by Ashlee Price
Leaning forward to retrieve the fork, I did the same for him, my eyes meeting his. I wished then that they hadn’t. Shivering at the look on his face, I could feel my face burning and I wondered if it was as red and hot as it felt.
“Do I make you uncomfortable, Nicola?”
I shook my head before I could think, and he gave a surprised chuckle I could feel vibrating off of me. The timbre in his voice made me tremble and moved the hardness underneath me. I closed my eyes at the feel of it. I hated that he was affecting me in such a way, yet Jerold didn’t seem to be bothered at all. He was far too comfortable with an employee on his lap for my taste.
“I would have preferred a real chair, sir, but I’m learning to make do.”
His face changed. The smile was gone almost as quickly and easily as it had come.
“Then why are you on my lap, Nicola?”
“Because you insisted, Jerold.”
The hands that had held me around my waist moved off of me quickly. I felt an immediate loss; I would have given anything to get them back. Jerold picked me up a little and set me down next to his chair. I turned around to see if he was mad, but he seemed to be more confused than angry.
“Is there anything else, sir?”
His jaw clenched, and now there was a flash of anger in his eyes. “Run away, Nicola, but you will be back. And then we can finish what we started.”
I nodded my head and got out of there as quickly as I could manage. There was no question what he meant by the last part of his comment. He was not talking about the lunch that was still on his plate. He was talking about something else altogether.
Before I was tempted to stay, I left the room, forgetting to clear the rest of the dishes out of the way. There was no way that I was going back to him, though; they would just have to sit there until I regained control of myself.
Returning to the floor below and entering the kitchen, I was starting to think that I understood it all. The kitchen had been finished just a few days before and it still smelled new in there. It seemed like too much of a coincidence. I thought back to the first time he had called me by my name. He had known what it was, and I hadn’t had my name tag on. I had looked down and realized that I didn’t have it on. I couldn’t seem to remember it, and the rest of my uniform had been just as incomplete.
I cleaned up and tried to keep my mind on other things. A few people came down and had me make them something, but all in all, the afternoon was rather slow. My contract stated that I was supposed to be there until five, but by four o’clock I was getting bored. I figured it was time that I went back upstairs to clean up after Jerold’s lunch. I had put it off long enough and I knew I had to go back and face him before I lost my nerve and left him up there with the dirty dishes.
Boarding the elevator, my hands were shaky as I pushed the button to go up. Part of me wanted to keep going from where we had left off, but another part of me hoped that I wouldn’t have to see him again. It was hard to be around him, and I was pretty sure that I would just make an idiot of myself.
When I got up there, I was more than a little happy that I didn’t see Jerold anywhere. The dishes had been stacked back on the table and there was a note that had my name on it. I was too afraid to read it right then, so I folded it into my hand and grabbed the dishes. I needed to get out of there before he got back and I was stuck with him in the office. It was a huge room, but with Jerold looking at me, it had felt like the walls were closing in on me.
I was almost surprised when I got out of there without seeing him. I felt like I had escaped without being stopped, and that was as good as it was going to get. Scurrying back downstairs, I wasn’t really breathing right until I was back in the kitchen and I could see it was the end of the day. The weekend was calling to me and I was looking forward to some time off. But more than anything, I was ready to face another family dinner, now that I had a real job that they could be proud of.
Chapter 2 - Jerold
“Hello?”
“Sorry to bother you, Nicola, this is Jerold.”
“Yes, sir, what can I do for you?”
I looked at the clock and grimaced to myself. I don’t know what I had been thinking, but it was starting to look like I had missed her for the week. I should have just accepted it, but there was a part of me that just couldn’t. How could I accept that I wouldn’t get to see her for another couple of days? To me, the thought was unacceptable.
“Have you already gone for the day?”
“Yes, sir.”
I didn’t like her calling me ‘sir’ after I had told her over and over again to call me by my name.
“It’s Jerold.”
“Well, Jerold, I already left for the day. Was there something else that you needed done?” I could hear the hope that there wasn’t in her voice. I just kind of shook my head. I knew that I needed more than just one thing. I needed her, but I couldn’t say that kind of thing out loud.
“Would you like to go out for the night? We could celebrate your first week on the job.”
“Um, I have to go to my parents’ for dinner. It’s like a family tradition. You wouldn’t want to come, would you? I mean, my family is a little crazy, after all.”
The invitation was not what it seemed. I knew very well that she was trying to get rid of me, but there was going to be none of that. “Yes, I would love to come with you. Where and what time?”
She hesitated, and I tried to keep the grin off my face. I was acting like she was right there, and true to form, when she said yes, I actually did a little dance that made me feel like an idiot when I was done.
“Um, I can just give you the address and you can stop by whenever you are ready. I will be there in about half an hour, sir.”
“Please call me Jerold.”
“Sorry. I will work on that.”
