“I didn’t do anything. I think Jeffrey might have met somebody.” There was no think about it, but she didn’t need to know I knew about a clients personal life.
“Mmhmm. Well, I wish I could wish you good luck, but I’m pretty upset about this. Your other client Jane had specifically asked for you. You might have just cost me another customer.”
I wasn’t nearly brave enough to admit I probably had cost her another client. After last night, I doubted she would have ever called and requested me. This whole situation was a disaster.
“Bev...” She hung up on me before I could apologize again or thank you for giving me a chance. Though right now, I wasn’t feeling very grateful and I still had another boss to confront.
“Ugh! I hate my life.” I grumbled even though I didn’t really but the past few days would go down as some of the worst in my history.
My thumb hovered over Mark’s number. I chickened out and texted instead of called.
Angel: You still want me to come over?
Mark: Yes. We’ll talk more when you get here.
Yes, because he still wanted me to babysit or yes because he wanted to yell at me to my face?
As I drove to Mark’s, my stomach churned and not from the hangover.
What if mark couldn’t get past what I had done?
What was I going to do?
Her Client Part 6
Copyright © 2017 by Sally E Xander
All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
Photo: Shutterstock
Cover Design: Cristin Cooper
Created with Vellum
For Emily and Roman
1
My stomach twisted as I pulled into the driveway. Mark, my boss or at least I hoped he was still my boss, sat on the front stoop of his house. He ran a hand through his already messy hair as he watched and waited for me to get out of my car.
If his appearance was any indication, he was just as anxious as me. I wished I knew if it was a good or a bad sign.
Just a few days ago, we treated each other as brother and sister. He felt as much my family as my own parents and siblings. Then it all fell apart Thursday night. Now I had no idea where we stood. I was a call–girl, or at least I had been until this morning, but not before Mark found out.
As much as it pained me, I wouldn’t blame him if he didn’t want me near his son again. But I hoped more than anything he would forgive me for keeping my other job a secret. Or at least understand why I did it.
A few months ago, getting hired as a call-girl seemed like an answer to all my problems. It paid well and all I had to do was spend a few hours with a client. And it did solve many issues but, as I found out, it also created them. Like the situation I had to face right now…and Jane.
Ugh. I couldn’t think of Jane right now. I had other issues to deal with.
Taking a stabilizing breath, I climbed out of my car. As I neared, he stood. Without saying a word, he opened the front door and waved me in. I fidgeted with my bag as I stepped inside his house.
Everything felt different. Mark. Me. The house. I didn’t even hear the usual little boy noise that Ethan made wherever he went. Whatever Mark’s decision, things would always be different between us and just the thought caused a little ache in my chest.
All the worry and fear I carried into his house felt like a hundred pound weight on my shoulders. My heart felt heavy at the way we both seemed unsure how to greet each other. I loved Mark and his son Ethan. I loved being part of their family. This was all my fault, but I had hoped that our friendship would go beyond what I had done for a living. I wanted Mark to see I was still me.
“Let’s go into the kitchen.”
It shouldn’t have surprised me, but it did when I walked in and found Jeffrey sitting at the kitchen counter. With both hands wrapped around a coffee mug, Jeffrey greeted me with a half-smile. When I neared, he stood and kissed my cheek. “Good morning, Angel.” I sighed with relief. At least it wasn’t awkward with us. It could have been so much worse, especially after he attempted a threesome with me, Mark and him at the hotel where we met for our weekly appointments.
I smiled at him or at least I hoped it was a smile as my fist tightened around my bag bracing myself for what was coming next.
My nerves had me on edge. Which explained the sweat dripping down my neck. “Good morning.” My cheeks blushed when my voice cracked. I had to remind myself I wasn’t the only one nervous.
Swallowing the knot in my throat, I glanced back and forth between them. Jeffrey sat back down on the stool while Mark stood across the counter from him. I couldn’t help smile when Mark reached over the counter and took Jeffrey’s hand.
Well, at least something good came from this. Them coming together might have even been worth it.
“Ethan isn’t here?” I asked making sure a certain little boy wasn’t about to overhear an adult conversation.
“No. Ethan's with my mother.” Mark answered with hardly any reflection in his voice.
“Good…good.” I said nervously wishing that I was anywhere but there.
“Angel, I…” Mark looked to Jeffrey than back to me. “We,” Mark clarified, “Wanted to talk to you first.”
First?
Did that mean, he was going to at least allow me to say goodbye to Ethan?
My legs shook beneath me, and I thought for sure I was on the verge of passing out from the stress but I didn’t let it stop me from opening my mouth and spewing everything I wanted to say.
“Mark, I’m so sorry. I understand why you would be angry and not want me around your son. I hated keeping this from you, but I was afraid I would lose you and Ethan. I love you like a brother and you know I would do anything for Ethan. You two are my family and…” Tears spilled down my cheeks as I tried to get everything out. “I know I only have a handful of weeks left here, but I still want to be Ethan’s nanny. I only did the other job because I needed money.” I lifted my hand to keep Mark from speaking. “More money than I could earn working for you. My car needed fixing, then of course housing, food, tuition, books…well. You get the idea.”
