by Layla Holt
Greenslade School was desperate for a Special Ed teacher as one of their teachers had fallen seriously ill and was not expected back.
At the cottage, Corrine parked the car and pushed her key into the lock. She knew something was different as soon as she stepped into the house. She stepped into the living room ad saw him seated across Aunt Maureen, charming her with his innocent boy good looks.
Mark Swindon. Her Ex. In person.
“What are you doing here?”
“Corrine!” Aunt Maureen said. “That’s no way to greet Mark when he’s come all this way to see you.”
Corrine refrained from pointing out that she hadn’t asked him to do so. She was bigger than that, she murmured to herself. She plastered a smile on her face and leaned on the doorway. “Hello Mark.”
He stood up, made a couple of steps towards her but her look stopped him.
“I’ll excuse you two, I’m sure you have loads to talk about,” Aunt Maureen said and shuffled out.
Corrine waited until she heard her footsteps go up the stairs. “You’re a long way from Utah.”
“I had to see you,” Mark said, his tone urgent.
His brow was creased in a way she’d once thought was adorable. Now all she felt was impatience for him to be on his way. Mark was handsome but in an unmemorable way. Nothing like Lance. If you met Lance, you never forgot him. He was the whole package with a personality to match.
A package that excited you, the more layers you peeled back. There were no layers to peel back in Mark and she was glad that he had shown her who he was before she made the biggest mistake of her life.
“Hey, it’s me, Mark. Don’t look at me like that,” he said, his tone begging. “I miss you, Corrine.”
She stared at him incredulously. “You came all the way to Lockwood to tell me that you miss me?”
“That and I want you back,” he said.
Corrine let out a laugh. “Not ever going to happen. You could have saved yourself the trip and asked me over the phone.”
Corrine’s chest swelled with pride. She was not the woman who had left Utah with her tail between her legs. The Corrine who had begged Mark not to leave her.
He narrowed his eyes. “Have you found someone else?”
He was wrong. It wasn’t about finding someone else. It was about finding herself and knowing her self-worth. She was not defined by her looks. No one was. Looks could disappear any time, as hers had. People also grew older and youthful looks matured. People aged. What happened to love then? According to Mark, love was like a tap that you could turn on and off.
“I have,” Corrine said. It wasn’t strictly true but it wasn’t a lie either.
To her surprise, he chuckled. “What about your scars? Don’t tell me that he has lied to you that he likes them?”
She jutted out her chin and crossed her arms across her chest. “As a matter of fact, they don’t bother him. He’s man enough to see what’s underneath my skin.”
“Look, I was honest enough to tell you how I felt. What I needed was time to get used to a different you.”
He meant every word he was saying. Sadness came over her. How could she have loved such a shallow human being?
“So, what are you saying?” Corine said. “That my scars don’t bother you now?”
“Not as much as they did and besides, they have new treatments now and I’d be happy to pay for it,” Mark said earnestly.
She shook her head.
“Don’t let anyone lie to you. No man is immune to a gorgeous face. You were beautiful, Corrine, and you will be again.”
She walked to the front door and flung it open.
“What are you doing?” Mark said.
“Seeing you off,” Corrine said, relying on her training to refrain from hurling insults at him. “Have a safe flight home.”
“Think about it,” he said. “I’ll be in town tonight. Call me. I haven’t changed my number.”
Corrine shut the front door and her composure crumbled. Tears filled her eyes. She capped her scar with her hand. Was Mark right? Had Lance been lying to her when he said that she was beautiful, even with her scars?
Chapter Nineteen
EACH TIME SHE STARED at him with big sad eyes, Lance was a second away from tossing aside his plans. He could wait a couple more weeks, he told himself. Corrine was worth it.
“The flights are booked as well as the hotel,” Corrine said. The only thing that gave her away was the slight tremble in her voice.
Unable to help himself, Lance planted his hands on her desk and kissed her. The moment their lips touched, he felt as though they were melting into each other. He had missed her nearness, her sweet and spicy scent. The soft noises that came from the back of her throat when they kissed.
Lance held his awkward position as long as he could but when the pain in his back became unbearable, he broke the kiss. He stared into her eyes. She had questions and he knew they could not go on for much longer. They had to talk. He had hoped to avoid telling her his reasons for keeping their relationship quiet.
The last thing he wanted was to rehash the Patricia story. It was especially shameful to admit to Corrine that he’d been frightened that she would do the same thing that Patricia had done. But there was a deeper fear that stopped him. What if, like Dean, she did not believe him? That would break him.
“We’ll talk when I get back,” he said to her and she nodded, relief in her features. “How’s Aunt Maureen doing?” They hadn’t talked properly in days, except when it was absolutely necessary.
She smiled and his heart shifted. “She’s happy and loving life. Sam makes her happy.”
Lance wanted that so much for himself and Corrine. He wanted to be the man to make her happy. To make her love life.
"She and Sam are planning a long trip around the country," Corrine continued.
"Good for them," Lance said. "That's what life is all about." He couldn’t believe he had said that when only a couple of months ago, he’d have scoffed at that sort of statement.
