Chapter 6
Amanda barely slept that night. She couldn’t wrap her mind around the events of that day. She started the day on top of the world, her work was recognized, and her peers congratulated, and her boss actually smiled at her. Sure, he was taking the credit, and he was still the most unpleasant person she had ever met. But he was improving; he really was, wasn’t he? Maybe if she worked hard enough, if she managed to prove herself she could break through his shell and get the respect she deserved. Succeeding in her job had been Amanda’s priority for a while, it was all she had focused on. She wasn’t thinking about love at all when it happened, but it had happened, and she couldn’t deny it. Mallory Langdon had come and swept her off her feet with just one look and every second they spent together just further strengthened their bond and their feelings for each other. Amanda had been so sure, so confident that Mallory felt the same. Then why, Amanda asked herself, why had it had been so easy to start that fight?
That night, when she thought about the fight, Amanda couldn’t decide how she really felt about it. Part of her thought it had been absurd, she had been too aggressive and Mallory too inopportune with her comments, they had exploded and they’d surely get over it, right? But then the other side of her brain protested. She always thought of herself as not good enough for Mallory, not pretty enough, not rich enough, not important enough. Maybe Mallory couldn’t see the world from Amanda’s perspective and couldn’t understand why she cared so much about her job. Then, of course, was the personal issue between her girlfriend, if they still were, and her boss. Mallory and Tom were siblings, apparently not with a good relationship, clearly competing against each other. And to her great dismay, it seemed that Amanda had fallen right in the middle of it. What if Mallory was just using her to sabotage Tom?
All those thoughts haunted Amanda the entire night. Whenever she managed to get an hour or two of sleep, she was violently awoken by a nightmare that vanished from her memory immediately but still left her shaking in the darkness of her room. By the time the sun rose in the horizon, Amanda was just about ready to go out running and never return. She refrained to getting breakfast ready and do some nervous cleaning around the apartment as she discussed her problems with the not so helpful cat, Martin. They were in the middle of an exciting debate on the balance between working and personal relationships when Martin ran away frightened by the sound of Amanda’s phone. It was Tom.
“Hello? Good morning, Mr. Langdon. Is everything alright?” she asked, unable to keep the anxiety from her voice. Tom had never called her to her personal phone, let alone one Saturday morning.
“Everything’s perfect, darling! How are you?” he asked.
It took a few seconds for Amanda to answer, she felt at a loss there.
“Um, everything’s… great, Mr. Langdon… Is there anything I can do for you?”
“Always so efficient. My stellar collaborator…” he made a pause then. “You know that, don’t you? That you’re the best member in my team right now. Everybody’s talking about you, honey…”
His voice drifted off. Amanda shuddered. Those words of endearment that she heard in Mallory’s voice suddenly sounded awful. She tried to smile, because Tom had never been so kind, but that new attitude made him sound simply odd.
“I was thinking, darling,” he continued, “that you deserve a prize as well, don’t you think so? Do you think that you deserve a prize, Amanda? A reward for all your hard work?”
“I mean, if you say so, Mr. Langdon.”
“I say, that I’m currently at a very nice house just outside of town. There’s some pretty country, even a pool, and some colleagues are getting ready a nice dinner for us. I think your presence would be divine here. Come on; you deserve it, don’t you think so, Amanda?”
That was unexpected, Amanda thought, but a welcomed surprise. She smiled at her phone. Was it finally happening, the recognition she had dreamed of?
“Are you serious, Mr. Langdon?”
“I’m sending you the address right now.”
His last words sounded suddenly bored, but mere seconds after he ended the call the address arrived at Amanda’s phone. She was all smiles and laughs as she got ready. That was a whole process, deciding how casual or how formal to dress. She was going to hang out with Tom’s colleagues, her colleagues – unbelievable.
Amanda made her way to the address Tom had given her as fast as she could, and once she arrived, she had to stay a minute in her car to catch her breath. She felt as if she had arrived running. Could it seriously be possible that Tom had accepted as a collaborator instead of just one more employee who brought him his coffee? After all, she had exceeded in every task he had assigned her, maybe he finally noticed.
She walked into the house with her head held high and a polite smile on her lips. She crossed paths with a man that looked her up and down and continued on his way, and a couple that politely greeted her, until finally she spotted Tom by the kitchen. It was a strange house, too big, too white, too decorated, but even from the place where she had parked her car she could tell, it was beautiful and grand and worth a fortune. Probably everybody there was a billionaire like Tom, she was grateful to know at least him.
“Tom! There you are! Hi!” she greeted him cheerfully when she reached his side.
He smiled a tightlipped smile at her and turned to the man he had been talking to. “Could you give us a moment, please?” he said, and the man left. Amanda had expected an introduction, but maybe that would happen later on.
“Miss Young…” Tom started to say once they were alone in the massive kitchen.
“Tom! This is amazing, thank you for inviting me…”
“Miss Young,” he spoke, vehemently, immediately stopping her “You must only refer to me as Mr. Langdon…”
“Oh.”
