Craving Shannon Read online

  Chad threw Derek a sideways look but managed to smirk slightly. “She’s been working constantly,” he told Kenny. “I’ll see her on Friday night for dinner, but then she’s traveling abroad for business until Thanksgiving.”

  “Which means Chad won’t be getting laid for weeks,” Alex butted in.

  “Doesn’t matter how long,” Chad retorted, “I’ll still get some action before you do.”

  “No offense, Buddy, but I’d rather be celibate than have to touch the ice queen,” Alex replied.

  “Ah, Jesus, I didn’t need to be hearing that,” Kenny said, shaking his head and grinning. “You lads are something else.”

  During Chad’s rebellious stage, he managed to get kicked out of private school, effectively pissing off both his parents and causing all sorts of drama—which seemed to be his ultimate goal. With no other choice available, he was sent to public school in seventh grade. It was there that he met Alex and Derek. The three became best friends in no time.

  “Play pool?” he asked, looking toward the guys.

  “Shot of Tequila first?” Derek questioned with raised eyebrows.

  “I have to work tomorrow,” Alex answered.

  “And since when did that ever stop you?” Derek replied. “One little shot won’t hurt.”

  Famous last words.

  Five pints of beer and six shots of tequila later, Chad stumbled out of the pub to hail a cab.

  ⃰⃰⃰ ⃰ ⃰

  “Fuck!”

  “Fuck, fuck fuck!” Chad looked at his clock through blurry vision and noticed it read 9:10.

  He flew out of bed and into the shower, stubbing his toe on the shower-door lip. “God damit!” he spat, squeezing his eyes shut in an effort to ward off the pain as he felt around for the tap.

  This was not how he wanted to spend a Thursday morning.

  He usually got up at five thirty and hit the gym for an hour before work. Today, he’d have to head straight for the subway. Every morning after his work out, he’d buy two coffees from the kiosk on the corner and bring one to Nelson, the homeless man that lived on the same block as his gym. They would chat for a minute or two, then Chad would hand him a ten dollar bill before wishing him a good day. Nelson would have to manage without him today.

  Thirty minutes later, he was riding the elevator up to his office, convinced he reeked of stale booze.

  He exited the elevator at his floor and made his way toward Sarah, the receptionist, to see if he had any pressing messages.

  Sarah was standing at reception, leaning over the chair which was occupied by a slender girl with long dark-brown hair. She looked up and smiled broadly. “Hi, Mr. C,” she sang out enthusiastically.

  “Morning, Sarah,” Chad answered, mirroring her smile.

  “Train trouble?” Sarah asked.

  “Ahhhhhh, no!” Chad replied sarcastically. “Derek White trouble.”

  “Your friend Derek?” Sarah asked, looking confused.

  “Or should I say ‘too many shots of tequila last night which was Derek’s idea’ trouble.”

  “Oh, okay then,” Sarah giggled.

  The girl looked up at Chad with a smirk on her face, obviously amused by Chad’s self-inflicted pain. Chad was momentarily stunned by the greenest eyes he’d ever seen. He pulled his gaze away from the girl and looked toward Sarah questioningly.

  “This is Shannon,” Sarah said nodding at the girl. “Shannon Walsh. I’m training her in.” She turned her head and addressed the new receptionist. “This is Chad Clarkson, one of the vice presidents. The best one,” she added.

  Chad looked back at the girl and smiled warmly. “Are you going to be here permanently?”

  “I hope so?” she answered shyly.

  Chad continued to stare, mesmerized by her unusual face. She was incredibly pretty. Not only did she have the greenest eyes, but they were also uncommonly large and surrounded by extremely long, dark lashes. She had full, rose-red lips, pale white cheeks that were still rounded from youth, and a perfect smile, all framed by silky, long dark hair—a perfect Snow White. But there was something else captivating, something besides her obvious good looks. It was almost as though she had some sort of magnetic pull, something that made it hard for him to look away.

  “Are you…are you finished…with school?” he questioned, confused. She had the kind of face that was hard to put an exact age on. Something about it was ‘doll’ like, and reminded him of Japanese Anime characters. She was alluring yet innocent.