It was easy to dismiss love when you didn't have it. When you found it, all other things faded. The things you once thought were so important became petty, silly even.
"Is your sister still around?" Corrine asked.
Lance shook his head. "She went back. She only stayed for a week."
They caught up on each other’s news. An hour later, they were still talking. Something happened to him when he was with Corrine. He became a dripping tap, telling her everything and wanting to know everything that was going on in her life.
"I think we have a chance at winning the tournament," Lance said during a lull in the conversation.
Corrine laughed. He had missed hearing that laugh. "Look who was accusing me of being competitive."
The final three games were going to be played the following Monday. "Do you have a charity in mind?" They’d never talked about which charity they would donate the funds to if they won.
Corrine nodded. "Yes. There's a charity here in Lockwood that's involved in sports activities for special needs kids. "
That made sense and was his Corrine through and through. She was passionate about special education and it made sense she would want to donate to something in that field.
He really needed to clear out his inbox before he and Adrian left the following day. He brushed his lips against Corrine’s and then strolled to his office humming.
THE FOLLOWING DAY, in the afternoon, Corrine sat in her office staring at Lance's door forlornly every so often. She was behaving like a puppy whose owner had left her. Which was silly. By the weekend, Lance would be back in Lockwood. She’d known she would miss him but she hadn’t anticipated the depth of her emotions.
Lance had said that they would talk when he came back from his trip. She couldn’t wait for him to come back. She had decided that she would tell him what she felt. Hadn’t her freak accident taught her that life could change in an instant?
She loved Lance and she want
ed him to know it. She was going to start living again. Putting her emotions out there without a fear of consequences.
The phone on her desk rang, jarring her out of her thoughts. She picked it up, expecting it to be an internal call. It was.
"Good afternoon Corrine, this is Beatrice Nelson from HR. Would you mind coming down for a few minutes?"
"Sure," Corrine said and replaced the receiver.
A stab of fear hit her stomach. She told herself to stop being silly. She hadn’t done anything wrong but no one wanted to be summoned to HR. Maybe they wanted to terminate her contract but it was just about to end anyway.
She’d signed a three-month contract and they said that they would renew it if she and Lance proved to be a good match. Except that she wasn’t going to renew it. Maybe that’s what Beatrice Nelson wanted to talk about. That was the only thing she could think of.
Corrine was pretty sure that Lance had no complaints about her work. She grinned as she got out of the elevators and strode down the hallway to Beatrice's office.
"You can go in," Penny, her secretary, said with a smile. "She's waiting for you."
“Thanks,” Corrine said.
She knocked lightly on the door and then pushed it open. She stepped in and grinded to a halt when she saw Dean Cohan. And she knew immediately that whatever it was, was not good. Dean was Candin Inc’s company secretary.
Her insides turned to water.
"Have a seat Corrine," Beatrice said, in a voice devoid of emotions.
She swallowed a ball of saliva and did as instructed. She sat down on the guest chair, facing Dean.
"Hello Corrine," Dean said.
She noticed that he did not look at her directly. Why did this have to happen when Lance was away? She'd never needed his strength, his protection, as she did at that moment. Lance knew everything about her and he would know that she was innocent of whatever she was about to be accused of.
"First of all, I want you to know that is just as uncomfortable for us as it is for you," Beatrice said.
Corrine’s hands trembled and she clasped them together. She stared at the other woman as an irrelevant thought came to her mind. Beatrice Nelson was not the kind of woman that people gave nicknames to or shortened her name. She was too stern to be a Betty or a Bea. She could only be Beatrice Nelson.
"Are you listening to me Corrine?" Beatrice said.
Corrine snapped back to the present. What was wrong with her? She was obviously in deep trouble and she was thinking about the HR manager’s name? "I'm sorry, what did you say?"
Beatrice let out a deep sigh. "I said that office romances are frowned upon for a very good reason."
Oh God. They knew about her and Lance. But they hadn’t done anything and they were not in a relationship. Corrine opened her mouth to protest then promptly shut it. When Lance came back from his trip, they were going to talk and most likely their relationship would be official after that. She might as well hear what Beatrice and Dean had to say.
"Personally, I'm very disappointed. I expected more from you," Dean said, speaking for the first time."
Corrine frowned. She felt like one of her students when they had broken a rule that they were well aware of. The only difference was that she didn’t know which rule she had broken. Sure, office romance was not encouraged in most organizations, but it wasn’t a crime.
“Do you have any idea what happened to Lance’s last secretary?”
Corrine’s blood went cold. She couldn’t speak. That one sentence changed everything. Her mind raced. Possibilities formed.
“None of us know exactly what happened between her and Mr. Lance but the gist of it was that she threatened to go to court but our legal department managed to convince her to settle.”
Nausea rose up Corrine’s throat. She was going to be sick.
Beatrice continued speaking. The message was clear. If her intention was to get money from Lance, the company was ready to defend itself. They were not going to settle again. They needed her to know that she would not be getting any money from Candin Inc.
