As soon as she logged on, Jay was waiting. His words flashed up on the screen.
What happened? Why didn’t you show? Are you all right?
I could be better.
Her cursor flashed at her for several seconds. Before she could type, Jay’s next words popped up on the screen.
You’re sick?
No. I was there.
You were there?
Yes…and I decided against introducing myself.
Again, the cursor repeatedly flashed, blaming her.
Can you tell me why?
It’s complicated.
Uncomplicate.
Jay was angry and she couldn’t blame him. His one-word response said as much.
I wish I could. I’m sorry, Jay, but the minute I saw you I realized it would never work between us. We’re too different…
Don’t tell me that. It’s an excuse. A lie. We’ve talked every night for weeks and have connected on a dozen different levels. It’s something else, isn’t it? Something you’re unwilling to tell me.
No need denying it.
Yes.
What is it? You owe me that.
Please don’t ask. Just accept that a relationship between us isn’t a good idea. It’s better to accept that now and move on. I’m sure there are any number of women on Mix & Mingle who would be a better match for you than me.
There was that dreaded cursor again, flashing accusingly at her.
Just like that? You’re willing to give up on us without giving me a single reason? Unbelievable. How could I have spent all these nights talking to you and not know you? This doesn’t make sense. I can’t believe you’re doing this. I brought you flowers. Not once in my entire life have I given a woman flowers.
Yellow daisies.
You saw and still you refused to meet me. That says it all. I should have known better. Lesson learned. My bad.
I’m sorry.
Jay didn’t reply and logged off.
For a long time afterward, Merry sat on her bed, feeling numb and sick at heart.
Patrick knocked on her bedroom door.
“It’s okay, Patrick, you can come in.”
Her brother stuck his head past the door and stared at her for a long moment. “Are you sad?”
Merry nodded. “Yeah.” Sad was a good word for the way she felt. Disappointed, discouraged, and upset were also part of the emotions taking up residence in her heart. She patted the edge of her bed, urging her brother to come join her. She closed her laptop and set it aside as Patrick climbed onto the mattress and sat down beside her.
Merry wrapped her arm around his shoulders and leaned her head against his, and he said, “I’m sad, too. I liked Jay. He was nice.”
“He was nice,” Merry agreed. “Sometimes people aren’t right for each other, and I could see that I wasn’t the right person for Jay.”
“That’s what makes you sad?”
“Yes, real sad.”
Patrick released a deep sigh. “Are you going to look at some of the other men on the website to date them?” he asked.
“Maybe.”
Her brother was silent for a couple moments. “That’s what Mom says when she means no but she doesn’t want to say no.”
Merry grinned. Her brother was smarter than she gave him credit for. The sick feeling in the pit of her stomach was sure to last a long time. She had no desire to start an online relationship with anyone else. “I might look at other possibilities, but it won’t be soon.”
“Can I help you pick him out?”
“Sure.” Seeing that she had a six-month subscription, Merry had plenty of time to decide. Presently, her inclination was never to go on the website again.
—
On Monday morning, Merry walked into the office to find both her friends watching and waiting for her.
“So?” Kylie asked, venturing first. “How’d the meeting go with your handsome Prince Charming?”
Merry had thought long and hard about whether she should update her friends with the truth or not. In the end, she decided it was better that they not know her Jay was Jayson Bright, their boss.
“Well?” Lauren prompted, when Merry hesitated. “I was right, wasn’t I? He’s a sixty-year-old pervert.”
Merry took her time removing her coat and tucking away her purse. “He isn’t sixty and he isn’t a pervert.”
“What happened?”
She shrugged. “It didn’t work out.”
“Told you,” Lauren said, crossing her arms. “These online dating services never do.”
“Oh stop,” Kylie flared. “What went wrong?”
Merry shrugged. “He just wasn’t what I expected.”
“What did you expect?” Kylie asked, grinning. “A Saudi prince?”
Despite herself, Merry smiled. “I guess in some ways I did, but he’s not even close to royalty.”
“Told you.”
“Lauren!” Kylie snapped. “Enough.” She returned her attention to Merry. “You’re disappointed, aren’t you?”
“Terribly.” It was the truth. Merry was more let down than words could possibly say. She held back a yawn. She’d tossed and turned most of the night and probably had only a couple hours of uninterrupted rest. All night her mind kept going to a nightmare in which she came face-to-face with Jayson Bright. In her dream, he was as shocked and as dismayed as she’d been.
And that was the crux of the matter. She liked Jay. She was half in love with Jay. But Jayson? Not so much. And yet they were the same person. She had yet to understand how that could be possible.
Somehow Merry made it until the end of the day. As she finished and was about to head home, she happened to look up in time to see Jayson Bright walking toward the elevator.
One of the staff from another department wasn’t watching where she was walking and bumped into him. Merry held her breath, waiting for him to get upset. It was what she had come to expect from him. Instead, Jayson gripped hold of the older woman’s shoulders so she didn’t lose her balance and then bent down and helped her gather the papers that had fallen to the floor.
