After The Fall
By Ariadne Wayne
Smashwords Edition
Copyright © 2013 Ariadne Wayne
Published by Northnet Limited
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This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
Contents
In The Rain
Meeting Alex again
The affair continues
Fighting
Everything comes to an end
Trying Dating again
The law firm
Mr Mercer
The Phone Call
Together
A new life
Flying Away
New Beginnings
The Wedding
The First Week
Lunch
Aaron
Time together
Breaking Point
Lisa Visits
The End?
CHAPTER ONE
In The Rain
The street looked empty, eerie with the only sound the autumn leaves falling from the trees, scattering and swirling in the wind. It might have been the middle of the day but the sky darkened as the clouds descended and let loose the water they contained. I had no clue where I was and I just wanted to get home. Not a soul could be seen to ask for directions.
Turning towards the way that looked correct, I spotted someone in the distance and hope began to rise in me. Now I would find out where the hell to go.
“Excuse me,” I called out. First walking, and then running in the direction of the figure I barely made out as the rain drops obscured my vision. By now the rain was pelting down and a sudden gust of wind took hold of my umbrella, turning it inside out and dragging me down the road. I could see him now, the man on the other side of the road, and called out again. He turned as I ran across the road and tripped on the edge of the footpath.
The umbrella went flying and I fell on my knees. “Shit,” I said as my hands hit the concrete, leaving crimson stains where they had grazed.
He ran to my aid. “Are you all right?” he asked. American, I guessed.
“I’m fine, a little embarrassed,” I said.
“There’s no need for that, can you walk?”
“I’ll be fine, I just need to find the nearest bus stop,” I said. He took hold of my arm to help me up and I winced as I stood. I looked down and realised I had torn my stockings and now had two vibrant red patches on my knees.
“My place is near here, if you want to clean up. You must be soaked to the skin.”
I looked up at him. Tall with brown hair and even though his suit hid any clear view of his body, it was obvious he took good care of himself. He had the face of an angel with the most amazing long eyelashes encircling chocolate brown eyes that at that moment were not focused on my face.
“No thanks. All I want is to find the bus stop,” I said.
His gaze flickered up from my breasts to my face. “I can always give you a ride to where you’re going. I can’t imagine walking is going to be comfortable with those grazes.”
I pulled my arm away from him. “Thank you but the sooner I find the bus stop, the sooner I can get home,” I said.
He smiled, and parts of my anatomy reacted to him. I growled inside at them to stop.
“Look it’s really no problem, just let me give you a ride,” he said.
I took a deep breath, way out of my comfort zone now. No way was I going home or getting in a car with some guy I didn’t know. It didn’t matter how hot. “Please just show me which direction to go in,” I said.
“Fine,” he said and pointed down the road. “Sorry I couldn’t help you more.”
“Thanks,” I said and moved away from him. I picked up the pace when I realised he was behind me, and ignoring the nagging pain in my knees broke into a run as he continued to follow.
On the slippery path my heel broke beneath me and I slid. Helpless to stop myself falling, I resigned myself to the pain before it hit, and everything went black.
Before I opened my eyes I realised the wind and rain had stopped. The room was warm and dry and my first thought was that I was soaked to the skin on someone’s nice furniture. Something heavy lay across me and I realised I had been covered in a blanket.
The gorgeous man from outside looked down at me and I panicked when I realised I must have been inside his home.
“Don’t get upset, I brought you in out of the rain. I wasn’t about to leave an unconscious woman lying outside on the sidewalk. You fell and hit your head right outside my place. It might pay to get that checked out by a doctor.” He offered me a drink that smelled like hot chocolate but I shook my head at the thought of taking a drink from a stranger. I had seen far too many horror films for that.
I sat up. “Thanks, but I’ll be going now. Can you point me in the direction of the bus stop?”
He sighed. “Once you go out the main door, turn right and keep going. It’s three blocks that way. I wasn’t following you by the way, I was walking home from the store.”
“Thank you,” I said.
“I would be happy to call a taxi for you,” he said.
I shook my head, knowing I didn’t have the money for it. “Thanks for helping me, I have got to get going.”
“Sure. Just promise me you’ll get that bump on your head checked.”
“I will,” I said, knowing full well that wasn’t going to happen either.
“Alex Mercer,” he said, holding out his hand for me to shake.
I took it, his hand was warm, and his handshake firm. An image flashed in my mind of him touching me with it, stroking my breasts and pinching my nipples and I clenched between my legs.
“Natalie Sharp,” I said.
“Well Natalie Sharp, it’s been a pleasure meeting you. I hope the rest of your day goes better.”
