All of Me? The Trust Me? Trilogy

by K E Osborn

  My day started off a little rocky, but it’s looking up. A bouquet of flowers are being delivered to me from my fiancé.

  Have a good day, Mom.

  Love, Jeni xoxo.

  I hit Send and stand to sign for the flowers. I look at the arrangement, a mixed box of gerberas, roses and Oriental lilies in various colors. They’re beautiful as usual. I take the card from the envelope.

  “To my darling, Jeni. I will love you as long as the earth revolves around the sun. You’re my everything. Forever yours, Aiden xoxo”

  Bree comes over to see the flowers.

  “You’re so lucky,” she says as she bends down to smell them.

  “I know. I’m extremely lucky to have found someone as special as your brother.”

  I walk into Aiden’s office. He’s looking intently at his computer monitor.

  “Ah, right on time,” he says, waving his hand for me to come in.

  “Right on time for what?”

  “Right on time for me to show you this. Come and see,” he says excitedly. I make my way around his desk to stand behind him.

  “What do you think?” he says, pulling up an email with photos attached

  I scroll through the photos of our house, first the concrete slab, and then the frame work, and then another with walls. It’s huge and looks amazing. The last photo is a view from a window, overlooking over the city from the cliff at the scope. It’s magnificent. I smile broadly while clicking through the photos.

  “Wow, we should take a drive up there and see it first hand,” I say excitedly.

  “I was hoping you would say that. Want to go tonight after work?”

  “Yes, absolutely.”

  He swivels his computer chair to face me, and I bend down so my face is level with his.

  “I will love you as long as the earth revolves around the sun,” I say.

  “Oh, they’re here already?” He leans in to kiss me and then pulls me, twisting me onto his lap.

  “I’m so happy right now,” he says, kissing my cheek repeatedly. I laugh at his playfulness and turn my face so he kisses my lips. I kiss him forcefully, taking him by surprise. We finally part lips, and I rest my forehead on his.

  “I’m so happy, too. Being engaged to you. Our house being built where we can start our lives together. My life couldn’t be more perfect.”

  Suddenly the door swings open and Alistair is standing in the doorway. I quickly stand up from Aiden’s lap and straighten out my skirt.

  “What the hell is going on in here?” Alistair asks loudly.

  Aiden stands up taking my hand in his. I look down at the ground to avoid eye contact with Alistair. He walks in and throws some papers on the desk making me flinch.

  “Father, nothing is going on. Jeni was thanking me for the flowers I just gave her, that’s all.” Aiden says harshly.

  “Well, she can thank you on her own time, not on mine. I’m not paying you to throw yourself at my son like a complete whore while you’re in my building. While you’re here you’ll work not jerk off my son’s… ego,” he says, shocking us both.

  “Get out… get out now!” Aiden yells.

  “I own you, son. You’d do well to remember that.”

  I look at Aiden, smile, and turn to leave his office.

  “Jeni, you don’t have to leave,” Aiden says, trying to make me feel better.

  “She should leave. I don’t know why you insist on keeping her here as your PA.”

  Aiden glares at his father.

  “It’s fine, I have work to do anyway,” I say, and leave the office.

  “That’s right—work—that’s what I pay your for,” Alistair yells.

  I shut the door and sigh as I walk back to my desk. He always knows how to ruin a good moment. I hear Aiden shouting at his father, but I tune it out when I hear the usual banter about Aiden leaving the business. Alistair storms out of Aiden’s office moments later.

  ***

  By the time Mike picks us up from work, I can barely keep still or contain the grin on my face. I can't wait to see our new home for the first time. As we drive up the dirt track, through the gates, and climb up the steep hill, a massive two-story construction site comes into view. I gasp at the sight of it. I can't believe how huge it's going to be.

  When Mike opens the door, we slide out and walk hand in hand to a grinning middle aged man. His skin is leathery from too many hours in the sun. He's over six feet tall and has a large stomach. His gray beard rounds out his odd appearance.