Jeffrey took pity on me by placing his hand over mine. “Calm down, Angel. Just listen to Mark.”
Sucking in a ragged breath, I wiped at my tears then put all my attention on Mark.
“Angel, I feel the same way about you. I love you like a sister. I enjoy having you around, and Ethan adores you. But…”
My stomach churned.
No.
No. No. No. No. No.
Please don’t fire me.
“I can’t say I wasn’t surprised and upset to find out what you did for a leaving. It’s…”
“I know.” I hung my head down feeling the shame all over again. He didn’t have to say it.
“I just wished you had come to me. We could’ve worked something out. It took Jeffrey talking me down to see that you are still the world’s best nanny.” I lifted my head and looked into Mark’s eyes and saw his were almost as wet as mine. “This place isn’t the same without you and Ethan would never forgive me if I fired you.” I bit back a hopeful smile. “I’d love for you to continue to babysit Ethan.”
“Really?” I asked with a watery smile.
“Really.” Without thinking, I rushed to Mark and almost knocked him over with a hug.
“Thank you.” I let go of him and dashed to the other side of the counter to give Jeffrey one too. “For the record, I no longer have a second job. You don’t have to worry about that.”
“I’m glad to hear it. But what about your expenses?” His brotherly tone made my heart swell with affection.
I waved off his question. “I’ll be fine. Plus, I needed to quit. Not just because of you but…I needed to quit for me. My sad life as a call-girl has come
to an end.”
“I’ll drink to that,” Jeffrey piped in. “As much as I enjoyed my time with you, I always felt guilty. You deserve better.”
“Thanks, Jeffrey.” I playfully elbowed him.
“And things between you two are finished?” Mark asked.
I stepped away from Jeffrey when I noticed Mark’s worried expression. “It’s over,” Jeffrey and I said together.
“What about you two?” I asked.
They wore matching grins. “We’re together.” Jeffrey said.
“We told Mom and Ethan yesterday.” Mark added.
“How did they take it?” I asked looking back and forth between them.
“Mom was…surprised to say the least but she’s happy for me.”
“And Ethan?” Since he had asked me to be his mother, I wondered how he would react.
Marked laughed. “Thanks to one of his friends having two moms, he didn’t seem phased by it.”
“That’s good.” I clapped my hands and bounced on my toes with delight.
“But he still asked if you could be his mom.” We all laughed.
I only wished relationships could be as easy as a child’s understanding.
2
While waiting for Jayla to meet me for breakfast, I took the time to call home. With everything that had happened in the past few weeks and graduation fast approaching, I was emotionally everywhere.
I felt a mixture of sadness, hurt and anger whenever I thought of Jane–Melissa, whoever she was. It had been eleven days since the incident at the club, and I still found myself working it out in my head.
Work was great. Since our heart to heart, Mark had made sure I had plenty of hours to fill the gap of quitting my other job. I made sure to soak in every bit of time I spent with Ethan since I had no idea when I would see him again once I moved.
Watching Mark and Jeffrey’s relationship blossom in the short amount of time since they made it official was the kick in the pants I needed.
They reminded me that I couldn’t waste another minute wishing things had been different with Jane and me. It would never have worked out no matter how much I hoped for it and I had finally accepted that fact.
The whole situation motivated me to put myself out into the dating world once I got settled in my new city.
Speaking of new city. With only two and half more weeks until finals and three and a half weeks until graduation, I found myself panicking a bit. I still hadn’t found an affordable apartment to move into after graduation. Everything would work out fine, but it didn’t keep me from worrying. Or from looking at apartments online into the early morning hours.
With all the grown-up stuff, I had to deal with, I began feeling a little homesick for my family. I just wanted to be a kid for a little while. My family might not understand me, but I knew they loved me and sometimes that was all I needed.
My mother’s calm yet clipped voice answered the phone. “Angel? Everything okay?”
“Yeah. I’m fine. Just calling to say hello.” I sighed when it took her a beat longer to respond. From the sound of it, she was typing on the computer.
“School going okay?” she asked sounding distracted. My mother always had a million things going at once, but I wished she would at least pretend to sound interested. For once I wished she didn’t rush through our phone calls so she could hear that I was struggling. More than anything I wanted her to ask me something besides her usual generic questions.
“Yup. Everything is good.”
“You’re eating?” She asked right before she covered the phone and began talking to my father. It only muffled her voice a little, but I could tell she was ready to be off the phone.
Even though I knew what to expect when I called, I still wished my mother was someone who I could go to when I struggled. I needed as much as wanted to talk to someone about everything that had happened the past several months. But she wasn’t that person. She would never be that person. And as I told my mother I loved her I felt an overwhelming sadness.
“Love you too, sweetie. I’ll talk to you next week,” my mother said in her rushed tone then hung up.
