by Traci Sek
“I didn’t take your contact information with me. Not to mention I was bleeding from my head. Excuse me for not being able to just pick up a phone and say hi.”
“Emily the attitude is not necessary. You know I’m only trying to help you.”
“You people don't care about us! We are just shuffled around like cattle until you’re able to get rid of us!" Tears formed in my eyes. I couldn't contain my anger and hurt anymore.
"Emily. I assure you that is not what we do! We try really hard to find families for you and good homes!”
"Save it! It's done. I don't want to hear your excuses. You abandoned me." Maybe it was a bad idea to tell Jake to go. Oh how I wished he would wrap me up in his strong arms right now. Mrs. Stanfield got up and walked over to me, kneeling down on one knee.
"I'm so sorry that happened to you. If I had known, I would have come right away. That's my job." I couldn't look her in the eyes nor could I fight back. I was defeated and exhausted. I just wanted her to leave.
"Is he treating you well?" She brushed my hair out of my face the way my mom used to do when I was younger.
"Of course, he is. I couldn't ask for anything better." I barely whispered, still not looking at her.
"Good. Here's my business card please call me for anything. Even if you need a friend." She put her hand on my shoulder and then walked away. I heard the door close softly behind me. Thank God. I was glad she didn't push any further. I didn’t want to have to lie again. I sighed and wiped the tears from my eyes.
Chapter Twenty- Three
Jake
I reluctantly headed into the office worried about Emily. I was also pissed beyond belief because I knew who called that woman. I walked into the conference room and began the dull board meeting that consumed an hour of my life once a week. Images of the previous night flashed through my mind. Her soft warm lips on mine, the softness of her smooth pale skin in the moonlight. I couldn't help myself. I felt this primal need to bury her in my arms. To squeeze away all of the hurt and pain, instead our pain became one. We fed off of each other and the feeling was indescribable.
We belonged together there was no doubt but was it too fast? Did I push her into something she didn’t want? Barely paying attention, I simply nodded my head to everything being said. As soon as the board meeting was over, I rushed to my office to check on Emily. Aida answered the phone.
"Hello Mr. Williams."
"Aida, how's Emily? Did that woman leave?"
"Yes, she just left about ten minutes ago. Miss Emily is up in her room."
"Ok." I let out a sigh of relief. "Thank you, Aida, I'll see you soon." I hung up the phone and started sorting through papers until I was rudely interrupted.
"Jake! My man. How's it going?" I rolled my eyes, not looking up.
"Kyle. Good. You?"
"I'm doing great." I heard him sit on my leather sofa and sigh. He had been a thorn in my side since grade school. I stuck up for him once and he never left my side. I couldn't deny he had an eye for property which is why I trusted him with it. I looked at him with a questioning look.
"Can I help you with something?"
"Nope," he popped the p and gave me a smirk.
"So why are you bothering me?"
He mocked a hurt face grabbing his chest. "I would never bother you bro. Just waiting for the next catch." He raised his eyebrows a few times and laughed. I ignored him and looked back down at the papers in front of me.
"So, what happened to the hot chick you saved?" I snapped my head up to look at him.
"Why?"
He shrugged. "She was hot dude, I mean despite the blood coming out of her head. Besides it was like the perfect excuse to be around her you know? ‘Sorry I hit you and all, kindly accept my hand in marriage and make babies with me.’” He said in a voice that I guessed was supposed to be me.
I abruptly stood up and pounded my fists on the desk making the smirk fade from his mouth. I had to remind myself to breathe. I took a deep breath and straightened my suit jacket.
"Emily is her name and I'll have you know that she is my girlfriend now not because I hit her but because there is something between us. You better watch your mouth when talking about her. And, might I add, that you should talk about a woman with a little bit more respect if you ever want to settle down." The last part came out in a growl. He could be a nice guy but sometimes, I swear he only talked through his dick.
His eyes widened and he raised his arms in surrender. "Dude, I'm sorry. I didn't know!"
"Well now you do. Don't ever let me hear you talk about a woman like that again, especially mine." He nodded and slowly stood up.
"Are we done here?"
"Yeah man."
"Good. Oh, and Kyle?"
"Yeah?"
"If you breathe a word to anyone else about Emily. I'll personally see to it that you will never date again." He simply nodded and walked out the door.
I sat back down at my desk and leaned back in my chair. I just called her my girlfriend. It was weird coming out of my mouth considering I didn't think I would ever settle down in a relationship. Last night was the perfect opportunity to ask her so I did. I had no idea that it would lead to passionate sex. I really didn’t care what my family thought, especially not my dad. That must have been why he called that woman.
I hadn't felt this way with anyone in a very long time. I let my mask down and poured out my heart, not in words, but through my body language. I was sure she had done the same. And now, saying she was my girl without even thinking twice about it, was unfathomable. The only thing I was sure of, was that I had to talk to her and let her know how I was feeling and vise versa. But first I had one more thing to fix. My father.
I walked out of my office with determination only to run into Sarah. I made the mistake once to hook up with her on a drunken one-night stand, and ever since then, she hasn't left me alone.
