by Amy Brent
“It starts in an hour,” Ken said after checking his phone. “Marilyn is having coffee on the beach.” I stared at him for a long moment before I realized that she must have told the others something about us. He thought I was looking for her, something that disgusted me even though it was slightly better than the truth.
“Thanks, Ken. I should take a shower before lunch and get myself together.” I forced a smile on my face as I ran a hand through my messy hair. “I had a few too many last night.”
“A lot of us did.” He smirked as I laughed and nodded. “See you in a bit.”
I told him the same as I wandered back toward my cottage, not sure of anything. I couldn’t find her. I felt lost as colleagues walked by me and greeted me, nodding and trying to respond as normally as possible. I unlocked my door and walked inside, feeling the emptiness of the room settle over me. It occurred to me that my phone was in the kitchen and I’d never even looked at it to see if she had left a message or called me. I walked over and stared at it, seeing it was dead as I cursed softly. I walked it to the charger in the bedroom, plugging it in, and sat and waited for enough juice to check it.
I scrolled past all the other text messages and calls, just looking for her name but finding nothing. “Fuck, Lily. Where are you?” I asked as my head started pounding. If I were in my right mind, I would be doing what was needed to get me through this lunch. Right now, I couldn’t think. I decided I would go to the function, both to see if she was there and to ask around if that wasn’t the case. I could talk to her friend Jasmine if nothing else. Lily didn’t trust anyone but her, so Jasmine would know something. Whether she’d share it was a different story.
I showered and dressed in some clean shorts and a button-up shirt, respecting the relaxed dress code of the company. I walked into the conference room and sat with the other partners, refusing to make any eye contact with Marilyn. I looked calm on the outside, but my eyes scanned the room for Lily every second until someone started talking.
She wasn’t there.
I sipped some orange juice and nibbled on fruit to calm my stomach as the voices droned on and on. I looked at Jasmine a few times, who was seated by her boss and sipping coffee. She didn’t look upset, so maybe there was a good reason Lily wasn’t here, even though we weren’t leaving until tomorrow.
Tomorrow, we would be going back to normal, but I didn’t know what that was any longer. I didn’t know what to do or say.
I made my way across the room as casually as possible, approaching Jasmine as she looked at me. “Where is she?” I asked as her eyes narrowed. “I can’t find her. Where is she?”
“There was something at home. Lily flew back last night.” I stared at her. “She didn’t tell you. Were you sleeping together again?” There was no one close enough to overhear the question she asked as her keen eyes judged me.
“Yes,” I said softly, and she pressed her lips together. “I didn’t force it.”
“I know that. I know Lily even though she tried to hide her feelings for you. I could see it in her eyes and all through this trip. She left because of you, didn’t she?” I looked out the window, knowing I would be leaving early as well.
“I didn’t hurt her in any way. I didn’t harm her,” I said, and she shook her head at me.
“Of course not. You love her,” Jasmine said. “You broke her heart, though. Something happened.”
“I have to go,” I said, turning to leave the room. I didn’t say good-bye to anyone, and I intended to get a flight home as soon as possible. I remembered that my laptop was in her room and walked over there to see the door cracked open. “Excuse me?” I called out as I peered inside.
One of the maids walked down the hallway, looking at me curiously. “Yes, sir?”
“Did you find a laptop here?” She paused and nodded. “That is the firm’s property, and I was hoping to collect it.” The resort was familiar with the company, and she gave me a curious look for a moment. “The woman in this room was my assistant. I assure you that I am telling the truth.” I wanted to push past her just to see the bedroom one last time, to imprint it in my memory.
Did it still smell like her?
She finally pointed at the small bistro table, and I saw the computer there. “Thank you.” I picked it up and looked around the cottage slowly before leaving to go back to mine. I sat down on the couch and powered it up, finding the airline already in the search history. I shook my head. She made her own way home by using this computer, and that hit me in a place deep inside. If I’d had my computer with me instead of at her cottage, would Lily still be here? If we hadn’t made love on the beach that day, would she still be here?
