Working For My
Arch Enemy
By
Melinda Jenkins
CONTENTS
DESCRIPTION
CHAPTER 1
CHAPTER 2
CHAPTER 3
CHAPTER 4
CHAPTER 5
CHAPTER 6
CHAPTER 7
CHAPTER 8
CHAPTER 9
CHAPTER 10
CHAPTER 11
CHAPTER 12
EPILOGUE
© COPYRIGHT 2019 Melinda Jenkins – ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
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This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events, and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.
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DESCRIPTION
Life has not always been easy for Rebecca. At the young age of fifteen, she learned that life is not always fair and to never trust anyone, not even your best friend.
Twelve years later she crosses paths with Cameron Fletcher, her childhood sweetheart, when she interviews for a position as his daughter’s nanny. It’s because of his family that hers fell apart. Seeing him again opens up all of the old wounds.
His life is perfect. He has a multi-billion-dollar company, a mansion, and an adorable daughter. Knowing his wealth was built at the expense of her family, she sets out to expose him and make him pay for the damage he has done.
The only problem is that her feelings for him have never quite died. As she moves forward with her plan, she must ask herself if revenge will really make her happy or if she should trust her feelings and take a leap of faith.
Working For My Arch Enemy
CHAPTER 1
Cameron
12 years ago
The day is warm and bright. There’s a cluster of clouds to the West, dark and heavy, promising rain. I hope it does. Rebecca’s family farm is in dire need of it. I glance over at her. We’ve been swimming in the lake that borders their land and are drying off on top of a large boulder that juts up from the edge of the shore. The water from the lake is still fresh on her golden skin, perfect droplets slowly evaporating in the sun.
“Penny for your thoughts?” she asks, giving me a sideways look.
I can feel the warmth of a blush staining my cheeks. Hopefully, she will mistake it for the heat. We’ve been best friends since I was nine. I’ve never forgotten that day. My father was delivering seeds to her dad. Her auburn hair was in pigtails, and she had a chocolate ice cream stain on the front of her t-shirt. We became inseparable that summer as my father helped to work the crop at the Bromley Farm. I’ve called her “R.B.” since day one. I don’t know when, but somewhere along the way, she stopped being “R.B.” in my mind. Now, when I think of her, she is “Rebecca”.
I try to act nonchalant, leaning back against my towel with my arms relaxed behind my head. “Seriously, R.B., do I look like I’m thinking that hard?”
She gives me a skeptical look. “Now you’re just covering up.”
I roll over onto my stomach and instantly regret it. In my attempt to appear cool, I just plopped over without adjusting my towel. When my skin contacts the fiery surface of the rock, I shriek like a girl and jump to my feet. My feet are just as hot! As a last resort, I jump back into the water, my burned skin screaming in relief.
Treading water, I look up at Rebecca. Her hand is covering her mouth as she tries to contain her laughter. After a few moments, she chokingly asks, “Are you okay?”
I glare up at her. “I can feel your concern all the way down here!”
Before I can even blink, she lands beside me in a cannonball. As I rub my eyes at the surge of water, she surfaces beside me. “Your face looked like it could use some cooling off!” With that, she dips back below the water, her feet flipping in unison like the tail of a mermaid…with one last splash in my direction.
She emerges from the lake, tiptoeing lightly across the boulder and grabs our towels. She gives me a wicked look. “I don’t want you to hurt your footsies again.”
Yeah, great. I feel like a man… Not! Next thing I know, my voice will start cracking again like when I was thirteen.
“After all,” she says, “I wouldn’t want for you to hurt yourself the day before your birthday.”
Now I’m really insulted.
“Hey! You’re supposed to respect your elders!”
She stops and stares at me like I am two. “Seriously? You’re gonna play that card?”
“I have one whole year on you,” I quip as she tosses me a towel, and I dry off the water.
“You may be seventeen tomorrow, but it is a well-known fact that girls mature faster than boys.” She towels her auburn hair dry and shoots me a grin. “You have some catching up to do!”
I pull my t-shirt over my head. “So you’re coming to my party tomorrow. Right?”
She rolls her eyes at me. “Of course! Silly!”
A raindrop splashes against my cheek, followed by another. The sun’s rays cause the droplets to sparkle like diamonds, their light a contradiction to the rain.
“The Devil’s beating his wife,” Rebecca says with a wistful smile as she stares off into the distance.
That is an old Southern saying for when it’s raining while the sun is still shining, a sunshower. I’ve never really understood it, but the look on Rebecca’s face draws me in. Before I can think another second, I step in closer. She looks up at me. In her green eyes, I see understanding…and acceptance. Slowly, I lower my lips to hers. They are just as soft as in my daydreams, softer…sweeter. Her arms slip around my waist. I tuck her head into my shoulder, barely noticing the raindrops as they fall around us.
“I’ve been wanting to do that for a while,” I tell her.
