Fangirls: The Collection

Chapter Two

CHAPTER TWO

NIKKI SLUNK OUT of the office of Peter Mills with her head hanging, ears ringing, and her cheeks flushed from his irate reprimand. She knew she was going to be in trouble. She just wasn’t prepared for the actual extent of it. Someone from the upstairs office had to be busting Peter’s balls pretty hard if he came down on her as hard as he did. With stress coming from on high, it was sure to trickle down to her. Of course, if she did her job as she was supposed to, as she always did, she would have avoided the verbal spanking she just received. It was not the type of spanking she enjoyed.

“So, how much trouble are you in? I heard Peter’s yelling all the way out here.” Stephanie leaned back in her desk chair, twirling her pen between her fingers, as she watched Nikki slump her way toward her. The tiny redhead had been sharing the office with Nikki for the past four years and besides the office, she shared most of the company gossip. If there was something going on worth knowing, Stephanie Ledbetter was privy to all the salacious details. Of course, quite often it was because the rambunctious woman was right in the thick of it.

Nikki collapsed into her chair as she let out a deep breath. “Let’s just say I’m glad my year end review is still a few months away. I have enough ass kissing time to get back into his good graces.”

Stephanie rolled her eyes. “Because you’re so good at kissing ass around here.”

“I can learn. After all, I have you as my ass kissing mentor, right?” Nikki flashed the other woman a smile as she leaned forward, elbows on her desk. “Besides, I can get the reports done tonight. Peter, in his benevolence, granted me a twenty-four-hour extension.”

“Considering how often Miss Goody-Goody misses a deadline, I’m surprised he didn’t just faint from shock that the reports weren’t presented complete with a pretty bow on top. So, what kidnapped our little girl’s focus and kept her from getting her homework done?”

“It wasn’t planned, I assure you.” She turned to her briefcase to pull out the folders, annoyed at Stephanie’s teasing. She plopped the manila folders, crammed with the reports she had been ignoring, on her desk, determined to get her work done.

Stephanie leaned forward, her chin resting on her hands, elbows propping her up, oblivious that Nikki needed to work. “Those are the best kind of reasons. Trust me. Come on. Spill it.” Her grin revealed that her persistence was not going to cease until she had the scoop and the full scoop, not just a sampling.

Surrendering, Nikki let out a sigh as she shot a glance toward Peter’s office. She did not need him to come out and catch her not doing the reports. With her hands still holding the folders, she dished out the news. “I went to the Perk & Grind last night to work on the reports and, because the place was so packed, I wound up sharing a table with someone. Instead of either one of us getting any work done, we spent four hours talking and sharing stories. At first, I thought he was the strangest individual I had ever met. He was just…well…odd. But after a while, I just became lost in the conversation as well as his personality.” She continued to tell Stephanie all about her evening, reliving the entire night as she told it. A smile creased her face, pushing her cheeks up at the memory.

“Was it worth it?” Stephanie’s eyebrows were raised as she stared at her coworker.

Nikki pictured Theo sitting across from her at the coffee house, his disarming smile drawing her into a four-hour conversation when she should have been working. Once again she saw the sparkle in his hazel eyes and his unkempt hair, felt the ease in which they became lost in each other’s company, unaware of the time or the people around them. Her ass was handed to her when she arrived to work that morning for not having the reports completed, but yes, it was worth it, and she told her friend just that. “I haven’t had a night like that in a long time. It was spontaneous, exciting, even relaxing. There was no pressure or expectations, just a quiet evening. He’s a published author without all the ego that you would think goes with being successful. He actually wanted to talk about me more than about himself, which is unusual among the male population. He didn’t even hit on me the entire night. Also unusual.”

“Are you sure he likes girls?” Stephanie gave Nikki a skeptical look.

She shot her friend a look of annoyance. “Yes, I’m sure he likes girls. He just seemed to have this gentleman’s code about him. Nothing about him was inappropriate.”

“That sounds boring. And you’re sure he likes women? How could you tell?”

“Will you stop.”