  “I graduated high school in June…almost five months ago…” she trailed off, looking slightly uncomfortable.

  “Early?” he pushed.

  “No…I’m…I’m nineteen…” she stammered, her face turning a warm shade of pink.

  Chad shook his head as if to clear it and smiled. “Welcome aboard, Shannon. It’s really nice to have you here.”

  “Thank you so much,” she replied warmly.

  He turned and walked toward his office, strangely unsettled by the new receptionist.

  Sarah ran after him. “Wait, your messages,” she called out.

  Chad slowed down to allow Sarah time to catch up then picked up the pace with her in toe. “Anything important?” he queried.

  “Not really that important, but Mr. Bazarov called. He wants to see where you are on his new investment. Oh, and your dad, among others”

  “My dad can’t leave a message on my voicemail?” he snapped.

  Sarah shrugged her shoulders, knowing that the question was rhetorical. “What do you think of Shannon?” she questioned. “She’s gorgeous, isn’t she?”

  “For a kid,” Chad answered, nodding.

  “She’s not really a kid,” Sarah countered. “She’s over eighteen. She just moved here from Florida by herself and doesn’t know anyone in the city yet. I was thinking of taking her out over the weekend and introducing her to my kid brother. He would freaking love her.”

  “I’m sure he would,” Chad replied, smiling. “How come she didn’t graduate high school until the age of nineteen?”

  “It seems that when she was six, she came down with a serious dose of mono,” Sarah explained. “She missed a good deal of first grade, so her parents decided to leave her back a year. I’ve seen her high school transcripts and she was a straight A student, though.”

  “Maybe you should organize a group lunch for her, give her a chance to meet the whole gang,” he suggested.

  “Someone would have to stay behind and cover reception,” Sarah said offhandedly.

  “Y’know what?” Chad said with a sly grin, looking up from the pink messages in his hands. “I’ll do it!”

  “Ah…Mr. C…you ah…you do realize that you’re a VP right?”

  “Who gives a shit,” he responded sharply. “I’m not above answering the phone for an hour or two.”

  “Are you serious?”

  “Yeah,” he replied, nodding. “I’ll cover reception while you have lunch with the rest of the support staff.”

  “Did anyone ever tell you that you’re the best boss here, Mr. C?” she blurted out.

  “Yeah, yeah, yeah,” Chad said sarcastically, moving toward his office door. “Let me know when you need me to cover the front. In the meantime, I’ll be in my office ignoring these messages and nursing this damn hangover.”

  Chapter 2

  Shannon stared down the hall, watching Sarah chatting and smiling with Mr. Clarkson.

  He was a tall man with broad shoulders, light-brown hair and a handsome face, despite the blood-shot eyes. He had that ‘almost’ beard and mustache, razor stubble look, whether by design or from lack of proper grooming due to his hangover. He looked to be in his early to mid-thirties. Shannon wondered what his wife looked like—probably extremely pretty in that preppy sort of way.

  Something about Mr. Clarkson had made her very self-conscious and uncomfortable. Maybe it was because he was one of the vice presidents, someone who was her superior, or perhaps she just didn’t do well with older people.
She was over-whelmed by the strange feeling that they could sense her past, sense what kind of a person she really was and what she’d come from.

  A picture flashed in her mind of a dingy trailer park, of used diapers flung on the ground and shabby laundry hanging on clotheslines between two trees. A picture of neglected children playing around discarded beer cans while scantily clad mothers barely looked on, cigarettes dangling from their weathered lips.

  A shudder ran through her. She pushed her long hair behind her ears and bit her lip, looking over the list of employees, trying to memorize the names. She really needed to get the hang of this fast. She needed this job. Already, she barely had enough money to last her for one week, let alone the two it would take until she finally saw a paycheck.

  Still, the memory of her home in Florida haunted her: waking up in the middle of the night to the sounds of domestic fights, adults hurling curses and insults at each other while children wailed in the background. The memory of a new school, one where she couldn’t bear to make friends in case they wanted to know where she lived. The shame of what had become of her family remained her dirty little secret.