I feel her nod against my chest. “Me, too.”
Off in the distance, a rainbow arcs against the sky. Somehow, it seems fitting.
She pulls away from me. I immediately miss her warmth. She tucks a strand of her hair nervously behind her ear. “I’d better get home.”
I smile at her sudden shyness. This is a side of her I haven’t seen before.
“I can drive you.”
She just smiles. “In your new birthday jeep? I think I’ll walk.”
“In the rain?” I ask incredulously.
At that moment, it stops. She lifts her hand out. “See?”
She dons her backpack. “Promise me a ride in the new jeep later?”
I’m a little disappointed, but I can tell she wants to be by herself.
“You’re still coming to my party?” Why do I keep asking her that? I sound needy!
She just grins. “You need a date, don’t you?”
I look at her a little uncertainly. I hope it isn’t a pity date.
She places a soft kiss on my cheek. “I’ll be there. I’ll always be there.” With that, she begins to head off in the direction of her house. I am barely aware as I drive home, my thoughts full of her. Seventeen is looking promising!
CHAPTER 2
Rebecca
12 years ago
I think about the kiss as I walk home. It still seems unreal. I thought I was the only o
ne with feelings. It felt so right. I can’t wait until tomorrow night!
My thoughts take a darker turn as I approach our farmhouse. Something’s wrong. I can feel it. There are boxes stacked on the front porch, the door wide open. I hear my father yelling from inside and my mother crying. The last month has been really tense, but I just figured it was the drought. We’ve made it through worse summers. This is something else.
My father storms out onto the porch. “Where have you been?”
‘With Cameron,” I stammer in confusion. I’ve never seen my father like this. “What’s going on?”
A wild look of anger covers his face. “Don’t ever mention anyone from the Fletcher family again!” He grabs a box and carries it to the truck. I notice my mom’s SUV is piled up with boxes, too.
“Dad, please tell me what’s going on.” My voice is shaking, and I feel tears near the surface. I’m scared.
He walks past me back into the house. “I don’t have time to explain. Go to your room and grab everything you can. We have to leave.”
I hesitate.
“Now, Rebecca!”
I jolt into action. For the first time in my life, I am afraid of my father.
I run into the house. As I pass by the kitchen, I stop. My mother is sitting at the kitchen table, tears streaming down her face. Her eyes are red and swollen. She’s been crying all day from the looks of it. Boxes surround her.
Gingerly, I sit down beside her and take her hand. “Mom, I need to know what’s going on. Why is Dad so angry? Why are we packing?” I can feel her hand trembling in mine. In my entire life, I have never seen my parents like this. My head is spinning. Deep within, I realize our world is crashing down around us.
My mother gives me a vacant look. “George Fletcher took all of our money.”
I draw in a sharp breath. That’s Cameron’s father. “What? How can that be?”
“We’ve been struggling for a while, especially with the drought. George told your father about an investment opportunity. We pledged the farm as collateral, and George was supposed to manage the whole thing.” Her voice is tight as tears threaten to overtake her again. “He said it was a sure thing. We thought we were making a good decision, one that would help us. We trusted George, and he betrayed us.”
I gape at her in disbelief. “How did he do it? Why did he do it?”
She grabs a fresh tissue. “He gave your father documents to sign. What they really did was give him control of the funds borrowed against the farm. We had an attorney trace it all out. He duped us. We should have had an attorney advise us then, not now. We wouldn’t be in this mess.” She dabs at the corners of her eyes. “I told your father we should do that before we signed, but you know he never listens to me.”
I can hear cold anger behind her words.
“Mom, this farm has been in our family since 1892. This can’t be happening!”
She looks at me, her eyes dull. “But it is.”
“Isn’t there anything else we can do?” My brain searches frantically for solutions.
She shakes her head. “It’s over. We’re supposed to be out by tomorrow. The bank is taking everything.”
I stare down at the table. “How long have you known?”
“A little over six weeks.”
I feel anger begging to reach the surface. “Why didn’t you tell me?”
She pats my hand absentmindedly. “This is adult stuff, sweetie. We didn’t want to worry you. We really thought it would be okay.”
I yank my hand away from her, fury finally taking me over. “So you kept it from me, but now my life is being turned upside down in a single day. Yeah! This way’s a lot better! How do you think I feel?” I stand up and start to pace. “Ya’ll are supposed to be the adults!”
My mother looks at me, a threatening expression in her eyes. “You might best remember that.”
I am not about to be intimidated. “Then do your damned job and adult!” I growl lowly. “Dad needs to stop yelling, and you need to stop crying. I can’t be the only one around here keeping my shit together!”
Fire lights my mother’s face. “Don’t you dare speak to me that way! You have no idea what it’s been like this last month!”
I walk to the doorway, a coldness settling in. “Where are we going?”
