The One who got Away_A Second Chance Romance
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When Nathan had calmed, he stood, taking my hand and pulling me to the side where the pool showers were. He turned me around, so my back was to him and smiled sweetly as the cool water ran over my body, the remnants of his pleasure washing down the drain. He turned the water off, and I stood there and watched as he walked over and grabbed the towels. He dried my shoulders, my breasts, my stomach, and my legs before wrapping the towel around me, under my arms, and securing it at the top. He said nothing as he moved around the room, gathering our clothes and shoes and folding them neatly into a pile with my purse. He wrapped the other towel around his waist and winked at me, taking his free hand and pulling me from the room and toward the elevator. He pressed the button and waited. I stood there grasping the towel in front of me and looking around, not wanting anyone to see me in that manner, especially not at The Avalon. He looked over at me and chuckled.
“Relax,” he whispered in my ear. “They’re all smoking cigars, drinking whiskey, and bragging about how amazing they are right now.”
He kissed my cheek and grasped tightly to my hand as I looked at him and smiled. When the elevator arrived, we stepped inside. My cheeks burned watching the boy operating the elevator stare straight ahead, no expression on his face. Nathan only lived one floor up, which I was relieved about since I didn’t want to be on the elevator in only my towel when someone else climbed aboard. We got off and headed down the hall to his grand front door, still clutching hands. When we stepped inside I took in a deep breath, the smell of his cologne wafting through the air. I wondered if the same happened for him at my house with my perfume.
Nathan kissed me on the forehead and set our things down on the kitchen counter, and we headed back to his bed. As soon as I saw it, I realized how tired I was, and I handed my towel to him, climbing in and nestling down under the covers. As he climbed in behind me and wrapped his arms around my body, pulling me in close, I smiled. It was crazy, but I was starting to like this guy, and on a level that I was unfamiliar with completely.
Chapter Eleven
Nathan
Waking up next to Ruby was something that made me feel alive, happy, and it felt right. It was a strange feeling, and though I could feel myself try to push it away, it wasn’t going anywhere. The night before had been amazing. Amazing food, amazing sex, and then amazing sleep with her wrapped up in my arms. She was probably one of, if not the, most beautiful women I had ever had in my life. She woke up not long after I did and popped into the bathroom where I was taking a shower. She was already dressed and kissed me on the cheek, letting me know she needed to get home so that she could get changed for work. I was sad that I wouldn’t be able to ride with her into work like I hoped for, but as she flashed that beautiful smile at me, I felt my heart melting.
I listened as the front door shut behind her and dipped my head under the cascading showerhead. I rubbed the water up and down my face, trying to control what I was feeling, but before I could stop it, I was smiling from ear to ear. This was insane, but it was what it was, and I was going to go with it. I climbed out of the shower and dried off, looking at myself in the mirror, I looked happier than I had in a long time. I got ready for work, taking a lingering amount of time to make sure my suit was perfect, the tie matched, and my hair was done just how I liked it. I spritzed on the cologne that Ruby loved so much and headed out of the apartment.
When I made it to the lobby, I stopped at the Avalon Café and grabbed a coffee, saying hi to the barista I was used to seeing, Gabby. George tipped his hat to me, and I waved as I grabbed a newspaper and headed out to the car. I climbed in and set my coffee in the holder, opening the paper and thinking about the day ahead. In the local section, there was a picture of a protest that had occurred the week before. The people on the front were carrying signs protesting outsourcing by American companies. It was strange that I felt more in tune with their beliefs than my own company’s.
When I arrived at the office, I sat down in my chair, tossing my empty cup from the café into the garbage. Chris walked in the door behind me and nodded, handing me a file. He plopped down in the chair in front of me and crossed his legs.
“What’s this?”
“It’s a report of the different areas you will save money with outsourcing,” he said. “I was actually surprised at how many areas that would be affected. Marketing, Training, Advertising, Benefits, and a ton of others. This would make some serious cash and fast.”
I opened the folder and skimmed over the information, knowing that no matter how much I didn’t like the idea, I needed to at least take a look at it. The company was at a standstill growth wise, and I needed to push us into the overseas markets. I still didn’t have the numbers, though, on how our company would be affected by taking part of our revenue and assets and investing that in expansion instead of cutting thousands of jobs and moving them overseas.
“The average IT here makes over twenty dollars an hour,” Chris continued. “The average outsourced employee makes close to two.”
“And you don’t see anything wrong with that?”
“Their political nature of how other countries handle their own people and their wages are not our concern,” he said. “But think of it this way, these people might not have a job otherwise.”
“You think because these people live in a different place they shouldn’t be awarded the same kind of luxuries as us?” I was a bit irritated.
“Look, Nathan, I’m not here for a political debate or a class in morality, that’s your forte,” he said. “You ultimately make the choices that include those things. I am here to tell you what the most lucrative path for the company is.”
“You are here to advise on the best path,” I replied, trying to get him to listen the fuck up. I knew what I was talking about. Period. “The most lucrative is not always the best.”