I left but not without taking looking around. His house was pleasant enough, but sparsely decorated. I imagined in one of the rooms a big soft bed existed that I could just… “Snap out of it,” I murmured to myself as I went out the door.
The rain hadn’t stopped and I missed my broken umbrella. I ran the rest of the way on one broken heel and stopped when I got to the bus stop to examine my knees. Band aids were applied to both of them and I thought of him carrying me into his home and then carefully placing the band aids. I shivered thinking of him touching me.
“What happened to you?” Rebecca, my room mate watched as I walked in the door of our apartment. “You look like a drowned rat.”
“I got lost getting back to the bus stop and the rain drenched me. I fell on the footpath twice, hit my head and met this creepy, gorgeous guy.”
“Creepy and gorgeous?” Rebecca asked with a grin.
“He was insistent that he drive me home and then when I fell and knocked myself out he carried me into his house.”
Rebecca sat up straight. “What the hell Natalie, he
didn’t do anything dodgy did he?”
I shook my head. “No, he just put band aids on my grazes and offered to call me a taxi in the end.”
“So just gorgeous then,” Rebecca’s eyes twinkled with mischief.
“I’m not about to have sex with someone I randomly met in the street,” I said.
Rebecca laughed. “It might have cleared away the cobwebs Nat.”
I put my fingers in my ears. “Lalala I’m not listening, I’m going to go and have a shower and warm up now.”
Rebecca picked up a cushion from the couch and threw it at me as I left the room laughing.
The warm water in the shower was a godsend after being out in the rain for so long. I ran my hands over my body, thinking of Alex as I did it.
Afterwards I combed out my hair, and looked at myself in the mirror. I found the first thing any man looked at were my breasts. They didn’t really fit with the rest of my body and while they came in handy sometimes they could equally be a hindrance. My job interview had gone well but I doubted I would get the role. I never did.
I ran my fingers through my dark blonde hair and wondered for the millionth time if I should colour it. Maybe a darker hair colour might make people take me more seriously. I always thought I would look great as a platinum blonde but that might exacerbate the situation. My eyes were my best feature I decided. Mum had always called them hazel but it was hard to pin what colour they really were as they seemed different all the time. Today they looked grey, reflecting my mood.
“It’s a shame that Alex guy is creepy,” I said to myself.
As I made my way back out to the living room, the scent of lasagne greeted me. It made the house feel warm and homely after my adventures in the rain.
“So tell me more about this guy you met,” said Rebecca.
“Tall and filled out nicely with brown hair and brown eyes. Very fuckable but intense.”
“Sounds great, do you remember where he lived so you can thank him for helping you out?”
I laughed. “I have no idea. How stupid of me to go for a job interview in a part of town I have no idea about. It’s not cheap to live over that way. His home was almost completely empty apart from furniture too. Either he had just moved in or he lives very sparsely.”
“Perhaps that’s how he affords to live in that part of town,” Rebecca said.
I shrugged. “I don’t know but that’s the last I’ll see of him. Might have been more interesting if I hadn’t been lost, soaking wet and bleeding.”
Rebecca laughed. “Oh poor baby,” she said, “it’s been a big day, after dinner you should haul your sorry arse to bed.”
“I think I will,” I said, poking my tongue at her, “leave you with the dishes.”
“Nat, you had a crappy day. Seriously, take care of yourself and I’ll take care of everything else.”
“What would I ever do without you?” I asked.
“I don’t know, probably shrivel up and die. Do you think you got the job?”
I shook my head. “I don’t know. The woman taking the interview? So uptight. There was an older guy there though, he reminded me a bit of my father. I think he was one of the senior partners but in the end it’s her looking for an assistant and she didn’t seem keen.”
Rebecca moved behind my chair and wrapped her arms around my neck. “Well she’s crazy if she doesn’t give you the job. You would be perfect.”
“You would say that,” I said with a laugh.
Rebecca was my BFF, we had grown up together. The brunette to my blonde. We had been best friends since we started school. We had gone to university together, and even experimented a little in our late teens. Boys had come and gone but it had always been us. I was acutely aware that would not always be the case. Now we had graduated there wasn’t much reason for us to stay together. That and her boyfriend Troy was pretty crazy about her and I could see them moving in together.
For now though, I was going to bed to worry about that stuff later. Whether I got the job or not, today had been crap and I hoped like hell I wasn’t going to come down with a cold after my drenching. I wondered if I’d ever run into Alex Mercer again but the chances seemed against it. New Zealand has one of those reputations for everyone knowing each other but that’s not the case, except for when it is.
