Twenty Eight
“Everything we’ve put out so far to the public has been well received. People are genuinely excited to see what we have to offer.” I leaned back in my leather chair at my desk as David rested on the window, his hands in his pockets.
“But are they excited enough?” he questioned.
“I think the partnerships with the streaming services have helped. The promotions will drive business significantly. The website is gorgeous and user-friendly. It got a hundred thousand hits in twenty-four hours. I’d say yes.”
He looked away from me. “I just feel like there’s more to do.”
I smirked. “Now you sound like me.”
He met my eyes. “Like you said. You say that as if it’s a bad thing.” He gave me that dashing smile that made me shake my head.
I stood and walked over to him. “We got this. Next week the world will see that you, David Powers, have taken Imperium to a new level. It’s going to be amazing.” I hooked his pinky finger with mine.
There was a knock on my door.
“Yep!” I moved away from David.
Gwen stuck her head in. “Oh good, you’re not naked.”
I laughed. “Hi, Gwen. Welcome back.”
David laughed too and looked in her direction. “How was your time off?” he asked.
She came in and shut the door behind her. “I went home to Kentucky for a few days. It was nice to get away.”
“Good,” David said. He pushed himself off the window. “We have a proposal for you.”
I walked to my desk and dialed a number.
“What kind of proposal?” Gwen inched farther into our space. She looked confused.
“I don’t think you’re right for accounting.” David walked closer to her.
Her voice rose an octave. “What?”
I hung up the phone and stood in front of the desk, my arms crossed over my chest.
“Gwen, we all need to be honest here.” He kept his tone serious. “We all have our strengths, but accounting isn’t for you.”
“You’re firing me?” Gwen went from confused to angry. She walked closer to him. “After everything you two put me through. Keeping your secrets! I thought we made a deal—”
“We did, Gwen,” David interjected.
“But now you’re letting me go!” She slapped her hands on her thighs. I tried not to smile.
David put his hands on the top of her arms to calm her. “No, I’m not letting you go.”
She searched his face.
David came next to me and sat on my desk. “With this fiasco we just went through, Farren and I realized something.”
Gwen’s eyes flickered to me. “What?” she spat.
David looked at me to give the go-ahead. “Well,” I walked behind my desk and picked up a folder, “since you’ve been the point person for technology on the floor, I thought it made sense for you to move to IT.”
“What?” she asked again, a little less harshly.
I nodded. “You’re in school, right? Majoring in information technology?”
She paused. “How did you know that?”
“Julie.”
She looked away uncomfortably and shrugged. “I like working with computers.”
I continued, “Yes, and you’re wasting your time doing something you don’t want to do.”
There was another knock on my door. I walked past Gwen to open it. “Hey, Jeremy. Come in.” I opened the door wider.
“Gwen, this is Jeremy. He’s your new mentor.”
Jeremy nodded at her.
“Mentor?” she asked.
I nodded. “David pulled some strings and got you an entry-level spot with the team. Sanjay Patel is your new manager. Now that you’re working in the IT department, you can get tuition reimbursement for school, and these guys will help you get certified.”
Her mouth gaped open.
I smiled at her and touched Jeremy on the arm. “Would you mind helping Gwen clean out her desk and show her where she’ll be sitting now?”
Jeremy glanced at me, “Yeah. Yeah, of course.”
He opened the door, waiting for her.
She didn’t move. I walked over to her and handed her the folder with all her information and HR paperwork. “Gwen? Is this okay?”
Her eyes welled a little as she nodded furiously. She sniffed and gathered herself. She looked at David. “Thank you,” she whispered.
He stood and walked over to her. “All I did was get you in the door. You’re the one that’s going to have to prove yourself.”
She nodded again and turned to me. “Thank you, Farren.”
“Don’t be a stranger, okay?” I said.
She took a deep breath and walked out the door.
Jeremy eyed her until she was no longer in sight.
I smiled at him. “Thanks, Jeremy.”
He nodded once and left.
David came up behind me and wrapped his arms around my front. He kissed my exposed neck and inhaled. “I wish there was a bed nearby,” he whispered against my skin.
I rolled my eyes and faced him. “Is that all you think about when you see me? Sex?”
“No.” He intertwined our fingers. “I think about watching you sleep and how you bite your lip when you’re thinking. How soft this part of your body is.” He put his hand above my hip. “How your hair smells like chamomile and hibiscus.”
I let out a breathy laugh, surprised by his recognition of the scent.
He moved closer. “I think about how your eyes remind me of blue columbines.”
I tilted my head and pulled my brows together.
“My mom’s from Colorado.” He brought our hands to my cheek. “How I feel like I have to touch you constantly, just to make sure you’re real.”
My heart rate increased with the intensity of his stare and the closeness of his body. I focused on his mouth and how much I needed to connect with him, to feel his soft lips on mine. He pulled me to him and kissed me. My breath left my body as he tangled his hand in my hair.
The knock on my door startled me, and I tried to push him away.
“No,” David said while continuing to kiss me.