“You’re right,” he sighed, handing me another file. He needed to hear me out, but for some damn reason, he was having a really hard time with that. “So, I did a breakdown if we took current assets and revenues and planned it out for expansion. It would take three times as long, and that is only if the stockholders agreed to that financial burden.”
“Thanks,” I said breathing deeply and letting the breath out slowly. “I’ll look these over and get back to you.”
“Alright,” he said standing up. “Drinks tonight at that bar in Exposé?”
“Sure,” I replied staring at the outsourcing numbers though I would have rather been just about anywhere else.. “Come grab me at the end of the day.”
I spent the rest of the day in and out of meetings, reviewing different material for the outsourcing options, and sitting at my desk thinking. I did a lot of thinking in that chair over the years, but I had to be honest, it was the first time that thinking was interrupted with the vision of a woman running through my mind. I wanted to call her and ask her to come over that night, but I didn’t want to smother her. I needed to keep at least a bit of business mindedness to myself. It was bad enough that I wasn’t doing my regular evening reviews anymore, I couldn’t spend time at work thinking about Ruby.
The end of the day came rather fast, and when Chris came to my office, I was more than ready to get out of there. I had been trudging through the day, and my mind was prepared to relax and have a drink. There were so many decisions to be made, yet I had no idea how to do it. It was times like those that I wished I had someone to go home and talk to about everything. Someone that wasn’t directly connected to the company. Maybe one day, but for the time being, I went to the bar with Chris and ordered myself a tall glass of whiskey.
Exposé was always relatively busy but for a Tuesday it seemed a little more crowded than anticipated. I assumed that everyone else had a day at the office like I did, and didn’t blame them for showing up at the bar. Chris and I sat there, and while he was scoping out the women, I was staring up at the television that was on mute, thinking about the last time I had sat there. Ruby had been so beautiful when I walked in the door
s, and I did not expect in any way for her to be the woman she turned out to be. I took a sip of my whiskey and sighed.
“Hey man,” Chris said nodding his head down the bar. “Look at those two. Come on. Let’s make a move.”
Before I could protest, he was up from his chair and sitting down next to the blonde on the end. I sighed and moved with him, sitting down next to the brunette. Chris immediately started spitting his normal game, and of course, the blonde fell all over herself for him. I was busy staring up at the screen and didn’t even notice the brunette leaned in.
“So, what do you do?” she whispered in a sensual voice. It was a little overkill but most women that were aggressive enough to start the game were the ones that were willing to end it. She was ballsy, but I wasn’t sure I was in the mood. I had a tone of shit on my mind, and she wasn’t my type. Not that I’d fully checked her out.
“Finance,” I said with little interest.
“He’s modest,” Chris laughed. “He owns Pope Financial.”
“Ohh,” she said flirtatiously, reaching her hand over and brushing mine. “Do you like being the big boss?”
“Yeah,” I chuckled pulling my hand back and standing. “If you’ll excuse me.”
I glanced over at Chris who gave me a wild look, not understanding why I just blew this chick off. She was sexy as hell, the typical girl I’d end up on the 3rd floor with, but I had zero interest in her. As soon as her hand touched mine, Ruby flashed through my mind, and instantly I wanted to be with her instead. I took my drink and wandered around the club, trying to wrap my head around what happened. I didn’t know why I would turn down a woman for one that I had spent very little time with, but all I could think about was Ruby with her beautiful eyes and contagious spirit. Regardless of the walls I had built up, how I felt about relationships, and all the things I had told myself through the years, I wanted to see Ruby again, and my brain wasn’t going to let me out of it until I did.
Things were going a way I never thought they would, but for some reason, I didn’t care at all. In reality, I welcomed the change. A woman like Ruby didn’t come around often, and I needed to make sure I didn’t screw this one up.
Chapter Twelve
Ruby
Walking through the halls of NYU gave me flashbacks of my time in college. Sure, this place was way quieter than I remembered, but the smells and sounds were just the same. You could hear the instructors inside the rooms, the acoustics boosting their voices and echoing it throughout the room. The smell of textbooks, desperation, and tears lingered in the air, as it did in most colleges. Students were walking around and making their way to the courtyard, and banners hung everywhere for the events on campus. It made me miss my college days when the only worry I had was getting to class on time and scoring good enough grades to make my parents satisfied. The classes were always easy to me, but my mind was wrapped around whatever protest the groups I belonged to were planning. I had been a leader for as long as I remembered but never put myself in that position. I was always pushed there, and before I knew it, everyone was looking to me for guidance.
