“We got all the supplies, plus eight rom-com DVDs for you to choose from. It’s going to be a great night!” Suzy was clapping her hands with joy.
“But Aria, you look like you’re returning from a party of your own.” Clara narrowed her eyes at me. I was still in the dress from the previous night and it was easy to guess that I hadn’t been home in a while.
I breathed in deeply, preparing myself for the coming onslaught of questions.
“Guys, I have something to tell you.”
***
The three of us were in our pajamas and sprawled around my living room. Clara made enormous quantities of popcorn and pop-tarts, and we were filling ourselves with junk food. Runaway Bride was playing on TV, but we’d muted it. Each of us had a glass of Rosé in our hands.
“But I thought you we sure he was an ass,” Suzy complained. We’d spent the past hour talking about Michael and what was going to happen next. The two of them were in as much shock as I was.
“But she clearly can’t keep her hands off him!” Clara giggled, and I blushed. It was true. Michael was definitely the hottest man I’d slept with.
“But hey, honey . . . We don’t want to see you hurt either,” Clara added quickly and I nodded. I could understand their concern. I’d spent the past week complaining about my boss, and now I was sleeping with him. I didn’t blame them for being worried that I was losing my mind.
“Michael is a difficult man to understand . . . but I think we both want the same things in life. He’s shown me a side to him that most people don’t even know exists. A man like him is worth loving, don’t you think?” I asked them. Suzy sighed dreamily and Clara nodded her head.
“Well, we’re happy for you then,” Suzy said.
I bit down on my lip. “We’re taking things slowly, but this is serious . . . I can’t wait for you guys to finally meet him,” I was excited.
“Invite him to the party, then!” Clara declared.
“What party?” I didn’t know we were celebrating my birthday in a big way.
“Nothing crazy. We’ve just invited a few of our friends to MacCauley’s tomorrow night. Don’t worry. It’ll just be a handful of us. Nothing to scare him away,” Suzy explained.
I was already imagining the scene: me on Michael’s arm, him smiling down happily at me while I introduced him to my closest friends.
“I mean, you said he doesn’t want to tell people at work, but none of us work with you. So he should be okay with this, right?” Clara asked. She was looking at me suspiciously. I knew the two of them still had reservations about Michael. They didn’t fully trust him yet.
If they finally met each other, my friends might actually see what I saw in him. Their opinion meant the world to me.
“Okay, yes. I’ll text him now,” I said and reached for my phone. I was smiling as I wrote to him. I could already picture his face.
Wondering if you want to hang out with my friends and me tomorrow night at MacCauley’s? Nothing big, just some casual drinks. We could finally do a normal couple thing!
After I sent the text, I waited with a nervous heart. Suzy and Clara could sense the tension in the room, and they tried to change the subject or distract me. A half hour went by before Michael finally texted me back. My hands shook as I read the message.
Sounds good. See you tomorrow at work. Have a nice night, Aria.
“He’ll be there!” I squealed joyously. Clara and Suzy came over so we could share a group hug. They could sense I was happy about them meeting Michael.
Things were really turning around. He was sticking to his word — he was really trying. I tried to think, but I couldn’t recall when I’d last felt this happy. Not with Evan or any other guy I’d dated.
Finally, I felt like I was with a real man who respected me and considered my feelings. I was wrong about Michael. I shouldn’t have judged him the way everyone else did. He was a man who was capable of love, and he was capable of loving me. I was happy and looking forward to my birthday celebration.
Clara, Suzy, and I spent the rest of the night eating and getting drunk together. We watched several rom-coms back to back and fell asleep on the couch after midnight. I was officially twenty-five, and my life couldn’t have been any better.
Chapter 18 - Aria
The next day at work, I was excited to see Michael again, but I knew we wouldn’t get much time to talk. He was in and out of meetings all day. There was a new client deal coming up. The only times I saw Michael were when he was in the presence of others. I had to act normal and professional, and he did the same. There were no stolen glances or loving smiles exchanged, but I couldn’t blame him. He was at work.