I could ask myself a million questions that wouldn’t help me at all right now. I focused on getting a flight home and packing my things. I told the partners that something came up and I had to leave, which wasn’t a big deal since the work portion of the trip was completed.
I called for a cab, taking it to the airport with an empty feeling inside. I didn’t know what would happen now, because the timing was off. I had planned to leave for home with Lily knowing that I loved her. I wanted to leave with her being mine and looking forward to a future. The last time we made love played back through my mind, and I saw her face as she came as quietly as possible. It had been a beautiful moment despite the harsh words beforehand and even afterward, making me hate that it might have been the last time I ever felt Lily in my arms.
I dozed off during the flight, waking up when I arrived home. It tormented me that Lily had done this same trip alone, making me wonder if she was as torn apart as I was. I left the plane, getting my stuff before I took a cab home.
The apartment looked the same. There was no trace of what had happened in here, and I wondered if I could make it all go away. I thought of the saying about Vegas and how what happened there stayed there, but this was love. I wanted Lily.
I knew the entire firm would be coming home tomorrow and work would resume next week. I didn’t want to give Lily any space now that I was back, but it was clearly what she’d wanted when she left.
I lay in bed that night wondering if she was curled up with her boyfriend in their home. I couldn’t imagine her being at peace with herself right now, not after I saw all the feelings on her face, in her eyes, the past couple days. I knew how she felt every time that we were in bed together, and I knew it was more than just sex for both of us. It was everything.
I had a moment of weakness when I woke up alone and sent a text to her work phone. I didn’t know if she would even have it on, but I waited for a response. I’d make things so much worse if I used her personal phone. I didn’t want to do that to Lily, as much as I wanted to claim her as mine. I wanted her happy no matter what, and blowing up her life wouldn’t do that.
I could wait until work, where we could talk privately.
I dressed for work that Tuesday in my favorite suit, determined to get my girl. I looked put together and confident when I drove in, though I feared what might happen inside. I left the car and walked to my office, knowing I’d never felt like this returning to work after one of the annual trips before. There was the occasional awkwardness that followed a one-night stand with a colleague or fights with Nadine if she didn’t come along with me, but nothing like this.
I was earlier than everyone else, and I assumed they were all still recovering from the getaway. I remembered the last dinner being a time of relaxation, partying, and letting loose. It was the night that a lot of careless things happened, based on my experience. There were a lot of apologies in my past from that night and others on trips that I could remember, but I didn’t regret a single thing about Lily. It was more than a night or a drunk moment.
I sat down at my desk with the door open, warming up my computer and looking over the city. It was beautiful in a different way than Belize was, since the memories I had of Lily transcended both places, but this was home. I went to make some coffee, and I saw the one woman in the firm I didn't want
to see standing in the room. “You have a break room. Why are you here?” I let all my bitterness in my voice, not holding back since we were alone.
“I wanted to talk. You left so suddenly,” Marilyn said as she turned to look at me. Her surface beauty was marred by her selfish intentions, and I narrowed my eyes at her.
“About what?” I asked, and she smiled and tossed her hair.
“I won’t tell anyone about you and your assistant if you continue what we started in Belize, Landon. I want more than I got,” she said.
I thought about her words. I could get into some trouble for being with Lily and possibly lose my job, but I also had a lot of years here and far more security than she did.
“I think we could be good together,” she said.
“I don’t want you, Marilyn,” I told her. Ice flashed in her eyes. “I never did, and I don’t remember anything that happened between us; nor do I want to. I was drunk, and you know I wasn’t truly in the moment. Why continue that?”
“You’re willing to lose everything for her?” She was stunned, and I made my coffee with shaking hands.
“You and I both know I will be here longer than you are. In time, everyone will know that you’re looking out for yourself, Marilyn. I wouldn’t doubt if they already do.” I turned and looked into her pale face. “Leave me alone and don’t you even look at her. I can have you fired so fast that your head will spin.”