  “Ah, Mr. O’Connell, nice to see you again,” he says, shaking Aiden's hand. He turns to me. “And you must be the lovely Jenifer I’ve heard so much about,” the man says. Up close, he looks like a big old teddy bear, and his smile is warm and friendly. We shake hands and I turn back to Aiden.

  “Hi, Steve. Yes, this is Jeni. Is it alright if we do a quick walk through?”

  “Of course you can. Just watch where you step. There are still some loose wiring and bits and pieces of piping lying around,” he says, gesturing towards the house.

  I'm practically running to the house, dragging Aiden along with me.

  “In a hurry, baby?” he says, laughing at my excitement.

  “Um...yes! This is going to be our new house! How can I not be as excited as I am? Now, hurry up and show me around,” I demand.

  We move around the house and at each room, Aiden tells me what it'll be. And at each room, I think of how I want to decorate it and try to visualize what it will look like with paint and furniture. The more time we spend here, I fall more in love with Aiden at how much thought he put into this house. Although it's nowhere near complete, it already feels like home.

  CHAPTER 12

  We arrive at work and say our good mornings. Alistair walks out of his office fiddling with his cast.

  “I’m going to cut this fucking thing off in a minute,” Alistair says, taking one of Bree’s pencils in his hand and inserting it between the cast and his arm to scratch himself. I try to hide my smile, but I have to admit seeing him suffering a little is amusing.

  “Aiden, cut this thing off, will you,” Alistair says, taking Bree’s scissors and handing them to Aiden who chuckles.

  “This is no laughing matter, boy. I’m serious. Cut. It. Off.”

  Aiden puts the scissors back on Bree’s desk. “Father, I’m not cutting it off. It needs to be on for a few more weeks. You need to heel first.”

  Alistair looks at Aiden in disgust and picks the scissors up. “Fine, I’ll do it myself.”

  “Father! Don’t be ridiculous. If you take it off now you’ll only hurt your arm further and then you’ll be in pain. Wouldn’t you rather have an itchy arm than a painful one?”

  Alistair huffs, throws the scissors back onto the desk and storms off to his office.

  “Great, now he’s going to be in a terrible mood all day,” Brielle says under her breath.

  I sigh and walk to my desk as I know this is going to affect me. Aiden kisses me on the cheek and proceeds to his office, and I get on with my day.

  As the day progresses, I go to the bathroom to freshen up. On my way in I see Alistair walking behind me; I decide to quicken my pace to ensure I don’t run into him on the way out. Unfortunately, being quick didn’t work because when I step out of the bathroom I see Alistair waiting for me, and he’s standing between me and the way out. I look down and go to walk past him but he blocks me in. I sigh and try to push past him but he puts out his hand and pushes me hard back against the bathroom door. I start to feel those nerves creeping back. I look up and see that his face has a glimmer of a smirk. He’s truly enjoying himself. I want to call out to Aiden or Bree, but he knows I won’t.

  “Look, I have work to do and you like productive workers, so if you let me go back to my desk, I can get on with things,” I say, looking down at my sweaty hands.

  “You could never be productive. You’re a waste of space.” He leans in and my breathing quickens, then he steps closer and closer to me.
<
br />   “Do I need to remind you of what you are?” he asks quietly into my ear.

  I shake my head.

  “Oh, I think I do need to remind you. I think you have forgotten.” I hold back the bile rising in my throat while he strokes my cheek.

  “I haven’t forgotten,” I say, trying to flinch away from his touch.

  “Good.”

  I exhale abruptly, and he walks away. I steady myself on the wall. He gets to walks away and I’m left trying to console myself. I eventually walk back to my desk. I once again try to distract myself with work. The Anderson’s arrive for the first meeting of the day, and I do my best to avoid eye contact with James. I quickly get up and walk to Aiden’s office before James has the chance to come over to me. I knock on Aiden’s door to let him know that they’re here.

  “Come in,” he says happily.

  I open the door. “Your ten o’clock is here.”

  He stands up and exhales. “He better not try anything, Jeni,” Aiden says talking about James’ flirtation toward me. He walks over, stopping when he reaches me to give me a wink, and then he continues to the meeting. Alistair comes out of his office and smirks at me. I turn away and head back to my desk.