At six, I knocked on his door to ask if he needed me. I wanted to go home early so I could get ready for the party later. Michael was in a meeting with his team, and he dismissed me quickly. I itched to ask him about the party – for any hint of whether he remembered – but I didn’t have a chance.
On my way home, I texted him instead.
Will I see you later? We didn’t really get a chance to talk today
I knew he wouldn’t have the chance to see or reply to my text for a while – not until the meeting was over. I wouldn’t mind if he was late, just as long as he turned up. Just so he could finally meet my friends.
I was looking forward to the evening. More than just turning twenty-five, I was excited about this new turn in my life.
***
It was nine o’clock and all my friends were at MacCauley’s.
I dressed up for the occasion in a new blue dress I thought Michael would like. Suzy, Clara and three of my other friends were surrounding me at our table, trying to keep me distracted. They were all aware that my new boyfriend was supposed to join us.
I checked my phone repeatedly, but there was no response from Michael. I considered calling him or texting him again, but Suzy told me not to. She suggested that I wait for another half hour and see how it goes.
Then, it was nine-thirty and I was about to get up from the table and call him. I was hopeful that maybe it was just a lengthy meeting and he hadn’t been able to get out of it yet. That maybe he was just on his way.
My phone beeped and I saw it was Michael.
Hey, I have to go for drinks with a new client. I’ll see you at work tomorrow.
I read the message three times before I finally looked up from my phone. My friends could see the distress on my face.
“Oh, honey!” Clara moved from her chair and came to sit down beside me. I flung my arms around her, hiding my face in her shoulder with shame.
“I don’t know what I was thinking!” I whimpered. Suzy came over to sit beside me too.
“What’s going on?” my friend, Janie, asked.
Clara took my phone from me and read Michael’s message.
“He’s not coming. He has some client-entertainment to do!” she spat the words out, rolling her eyes in disgust.
“I should have known . . . ” I sniffled, pulling away from them. “I should have known he wouldn’t change. Everything he told me was a lie. He said all those things just to get me in his bed.” I started to cry.
My friends closed in on me, but none of their soothing words were helping. This was all my fault. I’d brought it upon myself. I was foolish enough to think that he could change. The truth was that Michael Sole would never care about anything other than his work. I was never going to be important enough to him.
“Aria, you need to break out of this cycle,” Clara said firmly.
I looked up to see her glaring at me.
“Do you understand what I’m saying? You need to quit that job and get away from him,” she insisted. Suzy was shaking her head behind Clara.
“He’s going to seduce you again. He’ll find a way to do it. You have feelings for him, and he’s taking advantage of that,” Suzy agreed.
I wiped the tears away from my cheeks and nodded. “Yes, you’re right. You guys have been right all along. I need to get out of th
ere before he ruins me!” I cried.
“Aria, if you’re looking for a new job, I have a lead you can follow up on,” Janie interjected. I looked at her with crossed brows. “My aunt is the principal at a school for disabled children. She’s looking for a new office manager and I’m sure you’d be the perfect fit,” Janie informed us. My heart skipped a beat. A new job. A world outside of Michael Sole.
“Yes. I’m interested. When can I meet your aunt?” I asked. The tears were subsiding. There was still hope for me.
“Tomorrow, if you want. The only thing is, the school is not in Chicago. It’s in Wisconsin – a small town called Lake Geneva,” Janie said. I’d heard of Lake Geneva. It was a beautiful quiet town some hours away from Chicago. The farther from Michael, the better!
“She’ll go!” Suzy spoke for me.
Janie smiled. “Great! I’ll let my aunt know that you’ll drive down to meet her tomorrow. Trust me, Aria, you’ll love it there,” Janie exclaimed.
Clara and Suzy were hugging me tightly again.