I laughed against his mouth. “We can’t. It’s our one o’clock meeting.”
“I have another meeting that involves us and your desk.”
“Stop.” I shoved him away. Laughing, I walked towards the door.
He put his hands in his pockets and sulked. “I’m telling you, what I have planned is much more exciting.”
I laid my hand on the handle and glanced at him. “Behave.”
I opened the door. “Hey, everyone. Come on in,” I said as a few people entered. Trevor and Yvette came in last.
“Girl, why are you so flustered,” Trevor asked as he passed by.
Yvette gave me a smirk. I winked and nodded subtly, making her laugh.
Our meeting lasted for the rest of the day. I used the time as an opportunity to give more responsibility to my team. Yvette and Trevor had morphed into my assistants, and I planned on making them managers when the rebranding phase ended. The group was amazingly cohesive. There were tiffs here and there, but nothing David or I couldn’t resolve within a matter of minutes.
As reluctant as I was about taking it, David had quietly moved me into the director position. I begged him to keep it between us for now. We had enough to deal with, with reintroducing Imperium to the world. The title change wasn’t important.
It was after six when our meeting ended. David and the other’s left my office while I viewed the new commercials in the conference room with Yvette and Trevor. Some editing tweaks needed to be fixed, but overall, they were fantastic.
“What about adding graphics to that part,” Trevor asked.
“I agree. I think the plain background is bland,” I replied.
There was a loud crash from David’s office. I got up and ran out of the room. When I got to his door, I saw him throw his laptop on the floor. He picked up his desk lamp
and smashed it against the window, causing a crack that reflected the lights around Santa Monica. I walked in and closed the door, then closed the blinds, trying to keep the scene from the rest of the floor. I returned to the door and stayed against it as David continued to rage.
Pieces of plastic and glass flew all over the room. The sounds of items being shattered made me wince. Every move he made and every distressed line on his face shattered my heart. He pulled down the bookshelf near his desk and let the heavy wood hit the floor with a crash. He lost his balance when he spun around, tripping over his feet.
He straightened with his head down, his hands gripping his light brown hair. He went to the window, slamming his back against the glass, sliding down to the ground. He sat with elbows on his knees, his hands still in his hair, sobbing.
Gradually, I walked towards him as the glass crunched under my heels. When I got close, he held his hand up as a silent gesture, telling me to stop, but I didn’t. I moved forward and grabbed that hand, then sat next to him. I rested my chin on his shoulder and kissed his neck. Tears brimmed in my eyes as I shared whatever devastation he was going through. Reaching my arms around him, I pulled his body to me. He went loose and laid his head in my lap, clutching my shirt and pants in his hands. His tears came more freely, soaking the material beneath him until the wetness transferred to my thighs. I ran my fingers against his hair and let him cry.
A voice I hardly recognized spoke. “He’s gone.”
Twenty Nine
I stopped moving, grasping what David had said. His father? It had to be his father. Gone? How? When? Every question invaded my mind, begging my mouth to ask to get clarification, needing to understand. We hadn’t been back from Baltimore for more than two weeks, and Mr. Powers was dead?
David inhaled while a tremor ran through him. My hands returned to his hair as I curbed the queries running through my head. His grip relaxed as he let out a forceful breath, pushing himself off me. I kept my hand on the back of his head, running my fingers through his soft strands. He leaned his back against the window again, hanging his head. His stunning face and eyes were red and wet. He pulled his knees up and wrapped his arms around them.
We sat in silence as I took a mental note of everything we would have to replace in his office, calculating what it might cost to keep from driving myself crazy from the lack of communi-
cation.
“Ally called me,” he whispered. I jumped faintly at the sound of his voice. “He had a heart attack.”
I closed my eyes and brought my hand up to cover my mouth in shock.
“He was alone. The nurse went to get his lunch. He couldn’t make it to the button in his room.” David sniffed.
I scooted closer and rested my hand and chin on his arm. “David, I’m so sorry.”
The tears filled his eyes again. “I did all of this for nothing.”
“Don’t say that,” I whispered.
He hit the back of his head against the glass in frustration.
“David, don’t.” I raised my voice. “All of this is still for him. You said it yourself, you’re trying to save his legacy. Nothing has changed.”
“Other than he’ll never see it.” He looked at me. “He’ll never be able to forgive me. He died hating me,” he murmured
I wanted to deny that, to tell David that his father didn’t hate him, that everything David was doing for him was acknowledged and appreciated…but I couldn’t, because I didn’t know.
He turned away and sniffed again. He was quiet for a few moments, then blew out a breath. He moved away and stood, stepping over me to go back to the middle of the room. I didn’t move, just watched him search for something.
I pushed myself off the floor. “What are you looking for?”
“My phone,” he mumbled without looking at me.
I searched around the destroyed room, moving pieces of broken glass and computer parts. I found the phone under the leather chair behind his desk. He’d shattered the screen. I imagined it was probably the first thing he threw. Tapping the screen, the brightness shined through the cracks. There were at least five missed calls from Ally.