She looks at me uncertainly, sensing the role reversal. “My mother’s place in Virginia.”
That’s a long way from Georgia…and Cameron.
I nod. “I guess I had better start packing.” As I start to leave, I glance over my shoulder. “I guess I won’t be going to Cameron’s birthday party tomorrow night. In case you’re interested, I had my first kiss today. I was looking forward to telling you, but I guess it seems silly now.”
My mother begins packing another box. “It’s just a kiss. You’ll get over it. I did.”
As I walk up the stairs, I think about Cameron’s new jeep. Did my family pay for that? He had to have known. To make it worse, he’d had the audacity to flaunt it in front of me! How could he? I methodically begin packing my belongings, my days of adolescence and innocence over in just a few short minutes.
CHAPTER 3
Cameron
Present
I rub my eyes. It’s been a long day. I stretch my arms behind my back, feeling it pop with the release of pressure. Between meetings and reviewing contracts, there has barely even been a moment to grab a bite to eat. My stomach rumbles, reminding me that the only thing I’ve had today is coffee. Lots of coffee.
I glance at my watch. It’s almost four. Where did the day go? My gaze rests on my favorite picture of Holly. She has her arms around Barkley, our rescue dog. I took this photo during one of our trips this summer to the house on Lake Oconee. Her hair is wet from swimming, and her cheeks are pink from a day out in the sun. Her eyes are full of the joy only a four-year-old can have, an innocence that will eventually be worn away by time and trials. I cherish this age. It won’t last forever. One day she will realize that she doesn’t have a mother like all of the other children. I dread that day. How do you tell a child her mother doesn’t want to be a part of her life? I don’t even know where she is anymore. I suppose she wants it that way.
I hear the rain tapping against the windows. It is light at first and then picks up intensity. As always, it beckons me. I walk to the window, pulled by memories I know are best kept in the corners of my mind.
I stare out at the Atlanta skyline. The sun lights up the western sides of the buildings, even as the rain falls all around. “The Devil’s beating his wife.” With every sunshower comes thoughts of Rebecca and the kiss we shared that summer so long ago. Much like my thoughts of Holly and the innocence of youth, it reminds me of a time when I thought true love actually existed, that anything was possible.
I learned very quickly a love like that is a unicorn, an elusive and mythical creature of ephemeral beauty. It doesn’t exist, yet we chase it throughout our lives, doomed to disappointment.
What’s worse? There is a part of me that still holds on to that fantasy and believes what I felt was real, not just the naïve dreams of a young boy.
I’ve had relationships. Being the creator/owner of a billion-dollar tech company is its own form of a magnet for some women. They have all been short-lived, as their true colors eventually began to show. No woman has ever touched my soul the way Rebecca did.
I remember waiting for her the night of my seventeenth birthday party. As the evening wore on, I began to realize that she wasn’t coming. I called and texted her, but never got an answer. I made a single wish when I blew out my candles. It never came true.
The next day, I went to her house. It was a wreck. I peered in the windows. Pieces of furniture dotted the rooms, trash littering the floors.
“What are you doing here, son?” I jump at the sound behind me and turn to find a man in a suit standing behind me. “This isn’t your property.”
“No, sir,” I reply awkwa
rdly. “It belongs to the Bromleys.”
The man’s lips thin in disapproval. “It used to belong to them.”
Alarm registers. “What do you mean?”
“Son, I really can’t discuss this with you.”
“Sir, I need to know what happened!” I blush a little bit. “Their daughter, she’s my…girlfriend.”
For a brief second, I see sympathy in his eyes. “Love hurts.” His expression closes and becomes guarded. “You need to leave. You are trespassing.”
I grab his arm. “Can you at least tell me where they went?”
He shakes his head. “Nobody ever leaves a forwarding address when their property is foreclosed upon. Even if they did, I couldn’t give it to you.”
I feel my heart plummet.
The man grips my shoulder firmly. “Boy, if you’re smart, you’ll stay away from that thing called love. It isn’t worth it.”
I look to his left hand that’s sporting a wedding ring. “Really?”
He shrugs his shoulders in grim acceptance. “It all fades. Just don’t go there, to begin with.”
At that moment, my phone beeps. I have a text from Rebecca telling me to leave her alone, and she never wants to have anything to do with me or my family again.
And just like that, I learn a stark reality of life. People don’t keep their promises, and love is a unicorn.
I shake myself from my reverie. I’ll never know the answers to the questions that plague me. Besides, I have a woman who deserves all of my attention, a beautiful girl named Holly.
My phone buzzes. It’s Margaret. She manages the household and works as my personal assistant. It isn’t just enough to have an assistant at the office. With my schedule, I need 24/7 services. I never thought I would be one of those types, but I never thought I would be twenty-nine and running a billion-dollar company, either.
Working For My Arch Enemy: Enemies To Lovers Romance Page 1