“If you get the job . . . which we know you will . . . we will miss you, Aria,” Clara said, teary-eyed.
“But this is best for you. A fresh start in a new place, away from all the things that have been going on in your life,” Suzy said and I nodded my head, still wiping tears from my eyes.
“Thank you, guys. Thanks, Janie. I’ll miss you guys too, but we’ll see each other often, I’m sure. I just need to get out of here. I need to make a fresh start and I can’t rely on a man to do it for me,” I said, holding my head high.
Chapter 19 - Michael
I got to work early the next day. For the first time since Aria had taken the job as my secretary, she was late. I liked having my coffee waiting for me on my desk. I liked seeing Aria first thing in the morning. In her absence, I realized that I missed her.
As I sat behind my desk and waited, I wondered if I should call her. Wasn’t that what men were supposed to do for women? Wasn’t it a boyfriend’s duty to know where his girlfriend was at all times? The words seemed strange in my head. She was my girlfriend. I’d committed to an actual relationship!
I stood up from my chair and paced around the office. Half an hour went by and there was still no sign of her. I didn’t know whether to be mad or sad about it. I couldn’t start working – not until I’d seen Aria.
I was itching to call her, but I also didn’t want to impose. Maybe she’d overslept. Maybe she was on her way. Just because we were dating didn’t mean that it was appropriate to invade her privacy. I still didn’t know how I was supposed to act. What boyfriends were supposed to do?
I allowed another hour to go by and still there was no sign of Aria. I couldn’t concentrate on work. The phone was ringing off the hook. Eventually, I had to call for Silvia and ask her to take Aria’s place for the day.
“Should I try and get a hold of her, Mr. Sole?” Silvia asked and I shook my head.
“No, I’ll do it,” I replied.
I had Aria’s texts staring back at me on my phone. I read them over and over again. Was it all about the drinks the previous night? Was she upset that I’d canceled on her? I assumed she would understand that I had something work-related to attend to.
I called her number, and just when I was about to give up, a girl answered the phone. I knew immediately that it wasn’t Aria.
“Who’s this?” I growled.
“I’m Aria’s friend, Clara. You must be Michael,” the girl replied.
“Is Aria okay? Why do you have her phone?” I asked.
“She’s busy. I took her phone so that she wouldn’t have to talk to you. As you must have noticed already, Aria isn’t coming in to work today,” Clara told me.
“Just tell me if she’s fine!” I cried. I could hear the hostility in the girl’s voice. I was pretty certain that she didn’t like me.
“She’ll be fine now . . . since she’s chucking you out of her life.” Clara’s voice sizzled as she spoke.
“What the hell are you talking about? What is going on?” I growled, jumping out of my chair.
“You seriously don’t know what you’ve done?” Clara hissed.
“Enlighten me,” I snapped back.
“It was her twenty-fifth birthday yesterday, you self-obsessed fool!” Clara said.
I had no idea. She hadn’t told me. I didn’t realize that I was canceling on her birthday party.
“Aria didn’t tell me . . . ” My voice was fading away.
“It doesn’t matter, Michael. She was excited to finally introduce you to us. She wanted you to be there. It didn’t matter to her that it was her birthday. All she cared about was you showing up, and you didn’t. Just like I predicted. Men like you don’t change. Poor Aria shouldn’t have even tried.” Clara was on a rant, and I listened to her in silence.
My instinct was to fight back. How dare she speak to me that way! But everything she was saying was true. Ever since I’d met Aria, I’d done nothing but act selfishly. The client drinks the previous night could easily be avoided. It wasn’t that important. Nothing should have been as important as spending time with the woman I was falling in love with.
“I should have . . . ” I began to say, but Clara cut me off.
“Yeah, you should have. You should have turned up and you should have thought about her. And if you knew you couldn’t do those things . . . you shouldn’t have promised her lies. She was doing fine. Aria had a tough past few weeks, but she would have gotten through it. Now you’ve ruined everything!” Clara shouted into the phone.