"Hey Jake." She said batting her eyelashes, trying to come close to me.
"Sarah." I nodded, slightly stepping away from her. She began talking but I ignored her.
"So, you see Jake. We need to go out again and maybe get a drink?"
I stopped abruptly and turned to her. "Listen Sarah, it was nice to hang out with you, but I'm currently seeing someone. I appreciate the offer but I'll have to respectfully decline." I walked away leaving her stunned as she processed the words, I had just told her. As I entered the elevator, I watched her stomp away in a huff.
Finally reaching the tenth floor, I made my way past my dad's secretary ignoring her protests of him being on an important phone call. I whip open the door and slam it behind me, crossing my arms for effect.
He's standing in front of his giant wall to wall window overlooking the city. He glanced at me unfazed.
"I'll call you back Fred." He hung up the phone and walked back to his desk sitting down slowly.
"Jake. To what do I owe the visit? I trust everything is ok with the sales."
"Cut the crap dad. I know it was you who sent that woman to the house today. Tell me, how did you do it?"
His mouth remained in a straight but firm line and his eyes were staring at me, probably debating on what to say next.
"I had her DNA tested."
My eyes grew wide. "Are you fucking serious? I swear you're mental sometimes!"
"Someone had to do it and it sure as hell wasn't going to be you!"
"You're right! This is so wrong! Do you even realize what you’ve done? That's a complete violation of her privacy! She's been through hell and you probably just made it worse!"
"No, I haven't, because God forbid if my son told me the truth! Jake. I have seen you go through hell. I've seen you try to kill yourself! I've seen you drink yourself into oblivion! I'm not going to let some random girl who just mysteriously pops up out of nowhere ruin what you’ve worked so hard to get through!"
"She makes me happy dad! She gets me! She understands my pain when no one else has. If anything, she's making me better. She
makes me want to live again and gives me something to look forward to! If you would get off your high horse and open your damn eyes, you would see this!" I was absolutely seething at that moment. The anger was so strong I had to force myself to breathe again.
"She watched her mother get murdered by her own father! She was in and out of foster homes trying to just be normal! But you can't see that! You're blinded by stupid money! You have no idea what she's been through."
"Then tell me. Stop lying to my face!" He moved from around his desk and came towards me. I pushed my hands through my hair out of frustration as I paced back and forth.
"I hit her with my car! Are you fucking happy now?”
“You did what?” My dad's boisterous voice echoed throughout the walls.
“It was an accident! I wasn’t paying attention and was late for a meeting, she came out of nowhere.”
“Jake! How could you be so careless? Reckless even. So that's why she's here. She wants money doesn't she? How bad were the injuries? Where's the police report?”
“First of all, no she doesn’t want money. I took care of it. I told her I would cover her living expenses and medical bills until she got better. I saved us from getting sued. But then I started feeling something for her and that’s why I asked her to be my girlfriend.”
“Just like that? You mean to tell me that when she gets better, she won't sue us for more?”
“Yes.”
“I can’t believe how naive you are being. And to think I was going to pass the company down to you!”
“Excuse me I’m not being naive. I saved our company's reputation and I saved the cost of lawyer fees. Don’t tell me how much you are disappointed in me once again and how stupid I am. That’s all you care about is this company! After mom died you changed drastically. You stopped caring about us! So if anyone is the stupid naive one, it’s you!”
The anger was immediately wiped off his face and was replaced with shock, but I didn’t care. I wanted him to experience the pain that I had bottled away for years. It was time I put some of those therapy sessions to practice. I turned on my heels and headed for the door slamming it shut behind me. I didn’t want to hear what he had to say.
Chapter Twenty-Four
Emily
I stood looking up at the tall spruce tree that was dragged in by a few men just minutes before. It took them a while to put it in the tree stand but once they did, it stood as tall as a small house. At least ten feet high. I was never lucky enough to experience the whole Christmas phenomenon as a child. I was in awe of its beauty and the fresh pine smell it produced in the once big living room. Boxes and boxes of Christmas decorations were brought out one by one with Aida's direction, the house was a buzz with Christmas activity.
It was Jake's turn to host a Christmas party for an unknown number of guests. Apparently, according to Jake, it was a big tradition when he was younger until his mom had passed. He was in a weird mood when he got home from work the night before, and when I got a silent response after asking him what was wrong, I simply gave up and took what I could get.
"Well honey don't just stand there, grab a box and start decorating the tree!" Miss Aida tells me in a high-pitched voice.
I looked around the room finally choosing a box that said tree garland and opened it up. The most beautiful assortment of colors filled my eyes as I started to pull each one out strand by strand. I began at the bottom of the tree and worked my way around until I could no longer reach. One of the workers graciously pulled up a ladder for me to finish at the top.
Christmas music filled the air, which was another foreign concept to me. It filled me with such happiness that I almost started to cry. I decided officially that Christmas was my favorite holiday and I couldn't wait to start a new tradition. A couple hours later we were done with the tree. The rest of the house would be expertly decorated by people that were hired professionals. I didn’t argue considering my arms now felt like limp spaghetti noodles.