“Here.” I handed him the device. “Looks like it still works.”
He continued to avoid my gaze. I turned away with a heavy feeling in my chest, clearing debris from his desk. Once there was no danger of cutting myself, I leaned against it, facing him. The air between us felt different.
Colder.
“Allison… Yeah… I’m fine… I’ll be there by morning… No, I’m leaving now.” He looked at me. “No,” was all he said, then twisted away again. I unconsciously shrank into myself and stared at the floor.
Once he ended the call, he picked up his broken laptop and dumped it on his desk, knowing it no longer worked. He walked around me but kept his distance. I felt the pull between us widening.
He pulled his keys out of his pocket and jingled them in his hands as he walked in front of me. His usually beautiful hazel-green eyes were dark and lifeless. “Do you need a ride home?” he asked.
I shook my head. “I’ll get a ride with Yvette.”
He turned away but stopped and looked at me again. “Only with Yvette. Do not get a car. Promise me.”
I nodded and whispered, “I promise.”
We continued to stare at each other. I understood his shock. He didn’t need to talk about it now. He didn’t need to invite me to go with him, but I needed a sign. Something I could hold on to. I silently begged him not to leave without a kiss, a hug, a goodbye, anything.
David moved to me and put his hand on the back of my neck, pulling me to him. The kiss wasn’t usual. There was no wanting or teasing behind it. Even the pecks he gave held a sensuality that made my toes curl. This felt like a formality.
He pulled away and rested his head against mine. “I’ll call you when I get in.”
I was hesitant to let him go and kept him near me until he removed himself from my grasp. Then he turned away and walked out the door.
DAVID SENT EMAILS DIRECTING me on how to handle the launch that following Friday. There were no sentiments or personal information included. According to the correspondence, I was his employee, and he was my boss. I sent texts to him, telling him good morning and good night.
No response.
Late one night, as I was looking through the barrage of messages I had sent, the little bubbles floated on the screen as if he were typing something. They lasted for a good two minutes, then disappeared. My heart sank deeper into my stomach as I went on night three of little to no sleep.
“Farren, the New York Times is on the line…again.”
I stopped and exhaled near Annie’s desk on my way to my office. Once the media got word Mr. Powers had passed away, they had attacked our office with phone calls. “Send them to legal.”
“They keep calling back.”
“Annie, I know.” I tried to pull back my temper. “Just, please, send them to legal.”
She nodded at me.
I took a deep breath, walking to my open door. I shut it behind me. Between the launch I was apparently handling on my own and David’s radio silence, I was about at the end of my rope.
Yvette knocked on my door later that day. “You okay?”
I looked up from my desk and paused. “Define okay.”
“Still haven’t talked to him?” She came into the office with a bothered look on her face.
I shook my head and tried not to snap the pen in my hand.
“He just lost his dad, Farren.”
I looked at her. “I know, but something’s different. I can feel it. I felt it before he left. This isn’t just him not calling me. He’s distant.”
She tried to smile. “Just give him some time. I’m sure once all this is done, you’ll be happy ever after again.”
I took a deep breath and nodded.
“Let’s go get a drink tonight.” She put her hands on her waist. “Take your mind off of your hot CEO boyfriend, and I can tell you how I
finally kicked Aaron to the curb.”
I laughed. “Deal.”
After work, Yvette took me to a bar down by the pier and told me the sordid details of her breakup. She made me laugh until I cried, which was just what I needed. I continued to check my phone, hoping something from David would show on my lock screen. Every time, I was disappointed.
Yvette dropped me off around eleven. Instead of waiting for the elevator, I climbed the stairs. I came through the door of the stairwell, my face in my purse, looking for my keys, when I heard my name.
My head snapped up to find the most perfect eyes ever created, and my breath left me. “David?”
His white cotton T-shirt under his black leather jacket and jeans clung to him. I recognized the cologne he wore from the time I ran into him that first day. His hands were in his pockets as he leaned against my door. The dark circles under his eyes read how exhausted he was. His beard was longer, indicating he hadn’t shaven in days. Still, he was beautiful.
I approached him slowly, not able to read his expression.
“How are you?” I asked cautiously.
“I’m okay,” He answered, muted.
I wanted to hold him and kiss him, comfort him and tell him how much I missed him. That I didn’t care how it had been days since he talked to me in person or even over the phone. I just needed to feel his arms around me…but I couldn’t. There was a trench laying between us, and I felt his reserve.
“Can we talk?” As soon as he asked, the pit in my stomach widened, and my heart fell through it.
I nodded and walked past him to unlock my door. His stare burned into my profile as I crossed the threshold and turned on the nearest light. I held the door open for him, avoiding eye contact. I knew what was coming.
He kept his hands in his pockets. Then, taking a deep breath, he looked at me. “I just came back for the launch tomorrow. I have to return to Baltimore on Monday to wrap everything up. We’re cremating dad and having him flown back out here for the memorial. Ricky and my mom are coming in.” He stopped and looked at the floor. “It’s just going to be family, something small and private.”
The One of Many Page 24
