by Ted Evans
Once I was done, I jumped out of my chair. I collected my stuff and waited for my computer to finish logging off—safety first. The moment it was done, I left my office. Only two people had a key to my office, and that was my secretary and me. I locked the door behind me and hurried my way out. In minutes, I was in my car, and I drove for the bar.
It was a short trip. It wasn’t far, to begin with, and there wasn’t much traffic, either. I wondered if I was supposed to wait outside for her, or if she was already inside? I’d arrived on the dot, and I didn’t know if she’d be late or not.
Instead of asking, I walked into the bar and looked around. I felt relieved when I did see her, then I smiled and walked over to her table.
“Hey,” I called. “Sorry if I made you wait.”
She looked up and smiled at me. It was a bit reserved, but the smile was genuine.
“It’s fine, I only just got here myself, and I was about to text you. Please, sit down.”
She waved a hand at the seat opposite her, and I took it. The lighting in the bar was a bit dark, and there was some music on, but not too loud. We spent a few awkward moments, each waiting for the other to start but neither knowing what to say. Before we managed to speak, a waitress came up to our table.
“Good evening, my name is Mary, and I’ll be your server tonight. Are you two ready to order?”
I arched an eyebrow at Alessandra, and she turned to the waitress.
“I’ll just have a coke, please..”
“Then I’ll have the same,” I added.
“Zero, normal, light?”
Alessandra said, “Zero.”
The waitress wrote it down, then walked away.
Once we were left alone again, the silence returned.
Dammit.
“So, how was your day?” I asked quickly. “I mean, you stopped by Wendy’s and looked after my little cousin. I hope he didn’t give you any trouble?”
“Oh, not at all,” she answered just as quickly. “He was a total sweetheart. And it was nice getting to see and talk to Wendy after so long.”
“What did you guys talk about?”
I was latching onto whatever topic that would keep the conversation going, but the moment I said it, I knew I’d made a mistake. Alessandra didn’t reply for a long time, blinking at me. It took a minute, then I smiled.
“Ah, sorry. I’m prying, aren’t I? It’s none of my business what you guys talk about. I’m happy you finally met again, though. She was always asking me about you, and she wanted you to be there at the wedding…”
She nodded slowly. “I am sorry I missed it. She showed me the photos. It looked amazing.”
That could have been us.
The thought jumped into my mind, unexpectedly. It had been what I felt when I went to Wendy’s wedding. Alessandra and I had separated already, and I had wondered then what our would have been like if I’d asked her to marry me.
Somewhere along the way, did I make a mistake?
I could only vaguely remember the shit that happened before the break-up. We didn’t have a lot of time with each other, because we were both dealing with issues. I felt I had more to deal with than she did, and whenever I thought that I felt ashamed of myself.
After all, my father was ill, and I was dealing with the company, and I’d had to work my schedule to finish college early because of it. Then, there was Mom’s disapproval of Alessandra. And later Dad died, and I wanted to see Alessandra so badly but didn’t think I could.
I held back so much because I thought everything would be worth it in the end. She would finish school, and I would get the hang of being the company CEO, and we would move on with our lives.
We would be happy.
When did that change?
I wanted to ask. I wanted to ask Alessandra a lot of things, but whether or not she would answer was another thing, and I didn’t want to scare her off. This was only our second meeting, and it was already a good sign when she had been the one to ask me out.
Deciding to move on to a different topic, I opened my mouth. Before I could speak, though, the noise in the bar suddenly got louder. More and more people were coming in, and I frowned, realizing other people were finally coming out of work and deciding to have a little fun before they went home.
Alessandra looked sheepish.
“I’m sorry,” she said, raising her voice a bit to be heard. “I didn’t think it would get this loud. I’ve never been here around this time, usually a bit earlier or later and it’s never been this loud!”
I arched an eyebrow and leaned across the table. She did the same, and I tried not to imagine how intimate the scene would look to any outsiders.
“Do you come here often?” I asked.
She shook her head. “Just a couple times recently. You know I don’t drink.”
I nodded, already feeling the relief that this much about her hadn't changed. It was hitting me again that we had been apart for fifteen months. While she hadn't started a new romance, gotten married and had some other man’s kid, all sorts of things could have happened within that time that I had no idea about.
Would it be safe to ask?
I didn’t dare to.
“You can just ignore them. There seems to be a party or something going on. It’s not always this rowdy in here.”
I watched as she picked up her bottle, and lifted my own as I smiled.
“Come on. We came here to have a good time, right? So let’s get to it!”
Her eyebrows went up, but she clinked her bottle against mine and matched my smile.
“That’s fine with me,” she said.
She seemed to relax after that, and the conversation flowed naturally. I didn’t even keep tabs on what we were talking about, just responded when she spoke, laughed and reacted in all the right places. I let the nostalgia flow over me.
There did seem to be some sort of party going on, a couple of groups of people kept yelling, and the music got turned up. It made conversation a little harder, but we each finished our first bottle, and both of us got a second. We had a nice, low buzz going, both of us letting go and speaking of only unnecessary stuff.