I walked past her to my office. The woman I loved was sitting at her desk and getting ready to work. She was beautiful, but I saw the sadness in her face as she stared at her monitor while it warmed up. She glanced over to see me approaching her, and her eyes widened as a frown crossed her face. “Are you okay? Jasmine said that you had to return home early.” I kept my tone even as a flurry of emotions crossed her face.
“Fine,” was her clipped answer. She avoided any eye contact with me, looking pained.
“Come into the office when you’re settled in. I have something I want you to go over with me.” I walked through my door once I’d spoken and played back her tortured face in my mind. There was a lot of pain there, and I didn’t know why, but I was going to get to the bottom of things when she walked in here.
Lily
I knew he wanted to see me, and as his assistant, I needed to go in there. I also knew it wasn’t business he wanted to discuss, and my heart sank at the idea of facing the pain that had haunted me since I’d looked into his cottage that night. I went to make coffee to kill some time, listening idly to talk about the trip and how much fun it had been. I wish that had been the case for me.
I’d come home with a broken heart. I’d come home to change my life and try to put the pieces back together. I walked back to my desk slowly, feeling the ache in my body as I thought about everything. When I got back to my desk, my phone was lit up, and I picked it up to see a text from Brian.
He was so innocent in all of this.
I shoved the phone into the drawer with my purse and locked it before I took a deep breath. I just needed to get this over with. I tapped at Landon’s cracked door before I heard him tell me to come inside. I straightened my black dress with my hands. “You needed to see me?” I asked as I gave him a hesitant look.
“Close the door,” Landon said, and I nodded and pushed it behind me until I heard the click of it shutting tightly. “Why did you leave?” He came around his desk and stepped toward me as I pushed myself against the door. I knew how private this office was, and I licked my lips as he cupped my face, staring into my eyes.
“Stop. Don’t touch me,” I choked out, tears filling my eyes.
“What?” He sounded shocked as I found the strength to push him away.
“I saw you with her. I saw her in your cottage holding you,” I said, and Landon’s eyes widened. “I was going to tell you that I loved you, that I wanted you. I didn’t know I was so replaceable.” His eyes looked haunted, and I pressed my hands against the door, still feeling his warmth.
“You’re not,” he protested, and I gave him a long, searching look. “I thought it was you when I got the door. I guess you didn’t come back before that?” Landon looked at me hopefully before I shook my head painfully. “I got sloppy drunk going over what happened, Lil. I answered the door and don’t remember anything until I woke up on my couch.”
“So you slept with her,” I said in a strained voice.
“It wasn’t me, whatever happened. I’ll never trust that bitch to tell me the truth, Lily. She is out for herself and nothing else, so she’ll make it benefit her. I can tell you that I never wanted her at all. It’s you. I want you.” Landon stared into my face, into my wide, frightened eyes, before he pressed his forehead against mine. “I just want to turn back time and change the part that changed us. I wanted to come home feeling you beside me.”
“I was going to tell you that before I saw her. It was hours after we were…together, and you were in another woman’s arms. I don’t care that you were drunk, Landon. You’re not twenty-one anymore, and you have more control of yourself than that.” I hated that he was an older, mature man and acted so much like Brian in that single way.
“I was fucking miserable after you walked away from me. If I didn’t drink, I would have been at your door breaking it down. You needed space, and I needed to escape,” Landon said. Tears slid down my cheeks. He kissed my lips softly, still lighting a fire inside me. “I never intended for anything to happen, if it even did. I only want you.”
I parted my lips as he kissed me again, wanting to push him away even as my arms circled his neck. It didn’t fix anything, but it felt so good as he pressed his body against mine until I felt him hard against me. I pulled away, looking down as he glanced between our bodies. “You were that way for her.”
“I don’t fucking know if I was. I don’t remember,” Landon said, and I closed my eyes. “You came home to him in your bed, Lily. How am I supposed to feel about that?”
