Sparks Fly

“Colpo di fulmine. The thunderbolt, as Italians call it. When love strikes someone like lightning, so powerful and intense it cannot be denied. It is beautiful and messy, cracking a chest open and spilling their soul out for the world to see. It turns a person inside out, and there is no going back from it. Once the thunderbolt hits, your life is irrevocably changed.  ― J.M. Darhower, Sempre

Cal Gaius, owner and CEO of Emperor Publishing, set behind his large oak desk flipping his pen between his long fingers. Sliding back across the small space toward the windows in his chair he contemplated throwing the stack of papers in the trash and telling the board they got lost, but he knew they would just give him more and probably double the stack. "That's it, I'm done." He threw the pen on the desk as he stood.

He knew he was lying to himself. He knew he would go back to the contracts, after all the more writers he signed the more money he had. Dealing with people and paperwork were the most annoying parts of his job. He had started the company with his editor, Grace Lin, four years ago so neither of them had to answer to anyone. They could both do what they loved without the extra bull that came with major companies. Grace had decided they needed a board to help with things he could not do during the day a few years back. But somehow, he felt like he had more to do now than before he hired them. So much in fact that he had had to set his own latest release date back by months.

Marking his place by turning the contracts he had already skimmed over to the right; he had discovered by just doing a quick scan and then laying the ones he liked to the side made quick work of contracts. Cal leaned back propping his feet on the desk and looked up at the night sky. Even after all these years it was still a beautiful wonder to him. Letting his head fall back he looked for Orion as he chased the Scorpion across the sky; it had been his favorite story as a child while living on that God forsaken island.

He let his thoughts wonder back to that time. Sighing he let his thoughts fall away and opened his senses to the building around him: he heard breathing two floors down. It was two in the morning, why was there another person in his building? At that moment, his old fear of attacks came raging back almost suffocating him. Stop and breath, he thought to himself as his Apple Smart watch binged in a text message. “You are not in that time, you're in two-thousand and twenty.” He reminded himself as he stood. It annoyed the hell out of him that a fear he had left behind so long ago could still get the best of him at times.  Cal shook the feeling off as he stalked toward the door. 

Elise Myers looked at her cell phone, "two a.m.? Ugh, this is impossible!"

She was working late again. Okay, she confessed, working late was a few hours after the office closed. She had been there long enough to get a day’s pay twice over. Georgia, her lead editor and boss, had asked her to go over some final drafts for the new sign ons before the board meeting. What she had forgotten to mention was that the meeting was at eight in the morning the next day, and since she had gone on a lunch date and gotten a manicure instead of doing her job, there were over sixty manuscripts that had to be finalized.

"I love my job. I just have to remember that." She talked herself into another opening draft. Elise raised an eyebrow at the screen, this manuscript was about the proper way to make sandwiches, “Alright, so I need my job. I also need more coffee.”

She really did love her job. It was the best thing that had happened to her since moving to Oklahoma City. But sometimes she wished she wasn't as good at her job and other people's jobs as she was. Her official title was office assistant, but she did so much more. She ticked off everything she did above her normal duties.

"One edit drafts. Two go to meetings I have no business going to. Three talking to Grace Lin, the Editor-in-Chief, about writer's wants and needs, which I shouldn’t be doing, either since I’m not an editor or assistant editor. Gees! Next time I talk to Ms. Lin I will ask about a raise!" She told the empty bullpen.

Elise stood and stretched her wary body. I need a massage by a cute guy with an adorable foreign accent, she thought as she dragged her tired feet toward the fresh pot of coffee she had made after she drained the last pot not so long ago. She dumped the last of the powder creamer into her cup and sighed, that was not enough for anyone. Elise walked to the supply pantry. "Oh! Of course not! Damn..." She put her hand over her mouth, "dang." Even with nobody else to hear her she still felt self-conscious about cursing. "I’m so busy doing Georgia’s job that I forgot to restock the closet. I’ve been so busy I’m starting to think I need my own assistant. I also need to stop talking to myself too."

She jogged the short ten feet back to her desk and rummaged in her middle drawer for the kitchen key. She had half a mind to write the chef a nasty note about locking up before they were closed, however she knew it was just her mood and Georgia's fault, not sweet old Chef Moore for her forgetfulness today. Elise still felt like screaming as she hit the elevator button, after all she did so much for everyone else, the least they could do was help her to make sure the creamer and coffee was fully stocked. Yes, that was the thing she decided to stick to being aggravated with. Annie, her co-worker and best friend, often told her coffee and creamer ran through her veins not blood.