We stopped at the second bottle. She needed to go home, and so did I. I already knew I wouldn’t be driving. I could hold my liquor well, but there was no point in taking stupid risks. If I couldn’t get someone to drive me home so I wouldn’t have to leave my car behind, then I’d just take a taxi and come back for it in the morning.
I paid the bill, ignoring Alessandra’s insistence on paying her share. We stepped out of the bar and stopped at the curb.
“I hope you don’t plan on driving back,” Alessandra said. “You came with your car, right? Sorry, I should have thought that part through. We could have had a coffee instead or something…”
A smile spread on my face at the thought of her worrying about me.
“It’s fine. You asked me for a drink at a bar; I knew what I was getting myself into. And how will you be getting home?”
“Taxi,” she said, waving vaguely toward the road.
“Okay,” I said.
I dawdled. I didn’t know what to say, but I didn’t want just to walk away, either. I knew what I wanted to say, but inviting Alessandra back to my place with me might not be the best idea. She stared back at me, seeming in the same situation as me.
“I missed you,” I blurted out. I couldn’t hold it back anymore. This much should be safe, right?
Alessandra stared at me for a while longer, then smiled.
“I feel the same way, too,” she admitted, her voice quiet. “Joshua, I missed you.”
I dragged in a harsh breath, feeling an ache in my chest. I so badly wanted to reach out to her and pull her into my arms. I tried to hold her close and never let her go. My eyes dropped to her lips, and I wondered when the last time I kissed her was?
My body went through the motions on its own. Well, no, not on its own; after all, I very much wanted to put my arms around her waist and d
rag her closer to me, then cup her face with one hand and tilt her face up for a better angle. Alessandra didn’t resist. She looked like she wanted exactly what I did. I lowered my head, slowly, keeping my eyes on her.
Her eyes slid closed first, and I closed mine as well as I took her lips in a kiss.
It started out soft, chaste. But that wouldn’t be enough for me. My arm around her waist tightening, I pressed harder against her and licked along the seam of her lips. Alessandra opened for me with a gasp, and I let out a groan as I slid my tongue into her mouth to taste her.
Right then, I’d forgotten where we were, right in front of a bar, on the damn street, in the darkening night. People were moving all around us, but I didn’t care.
We broke apart after a long moment, breathless. I rested my forehead against hers as I caught my breath.
“That was so sexy,” I said in a low groan.
It had been so long since I’d been this close to her. My body couldn’t help reacting, and I was half-hard in my pants, from just a kiss. I was tempted to ask her to go back with me now.
Before I could, I felt a light pressure against my chest. Immediately, I froze and opened my eyes. Alessandra was looking up at me, expression apologetic. I took a step back.
“I’m sorry,” she said, smiling, though it looked painful. “I just need some time. Is that okay?”
Time for what, I wanted to ask. We’ve already had time.
“Is there someone else?” I asked.
She shook her head, and I could feel my heart start to relax, but then she paused. Her expression twisted into something strange, and it felt like something was piercing my chest.
“I…guess you could say there is someone else. I’m sorry, Joshua, I have to go.”
She turned around and walked away. I wanted to reach my hand out to stop her, but her words were still ringing in my mind.
Someone else?
Who was this person, and what did he have to do with Alessandra? From that kiss alone, I knew she felt the same way that I did.
Who is this new, unexpected threat?
I wanted to know, badly. I intended to find out.
Chapter Six
Alessandra
As usual, I was at home. I had an online job that kept me busy since I took a break from school. It was a bit of a juggle between that and taking care of a baby, but at least I got all the time I wanted with my son.
That would change once I got back to school, but I was still in the planning phase for it. I planned to go back to school the next semester and talk to my professors. I’d known to take academic leave instead of just walking away, so they expected me to be back at some point.
The job wasn’t too demanding. It was just a lot of writing and the time for it was flexible enough. I was in the middle of completing another job when I heard a wail and immediately got up.
“I’m coming, baby!”
I hurried back to my room. I worked on the dining table because it was more comfortable that way and I wouldn’t have to risk my backlighting up in pain. I’d made that mistake right after high school.
It wasn’t the best place to try to hold Danny and work at the same time, but I went to sit with Danny anyway, and slowly typed with one hand as I soothingly rocked him.
Then, my phone vibrated.
“Now who could that be?”
I glanced at my son, who had his fist in his mouth and was drooling on it, looking content. I picked the phone up and checked, then smiled.
It was a text from Joshua.
Hey, pretty lady. Hope you’re having a beautiful day?
I grinned to myself.
“Your daddy is such a romantic, you know?” I murmured, slowly typing out a reply.
It had been a few days since I first showed up at Wendy’s house. Though I was supposed to be there to look after her baby while she went off and did something for herself, in the end, she didn’t go. Instead, we’d stayed and talked for hours.