When he’d finished, he started toward the elevator, his shoulders slightly hunched. Merry couldn’t take her eyes off him. He looked as sad and beaten down as she felt, which left her to wonder…
Had she made the right decision?
Was this what she really wanted?
And why, oh why, did the night ahead feel so empty?
CHAPTER EIGHT
Jayson
Thursday evening arrived, and it’d been four days since Jayson had last spoken to Merry. Over the first couple days, anger had consumed him. He’d been a fool to have anything to do with that website. With her. This whole idea of dating someone he’d never met had been crazy. What was I thinking? Merry had played him for a fool. He’d never needed a dating service in the past. As far as he was concerned, Mix & Mingle had been one colossal mistake, and one he had no desire to repeat.
However, as the week progressed his anger mellowed. Bored and restless, he logged on to the site, wondering if Merry had left him a message. An explanation. Anything. He’d had several other winks but none that interested him. He wanted Merry.
When he looked, he found a message waiting for him.
From Merry.
His heart rate accelerated, and he blinked to be sure he wasn’t imagining it. To be sure, he opened the message.
Only Merry wasn’t the one who’d written him.
The note was from Patrick.
My sister is sad. She likes you a lot.
Interesting. Jayson was tempted to ignore it, but then on a whim decided to leave a message of his own.
She didn’t want to meet me, Patrick. I wanted to meet her in the worst way. Can I ask you a question? Can we talk in an hour?
Jayson didn’t know if Patrick would see his note, but it was worth a shot. Merry’s brother must have been at the computer, because he answered right away.
I do homework then.
&n
bsp; Can we talk now? he asked. With Patrick’s help, Jayson might have a chance of learning what had happened.
Okay, but I can’t talk more than an hour.
That was fine by him. Great. I’m sad, too, Patrick, because I like your sister. Finding out what she’d found so objectionable about him had almost become an obsession. He couldn’t go more than an hour or two without thinking about her. What was worse was not knowing. Perhaps she was someone he’d dated in the past or someone related to a former girlfriend. The possibilities were endless.
Merry’s rejection had been a bitter pill to swallow. As the days had passed, he found it harder and harder to accept her decision. That left him one option, and that was to find her and ask her face-to-face. He couldn’t imagine anything worthy of the way she’d dumped him with no explanation or excuse.
I knew you would want to see her. Merry is pretty, but she doesn’t date a lot.
I’ll make her smile again.
She needs to smile. It’s Christmas and she shouldn’t be sad.
You’re right, she shouldn’t.
Patrick added, Don’t tell her I talked to you because she might not like me doing that.
I won’t say a word.
Promise?
I promise. Time to get to the nitty gritty. Can you tell me what her real name is? He was certain Merry was a name she used because she didn’t want him to know her actual given name.
Patrick stopped typing as if he didn’t understand the question. That’s funny. Her name is Merry. You know that.
That’s her real name?
That’s what we call her. I don’t think she has another name. Her middle name is Noelle.
Okay. Interesting. He’d go about this in a different way. What’s your surname?
Is this a test? I don’t do good on tests.
No test.
I need help. Patrick typed. What’s a surname?
Your last name.
I know this. But I’m not supposed to tell strangers.
Jayson groaned. The only thing he could figure was that it had been pounded into Patrick not to give out his name to people his family didn’t know.
Where does Merry work?
Downtown.
Jayson groaned again. Getting information out of her brother was proving more challenging than he’d hoped.
Do you know the name of the company where she works?
Yes. I need to think.
He prodded when Patrick didn’t answer for several pulsing seconds. Think. It felt like a month before the youth typed in his response.
I didn’t remember, so I asked her, but she told me that work is work and home is home. Don’t worry, I didn’t tell her I was talking to you.
Good. I want to find Merry and talk to her.
I know she takes the number-eighteen bus to work. Sometimes I meet her at the bus stop, but only in the summer, because it’s dark out in the winter.
That’s a nice thing to do.
She likes it. I need to go now. Mom is calling me.
Thank you for your help, Patrick.
I did good on the test, right?
Very good. Bye for now.
He was about to close his computer when another message popped up. This time it was Merry.
Are you drilling my brother with questions about me?
No need denying it, he’d been caught red-handed. Yes.
Don’t. Please. It’s not fair to use my brother for your selfish purposes.
Perhaps not.
Don’t you care?
I’m not willing to give up on us, Merry. He says that’s your real name, by the way.
It is.
And Smith is your surname?
I’m not answering that.
Figured you wouldn’t. It appears you have a December birthday, Merry Noelle Smith.
Not answering that, either.
Merry might not be answering his questions, but she was talking to him, and that was all that mattered.
I miss you. I can’t believe you don’t miss talking to me. Be honest, Merry. Give me that.
All right, if you must know…yes, I miss you, too.
Then tell me what it is you find so offensive about me that makes you refuse to meet me.