I came from a smaller town where that was much more likely to happen but Auckland was spread out with a larger population. There were parts I just didn’t venture into very often because there was no need. So what were the odds of running into someone again? It wouldn’t be the end of the world if I did. For his seeming creepy and that whole carrying me into his house he didn’t harm me. He hadn’t held me against my will or anything.
The excitement of the day over, I snuggled under the blankets. I would hear about the job in a few days but I wasn’t holding out much hope of that. Yawning, I wondered what tomorrow would bring. Surely it wouldn’t be worse than today.
CHAPTER TWO
Meeting Alex again
I dragged myself out of bed the next morning to go to work. John owned his restaurant in the same spot there for years and I thought of him almost like a second father. Through university, waitressing for him had supported me and it would do until I found a full time job.
He readily gave me more hours when I needed them. Of all the workers he’d gone through the past few years I had been the most reliable. This was because I had little to no life while studying.
Apart from the odd date, my social life had been virtually non existent which was probably why my grades had been so good and I’d graduated with relatively few issues. No distractions had kind of been my unofficial motto and I was proud that I had stuck to it. With my business degree under my belt I was set to go out to make my living in the world. Right now I just had to pay the bills.
John had concerned me the past few weeks. He had clearly been worrying about something big and I was very fond of the old guy. He was well established in his little corner of the world and there were rumours there was a big new development coming this way. I wasn’t sure if his worries were that he would have to leave or that there would be more competition.
He was popular for his straightforward food and good prices. We were constantly busy and most of the customers were great. There was the odd asshole but they were dealt with pretty quickly.
“Natalie, can I see you for a moment?” he asked when I walked in the door.
“Sure,” I said. It was pretty common for us to go over the day ahead and any issues that might come up but today, the issue was a big one.
“We’ll be closing down,” he said, once I had sat down and his office door was closed.
“What? What happened?”
“That new development that’s coming this way, the owner of the building had an offer he couldn’t refuse and I’ve been putting off telling anyone else. I trust your discretion for now and this evening when it gets quiet I’ll be sitting down with the rest of the staff to tell them what is going on,” he said.
“So when does this all happen?” I asked.’
“Around two months. There’s nowhere around here that’s suitable and the prices they are wanting for rent in the new development is far too much for this little business.”
I had tears rolling down my face but I was far too distracted to think about even wiping them away. “So we’re all out of work because some big company is moving in?”
He sighed. “Basically yes. I’m so sorry Natalie, especially for you. I’ve never had any problems with you, you’re punctual and hard working. I will be only too pleased to give you a glowing reference.”
I sat there for a moment letting the words sink in and he handed me a tissue. “I’m old enough to retire now, I’ve been so proud of what has been built here and you have been a big part of that the last three years.”
“Thank you,” I whispered. I took a deep breath to compose myself on order to get back out there and work. “Thank you for the offer of the reference, I really a
ppreciate it.”
The morning crawled and when the lunch crowd came in I went out to wait the tables, finding a familiar face sitting in a corner. Alex Mercer sat with an attractive brunette in a booth. They were dressed casually and he looked exceptionally hot in his blue jeans and shirt with top two buttons undone, golden skin showing through.
I nearly swapped with someone else to serve the table but my curiosity got the better of me and I made my way to the booth, taking a deep breath for what was about to come.
“Are you ready to order?” I asked. The brunette had been chattering excitedly about something but Alex didn’t seem to be really listening. If they were on a date he wasn’t really that keen to be there from what I could see.
Those brown eyes met mine. “Natalie?”
“That’s right, and I’m here to take your order if you’re ready.” I didn’t need to even look at her to feel the brunette staring daggers at me.
“I didn’t know you worked here. How’s the head?” he asked.
“Well clearly I’m still alive so it’s fine.” I said with a smile.
He laughed. “I’m glad to see it. I have to confess that after you left my place yesterday I was concerned about possible concussion.”
“I have an awesome flatmate who took care of me and made sure I was all right,” I said, “thank you for your concern.”
Casually I looked over the brunette, noting the shade of purple she had turned. “Have you decided what you would like to order?”
All she did was stare at me. “Can you can suggest something Natalie?” asked Alex.
“Sure, I would recommend anything on the menu but I’m especially partial to the chicken burger, it’s a little bit spicy but full of flavour.”
The brunette sniffed. “Do you have salads?”
“Sure, there’s a chicken salad and a garden salad. Take your pick.”
She pulled a face. “The garden salad please.”
“I’ll have the chicken burger you recommended,” Alex said, “Does it come with fries?”
“It sure does, they have this amazing chicken salt on them. You’ll love them.”
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