Avoiding Commitment (Avoiding #1)(74)
Author: K.A. Linde

She groggily got out of bed, reaching for her phone. Beyond the two messages from Ramsey making sure she had made it home alright and apologizing for his inappropriate behavior, there was nothing else. Jack hadn’t called. He hadn’t texted. He had made no effort to get in contact with her after their escapade.

Lexi lazily tossed the thing back into her purse and strolled into the bathroom. After a scalding hot shower to clear her mind, Lexi did some extra pampering. She needed to look her best when she spoke with him. If she looked as shitty as she felt, then she would lose a good deal of the confidence that she needed. She let her loose curls go about their business and applied a small amount of make-up to highlight her golden skin and large brown eyes. Her hair covered the damage done to her back, but she had to touch up her neck where a few hickeys were beginning to show. A thin layer of lipstick hid the bruising on her bottom lip. A purple dress that was simple, yet, showed enough skin to still be appealing was her first choice. She paired it with black strappy sandals. She hoped it was enough.

Her first instinct was to go by his apartment and with Chyna’s approval, she took the town car across the city. As she approached the entranceway, the attendant who had been on duty when she had stayed the night at Jack’s less than a week ago was just exiting the building. "Oh excuse me," the attendant said almost running into her.

"No problem at all. Hey, I think I know you," Lexi said.

"Oh yeah," the girl said pointing her finger at Lexi as if she were placing her. "You know Jack, right?"

"Yeah. Do you know if he’s in right now?" Lexi asked taking a step closer to the doorway.

The girl seemed to mull it over. After a second of contemplation she answered, "I don’t think he is. I remember him leaving this afternoon."

"Do you happen to know where he was going?" Lexi asked knowing she sounded snoopy.

"Look I don’t really like to get involved," she said crossing her arms across her chest uncomfortably.

"Oh no, I totally understand," she said immediately. She had to be quick on her toes or else she wouldn’t get any information. "It’s just his girlfriend is freaking out because he won’t answer his phone, and she asked me to come by since she couldn’t."

"Well," the girl began tilting her head sideways.

"I swear I wouldn’t bother you if it wasn’t an emergency," Lexi said lathering on the desperation.

The girl sighed and tossed her hair over her shoulder. "He came down earlier and looked a bit bummed out. Said he needed to get some things accomplished at the office, but don’t tell him I told you so," she said racing down the remaining stairs, across the street, and into a parked Civic.

With more direction then when she had woken up this morning, Lexi piled back into the town car on her way to Bridges Enterprise. She knew the building well from her long history in the city, but had never ventured inside. All she knew about the business was that the Bridges name had been around for a long time, it comprised of attorneys, accountants, and any other form of business that could assist you with your troubles, and that they charged a fortune for their rather successful services.

The town car dropped Lexi off at the base of the monumental staircase leading up to the building. After climbing the flight of stairs, she stepped into Bridges Enterprise, an enormous, emasculating building covered almost completely in glass, for the first time. The high-arched, sleek entranceway opened into a clean, marble tiled lobby with forty foot ceilings, plush leather sofas, and high-glossed counter space. Every person was impeccably dressed in the latest fashions as well as physically fit and attractive. The women all wore knee-length skirt suits with high heels while the men wore suits each with a different color tie. It was terrifying being in a room with so many well-groomed individuals. Lexi’s simple dress suddenly felt out of place, but she held her head high regardless.

She cautiously approached a tiny Asian woman working behind the reception desk. People milled around the lobby some entering and exiting elevators, stopping to chat with an associate, or waiting patiently for their important meeting. With a company this large it was necessary to have the office available to clients seven days a week.

"Thank you very much. Here at Bridges Enterprise we do everything we can to bridge the distance between you and your troubles. Have a wonderful day," she said hanging up the phone before looking up at Lexi. "May I help you?" the woman asked a genuine smile crossing her face.

"Yes, I am here to see Jack Howard," Lexi told the woman hoping to make it see more of a demand than a request.

The woman smirked and glanced down at the monitor in front of her. She clicked a few buttons before returning her eyes to Lexi. "Do you have a meeting with Mr. Howard?"

"Not exactly," she admitted, "but I do need to see him."

"Mr. Howard is a very busy man. So I hope you understand when I say that you would have to have an appointment to see him," she stated firmly.

"Right well does he have a full schedule today?" Lexi asked attempting to peer over the desk.

"He has the day marked off to be with Ms. Bridges."

"But he is in the office today," Lexi badgered anxious to get this over with.

"Is there anything I can assist you with?" the woman asked dodging the question effortlessly.

"Not unless you can tell me what office is his," she said deliberately.