I took a left and quietly opened Lisa’s room, making sure the door didn’t slam shut. I crept along the back and took a seat in the back-row nodding at Lisa as she smiled up at me. I loved watching her work, she loved her job. She had always been a teacher, even when we were kids. She loved to share her knowledge with me, but the way she looked at causes and protests drove me nuts. I was sure I had never met anyone more down the middle of the road than Lisa. She always scientifically broke down every cause and looked at the pros and the cons. The thing was, she never came to a concise decision on whether something was bad or not. She just accepted that all situations were split, which was not the truth in my eyes. I loved her though, her sensibility kept me grounded more than once, especially since I had a way of becoming extremely passionate about the causes I was working for. Just when my feet were about to lift off the ground, she would reach out and remind me that I had to be more level-headed for anyone to listen to what I was saying and in a way, she was right.
When the class was over, I sat there watching the students pack up their backpacks and begin to head out of the classroom. Lisa turned off the projector and wiped the boards, gathering her things and sighing. It was Wednesday, which meant she taught three classes that day, and I knew she was more than exhausted. On top of that, she had her other faculty duties to attend to that included a huge research project the college had received funding for her to head up. She was my hero when it came to dedication and work ethic. I stood up and met her at the top of the stairs, throwing my arm around her shoulder.
“One class down,” she sighed. “Two to go.”
“You got this,” I said. “Let’s go refuel.”
“I’m starving,” she groaned. “Let’s go to the Thai place across the street. I can’t be gone too long, I have to check in on my research students.”
“Okey-dokey,” I replied prancing out of the college with her and across the street.
We sat down at a booth in the back to get away from the loud conversations that the other patrons, mostly students of the school, were having. We got our food and settled in, eating quietly for a few moments before Lisa chimed in. I could tell she was curious.
“So, how are things with the big financial guy?”
“Amazing,” I said rolling my eyes. “Like seriously, amazing. We went out the other night, had dinner, talked about everything, then came back, took a dip in the Infinity pool and then I stayed over at his place.”
“Again?” Lisa looked shocked. “You are sure spending a lot of time with this guy.”
“He makes me smile,” I said with blushing cheeks. “He’s intelligent, handsome, motivated, and settled, everything I was looking for in a partner.”
“So, wait, are you guys official?”
“No, not yet,” I said. “I mean I was just thinking about it. If things keep going this way, I don’t see how they couldn’t become official.”
“Have you guys talked about it?”
“Oh, god no,” I said chuckling. “You know how men are about that kind of thing. I’m waiting for him to bring it up. I don’t want to be that girl, and I don’t want to scare him off.”
“Wow,” she said lifting her eyebrows.
“What?”
“I just am shocked at how you are talking about him,” she shrugged. “It’s weird hearing that come from you.”
“It’s not like I was hell-bent on being an old single cat lady,” I laughed. “You know I’ve always wanted to eventually settle down and have a family. I’m not saying he’s the one, but he’s the best I’ve ever come across.”
“Wow, ever?”
“Lisa, I don’t think I’ve ever felt this way about a man,” I said. “Especially not a man that I’ve known for such a short amount of time. He blows me away on a constant basis. He is so sweet and kind, and oh my God the sex is out of this world.”
“Does he know what you do?”
“I mean he knows I work for Climate X doing social justice work,” I said.
“Right, but does he know you spend your free time protesting against companies like his?”
“I protest against causes, not companies,” I pointed out. “And no, I haven’t told him yet, but I will when the timing is right. He loves how passionate I am about things, I’m sure he will be on board with it.”
“Okay,” Lisa sang eating her soup.
“Yeah, spill it,” I said. “I know what that tone means. What are you thinking?”
“I don’t know, Ruby,” she said looking up at me. “I’m just a little worried I guess.”
“About what?”
“You are headstrong, jump in with both feet kind of girl,” she responded. “I think you should be careful with this guy. Get to know him. I can tell that you are falling for him and fast.”
“What’s wrong with that? It happens all the time,” I said. “When it’s right it’s right.”
“I don’t think that’s how Nathan is,” I said shaking my head. “He’s different. He makes an effort, and he is intelligent. So intelligent that I know a lifestyle like that would become boring quickly for him.”
“Just be careful, okay?”
“I will,” I said smiling. “I promise. I’ll keep my emotions in check and take it day by day.”
While the words were coming out of my mouth, I knew they were a lie, and in her own way, I was sure that Lisa knew they were too. I just couldn’t imagine Nathan tossing me to the side like that. He showed in every way that he was interested in me for more than just sex. For a man who could get any woman at any time why would he put so much effort taking me on dates and doing all the things that he has done? The fact of it was, I felt like I knew him better than that, even if we had only been around each other a short time.
I had met the playboys, even slept with a few of them, and that was not how Nathan acted in any shape or form. He listened to me when I talked, and I knew that because he was able to offer some kind of intelligent reply. It wasn’t just him letting me speak to feel important when we were together. It was like we were in tune with each other. I needed to get my sister’s words off my mind before I let it affect the way I was feeling. I was a pretty good judge of character, and nothing about Nathan pointed to playboy, whether he was one before he met me or not. I didn’t care about his past like Lisa thought I should. All I cared about was his future and whether he saw me a part of it like I saw him as a part of mine.