She had left me with a lot to think about, and by the time I got home, my mind had been decided. I wasn’t going to do anything rash, though. It wasn’t until after a few more hours of thinking to myself that I decided to call him and ask him out.
I still loved Joshua; there was no way I could deny that. Whether or not we would work out, though, was yet to be seen, and I didn’t intend to just jump back into a relationship with him when our previous problems hadn't been brought to the table, let alone talking things through. I wasn’t even sure if he’d figured out what the problem had been in the first place.
Too much thinking dampened my mood. I was starting to second guess myself if I had made the right decision to reach out for him instead of continuing to ignore him. Danny in my arm fussed, and I rocked him gently, then went back to typing out my reply. I wasn’t only doing this for myself, after all. My baby would need his father.
We could talk later. I intended to take things slow. Whether or not I thought there could be a future for us together, I would have to decide then.
Maybe I should just tell him about Danny?
I did feel a little guilty about that. I was still worried about his mom, but I had already denied him something important. When I’d gone into labor, I nearly called him, but then Mom took me to the hospital, and with all the pain, I forgot about it. Even after Danny’s birth, I thought about it.
Would he hate me for not telling him? I would have to find that out sooner because our child had to come before our relationship.
My phone vibrated, startling me a little. I was open on the chat thread, and his new message showed up.
Alessandra? Is something wrong?
I winced, then edited the reply I’d started and sent it.
Sorry! You caught me on the job!
“Crap,” I muttered. Then, I remembered and looked down at my son, who looked at me with his innocent blue eyes, and I groaned. “Sorry about that, baby. Mom’s not acting like herself, right? Don’t pay attention to me right now. A lot of women go through times like these.”
He let out a muffled gurgle from behind his wet fist. I wiped at the drool, making him squirm a little before I rocked him a little again and he quieted down. He was a well-behaved child. There were times when he woke me up in the middle of the night, demanding to be fed, so it was quite convenient his crib was in my room, but as long as I met his needs, he didn’t cry much.
The phone vibrated again, and my eyebrows shot up at Joshua’ new message.
I hope Danny’s not giving you trouble?
Could he somehow read my mind? I was just thinking about it!
Of course not! He’s always so well-behaved, he just had his nap and woke up alone, so I had to get him.
I groaned to myself again. Now that I’d given the lie, I had to keep it up, but it would only make things more complicated when it came time to tell him the truth. Joshua was going to be mad at me. Maybe he would be surprised at first, but I would be surprised if there wasn’t some lingering resentment later on.
That’s good, he replied. So are you free to chat right now?
I bit down on my lip. I could technically do both, but then I’d be pushing work to the side. I glanced at my computer, then decided work could wait until later when Danny was asleep. Texting was a lot easier than typing if I had to do it with one hand.
Even though you’re the boss, shouldn’t you be in the middle of work?
I didn’t know much about the nature of his work as CEO. Honestly, it was a little daunting dating someone with such a background, so before, I had done as little as possible to mingle with that side of his life. His mom disliking me hadn't helped the situation.
It had taken some time, but I realized that had been a mistake on my part. Meeting his parents and learning of his mom’s disapproval had been a blow to me, but ignoring one side of his life that didn’t sit well with me was the same as not accepting all of him, as I should have done. If I hadn't realized that in time, I might not have made that call a few days ago.
/> This was me trying to give our relationship a fair chance. While it didn’t seem like it, I knew Joshua had made compromises for me, and I couldn’t remember doing the same for him.
It just really annoyed me, though, that the one time he needed me there to comfort him after his dad died, and the one that was there for him instead, was Rachel.
That damn woman.
Rachel was everything I was not. A young woman from a background that better matched Joshua’ family, and she had his mom’s approval as well. She didn’t even try to be subtle about preferring Rachel as Joshua’ partner over me.
I was distracted again by my phone.
I’d instead think of more important things, he wrote. Another chat bubble appeared. Like when I get to see you again.
My heart stuttered in my chest, then started beating a little faster. I had figured he would, but I was still pleased to know he wanted to meet me again.
Let me know what your schedule is like, and I’ll double-check with mine.
I grinned. I was only teasing, but whether or not he would get it…
A minute later, his reply came in.
Better yet, give me a time and place, and I’ll be there.
My eyebrows shot up. What if I pick a wrong time?
I’ll make time for you. Tell me when.
I chewed lightly on my lower lip. That last bit was almost a command, and I was wondering whether to go along with it or not.
Since I was mostly free, other than taking care of Danny, I had free time to do whatever I pleased. In fact, I had too much free time. My random walks with Danny out to the park was one of the few activities I regularly did that took me outside. There just wasn’t much reason for me to be outside if it didn’t have to do with school since I was very focused on my future.
Now, Joshua was another aspect of that future that I wanted to fit back into my life.
Maybe I shouldn’t… I wrote.
It was half tease, but the other half of it was me worrying. I had made my decision, and I was the kind of woman that, once I decided on something, it wouldn’t be easy to make me turn back. There would always be that worry, though, whether I was doing the right thing or not.