  Life hadn’t always been that way. Back when her father had been alive, back when they still lived in Kentucky, Shannon remembered her family going to church on Sundays and being respected members of the community. Dad worked, mom stayed at home and baked cookies. She had dinner ready by 6:30 every evening. Looking back in retrospect, though, Shannon realized that there was always something a little off with her mother. She never seemed to be her own person. It seemed she lived to please her husband and had lost her own identity in the process, almost like a robot. Yet, it didn’t really matter then. Life was blissfully normal until the accident, until a collision with another car had taken her father and brother away. Thus began the nightmare that would become Shannon’s life.

  Sarah skipped up to the desk, beaming. “Mr. C wants me to plan a big ‘welcome to the company’ lunch for you,” she announced. “He’s even going to cover the front desk while we go out.”

  Shannon cringed inside but managed to force out a smile. “That’s really nice but not necessary. I don’t want anyone going to any trouble on my account.”

  “Nonsense,” Sarah argued. “It’s what we do here. Well, usually one of the bosses doesn’t offer to work reception, but…”

  “Don’t they go to lunch?” Shannon questioned.

  “Not with us,” Sarah replied. “On these occasions, it’s usually support staff: us, the admin assistants, and sometimes a few of the younger, junior investors.”

  “That was very nice of Mr. Clarkson to offer,” Shannon commented, resign to the fact that she’d have to eat lunch with a bunch of complete strangers while being the center of attention. There was nothing she hated more than people making a fuss over her. The only comforting part was that it would be over in an hour.

  “Mr. C. is the best,” Sarah replied wistfully. “Not to mention, a total babe.”

  Shannon giggled at Sarah’s dreamy look. “He’s nice looking, alright,” she agreed.

  “Nice looking?” Sarah echoed, looking at Shannon as though she was missing the plot. “He’s freaking hot as hell, not to mention a sweetheart. Oh, and rich…did I mention rich? The guy’s the complete package.”

  “Is he married?” Shannon queried.

  “Nah, he has a girlfriend, though.”

  “She must be beautiful,” Shannon guessed aloud.

  “She’s alright,” Sarah answered with a disapproving look. “She’s a bit of a stuck-up bitch, actually. They are a terrible couple…so not suited.”

  “How so?”

  “Chad’s a very down to earth guy,” Sarah explained. “He works hard, but it isn’t an obsession with him, not like it is with a lot of people in this business. He’s still hanging with his boys, his two best friends from middle-school. I think Donna is trying to turn him into something he’s not, y’know, something more like her or Chad’s father, Charles Clarkson the second. Wait until you get her on the phone and have to explain that Chad left early to meet Alex and Derek. You’ll see what I mean. You can almost hear the steam coming out of her ears.”

  “Why does he put up with her?” Shannon asked.

  Sarah shrugged. “He’s an easy going guy…”

  “Maybe you and he could…y’know…” she teased, nudging Sarah in the arm with her elbow, slightly shocked by her own playfulness with a complete stranger.

  “Oh God, I wish!” Sarah blurted out. “Even though I’m pretty sure he’s far out of my league, what I wouldn’t do for one night with that man.”

  ⃰ ⃰ ⃰

  Lunch wasn’t nearly as bad as Shannon had anticipated.

  They were around twenty-five in all, and thankfully not everyone bombarded her at once. People talked amongst themselves and took turns going over to shake her hand and introduce themselves. Everyone was extremely nice, even the two recent college graduates who acted like she was some kind of trophy for whichever one could charm her the most. They were sweet guys and both were kind of cute. She had to admit that it was fun being flirted with. All and all, she considered it a huge success and was actually feeling better than she had in ages as they made their way back to the office.

  Shannon, along with Sarah and six other people, including the two flirts, exited the elevator together and walked across the hall to the reception area.

  Mr. Clarkson sat leaned way back on the seat with his feet on the desk, the old-fashioned phone resting between his cheek and shoulder, tapping his bottom lip with a long pencil.

