, someone was going to get it.

Standing, I faked a yawn which quickly turned into a real one. "Well, I don't want to keep you, so I suppose the Mansford account can wait until Monday."

Of course, that was a lie. I had finished that particular account this morning, but I couldn't very well tell him that. Leisurely, I bent over to grab my purse, giving him the perfect view of my butt, and a perfect view, it was.

Now I know what you're thinking, "Wow, you're vain," and to be perfectly honest, you're probably 100 percent correct. But in my defense, God hadn't seen fit to bestow upon me a killer figure. I worked hard to maintain it so I'd have something to be proud of, and since I had started going to the gym regularly, I'd been told by quite a few men that my body was, and I quote, "to die for."

When I finally turned around, Jake was already heading toward the elevator. Disappointed, but strangely drawn by his immunity to my physical attributes, I rushed to follow him. Like a gentleman, he waited for me by the elevator, pressing the arrow pointing downward when I was nearby. It slid open with a 'ding' and we both shuffled inside.

"Any plans for this evening?"

I asked even though I already knew the answer. Every Friday like clockwork he went to the bar two streets over to have a few drinks by himself, and then went home. He spent his weekends with his friends from ASU and on occasion with his family. Aside from his mother, the state records showed no 'Mrs. Harper', making him the perfect candidate.

"Not really." He shrugged. "I'm just going to have a couple drinks to celebrate that it's Friday and then go to sleep. How about you?"

I used his nonchalance as a guide and mimicked his shrug. "Oh, you know, the usual. Go home, watch re-runs of Friends and woe moving to Tempe."

Silence settled in the small confines of the elevator as I watched the letter 'G' finally light up, signifying that we were on the ground floor. My heels sounded off on the tile like gunshots in the building that would be abandoned until Monday. He opened the door for me and I walked out, already sick of the Arizona heat.

Knowing this was where we parted if I didn't get him to invite me out, I smiled up at him. "Thank you for the escort. Be sure to have an extra drink on my behalf."