She stared at Dean, horror stricken. Images of her and Lance frolicking in his pool floated in her mind. Had they been talking about her, saying what a fool she was, thinking that she had snared one of the Cohans?
She covered her face with her hands. She fought hard not to break down and cry. Humiliation came over her. It couldn’t be happening. Not to her. Lance. He had seemed so honest. He’d treated her with utmost respect and had not taken advantage of her attraction for him.
Except that it wasn’t the first time. She was not the first. All of it was a game for him. Having an affair with his secretary was something that Lance did! She couldn’t believe that she had thought that she was special. That they had a future together.
Her chest squeezed painfully. Her thoughts wandered from one thing to another. She kept seeing Lance’s smiling face, except the smiles kept turning into sniggers.
“How long has it been going on for?” Beatrice asked.
Oh God, she wanted to die. Instead of answering, Corrine stood up. She was humiliated enough. She wasn’t going to sit there and have to answer questions that were as painful to hear as they would be to answer.
“I’m leaving,” she said.
“Your job?” Beatrice asked.
“Yes,” Corrine said. “I wasn’t actually planning to stay after the three months were finished.”
“Oh okay, that solves that problem then,” Beatrice said, relief in her voice.
Numbly, Corrine forced one leg in front of the other until she was out of Beatrice's office.
"Corrine are you okay?" Penny said as Corrine rushed past her.
"I'm okay thanks," Corrine said and stumbled out.
She managed to hold it together until she reached her office. Numbly, she opened her drawers and emptied out her personal effects. There was not much. She stuffed everything into her oversized handbag. Her hands trembled as she zipped it shut.
Corrine looked around the office before her eyes rested on Lance’s door.
She was glad he was away. She couldn’t face him lying to her again by pretending to have feelings for her. It now made sense why he had refrained from seducing her while she was working at Candin Inc. He was afraid of a lawsuit.
So, he'd encouraged her to go back to teaching. Then he’d finish what he had begun. It seemed so much trouble to go to simply to have her in his bed. Perhaps he saw her as a challenge? Corrine shook her head. She didn’t understand any of it.
Corrine was lucky not to run into anyone as she left the building. She moved like a zombie and unlocked the car. Only when she entered the car did her facade melt and she broke down. She sobbed into her hands as the enormity of what had just happened hit her.
She had allowed herself to believe in love again. To trust a man. To secretly dream of a future together. Pain like she had never known gripped her chest. She wailed like an injured animal.
Chapter Twenty
THE HOUSE SEEMED SO big without her parents. Looking around, Corrine knew that she had made a mistake in coming home. She'd imagined that she would be at peace if only she came back home. Now, she felt like a stranger in her own home.
She had ventured out once, bumped into some old friends and she couldn’t relate to them at all. She couldn’t wait for the following day to return to Lockwood.
Now she sat on the couch with her feel tucked under her body while she cradled a mug of coffee. Her thoughts kept meandering to Lance. She found herself wondering what he was doing at that very moment.
How had he reacted when he went to the office and found her gone? Had he been disappointed or had he shrugged and moved on with his life? But the worst feeling was missing him.
How could she miss a man whose intentions towards her had not been honest? Had he been laughing at her the whole time, thinking that she was a fool to imagine a man like Lance marrying a flawed person like herself?
She would not let this cripple her as
Mark's rejection had. Maybe it was true what Mark said. That no man could fail to be turned off by her scars. If that was the case then it was too bad for them. She wasn’t going to change for anyone.
Corrine touched her scars. They were part of who she was. Maybe one day, she would meet someone who would love her beyond her physical appearance.
It was not going to be easy to forget Lance. He'd quickly become the man she wanted to spend the rest of her life with. He made her laugh and he made her love life. Maybe that had been the sole reason he had come into her life. To help her move forward.
Pangs of pain came over her and she inhaled deeply to quell them. Her future had dimmed considerably but the light had not gone off. She had a new job waiting for her. A job that she knew and loved. She looked around her parents’ living room and remembered the last time she had been home.
She had been a broken woman then. Now, though her heart had been shattered into a million pieces, she was not broken. There was so much to be grateful for. She was alive and healthy. She'd proved that she was still capable of falling in love.
All she had to do now was wait for the right person. She also knew that she was no longer a fragile person. She was strong and she could handle rejection and the other knocks of life. True, they would make her stagger but she would remain standing.
That night, Corrine booked a flight back to Lockwood. Like Aunt Maureen, she loved the town and besides, she'd been tasked with the responsibility of minding Aunt Maureen’s cottage and Smokey.
Guilt flooded her when she thought of Aunt Maureen’s cat. She'd asked a neighbor to mind him for a week and the kind lady had agreed. It was time to go back and live her life. Time was a healer. She of all people knew that only too well.
THE FLIGHT HAD EXPERIENCED a two-hour delay and it was too late to go and see Corrine when they got home. Lance had hoped to surprise her at the cottage but eleven was too late to knock on Aunt Maureen’s door. He fingered the jewelry box in his pocket. Tomorrow would do.