  “Don’t let Mr. Clarkson catch you with your feet on the desk,” Sarah called out playfully.

  Chad pulled the phone away and smiled “Screw Mr. Clarkson,” he replied with a cheeky grin. “I gotta go,” he said into the phone then set it back on its cradle.

  “I see you got demoted,” one of the flirty young men said. “What’d you do, Clarkson? Get caught jerking-off in your office?”

  “Fuck you, Kyle,” Chad replied, grinning. He cleared his throat and looked toward Shannon with a guilty expression. “Pardon my French, Young Lady,” he said, bashfully. “I hope we don’t scare you off. We’re just playing.”

  “I’ve heard worse,” she answered, feeling her cheeks begin to burn.

  “How was lunch?” Chad questioned, looking into her eyes with a strange expression that Shannon couldn’t quite understand.

  Kyle flung his arm around Shannon’s shoulder. “Don’t worry, boss, I took good care of her.”

  “You stay away from her,” Chad replied teasingly. “Shannon, stay clear of Kyle. He’s a dog.”

  “Thanks for the good word, boss. I was trying to impress her with my good looks and charm but I think you’ve put a nail in that coffin,” Kyle retorted.

  “Good,” Chad replied bluntly. “Lunch was good?” he questioned again, turning his attention back to Shannon.

  “Very nice,” she answered. “Thank you so much, Mr. Clarkson.”

  “It’s my pleasure, but please, call me Chad.”

  “But Sarah—

  “I call him Mr. C. It’s just a pet name,” Sarah explained. “He prefers Chad.”

  “Thank you, Chad,” she reiterated, her cheeks flaming up again. She looked up in time to see Chad’s eyebrows rise slightly, as if he was trying to read her.

  “Right,” Chad said awkwardly, his eyes flashing down the hall. “I’ll vacate your desk so you can get back to work,” he said to Sarah, looking suddenly a little uncomfortable.

  “See you later, boss,” Sarah called after him in a flirty voice. “I love you,” she whispered under her breath loud enough for only Shannon to hear.

  Chapter 3

  “Give me twenty more push-ups,” Roland ordered, crouching down so that his butt almost touched the floor.

  “You’re a fucking sadist,” Chad spat out between clenched teeth, sweat dripping from the front of his hair unto the floor.

  “And you’re paying me a small fort
une for my sadistic services,” Roland chuckled.

  After twenty more push-ups, Chads sat up, feeling the burn in his arms, chest and shoulders.

  “Good work-out,” Roland said proudly.

  “Thanks, Buddy,” Chad replied. “I probably won’t be able to move for the entire weekend, but it feels kind of good.”

  Roland nodded. “Take the weekend off. If you feel the need to work out, try a short run, but leave the upper body alone.”

  “I know the drill,” Chad assured him. He picked up his towel and headed toward the showers.

  Outside the gym, Chad felt the cold morning air bite into his skin but was still too pumped up to bother putting on his coat yet.

  He headed to the coffee kiosk then walked halfway down the block with two large ‘light with sugars’.

  “Hello there, Mr. Chad, Sir,” Nelson called out. “How you doing, Sir?”

  “It’s just Chad,” Chad said for probably the hundredth time, handing a coffee to Nelson. “I’m well, Nelson, but I’m concerned as to how you’re keeping warm in this weather.”

  “I do alright, Sir,” Nelson replied. “I go to the soup kitchen in the afternoon and to the shelter at night.”

  “It’s okay there?” Chad asked. “They treat you okay?”

  “Yes, yes,” Nelson assured him, nodding his head. “They’re good folks. Not as good as you, but good folks.” He put both cracked and battered hands around his coffee cup then brought it to his lips, taking a long sip. He let out a satisfied sigh. “Why I don’t see you yesterday, Sir?” he asked, looking at Chad over the rim of the cup.

  “I was running late,” Chad admitted sheepishly, “too much partying the night before.”

  Nelson chuckled. “That’s why you need a good woman,” he said. “A good woman would sort you out; put you on the right track.”