Insufferable Proximity (4 page)

He had yet to meet one woman that he wanted to be around more than five minutes after he finished having sex with her. However, it was not for a lack of trying, he had come across a few women who had been so spectacular in bed he would have liked to of kept them around longer. None of it had amounted to anything more than a few nights of coerced conversations and he could not force himself to be interested in something he was not.

He was not like his older brother Ian, who was contently miserable with his loveless marriage and his conniving wife. Julian wanted something more and he would happily remain single until he found the woman who met his specific criteria.

***

Juliette West stood by the door to the coffee room gossiping with two of the firms other legal secretaries, Reese Bradley and Adele Evans. Suddenly they heard the elevator doors open and the three women felt a giddy excitement rush through them. They knew exactly who it was, only one lawyer in the firm would dare to be that late to work. They instantly groomed themselves, Juliette pulled out a small mirror to check her make up while Reese adjusted the abundance of cleavage protruding from her low cut pink shirt. Adele grabbed the breath spray from her purse then sprayed the concentrated liquid into her mouth as Juliette frowned at her.

“Do you really think he’d even be close enough to smell your breath?” Juliette whispered.

They quickly finished up then stood there silently, waiting for him to walk in. the doors flew open and in rushed the object of their affection, Mr. Julian King, who, as usual, walked past them without so much as a glance in their direction.

“Damn, he looks amazing today.” Reese moaned as she watched him walk away.

“He looks amazing every day.” Juliette said with irritation. In the beginning, competing with her co-workers for Julian’s attention had been exciting, but now it was no longer fun. She had grown to hate the fact that they liked him and she wanted these bitches’ heads on a platter. For now, she had to keep up appearances, she refused to lose her job and risk not seeing Julian on a daily basis over fighting with these sluts. Sometimes a girl had to keep her enemies close, at least if she kept it civil and stuck to the fake friend rules, she would always know what they were up to next.

“I love him in that suit.” Adele said unable to take her eyes off Julian as she watched him talk to his brother Ian.

“You love him in every suit.” Juliette said rolling her eyes at the daft woman. Everyday Adele said the same thing, next, she would complement the color of his suit, and then talk about his hair. The idiot was always at a loss for words and never had anything interesting to add to the conversation.

“It just so happens, that he looks good in every suit he wears.” Adele shot back at her. “And I especially love him in that color, I love midnight.” she purred and Juliette scoffed.

“It’s not midnight, midnight is a deep blue, and his suit is obviously charcoal.” Juliette pursed her lips.

“No its not, charcoal has more of a brown tone to it and midnight has a little blue, that suit I definitely midnight.” Adele objected.

“You’re color blind, there is no blue in that suit whatsoever.” Juliette said in repulsion then quickly smiled when she saw Julian stop to talk to his brother.

“I wonder what’s going on.” Reese said, knowing the only time Julian spoke to his brother was when something was wrong.”

“I know exactly what’s going on.” Juliette smiled. She had the privilege of being Ian King’s secretary, which meant she was always the first to know what was going on with Julian.

***

Julian walked down the hall, seeing his elder brother Ian standing there waiting for him with a shitty smirk on his face. Julian frowned, he had a long night with Candy then the early morning tryst with McKenzie and was too exhausted to deal with his brother’s trademark bullshit right now. All he wanted to do was take a nap on the sofa in his office then get up and finish his work.

“What is it Ian?” Julian asked and the boredom in his tone was not lost on his older brother.

“Father needs to see you immediately.” Ian replied curtly, trying to keep a poker face, but his joy crept out through his silently laughing eyes.

“Considering you’re smiling, it must be bad.” Julian turned around and headed back towards the cafeteria, the coffee could not wait, but the nap would have to. He would not be able to make it through this meeting with his father without his eyes closing if he did not get some caffeine in his system.

***

All three of the secretaries instantly quieted down as Julian stopped talking to his brother and started walking back towards them. They watched as he walked past them, without saying a word as he continued into the cafeteria.

Juliette smiled from ear to ear then turned and followed behind him. Both Reese and Adele looked at each other knowing exactly what she was going to do.

“What a bitch.” Reese said with a frown and Adele raised her brows before sashayed into the cafeteria, deciding she needed a fresh cup of coffee. She walked over to the sink and dumped the whole cup of hot coffee she had just made down the drain. She then proceeded to walk over to the coffee pot where Julian was fixing his daily dose of caffeine. Before she made it there, Juliette had already grabbed the tray of chocolate chip cookies from the table and brought them over to Julian. She knew it was his favorite treat and went out of her way to buy them.

“I made some cookies for the staff last night.” Juliette purred and Julian grinned before grabbing a few cookies. Adele and Reese rolled their eyes, knowing damn well she did not make those cookies, Juliette could not boil water, let alone make a dessert.

“Just what I needed.” he grinned then winked before turning around and leaving the cafeteria. On his way out, he walked by Reese and gave her a simple nod. That was all she needed, she walked into the cafeteria gloating.

“He smiled at me.” she cooed.

“He didn’t smile, he nodded.” Juliette was quick to correct her.

“He smiled and nodded.”

“He did not.” Juliette sneered.

“I didn’t see him smile.” Adele shook her head.

“He smiled.” Reese glared at Juliette.

“Well if he did it’s only because you flashed your breasts at him.” Juliette mocked her accusingly.

“I did not flash my breasts at him.” Reese objected.

“Yes you did Reese.” Adele chimed in.

“Sure Juliette, just like the only reason he won’t flirt with you is because you’re his brother’s secretary.” Reese said sarcastically, never buying that theory.

“That‘s true and you know it.” Juliette pointed at her.