With only a handful of friends and friends-ish in my circle, I didn’t have a single person who I could dump my ridiculous emotional baggage on.
I had friends, like Jayla and Lisa who I had confided in about having feelings for a woman. But they could never know the whole story. Like how I worked as a call-girl. Like how Jane––Melissa hired me to have sex with her. Or how Jane isn’t Jane but Melissa.
My roommate Becky is the one who got me the job as a call-girl, but our relationship stayed superficial. She wasn’t someone I could confide in, especially about my feelings for a client.
Mark and Jeffrey might have understood but talking to them about Jane felt like it was beyond what our relationship entailed. Plus, it had only been a little over a week since everything came out and they didn’t need to deal with any more of my drama.
“Why so serious? Everything okay?” Jayla cheerfully asked as she pulled me into a hug.
“Yeah.” I shook off the dark cloud hanging over my head and smiled at my sweet friend. “Yes. I’m good. How are you?”
“Great! I’m so excited!” Jayla hooked her arm with mine as we walked to the diner. “Everything is set for Lisa’s birthday party on Saturday. You’re still coming right?” I nodded, but she hadn’t waited for my reply before she went into detail about the food, who she got to D.J., what she planned to wear and everyone who was coming.
Usually, Jayla’s upbeat personality brought me out of my funk, but it wasn’t working today. Thankfully, she didn’t seem to notice and kept the conversation going through breakfast.
By the time we said goodbye, I was excited to go to Lisa's birthday party but didn't feel any better.
3
“You swear you don’t mind?” Jayla asked for the third time since I showed up at her door to study.
Thursday nights, I usually brought dinner for me, Lisa and Jayla. It was sort of a way to pay them back for letting me use their quiet house. Plus, I loved hanging out with them.
Lisa had called earlier letting Jayla know she would be working late. Instead of eating without Lisa, Jayla asked if we could bring dinner to her.
“I swear. It’s not a big deal.” Jayla returned my smile. “But we better get there soon, or I’m going to start eating in your car. I’m starving,” I warned.
“Phew! Just in time.” Jayla giggled as she pulled into the parking lot of a large complex. “This is it.”
“Winthrow Manufacturing?” I tried to picture Lisa having anything to do with manufacturing but couldn’t do it.
“Yeah. Lisa is the Sales Manager.” Okay, that I could picture.
“The manufacturing part of the plant is on the south side. All the offices are on this side,” Jayla pointed out as we headed inside the building.
“Hi, Adam, how are you?” Jayla asked the guy sitting behind the security desk.
While we signed in, he handed us guest badges and asked Jayla, “How’s school going?”
“Good. Only a few more weeks until graduation,” she chirped.
As we headed toward Lisa’s office, she waved hello to several people as we passed their open doors. “How do you know everybody? Through Lisa?”
“No. Didn’t I tell you? I met Lisa when I worked as an intern here.”
“Oh, that’s right. You mentioned that.”
“Yeah. Initially, I started out working for Lisa but ended up being the gopher girl for the marketing guy.” She shivered. “That was the longest summer of my life and not because I was lusting after Lisa.” Before I could ask her more, she poked her head into an office. “Hey, Melissa.”
Hearing that name made my stomach drop. When I looked into the office, I had to grip the door frame when I felt all the blood rush from my head. “Staying late again?” Jayla asked.
Jane-Melissa-whoever stood behind her desk with the same shocked expression I held. “I.
.umm...” Jane looked back and forth between Jayla and me and shook her head “Oh, yeah. As usual,” she said with a rigid smile and a shaky voice. “Are you here to have dinner with Lisa?” She asked Jayla but her eyes kept returning to me.
“Yes.” Jayla lifted the Chinese food bag. “If I don’t she’ll forget to eat and then come home crabby.” That had Jane smiling for real. “I dragged my friend with me. Melissa, this is Angel. Angel,” she waved to Jane. “This is Melissa Winthrow as in Winthrow manufacturing.”
Jane blushed “Actually, Angel and I have met before. It’s nice to see you again.” Jane bit her lip as she waited for me to respond.
I just stared at her with my jaw slack. I couldn’t believe my Jane was standing right in front of me. Not once did I imagine I would run into her. It might have been naïve of me to assume but with only a few weeks left what were the chances?
Pretty good, it turns out.
A whirl of emotions ran through me in a matter of seconds. The strongest one being affection. I wanted to hate her but as I stared at her all the memories of our times together ran through my mind. I realized that a few weeks away from her could never tamp down my feelings.
“Hi, Melissa. It’s nice seeing you.” It was also torture. She was as beautiful as ever. But then I noticed the dark circles under her eyes and she appeared thinner than the last time I saw her.
Was she okay?
I was smart enough to know it wasn't because of me.
“What a small world,” Jayla declared. “Well, I just wanted to say hi. I’ll see you around, Melissa.”
I didn’t know if this knot in my stomach was from relief because I had an excuse to leave or dread. What were the chances of me getting another chance to see her before I moved?
Her Client- The Complete Series Page 14