I hung up the phone. I was smiling from ear to ear. Just the idea of going out with her had me thinking that I could do anything. I knew that with her, there would be nothing that could stand in my way. Nicola was the type of woman who made a man feel like he could do anything. I knew that I was worried about lots of things, but in the end, I was fairly certain I had picked the right girl. If she wasn’t the right one, why in the world did I feel this way?
***
I had to really think about whether I was going to go to her parents’ house. I knew the address that she gave me, and it made me pause. I was almost their age, and I had no illusions about how little I was going to be welcomed. I thought long and hard, but there was still this desire to go. I wanted to see her, and if I had to go around Angela and Martin, I was okay with that.
So I got ready quickly and I was waiting outside her parents’ house a few minutes earlier than she’d said. I wasn’t the only one who seemed to be taking a moment before going up to knock on the door. For whatever reason, several more cars pulled up while I was sitting outside, but nobody got out. I was waiting for Nicola to get there, and when I saw her small red car I got out and started to walk towards her.
There was a man in a blue car who’d been waiting almost as long as I had. It was only when he got out and started to walk towards her car that I started to wonder who he was. I didn’t like the way he was looking at her. The blond man seemed nervous, and I wondered then if I looked the same. He looked the way I felt at the moment.
Nicola saw him first. I know that I would have been very angry if she had welcomed him and looked at him the same way he was looking at her. But it wasn’t a happy expression on her face, and I went from hatred to curiosity. Why was she looking at him in such a way? It wasn’t really fear, but Nicola was definitely not happy to see him, whoever he was.
I waited for her to see me. When she did I was rewarded with her slight smile, as I had hoped. There was no denying the innocence in her eyes – and the need that I hadn’t thought to see before. It was just a flash and then it was gone, but it was there.
“Jamie, sorry about this. I am glad you came. Mom and dad will be h
appy to see you.”
The blond man gave me a dirty look, which made me smile, and then took off towards the house in a little bit of a huff.
“One of the family?”
Nicola looked at his back and shook her head. “No, he’s just a person that used to hang around a lot and knows everyone.”
“He seemed to know you very well.”
I heard her sharp intake of breath and I had to take her arm before she would budge. “I can’t believe you would say that, sir.”
“Isn’t it true?”
Nicola nodded and told me that it was his ex-fiancé. It was not at all what I wanted to hear, but I told myself it didn’t matter. She was there with me, on my arm, and I wasn’t going to let anyone change that. Jamie was just going to have to be mad. He had lost his chance, and I was not going to be as stupid as to lose her.
I felt possessiveness overtake me when I noticed Jamie staring at Nicola as we came through the door. I wanted to pull her into me, claim her right then and there, but I was her boss, after all, and I knew it wouldn’t go down well. Not that I cared how her family reacted; it was the small chance that Nicola would pull away from me that I couldn’t take.
So Nicola introduced me to everyone as her boss. I wasn’t sure that I liked the title. We were more. I was more to her than just that. Even though I knew that I was her boss, I didn’t want them to see me in that way. When it came out that we were together, everyone would know how things started out.
The thought made me pause. I could feel myself getting quieter. Why was I thinking so far in the future? It wasn’t like me, and there was part of me that felt strange to feel that way. I wasn’t used to being so out of my element, but everything with her had seemed to put me on a different path than I would have expected.
I was invited into the dining room, where I met more of Nicola’s family. There was a mess of them, and I knew that I was never going to remember all of their names. When I looked around after a few minutes, I couldn’t see Nicola anywhere. She had left me in the midst of them.
Chapter 3 - Nicola
“I didn’t know you were bringing a guest, Nicola.”
I knew when I had been pulled into the kitchen it was going to have nothing to do with cooking. I was there because Karen and my mom wanted answers. Naturally they wanted to know who the handsome man that I had brought along was and more importantly, why was he there.
“I didn’t know that you were going to invite Jamie. After the train wreck scene that happened a few days ago, why would you ask him to come here?”
I felt a more than a little betrayed. It was somehow worse than when she had tried to get him to propose. This was our family dinner, and he was no longer part of our family. I didn’t want him there, and I knew I would never have invited Jerold if I’d known he would be. The awkwardness was clear when Jerold had asked about Jamie. I’d almost lied to him, but something made me just tell the truth. Now I wondered again if the truth was what was needed at this moment.
“I thought that you and Jamie needed another chance. I know that it probably wasn’t the best idea to spring it on you like that, but I also know that the two of you are supposed to be together, Nicola.”
There were many things about him that I hadn’t told my family. They had liked him more than me on occasion, and the two women looking at me now were the worst. So many times, his sins had been on the tip of my tongue, but I hadn’t ever been able to say anything out loud. To say out loud what he’d done to me when we were together.
“I do not want to get back with Jamie. There was a lot more going on than you two know. I wouldn’t be behind him if I were you, mom. He is not what he seems, and I will never get back with him. I would rather be single forever.”
I knew that mom didn’t like what I was saying. I think a part of her worried that I might actually mean what I said. I could see her worry going up a notch at the very idea of me being an old maid one day. I didn’t see it that way. I refused to.
