Rival across the hall

[Love2rp]

"Forgive my words, perhaps it is that I see him as a rival for your affection" Latino says leaning back in his chair "you talk of friendship, I will tell you a man can only be friends with a beautiful woman for so long before he wants more" he says as he runs his finger around the rim of his glass

 

[heartofcourage]

"Not with Chase. He's never even said that he's wanted something more." Marissa said as Anthony settled back into his seat. "Besides, as often as he gets on my nerves, I don't think that we would be a good match. After what happened with my mother, I never want to go through a situation like that. Maybe it's why I'm so picky."

Marissa let out a long sigh and stared down at her soufflé. "He'll probably be better about everything in morning. I mean, nothing happened tonight."

 

[Love2rp]

"Marissa take it from an older man, no man will ever be better when spurned by a love interest, less painful certainly but not over it" he said as he finished his dessert. "I've seen how he looks at you, due to your friendship you may not see it but he is my true competition for your affection, even if you don't realize it" he said as he motioned the waiter for the bill

"It seems you have some thinking to do my dear, I don't want to rush or push you so please take your time" he said as the waiter returned with his credit card

 

[heartofcourage]

Marissa thanked Anthony for his opinion on the matter as well as the meal that he had generously paid for. She was so confused about the situation. She had never had an inkling that Chase was interested in her and she was even more unprepared for her client to suddenly declare that he was interested in a relationship with her as well.

As she was being driven home, she pulled out her phone and looked at the messages that Chase had sent her. He was angry and jealous, that much was certain. She decided to text him back, letting him know that she was upset with the way that he had acted and she would expect and apology when he was in a better mood.

 

[Love2rp]

Chase woke slightly at the sound of his phone going off, still drunk from his period of self loathing he saw it was Marissa and thought better of replying in this state. He put his phone back down and looked at the clock, "2am, probably a walk of shame text" he thought as he closed his eyes again

 

[heartofcourage]

Marissa showered when she got home, taking time to make herself comfortable before she called in to her assistant's voicemail to have them clear her schedule. She was taking a day off. Mostly because she didn't want to have to face Chase. When he was acting like this, she wanted nothing to do with him.

 

[Love2rp]

Chase woke up groggy about 4am and knowing he wasn't going to work that next day decided to apologize to Marissa "hey, won't be in the office today, sorry for being an ass - Chase" he sent before making an espresso and getting ready to shower

 

[heartofcourage]

Marissa woke up as her phone buzzed and she groggily looked at the screen with a sigh. He was half assing things as usual. She wasn't going to let him.

'A simple sorry isn't good enough, Chase. I'm more than angry with you.' She wrote back, slapping her phone back on the table before she rolled back over and tried to go back to sleep.

 

[Love2rp]

"Strong reaction for early in the morning, feeling ok?" He sent back before jumping into the shower wondering what he can do to make it up to her

 

[heartofcourage]

'If you don't know why I'm angry, don't bother contacting me again.' Marissa countered back, so angry with his flippant replies.

 

[Love2rp]

Chase shook his head, knowing that she wouldn't be able to not talk to him. She got this way before when he cheated on her best friend in college but ultimately she came back and was friends with him again. "Ok. No worries, I won't be in the office today" he said as he sat and turned on the tv to see what the Asian stock markets were doing

 

[heartofcourage]

'Neither will I.' She shot back, leaving it at that.

She was still seething and couldn't believe that he wouldn't offer a simple apology to her for the way he had talked to her the evening before. She lay there in bed, upset and unable to go back to sleep. Soon enough, she got up and showered, eating breakfast before she simply sat in her living room to stew for a while. Perhaps she should contact Anthony, vent to him about how rude Chase was being. He would understand, but she wasn't so sure that she wanted to encourage a relationship with the older man.

 

[Love2rp]

Chase awoke after a brief nap and saw her message "what the hell is she talking about?" He thought for a second before re-reading the messages and remembering most of the night prior.

"You miss work.....that's a big step" he sent back hoping his charm would once again get him out of a bad situation he helped to create

 

[heartofcourage]

'Still not an apology.' She text back as she got ready to go out, preparing to go shopping to try and work off some of her anger at Chase. 'You'll have to do better than that.'

 

[Love2rp]

"What if that's as good as I've got? ;-)" he sent back as he got dressed for the day, casual in dark blue jeans and a light grey Yale t shirt from his college days as he ran his fingers through his hair and tried to figure out his day

 

[heartofcourage]

'Then you need to delete my number.' Marissa responded smartly, placing her phone in her purse as she slipped into her car to drive into downtown.

 

[Love2rp]

Chase looked at his phone and his smile faded, realizing he messed this up bad and wondered how he could possibly get it back on track. He wanted to clear his head and think so went and got dressed in black track pants and an old t shirt from the lawyer league softball team the firm used to have.

Heading downstairs he headed out the front door of his downtown condo building to start his run

 

[heartofcourage]

Marissa drove downtown and soon was walking in and out of the different stores that were to be had. She didn't really spend much. It was mostly to clear her mind and do something that didn't require a lot of thought. She had a few shirts and a pair of pants in a bag, looking through the windows at some of the pricier places and dreaming of a day when she could afford some of those things. It was far better than worrying about Chase or Anthony.

 

[Love2rp]

Coming down the street at a decent speed Chase was trying to forget the past 24 hours. Why couldn't he tell Marissa how he felt? Why did she have to be interested in that older ladies man Latino? Where did his life go wrong? He couldn't help but analyze the situation and then, looking up, saw what he thought was Marissa coming out of a store

 

[heartofcourage]

Marissa stepped out of a store with a bag over her arm, glancing at the things in the window one last time. She was spending too much, but it definitely made her feel a lot better about everything. The best revenge where Chase was concerned was looking good and making him jealous. He could be an asshole, but that didn't mean that she didn't know how to handle him when he got like that.

 

[Love2rp]

"How does it feel to play hooky?" Chase asked coming up behind Marissa, sweat gleaming off his forehead and muscles as he stopped to talked to her. Still unsure where things stood

 

[heartofcourage]

Marissa whipped around when she heard Chase's voice, not expecting him to be there in downtown. She wasn't really sure what to say to him, but she stubbornly held on to the fact that he had yet to give her a proper apology for how he had acted last night.

"Great until I realized I couldn't be lucky enough to get away from you." Marissa said cooly, glancing down at her shopping bags for a moment. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going for brunch."

 

[Love2rp]

"Jesus Marissa what the hell?" He said with indignation in his voice "what have I done to you to make you hate me so much?" He said hands on hips as his breath made his chest rise and fall, showing his chiseled physique in his tight workout shirt

 

[heartofcourage]

"If you don't remember then maybe you should read through your texts from last night. Accusing me of sleeping with a client? How am I supposed to take that and not be upset?" Marissa asked, looking at him as he acted as if he were completely blameless. "You have an odd way of showing someone that you like them if that's the case. Until I get a sincere apology, I want nothing more to do with you."

 

[Love2rp]

"Shit fine, alright......" chase said getting aggravated. "I'm sorry alright? I'm sorry I accused you of that. Maybe, just maybe I was a little jealous, maybe I wished it was me not him getting all your attention, maybe I'd like you to treat me as a man not a little boy for once" Chase said before realizing all he let slip