Cal hit the button for the sixteenth floor, the latest floor to get finished; if anyone asked, he would say he was just checking it out. He had just had the whole building remodeled so he should probably have a look. He had a brief moment of claustrophobia just after the heavy metal doors slid shut. He hated the contraptions and had since the first one he had ever rode in. To him it felt like free falling into the bowels of hell. Grace told him he was dramatic when he would opt for the stairs over the elevator any time he could. He admitted she may be right, but he had not lived this long by being careless or stupid.

The doors dinged open on the right floor and there stood his mystery person. She was a petite brunette with old fashioned wire rimmed glasses, not the homicidal maniac his mind made up only moments ago.  Dressed in black pants and a light pink button-down shirt that was unbuttoned just enough to show the top swells of her breasts; she seemed as surprised see another soul in the building as he had been in his office. What was a single female doing all alone at this time of night? Even as he thought it, he knew it was a little sexist and incredibly old fashioned of him to think such a thing.

"Oh, hello." Elise said shyly as she stepped through the doors.

"Hello." Cal replied with a bow of his head. He watched as she straightened her shoulders and placed her feet and body subtly in a fighter’s stance. He recognized the body language for what it was, defensive and ready; he had stood that way himself many times over the years. He found it cute and surprising as hell.

She could feel his hot grey gaze on her as she took her fighter’s stance as easily as she had been taught. She should be afraid or refuse to get on the elevator, she knew, after all it was early in the morning and as far as she knew she was the only person still working, yet she was not afraid or even remotely wary. Her mother would tan her hide if she knew.  But in her defense, she had things to do and needed coffee with loads of creamer to get through them.

"I thought everyone had left hours ago."

Elise smiled at his slight accent. Had a genie heard her thoughts earlier and granted her a wish for free?  She would have to thank it if she ever seen it again. His words registered a little too late and she blushed a little. "Oh...um...everyone else did. Well, I guess not everyone," she waved her hand in his direction. "I did think I was the only one insane enough to still be here at this hour, though. You must work on another floor," duh Elise, she thought annoyed at how stupid she could sound sometimes. "Are you new?"

"Well, when duty calls, it usually doesn’t have good timing. No, I am not new. I've been here for years." She thought him to be new. Cal wondered if any of his employees knew him.

"I guess all the bosses were napping today. I'm only here because Georgia Haystack, my floor editor, decided her nails and lunch was more important than work. I mean, I guess it's my fault for saying yes, but I also didn't know she hadn't done any work today. She's always going off like that, but normally she only leaves me a few drafts not a whole days’ worth." Elise shrugged, "sorry I'm blabbing. Too much coffee and too little sleep."

Cal thought about telling her he owned the company and would be more than happy to discipline her editor, but when she turned to face the mirrored wall and let her hair down from its ponytail, he forgot all train of thought—okay, so the train crashed hard core and there were no survivors. Cal allowed his eyes followed the path the soft curls took down her back almost touching the small of her back. He let his gaze to go further to her nicely round behind and hips that begged to be held. When she started to gather her luscious main back into its holder, he got a good look at her tiny waist his hands itched to caress her sides. God alive, man, calm yourself you are not a ripe schoolboy, he chided himself silently. He normally would not have stared as much as he had, but the woman in front of him now was different she made him want to stop the elevator and have his way with her, knowing the night guard on the other side of the camera would be watching his every move. No girl had ever made him want to stay in an elevator for even a half second after the doors open before much less have s*x with them in one.

The bell rang, announcing their arrival to the fifth floor. "I just realized you hadn't had another button pressed for yourself. Are you getting off here? I have the kitchen key if you want something." Elise said with a smile as she waited for the doors to open.

"No, I think I’ll just risk getting yelled at and go home for the night." He winked at her, "you should do the same."

"That's a great idea. Too bad I have to get ten more drafts to edited before I leave."

Cal raised a trimmed dark brown eyebrow. "Is that your job? Assistant editor, I mean."

Elise shook her head. "No actually, I'm just an office assistant. But I want to be a writer one day and when I do get there, I want to know the ends and out of the company." She shrugged, "and editing is a part I usually enjoy. Just don't ask me that tonight."

The doors dinged open then suddenly slammed shut what little space they had opened. Cal grabbed Elise and pulled her back, “are you okay?” He had gotten them looked at and had the controls and rollers replaced more times than he could count, most of the time their slowness annoyed him, yet tonight he found himself happy they were acting up yet again.

“Oh, yes. I hate these doors. I should have known better than to trust them.”

“I will have to have them looked at again,” he said more to himself than her. Luckily, she was busy pressing the button that would force the doors open. “By the way what is your name?”

"Elise Myers. Nice talking with you." She said, pushing her glasses up her nose. She smiled as the doors finally opened and she stepped out.