"Ma’am unless you have an appointment, which you do not, then Mr. Howard is unavailable to you. However, there are many more trained professionals in his department that are free this afternoon if you would like to make an appointment with one of them."

"No thank you," Lexi said gnawing on her bottom lip. What a waste of time. This woman would be of any more help…not that she had been much in the first place. Obviously Jack was here in his office. The only problem was she had no idea where that was and the building was a million stories high with hundreds of offices. She could search all day and never locate him, but she didn’t have that time.

She thanked the woman and walked away from the counter looping around towards the elevators. Hopping on the first elevator that dinged open, Lexi stood between several men in high quality suits. As she slowly approached the top floor, she found she was finally left alone with one of the men. Putting on the most girly look she could muster, Lexi cried, "Shoot!" She let the Southern drawl, which she typically didn’t have, permeate through the word. The man glanced over at her in surprise, but she could see it was also intrigue. He quickly faced the front again not deeming it appropriate to intervene. "Um, excuse me," she cooed drawing his attention back to her.

"Yes ma’am?" he asked, the perfect gentleman.

"You see," she began huffing a little in embarrassment, "I have an appointment with Mr. Howard today." His eyes widened in surprise. "But I’ve forgotten where his office is," she told him casting her eyes down and hoping she could find some semblance of innocence in the gesture. "I was wondering if you could maybe point me in the right direction. The woman at the front told me, but Lord, I’d lose my head if it wasn’t attached to my body."

He marveled at her unadulterated beauty for a second before answering. "Sure not a problem," he said buying her act. He pressed another button on the elevator and turned to attempt to make small talk with her from there.

"What are you seeing Mr. Howard for, if you don’t mind me asking?" he asked leaning back against the metal hand railing.

"Uh…" Lexi tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear. She hadn’t thought this far forward with her plan and had no alibi for seeing Jack. No doubt she had always been a terrible liar so making something up on the spot wasn’t going to work for her. She was amazed she had made it this far with acting.

"It’s alright," he said immediately reading her discomfort. "You don’t have to tell me. We have a number of people coming in with troubles that need to be solved. You’re lucky you got Jack. He’s one of our best," the man said admiringly. She had completely forgotten that she was in a place where talking about her problems was confidential business. At least something was working in her favor.

"Well that’s wonderful," she stated dryly pleased and displeased at the same time that Jack was doing so well for himself. A part of her maliciously wondered how much Bekah had a hand in that.

"Here is his floor," he said when the elevator landed. "All the way down the hallway and on the right. Can’t miss it. His secretary should be here. Her name is Gwen. She can take it from here."

"Thank you so much Mr…" she waited for his name. He had been an invaluable resource.

"Oh what was I thinking?" he asked smacking himself on the forehead. "Brandon Calloway." He pulled out his wallet and extracted a business card. She took it from him smiling to herself.

"Pleasure to meet you Mr. Calloway."

"Call me Brandon," he muttered huskily, leaning against the elevator door to hold it open for her while they chatted.

"Brandon," she repeated placing the card delicately into her purse.

"I hope everything works out for you. If Jack doesn’t help, just let me know. I’m in office 2404. Stop in anytime," he told her invitingly.

"Well, uh, thanks," she said stepping through the door.

"No problem. What’s your name?" he asked smoothly as she passed through the sliding doors.

"Lexi. Lexi Walsh," she said as she disappeared down the hallway. When she glanced over her shoulder, he was still standing there staring after her. Something had changed in his look and his mouth was hanging slightly open. She wasn’t sure what that was about, but she couldn’t concentrate on that now. He had played his part and now she needed to bridge the distance between her own troubles.

She followed Brandon’s directions and found a blonde, no surprise there, sitting at a desk in front of a large corner office. "May I help you?" the woman asked looking up from her computer screen. She had a British accent, impeccably white teeth, and perfectly fake br**sts revealed in her low cut blouse.

"Is Jack in?" Lexi asked smirking at the predictability of the woman’s appearance.

"Indeed. However, Mr. Howard is not taking appointments today." She looked down at her screen, scrolled through a program, then glanced back up. "I believe I can squeeze you in Thursday afternoon if that works for you darling."

Lexi scoffed. "Um, no I leave this afternoon and I need to see him now."

"I’m sorry that would simply be impossible. Perhaps when you are next in town then," she stated simply. Lexi rolled her eyes and walked around the desk completely ignoring the girl. "Ma’am you cannot go in there."

"Sorry. I need to see him," she said rushing to the door. "Jack can I come in?" Lexi asked knocking swiftly on the large wooden door. "You’re…uh…secretary said you were in," she took another glance at the leggy blonde behind her who was just now getting out of her seat to stop her.

"Ma’am he is unavailable," Gwen said standing with her hands on her h*ps in frustration. "You can’t just barge in there."