  Brielle and I take in the refreshments, and I purposely avoid James as I hand them out. Aiden winks at me when I hand his coffee to him. Once finished, I start to move toward the door. I walk with my head down passing Alistair on the way out. As I walk past him he purposely puts his foot out. I trip and fall face first onto the floor, knocking my head on the door. The whole room stands to see if I’m alright, and Aiden and James both rush over to me. I see Alistair acting surprised, but the expression in his eyes tells it all. I can’t believe he just did that.

  “Jeni, are you alright?” Aiden asks, reaching down to help me.

  “I think so,” I say, rubbing my head.

  “Jeni, do you need me to help you up?” James asks, taking hold of my arm. I frown at him and shake my head as he pushes Aiden out of the way to help me. I glance down and my knees have carpet burn on them and so do my palms.

  “Please don’t handle my staff,” Aiden says, physically removing James’ hand from my arm. James looks at Aiden and furrows his brow.

  “I’m not handling her, I’m helping her. Jeni, are you hurt, do you need me to take you to the doctor?” he asks.

  I look at Aiden with that don’t you dare look and he huffs.

  “No, I’m fine. Thanks, James.”

  “If anyone is taking Jeni to the doctor, it should be me,” Aiden says. Here we go with the pissing contest again.

  “Why? Because she is your PA? You probably don’t even talk to her outside of work. No, someone who cares about her should take her.”

  “Oh for God’s sake she doesn’t need a doctor, the girl is fine. Can we get back to our meeting now?” Alistair says. Bree comes back in to help me and James takes his seat. Aiden looks at me with that are you really alright look. I nod and he goes back to his seat, watching me carefully.

  “Sorry, I’m such a klutz,” I say. Bree takes me back to my desk and sits me down.

  “What happened? You were right behind me and then I look back and you’re on the floor.”

  “Yeah, I must have tripped on something.”

  “How’s your head?” she asks, while touching the lump that’s forming at the top of my hairline.

  “It hurts and I have a headache,” I say truthfully. Bree walks to the kitchen and comes back with some ice in a hand towel.

  “Do you think you have a concussion?”

  “No, it’s only a little bump. I’ll be fine.”

  Bree checks out my knees which are grazed and slightly bleeding. “Jeez, Jeni, you did a really good job on these,” she says, grabbing a tissue to dab my knees. She continues to fuss over me, walks over and grabs the first aid kit from her desk and comes back with some bandages for my knees. I laugh as she places the oversized bandages over the grazes.

  “There that should do it.” A broad smile crosses her face. “Sorry, Jeni, but you look ridiculous.”

  I laugh as I picture myself with ice on my head and oversized bandages on my knees. I bet I look fantastic.

  The meeting finishes and Aiden is chatting with Mr. Anderson, but watches James closely as he walks over to me.

  “Hey, are you okay?” James asks.

  “Yeah, I’m fine, just a bruised ego. Thanks for your help,” I say, trying to be nice but not too nice so he doesn’t get the wrong idea.

  “Anytime. So ah, did you get my flowers?” he asks. I casually glance over at Aiden who’s staring at me intently, but he obviously can’t get away from Mr. Anderson.

  “I did, thank you they were lovely, but not necessary. James, I’m engaged and although I’m flattered by your kindness toward me, it’s making my fiancé uncomfortable.”

  James looks at me furrowing his brow. “Well I don’t see your fiancé here, so he doesn’t even have to know about it. What do you say? Can I take you out tonight for dinner?” he asks as he sits on the edge of my desk.

  My eyes widen in shock. Seriously? I can’t believe he’s asking me out even though he knows I am engaged. I shake my head as I see Aiden walking over. His nostrils are flaring and his fists are clenching.

  Shit!

  “So how about it, beautiful. You, me, a bottle of champagne, no one needs to know,” he says just as Aiden walks up behind him. His brows furrow on hearing what James is saying to me.