“You wish Juliette.” it was Adele’s turn to roll her eyes. She could not stand either of these conceited bitches! Sure, they were slightly amusing and she enjoyed arguing with them, but other than that she despised them both. However she loved her job and knew that cutthroat Juliette would throw her under the bus in a second if she crossed her, so she was forced to suffer through her company every day.

***

Julian King devoured his last cookie as he walked into his father’s office and went straight to the leather chair across from his desk.

Ayden sat behind his desk, the stern look on his face letting Julian know it was more than a minor infraction this time. His older brother Ian sat to his right, like the disloyal lapdog he had dedicated his life to become. Ian was brimming with excitement and anxious to see Julian be reprimanded, how he loved to watch his little brother fail. Julian almost laughed at his brother’s pathetic attempt to gloat, Ian seemed more desperate then confident.

“What is it?” Julian asked Ayden who in return frowned.

“Another video arrived this morning.” his father said as he motioned to the large manila envelope at the edge of his desk. Julian frowned as he grabbed it, he already knew what was inside. “You have to stop Julian.” there was a plea to his father’s angry warning.

“I will.” Julian answered as he took the envelope. In all honesty, Julian was experimental when it came to sex and was always down to try new things, but he drew the line with being videotaped. He was a hotshot defense attorney and came from a powerful firm, he would not soil his family’s upstanding reputation with evidence of his temporary acts of depravity.

“He’s lying.” Ian chimed in and Julian glared at him, “he said the same thing after he got caught last time having sex with Miss Lake in the elevator and the time before that when he was caught having sex in the break room.”

“Who?” Julian snapped at him.

“Miss Lake is Ms. Deville’s ex- secretary that you had sex with in the elevator. However, it is Miss Score who happens to be Ms. Deville’s current secretary that is on this new tape with you, having sex in the parking lot.” he frowned in disgust, “or should I say Ms. Deville’s soon to be ex-secretary, sound familiar now?”

“No.” he replied and to Ian’s chagrin, Julian seemed more bored then angry.

“You’re telling me you didn’t even know their names?”

“Was I supposed to?” Julian asked ready to throw his father’s desk at his brother.

“That’s disgusting Julian.” Ian said through clenched teeth, “Do you have no shame?”

“Why should I.” he answered then turned to his father, “besides I kept my word, I didn’t have sex with this latest secretary in the elevator, I took her to the outskirts of the parking lot.”

“You’re still at your fathers firm, show some respect.” Ian scowled and it took everything in Julian not to stand up and punch his brother in his big, fat mouth. If it was anyone else he would have already started swinging, but he knew that was what Ian wanted. Above all, Ian’s main purpose in life was to help his little brother fail.

“That’s enough Ian.” Ayden warned him.

“You’re just going to let him get away with it again?” Ian was appalled and tired of his father letting Julian off the hook for everything.

“Why are you so mad Ian?” Julian asked, that smug look spreading across his face, “Is it really because I did it on dad‘s property, or are you mad because I fucked Miss Score before you got a chance to?”

“How dare you! I’m a married man!” he hissed.

“If you call that a marriage.”

“Excuse me?”

Don’t forget, every time your wife gets mad at you, she makes your sex life, or lack thereof, public knowledge. You have every reason to be jealous.”

“I’m not jealous, you’re a cretin Julian! You’re a sex-obsessed ruffian, you treat women like dogs and piss on their hearts!” in Ian’s eyes, his brother was a degenerate, capable of the most foul of acts. “You’ll never find love, you’ll never settle down and you’ll never commit to your career. I have nothing to be jealous of.”

“So then you’re jealous because I’m better at your job then you are and I don‘t have to work half as hard?” he asked and Ian saw red. He used to be proud of his little brothers intelligence, but somewhere over the years, it had turned into envy, although he would never admit that, not even to himself.

“Enough!” their father spoke, tired of his sons feuding, knowing it was his wife’s fault for their rivalry.

“Then prove it Jules,” Ian used the nickname he knew his brother despised, “get the promotion and become a full partner, if you can.”

“I plan on it brother and after I win, I’m coming for your position.”

“That’s enough!” his father roared, slamming his fist on his desk, gaining both of his son’s attention. “Ian leave.” he demanded and Ian glared at his smirking brother as he left the office. Once the door shut behind him, Ayden watched Julian relax a little.

“You need to be more responsible,” he father spoke freely now that they were alone, “you bought a hotel not far from the firm but you’re still having sex on the grounds. You’re almost 31 years old and you have never even had a relationship with a woman, don’t you it’s time to think about settling down a little son?”

“You’re using my sex tape as an opportunity to promote marriage?” Julian raised his brow.

“This can never happen again.” Ayden shook his head, the look of disappointment on his face was making Julian uneasy.

“It won’t.”

“You’ve said that more than once.”

“Honestly, I didn’t mean for it to happen that last time, I was trying to get out of the office, but she was-” he stopped himself, realizing he could not explain to his father that the secretary turned out to be and animalistic-nymphomaniac, who refused to take no for an answer. He had tried with all of his might to resist, but in the end, he had succumbed. “It just wasn’t possible. It won’t happen again.”

“You said that last time.” Ayden raised his brow in the same fashion his son just had.

“It’s no excuse, but I took her to the outskirts because I wasn’t aware they put new security cameras at the end of the parking lot.” Julian explained. Ayden listened to his son and was surprised that he could understand Julian’s predicament. The fact that his sex-obsessed son could actually wait until he was almost off the property spoke volumes to Ayden. Especially considering Julian had never forced himself to wait for anything, he wanted.

“There are no security cameras where you were, and this video is not from any of our security cameras, it’s shaky like a handheld camcorder.”