I did come home to Brian, surprising him as he slept. I was exhausted and emotional, and I turned his kiss into something carnal, fucking him hard as he gripped my hips. I knew it would replace the feeling of Landon inside me, which had made me ill when I’d seen him with Marilyn. I needed to get all traces of Landon a shower couldn’t touch off my body, and Brian coming inside me was supposed to do that.
It only made me feel worse, and I lay awake after he went back to sleep, holding me in his arms.
“Do you think I felt good about that?” I asked as I slid away from him and walked to the window. “I hate myself for what I did to him. That isn’t who I am, or at least who I was. The last few days have been horrible, Landon.” Tears slipped down my cheeks uncontrollably as I felt him move behind me. “It changed everything.”
“What do you mean?” he asked. I took a deep, shuddering breath.
“I had to take a good hard look at myself in the mirror, inside my heart. I hurt people, both you and Brian.”
I didn’t want to pretend it had never happened at all, because I knew it would haunt me inside. I shrugged Landon’s hands off my shoulders before he pulled me against him and kissed my neck, and I cried when I felt my body heat up for him. I still wanted Landon, and I allowed his hands to slide up my body as I pressed against the window.
“I hate myself, Landon,” I said.
“Don’t,” he said. His hands cupped my breasts, my nipples hardening under the lace of my bra as I imagined his mouth on Marilyn. Did he do this with her as well? “We got carried away.” His mouth sucked the tender skin of my neck between his lips, and I felt an odd sense of relief that I wasn’t cheating on anyone right now.
I’d ended it with Brian yesterday after a long time of thinking. He’d wanted more from me than I could give, his eyes pleading with me to tell him why.
I felt bare fingers on my pert skin as Landon tugged on me, and I moaned, craving him inside me. I wanted him to fuck me the way I deserved. I needed punishment. I hadn’t told Brian what had happened to bring me to my decisi
on. I hadn’t been willing to hurt him any more than I already had.
That being said, I still wasn’t free for Landon. I needed some space, even as he turned me toward him for a heated kiss. This would be sex and nothing more, because I was dead inside now. Landon carried me to the couch, sliding my dress off after he assured me that the door was locked. I allowed it, needing his lips and teeth on me. I asked for more, needing pain, as he stared into my face. I needed closure even though the idea made me sick somewhere deep inside.
He slipped his hand over my throbbing clit. Fuck. I jerked against him as I reached out to undo his pants and release him. Landon stroked me hard as I wrapped my hand around him, ready to come as he slipped a finger inside me and continued to stroke my pussy.
“Baby, it’s only you I want. Please believe me.” Landon continued to beg as I spread my legs wide and rocked against him before covering his hand in my release. “I love you, Lily.”
I gasped and moved on to my stomach, my ass in the air. “Fuck me,” I whispered, but then something crossed my mind. “Wear a condom.” I heard him let out a breath before he left to go to his desk. I heard a wrapper and then he was inside me.
“I’ll get tested. I’ll do anything,” Landon said as we rocked together, one of his hands on my hip while the other cupped my breast. “I just want you.”
My body clung to him, and my heart wanted to do the same. When I came again, I heard him moan my name before he jerked clumsily. There was no heat of his release meeting mine, no trace of him anymore. “Lily, oh fuck. I can’t live without you.”
Landon dropped against me as we both took deep breaths. “I needed that last time with you,” I told him as he stilled against my body. “I am giving you my resignation today, Landon. I received an offer from a firm across the city and accepted it.”
“Brown and Caldwell?” he asked, and I nodded. He leaned down to kiss my hair. “I knew they were going to be contacting you.”
“I accepted the job,” I told him, feeling tears in my eyes. “I am going to prove that I am a good worker and not just someone you want to move to benefit us. I am going to do this all on my own.” My heart was breaking as I felt him pull out of me to drop onto the couch beside me.