  “Aiden!” I say, making James look behind him. Aiden grabs him by the collar of his suit.

  “What the hell, dude?” James says, trying to push Aiden off of him.

  “Aiden, leave it!” I say as he looks at me with a death glare and pushes James away from him.

  “How dare you, you ignorant little prick. You know she’s taken and yet you still go after her. Get it through your head, she’s not interested,” Aiden says right in his face.

  James scowls at him and pushes him again.

  “Stop it!” I say but they both ignore me.

  “She wants me and you know it,” James says, getting so close to Aiden I’m sure he can smell James’ breath.

  Aiden grabs James by the scruff of his neck and slams him up against the wall.

  “Don’t you dare talk about her like that,” Aiden says as Mr. Anderson and Alistair walk over to see what the commotion is about.

  “Why do you care?” James asks, pushing Aiden away from him again.

  “Because she’s mine, you asshole. I love her, and I won’t let anyone take her from me again, especially not a sniveling little weasel like you.”

  “Aiden, stop it,” I say.

  “Well, she must have horrible taste in men if she chose you. C’mon, baby, come and be with a real man,” James says.

  Aiden looks at me and his face contorts with rage as he clenches his fists. James suddenly punches Aiden in the jaw. I gasp and my hand shoots up to my mouth as Aiden grabs him and rams him up against the wall so hard he puts a dent in it. James exhales loudly as Aiden’s fist connects with his stomach. Mr. Anderson moves toward the now brawling men to try and separate them.

  “Get off me, you fucking freak,” James yells out as Alistair pulls Aiden back and Mr. Anderson pulls James away.

  “Aiden, get a hold of yourself, boy. You’re acting like a goddamned fool for this floozy,” Alistair says, holding Aiden from behind as he glares at James who is hunched over in pain.

  “Don’t even start, Father, I swear to God I will knock you out, too,” he says, shaking free of his father’s grip.

  “Alistair, I have never been so insulted in all my life. How dare your son hit mine. I don’t care what James may or may not have said. Aiden, you were completely unprofessional and if you act like this in the workplace then I hate to think of what you are capable of with my finances. I’m withdrawing my account from O’Connell Finance and I’ll be telling everyone I know how unprofessional and incompetent you and your staff are. I’m extremely disappointed in you
, Aiden. We had high hopes for you and you proved me completely wrong. C’mon, James, let’s get you home. Good day, Alistair,” Mr. Anderson says as they walk toward the elevator.

  “Robert, I can’t apologize enough for my son’s behavior. I will pull him from your account and will deal with you personally from now on. I can promise you that your account will be in safe hands, and I'll continue to make the best profits I can for you. Please, Bob, don’t let this come between our friendship,” Alistair says.

  “Alistair, we never had a friendship. It was a business relationship, and I never liked you. I only stayed because I believed in Aiden, and now he’s turned out to be an arrogant ass as well as you. No, I will not deal with you from now on because as of this very second, our business relationship is terminated. You, your hostile son, and his tease of a fiancée can go to hell. As I said, good day to you, sir,” Mr. Anderson says as they step into the elevator. James looks at me and furrows his brow looking extremely angry. The doors close and Aiden rushes to my side.

  “Baby, are you alright?” he asks, checking me up and down to assess the damage from the fall and the emotional damage from what just happened.

  “What was that?” Alistair yells as he walks over.

  “He asked for it,” Aiden says.

  “I’m not asking you. I’m asking her,” he yells. He glares at me, knowing that I won’t tell Aiden that it was him who purposely tripped me. That’s what started all this in the first place.

  “Pulling a stupid stunt like tripping and then being a cock tease to James lost us the account. You’re nothing but a stupid fucking bitch,” he says, thumping his fist on the table.

  “Don’t you dare call her a cock tease! She couldn’t help tripping. It was an accident. Shouldn’t you be angry with me instead? I’m the one who lost us the account,” Aiden says.

  “Pull your act together, both of you. And, Aiden, if you pull a stunt like that again, I’ll sort you out myself, so help me God,” he says, storming back into his office.