“I need to ask for her forgiveness.” I was beginning to panic.
“You’re not going near her if I can help it!” Clara snapped.
“Listen to me, Clara,” I thundered. I had enough of her accusations and her shouting. I knew she was right in protecting her friend, but I needed to find a solution and she wasn’t helping.
“Aria has changed my life. I might be struggling to show it to her, but the truth is that I can’t lose her. I’m trying to learn. I’ve never been in a serious relationship before, but I want one with Aria. I’m falling in love with that woman and I’m not going to let anyone – least of all, you – stand between us!”
Clara was silent as she listened to me raging. I thought she was going to just end the call.
“Aria is my best friend. She’s been there for me when I most needed her, and that’s what I’m trying to do for her now,” Clara’s voice had softened.
I pressed my eyes to closed, holding the phone tightly to my ear. Right now, the only person who could help me was her. “I understand that, but if you care about your friend, then you’re just going to have to accept the fact that I’m not going anywhere. I’m going to do everything to get her back. I’ll spend the rest of my life doing it if I have to. Try me!”
I heard Clara sigh. I couldn’t be sure if she was cracking, but I was hopeful. There was no way I was going to lose Aria. Not now.
Chapter 20 - Aria
Suzy waited for me in the car while I went into the Sole office building. She forbade me from going up to see Michael. My instructions were to simply hand Rebecca my resignation letter and leave. We’d decided that the best way of dealing with the situation would be to rip it off like a band-aid.
When I went up to Rebecca at the reception desk, she looked up with worry. “Aria, what happened? You haven’t been at the office all day. Mr. Sole and Silvia are going crazy up there. I don’t know how they managed everything before you joined, but now they’ve gotten used to having you around.” Rebecca could see it in my eyes. Something was wrong.
I handed my resignation letter to her.
“I’m sorry, Rebecca. I’m leaving. I’d appreciate it if you could give this to Mr. Sole,” I told her with a weak smile.
She jumped out of her chair. “Aria, come on! You can’t go! Just give it some more time. Whatever trouble you’re having with Mr. Sole, I’m sure it’ll be fine. He’s not a bad person,” Rebecca pleaded.
&nb
sp; Ever since I joined the office, I was aware that I’d made everybody else’s jobs a lot simpler too. I was organized and diligent and kept Michael happy.
“I know he isn’t a bad person. But I’m sorry, I really have to go,” I told her and turned away. She didn’t follow me out.
Suzy was waiting for me in the car and she passed me a sympathetic smile when I got in.
“You’re going to be okay. You have a new life waiting for you in Lake Geneva, honey.” Suzy patted my knee. I smiled at her and nodded.
***
Suzy dropped me off at the apartment building. We had had a long day. It was very kind of her, I thought, to drive me all the way up to Lake Geneva, taking the day off from her work. I’d left my cellphone with Clara. I didn’t want any interruptions from Michael or someone else from the office. I knew I just needed to get things done and move on.
I got the job, just like Janie predicted. I was all set to make the move in the coming week. I shuddered at the thought of packing my whole life up and moving. But this was what I’d always wanted. I wanted to leave Chicago and move somewhere smaller. I wanted to be able to go for long walks in the woods and drink in the natural beauty of my surroundings. My new town would offer me just that. Maybe the quiet of Lake Geneva and the simplicity of life there would give me the peace I was searching for.
I went up the steps to my apartment, and when I put the key in the door, I saw that it was already unlocked. Was Clara at my place?
“Clara?” I called her when I stepped in, but my voice drifted away. My apartment looked completely different.
The whole place was filled with red roses. Every surface, every table, every windowsill was decorated with vases of red roses. Rose scented candles were lit around the living room and along the hallway. It smelled beautiful.
“Clara!” I shouted her name. Why would she do this? I rushed down the hallway towards the kitchen. I could hear her in there. She was cooking.
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