“You’re… late.” He said, making a gesture to theatrically look at his watch, “Though it is convenient that you finally showed up. This is a celebration for my triumph, mine. As the director and sole leader of the sales depart, my hard work, my name, my abilities were recognized with this prize by, as you know, my company, Miss Young.” He made obnoxious pauses on every sign of possession and Amanda was already speechless, but still, he kept talking. “My colleagues and I are going to out there and have some fun. But we were missing a waitress… someone will come soon and tell what exactly to do. Enjoy your day, Miss Young.”
Amanda was stunned to silence, and she remained mute even after Tom had left the kitchen. She was only grateful for the fact that he didn’t get to see her cry – that didn’t mean, though, that she wasn’t about to cry like she used to when she was a baby. She just held her emotions inside of her until she had reached her car. She left that house running, running as fast as she could, not caring about how it looked and who had looked, she just needed, she desperately needed to be away, so far away from that nightmare as possible. She had never felt so worthless in her entire life. She had thought she had reached the light at the end of tunnel where her boss considered her a collaborator, maybe even a friend to introduce to new social groups that would equally admire her job. It had all been a trick. A dirty and evil trick played by Tom to remind her of her position, to tell her that she was below him in every aspect of life.
She had been driving back to town when those thoughts became too much, when the tears decided they wouldn’t stop, when her lungs felt like burning and when her car almost crashed straight into another vehicle – almost. Amanda had used her last bit of strength, and the other driver had been quick enough, and tragedy had been avoided. But the fright, the horror of what almost happened and the cruelty of what had actually happened a few minutes ago, all of that had a paralyzing effect in Amanda. After the near-crash, the other driver promptly left the scene and continued with their lives. But Amanda was stuck, she was paralyzed, she couldn’t think straight, and she couldn’t find the strength to drive – she could only cry, there, in the middle of a desolated road outside of town.
Chapter 7
Mallory opened the door instantly, not even hiding the fact that she had been waiting just to the side, waiting impatiently for Amanda to arrive. When she had received the call from the distressed woman, she had suggested to pick her up, in fact, she had already picked up her keys to leave the apartment. She only stayed at home because Amanda insisted she had calmed down enough to drive and it would be useless making Mallory drive all the way there and then both still having to drive both cars separately. Amanda didn’t mention the tiny fact that mere hearing Mallory’s voice, Mallory’s genuine concern and very specially, Mallory’s lack of judgment and the fact that what she had predicted had happened just exactly as she had said it would, that those were the things that calmed her down.
Both women stood on both sides of the doorway, too scared to move, as if they were standing in front of a vision that could vanish at any moment. Amanda was there, with red eyes and tear trails down her cheeks, wanting to apologize a million times for ever doubting Mallory and not listening to her advice. In front of her was Mallory, in her usual attire of sweatpants and a soft flannel shirt, she wasn’t wearing her glasses, and her green eyes looked so full of emotions, so unlike the cold and venomous eyes of her brother. Before any of them could say something, Mallory took one quick step forward and embraced Amanda in her arms.
“I’m sorry,” she said.
“No, no, you have nothing to be sorry about! I’m sorry, Mallory, so, so sorry.” Amanda replied, her voice quivering.
Mallory stayed silent and rocked Amanda’s back and forth to sooth Amanda, plus she rubbed her back and started leaving tender kisses on top of her head.
“Come on, come here,” Mallory whispered as she led them to the sofa, taking Amanda’s hand and affectionately staring at her. “I’m sorry, Amanda, this is my fault. I should have warned you more seriously. I should have explained myself better. I should have… I don’t know; I shouldn’t have taken you for granted.”
“What do you mean? No! This all my fault!” Amanda signaled with her arms around herself “I should have listened to you and I should have believed you and… It’s just my stupid head; I manipulated myself away from you… I was scared.”
Mallory raised her hand to caress the side of Amanda’s face. “I love you” she wanted to say. But was it too much? Was it not a right moment? She felt her heart beating too rapidly. She felt overwhelmed with emotions. In the end, all she could do was smile, smile fondly at Amanda and lean down for a kiss.
Their lips connected perfectly, like the first time, like every time they kissed. In that moment they were leaving the past behind and hopefully sealing a promise, a promise of a future together.
That kiss was followed by many and many more. At times, Amanda’s anxiety would kick in again; she’d pull away and ask Mallory “are you sure? Do you forgive me?” and the vulnerable and tender look in her eyes was more than enough to melt Mallory’s heart, she’d forget all her words and the only way she knew how to promise Amanda that the past was the past and that they could move forward and that the future was theirs, was to kiss her, again and again until the natural spark in Amanda’s eyes was back and they were both so full of happiness.
They didn’t leave Mallory’s apartment again that day, with each other’s company, there wasn’t much else they wanted. However, the next day, Mallory was sweetly woken up by a series of small kisses reaching her face.
“Mhm, good morning,” she whispered, as she opened her eyes and met the bright face of Amanda leaning towards her.
“Hello, sweetheart,” Amanda smiled, “guess what I think we should do today?”