"Damn that girl is beautiful." Cal grinned like lovesick boy as he hit the garage level button. If the board threw a fit about not having all the contracts signed, they could quit. He had something else on his mind. Like why was a basic office assistant doing an editor's job and why did that not so basic assistant drive him wild? He dug his keys from his pocket as a feeling he had not felt in close to a thousand years crept into his chest.

Love?

How? "I've only known her for all of five minutes." Cal grumbled as he unlocked his nineteen sixties Porsche 911. Damn, he hated vampire feeling and emotions at times. This was one of them. He felt more in mere minutes than most humans felt in their entire lives. Normally he had a handle on the amount he felt and what he felt. Love was one he kept trapped down. But this one-time chance encounter had him wanting to declare his love for Elise Myers, the cutest office assistant he had ever met, from the roof tops. 

Pulling out of the garage he floored the gas and sped from the building. Cal had learned as a small child, growing up in and around military camps, that emotions such as love were normally useless, even though he knew what love was from his parents when his father had been murdered, he had decided to shut that emotion off fully. He smiled as he remembered the day his youngest sister, Drusilla, had told him his idea to turn off his emotions was not going to work while she was around. Dru had been such a pain in his ass he could not help but to adore her. She would find this moment hilarious. She had always said he would be a lovesick fool when he met the right girl. He sighed as he stopped at a red light, he had thought his wife, Lydia, had been the only one. Apparently, he had been mistaken.

"Like one of poets in Greece. Always spewing about love and how the sun rise is pale compared to the girl's hair and her eyes shines brighter than the fullest of full moons."  Drusilla giggled as she fell back on the portico swing, her dark green eyes bright with laughter.

"As if you'd know anything about love, Little Sister." He said with fake annoyance.

"Oh, I know Big Brother. I know." She jumped up and ran as fast as her twelve-year-old legs could take her.

He would have run after her if his tutor were not yelling at him to get into the house and study. Cal shook the memory off and sped through a barely turned green light. A horn blared and he flipped the driver off. 

Elise realized as she grabbed the creamer off a top shelf that she had not gotten the man's name. She giggled at herself thinking she had done good just getting her own name out. If she had not been rambling, she had found it hard to speak. The way he had looked at her made her body turn to mush. Maybe Annie was right she needed a one-night stand. Something rough and hard. A wham-bam-thank-you-sir-don't-call-again type of thing.

She felt the heat rise to her cheeks. "Oh goodness, Elise! You're too modest for your own good." Elise hated when her modesty got the best of her. It was not like she had not had a casual fling before, but the guy in the elevator was something else. She had never wanted to strip a man naked and jump his bone in an elevator before, yet that is exactly what he made her want to do. Elise laughed almost giddy giggled at what Monty, the night guard, would say about that. She hit the call button for the sixteenth floor and leaned against the wall.

If she had been one to ever keep a diary she would have written about the encounter. She thought about what she would write:  Dear diary, I met the sexist man I have ever seen! He was classically handsome. Like a Roman or Greek god! Straight nose, dimpled chin, hard steady jaw line, and bow shaped lips. Oh, he was a sight to see! He had the smallest hint of an accent too. How hot!! And the best part? HE WASN’T TOO TALL OR TOO SHORT!

She giggled, "oh, my. Elise Elizabeth Myers! Your mother would wash her mouth out with dish soap for just those thoughts alone. Yet, I think it'd be well worth it." Elise laughed as she stepped off the elevator. Shaking her head, she grabbed her coffee and poured way too much creamer while she got lost in thoughts of the Roman god she had just met.

She sighed as she slipped back behind her computer screen. "Okay, El, get the last ten done, then call a cab and go home. There's a plan I can get behind." She turned up her Bluetooth speaker and turned on her favorite playlist. She jammed out, even threw in a few dance moves, as she got back to work. Drafts one through seven went by with ease. Draft eight had her wanting to scream, pull out her hair and throw her computer out the window.

"What the hell goes through people's heads when they write this crap? Better yet why is this even getting a final draft?" She asked her computer as she retyped a paragraph correctly. "This is the fifth page that needed a total redo! Seriously I know five-year olds that can write better. Oh, maybe I should write a book! I'll call it the best ways to annoy Elise by Elise Myers. Chapter one would be called Her boss asking her to do more than she's paid to do. Chapter two not getting the cute guy’s name or number in the elevator. And three would be all about whoever signed this guy! GRR!!"

She thought about deleting the whole draft but then figured they probably had multiple copies in multiple formats. After adding more notes about the changes, she clicked off the file and went to another draft, that one was way better, and she only had to make a few edits throughout the whole thing.