Peter came out of his office, shoving his arms into his sports coat. Running his fingers through his ash-gray air as he stood there, he informed them he would be back in an hour. “There’s a meeting upstairs and I have to buy us some more time on those reports.” He glanced at Nikki, his stern eyes warning of his displeasure. “Tell me you’re working on them and I’ll have them first thing in the morning.”

Nikki patted the stack of folders perched on the corner of her desk. “They’re all I’m working on today. Promise.”

Straightening his tie, Peter gave her a curt nod and then turned to the office door and the hallway beyond. “I hope so. Now, let’s see if I can keep us out of trouble.” Nikki watched as he disappeared, feeling sorry for the ass chewing he was about to receive, because she knew it was her fault.

Sliding her chair up under her keyboard, she piled the folders on the corner of her desk and reached for the top folder. She needed to get to work and not let Peter down again. It wasn’t like her to be so easily distracted. She knew she deserved her dressing down. Peter, however, did not deserve what he was about to receive. She knew she had to make it up to him.

However, as soon as Peter was out of earshot, Stephanie continued her inquisition. “When are you going to see writer boy again?”

Nikki continued scribbling numbers down onto a legal pad. “What?” she asked without looking up.

“When are the two of you going out again? You know, on a real date as opposed to bullying your way up to his table.”

Nikki ceased writing, her pen still poised over the last number she had written, as she turned and stared at the other woman. It was only then that it dawned on her there had been no comment about getting together again. No phone numbers were exchanged. No email addresses. They had simply enjoyed the evening together, shook hands, and parted ways. That was it. “I…I guess we’re not.” The realization caused her shoulders to slump.

Stephanie just laughed as she shook her head. “Girl, you are definitely out of practice. How in the world did you allow this man to slip through your fingers?”

“I don’t know.” She faced her desk again, staring at her reflection in the computer screen. How had she let the opportunity slip past her? “He even said he hoped we would meet again, so I could tell him what I thought of his books.” Yet, if he really wanted to see her again, why hadn’t he just given her his phone number or asked for hers? He asked her every other question under the sun, why not that one? It didn’t make sense. There was no way she read the signs wrong. Theo had been into her. He had to have been. Why else would he stop his research to spend the evening talking with her? Then why hadn’t he asked to call her?

“Maybe he was needing background information on a new character he plans on killing off in his next story,” Stephanie said as she sat back in her chair and pulled herself up to her own keyboard. Then her eyes brightened as her eyebrows popped up “That’s it! Nikki Sanford will be the crazed fangirl that turns into a serial killer, stalking the brooding author. He looked into your eyes and saw danger staring back at him.”

“I am not some crazed fangirl, whatever that is, and my eyes do not show danger unless, of course, I’ve been listening to you too long. Where do you come up with these ideas?”

“Hey, it’s happened before. Sometimes, fangirls can’t help themselves and just hurl themselves at actors. Look what happens to musicians. Why can’t it happen to authors as well?”

“I would hope that readers behave better. I mean, authors don’t really have groupies, do they?”

Stephanie gave her a slight smirk. “By the way you’re glowing, I’d say I know one male author who has a fangirl. Of course, since you didn’t even know what a fangirl was, groupie fits better in this situation.” She only laughed as Nikki rolled her eyes.

Gripping her pen tighter, Nikki flipped over a piece of paper with a snap and scribbled down more numbers. The best way to ignore Stephanie was to get her work done. At least Peter would be happy.

But why didn’t Theo ask for my number? The one decent date I’ve had all year and it happened by accident. The only explanation she could come up with was that life sucked. She took a deep breath, surrendering to the fact that her Prince Charming was destined to remain a mystery. He never even told her the title of his books. What if he used a pen name?

Stop. It was one night. Get over it. Focus. She just needed to focus on her work. She kept transferring numbers from one column to another, adding them, regrouping, reaching for another folder, and then doing it all over again. Fifteen minutes later, she was still on the second folder, because her mind couldn’t stop returning to last night and the disheveled author who shared his table with her. It hadn’t been a romantic gesture—not at first anyway—but it turned into a romantic evening anyway.

Why didn’t you just give him your number, dumb ass? Why not indeed.