“Now, honey, every couple has fights. I have been talking to Jamie off and on since you broke up. He misses you, and every time I talk to him, he always asks how you are doing first.”
“That’s just his guilt talking. It has nothing to do with him feeling one way or another. He makes you think that he is such a good man, but he’s not.”
She didn’t want to hear it, but the words were on my lips again, and this time I couldn’t stop them from coming out. Maybe I was just sick of hearing about how great of a boyfriend Jamie was.
“I think you’re being a bit dramatic. Your sister Karen had to go through her own trials with her husband. It is just the way of things sometimes.”
I looked to Karen and smiled. She didn’t like to be brought into the middle of it, but since she was already there, I figured I would elicit her help.
“So if Alfred had sex with your best friend, how long do you think it would be before you forgave him, sis? Would you just say that it was okay and take him back with open arms?”
She was shocked. I knew it was all making sense now. My best friend for most of my life had been Alicia. I hadn’t seen Alicia since I caught her and my fiancé in bed together. It had been one of those moments that changed everything. As I watched the emotions dance over my sister’s face, I knew that she was imagining her husband in the same way. When more details were asked, they were given, and the new set of her jaw told me that she was no longer on Team Jamie.
My mom remained in denial a little longer, but it wasn’t long before the talk of Jamie was done. “Do you want me to ask him to leave?”
I told her that I didn’t. In a way, I wanted him to know that I wasn’t going to be bothered by him anymore. He had broken my heart, that much was clear, but there was a part of me that wanted him to see that he hadn’t broken me.
When she gave me a hug and apologized for it all, I felt a little better. It was the first time that we had been like that in a long time. But dinner had to get on the table. As I went back out the swinging doors, I hoped that my eyes weren’t still red. For a second, I had forgotten that my boss was there. Now he was talking to my older brother, and I wondered what they were talking about.
Jamie came up and took one of the dishes out of my hand. I didn’t say anything to him, but when I set a dish down by Jerold, it was clear that he wasn’t happy. His mood and face had changed in a matter of moments. My face flushed and again I had to get away from him. When I came back out with the rest of the food, Jerold touched my arm and urged me to sit next to him. The gesture made me think of when he had had me get on his lap. I blanched a little at the thought and sat down before I embarrassed myself.
The dinner was loud and the family was in true form. I wasn’t embarrassed by them, but I could see them as an outsider and I knew they were a lot to take in. My family was big and loud, just like any other Italian family. To me this was normal, but I knew that it was most likely a lot to handle for Jerold. The fact that my family was nosy on top of everything was hard enough. Then my uncle mentioned the failed proposal of the week before and I literally wanted to sink into the chair.
Jerold was quick to pull me aside after dinner, asking me if I wanted to sit out on the porch with him. I knew that he wasn’t happy about Jamie being there, and his eyes had flared when he heard about the proposal. Neither reaction seemed to line up with what he was to me. He looked downright angry, and when I finally did agree to go out with him, I was nervous about what he was going to say.
His hand didn’t leave off gripping my arm. I didn’t pull away until we were outside and I had shut the screen door. Moving away from him, I asked him what his problem was.
“You were engaged to him?”
I knew that he was talking about Jamie, but I didn’t quite get why he was mad about it. “Yes.”
“And he asked you to marry him a couple of days ago?”
I shook my head. For some reason I didn’t want to tell the truth, but there was no way that I could say that he hadn’t. There ha
d been an embarrassing five-minute conversation about it at dinner. “Yes.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“You’re just my boss, sir.”
His jaw tightened and he moved closer. “I am more than your boss, Nicola. You got my note?”
I remembered the folded piece of paper in my pocket and nodded. I hadn’t read it, but I had gotten it.
“Good, then I will see you Monday. Thank you for the invitation.”
He was gone just like that, with a tight jaw and unhappiness in his slate eyes. I wasn’t sure what had happened, and only when his anger dissipated in the air could I really think again. I watched him get into his car and the driver took off. What had just happened?
Chapter 4 -Nicola
“No panties or bra, Nicola. I will be checking.”
When I had gotten home after the dinner at my parents’ house, I had immediately read the note that he had left me. I don’t know why I had forgotten about it before, but I certainly couldn’t when it was the last thing that he had mentioned. Jerold had told me that he was more than just my boss. What more did he mean?
The note helpfully cleared up any misunderstanding that I may have had. I wasn’t really sure what to think. I kept reading it, over and over again, but I still couldn’t believe it. Did he really think that I would just show up to work on Monday with no undergarments on? And what did he mean by checking?
I went to bed that night thinking and then dreaming about what it would entail. I had convinced myself all weekend that there was no way that I was going to do what he asked. He must be mad to think that I would do something like that. I realized Monday morning, though, that I was the one who was mad. I was the one who was going to do exactly what he said. I don’t know why, but I didn’t like the idea of going against his wishes. I didn’t want to disobey him.