I went upstairs to get ready for my lunch with Ashley. She wanted to 'interview me' for the job as assistant to lead designer. I was bubbling with excitement and nervousness all at the same time. I only had one chance to prove myself and I was determined to do so.
I arrived at the restaurant a short while later and met Ashley at the table. She was beautifully put together and I admired her elegance even with her very large protruding baby bump. She wore a white dress that came just above her knees, and a white suit coat over the top. Her dirty blonde hair was down with loose spiral curls. Even her smile was flawless.
"Emily! It's so nice to see you again!" She stood up and gave me a half hug.
"It's nice to see you as well."
"Please sit down." The waiter approached us immediately asking for our drink selection.
"So, how are you today?”
"I’m alright, how are you?”
"Awesome! I'm so glad to hear that. Well I’m plugging along, any day now this baby will be here. My husband keeps telling me to stay home and relax, but I just can’t. Anyway enough about me, we are obviously here to test your skills." She smiled at me and I returned it. I hid my sweaty palms underneath the table trying to hide how nervous I really was.
"Here are some samples of two combinations." She pulled out two sets of material. One set was patterned in different colors and the other set was just plain colors but with different textures.
"Let's say I have a client who is remodeling their office, it's a small space but they want it sleek and modern and they love the color yellow. Which of these would you choose to update her office with?"
I looked down at the patterns and colors and it was like I had a small flash back of my mom. A wave of inspiration fell over me.
"I would pick this color and match it with that pattern and then maybe add some light furniture. Going too dark would offset this and make the room look smaller than it probably should be. I mean no one likes a smaller space." I looked up from my rant to see Ashley smiling from ear to ear.
"You told me you like to design, but I had no idea you were that good! I mean just the way you talk about it is incredible. Are you sure you didn’t go to design school?”
“No. I couldn’t afford it.”
“Well, you definitely should think about it in the future. Now I have to be fair to everyone I hire and your no exception just because you are dating my brother.”
“I understand.”
“I can hire you as a paid intern to start only because you don’t have a degree. The duties include coffee runs, doing faxes, filing files, and helping whoever needs help designing. I know it’s not much but you have to get your foot in the door.”
"I totally understand and I’m so grateful for any job at this point."
"No problem, you start tomorrow. To be honest no one that I have interviewed has ever been as good as you and they had degrees!" I blushed at her comment and looked down at the table. Silence engulfed us for a few minutes before she spoke again.
"You know, my brother hasn't been the same since you showed up. I mean that in a good way. Except for the other night of course. He doesn't realize we all see it. We just don't react to it anymore, we've learned the hard way. But the other night you had such good control over him that no one has ever had. Not even my father, and he’s pretty tough as I’m sure you are now aware of.”
I didn't know what to say in response. She completely caught me off guard.
"I don't know if he has told you the details of our mother's death." She trailed off looking at me to continue. I shook my head.
"Well the story goes that this guy from my mom's high school was obsessed with her. When high school ended, she met my dad, they instantly fell in love, yadi ya. Anyways my dad's company ended up taking off, and it just so happened that one of the buildings my dad wanted to buy was owned by the same guy that was obsessed with my mom. She happened to be with him the day he went to look at it. Long story short this guy ended up getting into our weekend house that we had on the
beach.
Josh and I were out with our friends, dad was working, and Jake was playing video games. The guy snuck in and somehow shot my mother. Jake won't tell us exactly what happened. All he told us was that he called 911 and he tried to stop the bleeding with his hands but by the time they got her through the front doors of the hospital she had passed away."
I put my hand over my mouth as I listened to her tell the story. A flashback of the day he came to my hospital room floods my mind. It all makes perfect sense now. I wanted to cry for him.
"I'm so sorry. I-I don't know what to say." She puts her hand on mine with a sad look on her face.
"You don't have to say anything. Just promise me you will be good to my brother and help him. We all want to see him happy again. You know, carefree."
"I promise."
Chapter Twenty-Five
Emily
I was feeling so many emotions when I arrived back home. Happiness from getting the job, sadness from finding out about Jake's mom, nervousness and so much more. The fireplace was on and so were the beautiful Christmas tree lights. I sat down on the fluffy white couch, sinking in, feeling the warmth engulf me. I stared at the lights twinkling from red to green to blue and back. A beautiful angel sat on the top of the tree that glowed.
I was lost in thought when two hands wrapped around my chest from behind. I jumped but immediately relaxed when soft lips pressed to my cheek. I arched my head up to look into Jake's eyes and I smiled.
"How was your day?" I asked.
"It was long." He sighed and then came around to sit next to me on the couch.
"Did you help decorate today?"
"Yeah, it was a lot of fun. I've never actually decorated."
"Really? You would never have known, it looks beautiful."
"Thank you." I rested my head on his shoulder and looped my arm through his. I loved the feeling of being twisted up with him. I couldn’t get enough.
"I had lunch with your sister today." I mumbled. I felt him stiffen for a minute and then speak.
"Oh? What happened?"