The cursor blinked for several uncomfortable seconds while he awaited her reply.
I know you.
That made Jayson sit up and take notice. You know me? How?
I need to end this. All I ask is that you don’t talk to my brother again.
Don’t go. He swallowed his pride, and in a desperate note added, Please.
Merry didn’t sign off, and he sighed with relief.
Was I rude? Unreasonable?
I’m one of the little people you choose to ignore. That’s all I’m willing to tell you. As soon as I saw who you were, I realized that the man I’ve come to know online is a different person than the one I’ve met previously. I can’t find a way to connect the two.
Jayson didn’t know what to tell her.
I accept that I can be rude and impatient. I’m working on it.
Maybe you should work harder.
Jayson grinned. She wasn’t holding back.
Will you chat with me again?
Her answer took a long time coming, but he waited, working on his patience.
I don’t think that’s a good idea.
He wasn’t willing to accept that. Nine tomorrow night. He didn’t wait for her to reply. As the saying goes, the ball was in her court now.
—
Friday afternoon, just as he was about to leave the office, Jayson got the last piece of information needed to finalize the report for Boeing. This was what he’d been waiting weeks to receive. The data would need to be entered, and he didn’t want to wait until Monday morning before submitting his conclusion. Christmas was right around the corner, and his hope was to get this report into the proper hands ahead of schedule.
The mandatory overtime had ended, but he wanted this done pronto so he could review it over the weekend. He might as well work. That would keep his mind occupied until he could sort out this mess with Merry.
He was no closer to tracking her down now, although he felt encouraged. His chat with Patrick had given him a few clues, but not enough to figure out her identity. She claimed she was one of the little people. His first thought was that she worked in the service industry. Perhaps she was the barista who routinely made his morning coffee. He hoped not. From what he saw of her, she wasn’t especially bright. The woman who came to clean his condo once a week was a grandmother. Perhaps Merry was someone related to her. It might even be someone in the office, but he couldn’t imagine who. The little people? What did she mean by that? A housekeeper? A server? A receptionist?
He stopped off at the Corner Deli a few nights each week, so perhaps Merry worked with Cyrus. His mind mulled over the options. She could be someone he routinely saw and had never noticed.
He pulled his thoughts away from Merry and back to the project and what needed to be done. Leaving his office, he walked down to the data-entry department to find the three women diligently working.
Mary was the first one to look up, and she blinked as though shocked to see him. They’d had their minor disagreements, and Jayson regretted that. When Jayson had called HR to learn more about her, he was told that Mary was contracted for a year and had filled in for the head of the department, who had given birth to twins and requested twelve months’ leave. According to what he’d learned about her, she had done a fantastic job, but the position would end at the first of the year, as the woman she replaced would return then.
Mary stopped typing, and soon the other two women followed suit. All three of them looked at him, apparently waiting for him to say something.
“I need someone to stay this evening,” he said. “It will probably require a couple hours.” Then, remembering his determination to be less demanding and more patient, he added, “Mary, as the head of the department, I’d like you to decide who should wo
rk the overtime.”
The woman with the nameplate that said LAUREN spoke first, looking at Mary. “Sorry, I can’t stay. I’ve got family arriving this evening from Kansas. I agreed to pick them up at the airport. They’re here for the holidays.”
The second woman spoke up. “Billy has his school Christmas program this evening.” Her eyes were apologetic. “I can’t miss that. Billy plays the role of the little drummer boy.”
Mary sighed and turned to her boss. “Guess you’re stuck with me.”
“Will this be a problem?” he asked.
“It’s Friday night and…”
“I realize working overtime is probably ruining your date night,” he snapped, and then instantly regretted his outburst. Drawing in a calming breath, he tried again. “I would appreciate your help.”
She didn’t correct him, which led Jayson to realize he’d guessed right. She did have a date.
“I’ll need to make a phone call.”
“Thank you. I have the necessary paperwork in my office. I’ll be right back.”
When he returned, Mary was alone, as the other women had left for the weekend.
He handed her the report. “I want you to know I appreciate your willingness to do this.”
She offered him a brief smile and a dimple appeared, just one on the right side of her mouth. This wasn’t the first time he’d noticed it. The dimple mesmerized him. She seemed to realize he was staring at her, which flustered him. To cover his discomfort, Jayson pulled up a chair and sat down before spreading out a large sheet with the necessary statistics listed.
CHAPTER NINE
Merry
They worked together, side by side, and with every moment Merry grew more aware of the man sitting next to her. Jayson gave her the necessary information and Merry entered it into the computer. She tried to do her best to keep her mind on track. She’d never been this close to Jayson before, and had never noticed the spicy scent of his cologne. It swamped her senses as she breathed it in. About ninety minutes later, when they were halfway through the report, Merry needed a break. She’d made a few mistakes, something she rarely did. Being this close to Jayson distracted her. When he paused, she straightened and rubbed her hand along the back of her neck.