Magnetism

Chapter 3; Magnetism

Chapter 1 is here

Jonathon could tell something was wrong when Susan answered the phone. He couldn’t put his finger on it exactly but there was something in her voice that made him feel concerned. He could hear, what sounded like, fear in her voice and hoped he wasn’t making a mistake by calling her like this.

He could hear her breathing into the phone but she wasn’t responding to his question so he asked, “Are you ok, Susan? I’m sorry if I’m calling too early, we could meet later today if that’s better for you.”

“No, I’m sorry, Jonathon. It’s just that you surprised me. I was just getting ready to go to the library and your voice was the last one I expected to hear when I answered the phone.”

The fear seemed to leave her voice as she spoke; making Jonathon think that he’d probably imagined it. Maybe he was projecting his own fear into her voice.

He’d spent the whole night struggling to sleep. He knew it was wrong but he couldn’t get Susan out of his mind. There was just something about her that refused to let him concentrate on anything else. For the first time in a very long time he felt like he wasn’t in control and that scared him.

He’d always prided himself with the ability to keep emotion out of his business dealings. He knew it was the reason he’d been successful. But he couldn’t help himself, he needed to see her. Over the last several years Jonathon had learned that the best way to get past any problem that arose was to acknowledge the problem and deal with it quickly. He needed to deal with this now; he was her boss and couldn’t let his feelings for her jeopardize that relationship.

Jonathon decided that the best thing to do would be to meet with Susan again before their scheduled trip, so that he could put his feelings aside and move on with the only thing this could be; a strictly business relationship. He really hoped he could do this, because if he couldn’t, he would have to tell her the truth. A truth that would mean having to tell her that they couldn’t work together.

He fumbled with his thoughts for a minute, searching for the right words so that he wouldn’t sound like an idiot.

“You know what, Susan. You said that you’re going to the library. How about we meet there? Which one are you going too?”

Tina came out of her bedroom and stood in front of Susan smiling with her hand over her heart as Jonathon spoke.

Michael tried to say something but Tina shushed him and told him to go away, with her hands. He looked at Susan for a second before walking down the hallway to the washroom. Susan stared after him with contempt as he walked away before returning her attention to what Jonathon was saying.

He was asking a question, “Did you hear me, Susan?”

“Oh, I’m sorry, Jonathon. My roommate distracted me for a second. I was planning on going to the City Hall library but I can meet you somewhere else if you prefer.”

“No, the City Hall library is a good place. It’s not too far from me, I can walk there. How about I meet you there in an hour and we can go over your research for a little while?”

“Yes, that’s fine, Jonathon. I’ll see you there in an hour.”

Susan hung up the phone and looked at Tina with panic in her eyes.

Tina laughed, “What’s wrong girl. Are we a little flustered?”

Susan grimaced and stepped out from behind the kitchen counter to show Tina that she was wearing her jogging clothes.

Tina laughed harder as she looked Susan up and down, “My god, you’re not really going like that are you? You’re going to meet Jonathon Roland, of all people, dressed like a homeless person?”

Susan stared at Tina for a second before saying, “Shit! "And running down the hallway to her bedroom.

Thirty minutes later, with a lot of help from Tina, Susan left the apartment wearing a beautiful, knee length summer dress, in a light coloured floral pattern that matched her skin tone perfectly. Her hair pulled into a stylish ponytail, which hung halfway down her back, bounced happily with each click of her three inch heels as she walked the fifteen minutes to City Hall.

Susan was feeling a little better now. Her memory of what had happened the night before had come back and she’d spoken to Tina about it. It was bad but not as bad as she thought at first. Tina saw the bruise on her leg as she was changing and asked what had happened. Susan didn’t know what to say and just looked at her until she started to cry.

Tina pulled her into her arms and said, “Its ok honey. I’m here for you. Just tell me what happened. “

“I can’t, Tina. I just can’t. I’m sorry.”

Tina pulled back and held Susan by the shoulders as she spoke softly, “Susan I have a good idea of what happened. Don’t worry about how I’ll feel. You’re my best friend in the world, the best friend I’ve ever had. I’ll never let anybody hurt you and, trust me on this, I don’t care who that person is.”

Susan was afraid to say the words until Tina looked her in the eyes and said, “It was Michael, wasn’t it? My god honey, what did he do? Did he go all the way?”

“No, he didn’t do that. I remember now. I think he wanted to but I pushed him off and we both fell on the floor. I think I hit my leg on his knee when we fell.”

“Why was he with you Susan, in your bed? It makes no sense. He’s not your type. We both know my brother is a bit of an idiot.”

“I don’t know, Tina. I think I was very drunk and thought he was someone else. All I remember is that we were kissing and suddenly I realized who it was and pushed him off me.”

Tina could see the colour rise on Susan’s face as she said that she thought it was someone else and was pretty sure she was talking about Jonathon. She wanted to smile but she was beyond angry!

“You were not drunk, honey. I know that because I mixed all your drinks for you as I didn’t want you to get drunk. You only had three drinks Susan and even those were light drinks with very little alcohol in them.”

Tina thought for a minute before continuing with venom in her voice, “That piece of shit spiked your drink. He’s done it before. It was a long time ago, when we were teenagers but Michael has done this before.”

Susan didn’t know what to say so Tina told her, “Don’t worry girl. I’ll deal with this; you just go and meet your boss. I promise you that you’ll never have to deal with my idiot brother again.”

Jonathon was standing outside waiting for her when she arrived at City Hall. She noticed him as she passed the wading pool that would be an ice rink in a few months. Her heart skipped a beat when she saw him standing there in blue jeans and a white shirt that was open at the collar. Even from over a hundred feet away he gave off an aura of relaxed confidence that pulled her towards him. She felt like she was floating as she approached him, almost like she was being pulled by a magnet. There was just something about him that made her feel safe; something that just felt right; something she knew was dangerous to her heart.

He saw her as she rounded the large Toronto sign in front of the wading pool and was overwhelmed by her beauty. She looked like a goddess in a beautiful summer dress that flowed like sunshine with every movement of her body; almost as if the dress itself was pleased to be gifted with her company. Even in three inch heels she moved with the grace of dancer, turning every persons head in the area in her direction as she approached him.

Jonathon felt the hair on his arms rise as she got close and thought, “Oh man! I’m in big trouble here.”

Her face lit up in a smile that outmatched the sun as she greeted him, “Hi, have you been waiting long? I came as fast as I could,” before holding out her hand to him.

Susan felt her whole body tremble as Jonathon took her hand in his and thought,

“Oh man! I’m in big trouble here.”

***

Chapter 4 is here.