Just then was that Mallory finally noticed the playful kind of spark that had reached Amanda’s eyes.
“Oh no,” Mallory whispered.
“Oh no,” she repeated about a hundred times between that first moment and the second she stepped into the ice-skating ring.
Chapter 8
Trustfully, their date at ice skating ring ended up being one of the best dates Amanda and Mallory had ever had in their entire lives. The thing is, Amanda wasn’t an expert in ice skating, in fact, she was very clumsy as well, but she embraced it. The result was both women struggling to even stand still but not complaining much. First, because they were laughing so much and having so much fun that there was really no time at all to complain. Second, well, having to hold each other the entire time, holding hands, their bodies close to fight the cold, picking each other from the ground and then not letting go, those were more than enough reason to keep each other very, very happy.
It was a little too much for Amanda, thinking that Saturday had been one of the worst days of her life, feeling so ashamed and embarrassed and like a professional failure. Then thinking that Sunday had been through and through one of the most magical experiences ever. Each one had been fault of one of the Langdon siblings. That family was going to make her lose her mind one day, Amanda thought. That was the only somewhat funny thought she had allowed herself. Because, if she was being honest with herself, she was absolutely terrified of showing up for work on Monday. What would Tom say? Would he be upset because she ran away on Saturday? Did she even still have the job? Those were the important questions, she thought. However, that day when she woke up find a sweet text from Mallory that said “Good morning, my angel. How are you today? Can I see you after work?” that had Amanda double thinking her priorities.
She arrived early and got to work as usual. Tom arrived late and barely glanced her way, as usual. He asked her to go to the city to get him his favorite coffee, and he even left early that day, still following their common routines. There was a trick, though. A small change and a massive surprise.
“Miss Young, I’m leaving for today, but I need you to complete a task before this Friday,” he said sounding terribly bored, “This is my company, no one else’s. I need my sister to give up her rights to it. You either convince her of doing that, break her heart, or I will fire you first thing next Monday, understood?”
He didn’t wait for an answer, though. He left her there, her mind in ruins and her heart more distressed than ever before. Thinking that it couldn’t get any worse, Amanda scrambled to check her phone. In there she found a text from Mallory that she hadn’t read. “Babe, I’m so sorry, I’m not feeling well. I’ll see you tomorrow for lunch.” Well, that was disappointing, Amanda thought. A part of her was relieved, though. She couldn’t imagine herself acting like everything was normal and everything was okay when in fact everything was wrong, and everything was a disaster.
One more night of sleep ruined by the Langdon last name. Amanda couldn’t really believe what was happening. What did the world have against her? She wondered. Why is it that happiness seemed to find her for only a glimpse and then ran away from her, leaving her dizzy and troubled? It was so unfair! She felt like crying for days and days until her problems solved themselves. It wouldn’t be necessary, though.
“So, how was your… work… today?” Mallory asked her the next day at lunch.
Amanda sighed. That kind of dull and insecure conversation was so unlike them. At least she could feel that she wasn’t the only one acting weird, acting afraid. Mallory seemed just as troubled, for some reason.
“I don’t really want to talk about work,” Amanda replied with a sad smile. “How was your food?”
“Nice. I… uh, I ate it,” Mallory answered, and it was her turn to shrug halfheartedly, “Do you want coffee?”
“Yeah, please. One with sugar for me, one with poison for my boss…”
Amanda did that thing sometimes, when she was too deep in her own thoughts, she lost the filter of her words. A second later, when she realized she had suggested poisoning her girlfriend’s brother, she
chocked on her food and looked alarmed at Mallory, terrified of meeting horror in those gorgeous green eyes.
Instead, what she found was humor, joy, and something that looked a lot like love, if she allowed her heart to speak. Mallory laughed genuinely, like she hadn’t done in that entire meal. Then she reached with her hand to tenderly hold Amanda’s face, and she sweetly kissed her.
When she pulled back, she said with a smile, “I’m so glad I’ve found you.”
Chapter 9
The day before, Tom had delivered a threat not only to his assistant, but he had paid a visit to his younger sister as well.
“I see you’re having fun,” he said smugly, walking into her office without any warning.
“Tom, what are you doing here?” Mallory asked, caught off guard by the strange presence of her brother, he never entered her office.
He walked slowly, calm, knowing it would take Amanda at least thirty minutes to run to his favorite store to get him his coffee.
“You,” he said with an accusatory finger pointing her way as he sat down on a chair in front of her desk, “you are using my secretary.”
“Using her!”
“Please don’t tell me you are in love,”
His mean laugh filled the whole room and made Mallory feel nauseous.
“What happens between Amanda and me it’s none of your business.”
“Oh but it is,” he told her, “she’s my secretary, you are my sister, and this is my business.”
“She’s so much more than a secretary, she’s worth a million of them, you just don’t treat her how she deserves,” Mallory said, suddenly furious with her brother.
“I don’t care! She loves the job, she adores it, and you know that. Now, the point here, what you don’t seem to understand, dear sister, is that this is my business, literally. This company is mine!”
“Half of it is…”
You Should Believe Her Page 3