"Yay! On to number ten! And then I’m done!" Elise told her little troll doll that set on her desk shelf. Annie had given it to her the day she got the job. It had been her good luck charm ever since. As Elise worked her way through the last draft, which just happened to be about an office romance, she let her mind wonder back to her hot elevator guy. She really could kick herself for not getting his name.

Calling him her hot elevator guy just sounded weird.  She stopped typing. Her hot elevator guy sounded weird but calling him hers sounded exactly right. She had never believed in soul mates, that people were kismet. or love at first sight. But oddly enough she had to admit she did feel some type of connection to him that felt primal. It made the lust she felt something more. As she closed out the editing program the company used, she opened her email put all the draft files in a zip folder attached them to the email about the author of the eighth draft and hit send.  

"Whoo! I'm out of here."

She basically ran to the elevator almost scared Georgia would call her back. Hitting the down button, she laughed, Georgia did not even show up on time no way she had come to work this early. Speaking of time what time was it? Elise shut her music off with her phone and looked at the time five-forty-five. Oh, Geez Louise! She might as well not even leave. She had to be back to the office in two and half hours.

Yeah right! No way that's happening. I'm going home and getting at least four hours of sleep. She made up her mind as she texted Georgia. The elevator landed at the lobby when Georgia text back 'DO YOU KNOW WHAT TIME IT IS? FINE. DON'T TEXT ME THIS EARLY EVER AGAIN!! Elise laughed as she waved to Monty and headed out to the waiting cab.

As she opened her front door her daily poem app alerted her. She read it aloud, “deep into that darkness peering, long I stood there, wondering, fearing, doubting, dreaming dreams no mortal ever dared to dream before. Edgar Allan Poe.” She tossed her phone on end table closest to her. “No that’s not creepy at all.”

Elise took a shower turned off the bathroom light and yawned. Hopefully, the shower would help her sleep. She had never been a day sleeper, even as a child she had hated naps. When she was a freshman in college and worked nights, she could never sleep well. It did not help, she admitted to herself as she heated left over Chinese, that she had been dreaming of being brutally attacked by something she could not describe. She would wake up only minutes to an hour after falling asleep in a cold sweat and be fully awake for the rest of the night. She had tried leaving the TV and lights on, playing soft comforting music, and even eating at a different time as her mother had suggested, but nothing ever helped. The dream would come and leave her so shaken and terrified she would find herself wishing she had more lights in her house.

She shook her head, no reason to bring the fear up before it happens for real, she thought. After taking the steaming bowl of food and her glass of water to the end table she grabbed her remote and her favorite plushy blanket. Plopping down on the overstuffed couch she turned the TV on.

A nineteen fifties horror movie filled the screen. "Yeah, let’s not go there." Elise rolled her eyes. Hitting the Hulu button and then her account she settled in for an hour of old stale Chinese takeout and Holiday Baking Championship. She must have fallen asleep because the next thing she knew she was being startled awake by a scratching noise on her back door. Elise panicked for a moment before she heard the soft mewling of Trash Bandit, the cat she had found going through her trash a few months ago. She smiled and got up shoving her feet into her UGG house boots as she did.

"Hey Trashy Boy." She said as she opened the door and allowed the black and tan cat into the kitchen. "I'm sorry I wasn't home last night to let you in. I had to work extra, but I promise I'll get you a toy this paid day for all your trouble." The cat just set by his food dish and looked at her.

She laughed and wondered just how an animal could look so annoyed and put out as she fed him. While he ate, she turned off the TV and gathered the remainder of her meal. Taking the remainder of her now cold meal to the trash she swooped the big tom cat up from where he set on his favorite spot by the window and headed for the bedroom.

"Maybe I can get some sleep. And I promise I won’t wake you up before noon." She kissed his fat little head and laid hers on the pillow. Elise woke with a start only twenty minutes after falling asleep. Her brain still in the dream she seen her attacker at the foot of her bed and screamed. When her brain finally woke her heart was racing. She pressed her hand to her chest trying to will her heart to stop beating too fast. Oh my, she thought as she looked at the time on her bed side clock. “Wonder if Annie want’s lunch.”

After calling her best friend, Elise dressed in a flowing bright pink Maxi skirt, black high heels, and a sleek no sleeve blouse. As usual she pulled her mass of hair into a ponytail; she had thought about cutting it almost daily but always changed her mind. After keeping in a pixie cut the whole time she had been with her ex, just to try to please him she had sworn, after they had broken up, that her hair would never be short again. She knew it was probably stupid, but he had put her through hell, so it felt like a last ha-ha I win to her. She scrunched her face in the mirror. Makeup. That was what the outfit needed. Twenty minutes later she was almost skipping out of her house, with a bright pink smile and her black frame glasses perched on her nose.