Avoiding Responsibility

by craziebabe45

  Yet this guy knew a side of Ramsey that she didn't, and she would be stupid not to use the assets in front of her. She didn't want to but her curiosity got the best of her. "So how long have you known Ramsey?"

  "Uh…we grew up together," he told her obviously a bit more tentative now that he knew that she was dating someone else.

  "Really?" she asked surprised that she hadn't met him yet. She had hung out with his high school friends several times since the night of the bonfire, and she had never heard a Brandon Calloway mentioned.

  "Yeah. Why?"

  "I've just never heard him mention you is all."

  "Well I could say the same thing about you honey."

  Lexi cringed but pushed forward with the conversation. "Well I'm going to be in Atlanta for the next week maybe we could all get together. I'm sure Ramsey would like that."

  Brandon chuckled to himself. "Yes, I'm sure he'd just love that," he said sardonically. "You just bring it up to him and see what he says about that."

  "What you don't think he'll want to?" she asked carefully.

  "Not particularly."

  "Oh," Lexi said a bit confused by his demeanor.

  "You should probably just stick to his bidding if I were you," Brandon told her standing up straight as the elevator dinged to the top floor. "It's really just easier that way."

  Before Lexi could say anything further, the elevator doors popped open and she found herself standing in an enormous foyer connecting several enormous offices. Unlike the other floors, it appeared that the entire top floor was devoted solely to the highest management of Bridges Enterprise. So there were very few offices, but each other them was ten times the size of ever other office in the building. Each was bigger than Lexi's entire apartment in New York, and she found herself gaping at the luxurious surroundings.

  "May I assist you?" a beautiful brunette asked walking forward on her kitten heels to greet Lexi.

  "Kace," Brandon purred falling back into his cool demeanor instantly.

  "Mr. Calloway," she stated her eyes narrowing, "what brings you to the big leagues?"

  Lexi choked out a cough. "I'm here to see you darlin', of course," he suavely stated ignoring her jab and moving towards her.

  "Then you can turn yourself right around and get back on that elevator," she told him twirling her fingers at him.

  "Also I have this," he muttered revealing the binder he had been carrying. "Which Mr. Bridges needed on his desk oh…yesterday."

  "You're insufferable," Kace murmured reaching out to snatch the papers out of his hand. He grabbed her wrist instead yanking her forward to only an inch from his face. She gasped as he tilted her off balance coming dangerously close to his lips. When she regained her composure, she pushed him forcefully in the chest and straightened out her pencil skirt.

  "Oh and Miss Lexi is here to see Ramsey Bridges," he muttered pointing his thumb at Lexi.

  "Ramsey isn't seeing anyone today…or ever," she mumbled under her breath.

  "I'm not a client," she told the woman brushing a lock behind her ear.

  "That's his girlfriend."

  "Girlfriend?" she asked incredulously.

  Brandon let loose a loud laugh at her expression. "Exactly what I said."

  Lexi couldn't figure out why everyone found it so unbelievable that she was his girlfriend. She knew they hadn't officially announced it to the universe, but geez this was completely different. "Yes, I'm his girlfriend. Can you please show me where he is?"

  "Sure thing. Brandon Calloway take those papers to him right now," she told him pointing her finger directly into his chest.

  "Yes ma'am. I like a forceful woman," he said smacking her on the ass with his binder as he passed.

  "I'm going to file a sexual harassment suit against you Brandon Calloway," Kace threatened.

  "Then I'll have to file one against you with what you did to me in that janitor's closet the other day," he muttered.

  "Brandon!" she gasped shaking her head as he darted around the corner disappearing before she could thoroughly reprimand him. "My apologies." Lexi just laughed at them as she followed her to Ramsey's office. It was the very last one on the right and the only one absent a secretary. "He's not here all that often," she volunteered as to why the place looked deserted. "Good luck."

  "Thanks," Lexi told Kace, not certain why she would need luck as she knocked on the door. She jiggled the knob, but it remained locked so she just waited…and waited. When no one answered, she knocked again more forcefully.

  "What do you want? Christ, I'm in the office for one day and you have to bother me?" Ramsey called from inside his office. He yanked the door open and stared straight ahead in surprise. His jaw went slack and he immediately looked apologetic about his attitude. "Lexi."

  "Surprise," she managed smiling brightly into his gorgeous face.

  "What are you doing here?" he asked pulling the door further closed.

  "I came to see my boyfriend."

  "Brad dropped you off here?"

  "How else would I get here?"

  "Right I dunno. Can you just uh…give me a minute?" he asked nervously scratching the back of his head.

  Lexi narrowed her eyes at him. "Why? What are you doing in there? Is someone in there with you?" She took a hard look at his clothing, but didn't really see anything out of place. He was wearing charcoal dress slacks with a navy blue button-up tucked into the expensive material. The top button was undone and he was without a tie, but that was hardly surprising.

  "What? No, well yes, but…"

  Lexi pushed the door hard letting it swing open and peered around Ramsey's large form. There sitting in one of the plush leather chairs was a tall blonde leaning languidly over a large computer monitor. Despite her casual posture, her clothes were professional in black pants, a crisp white blouse, and black dress heels. Her eyes were intense and focused and she didn't even look up as the door swung open.

  "Who is this?" she asked glancing between Ramsey and the woman.

  Ramsey cleared his throat. "Lola, I'd like you to meet someone. This is Lexi"

  The woman glanced up and smiled sweetly. "Hello darling," she drawled. She stood tall nearly six feet and made her way over to them. "What a pleasure to finally meet you."

  Lexi glanced between Ramsey and this Lola woman her mouth opened slightly in confusion. She had never heard of her before. How was it that Lola had heard about her? Lexi's mind was swimming with possibilities. Everything she had just heard from Brandon and Kace just then filtered through her mind along with bits and pieces from her conversation with Bekah. Was it impossible for her to be his girlfriend, because in fact he was with someone else? She didn't want to even fathom that.

  Her heart was pounding in her chest and she tried to swallow but was unsuccessful. Her mind went to the worst possible place causing her to cough and sputter in horror. How could he do this to her? She had thought he was a nice guy and all along he had been playing her the fool. She felt like an idiot.

  "Lexi, please calm down," Ramsey said sliding a hand through his hair.

  "How can I calm down? Look at her," she muttered unable to control herself.

  Ramsey sighed heavily. "Lola I need to handle this. Can I meet you later to finish discussing the details?"

  "Of course darling. Anything for you love," Lola purred before stepping over the threshold and exiting the office.

  "This isn't what it looks like," Ramsey said immediately.

  "No?" she asked taking a deep breath to steady herself. She owed him at least the chance to explain himself. Her past had jaded her against this very scenario. "How come I've never heard about her before? Yet, she seems to have heard about me."

  "Uh…it's hard to explain," he told her scratching his head thoughtfully.

  "Well try," she commanded plopping down into one of the chairs.

  "To put it plainly, Lola is my business partner."

  "Oh yes, and what type of business do you run exactly Ramsey? You still haven't
told me. We've known each other for six months and yet I still have yet to find out what it is exactly that you do. Where do you spend all your time? How do you have all this free time to just do nothing? Are you just living off of your trust fund?" she muttered the last question in frustration and immediately regretted it. She hadn't meant to ask that, but deep down she had always wondered if it was true.

  "Wow," he breathed. "I'm just going to assume you're a bit distraught." Lexi lowered her eyes to the ground feeling kind of terrible that she had blurted out all those questions at once. "I do not live off of my trust fund. In fact, I've barely touched that money. Sure for special occasions I tap into it, but I try to live on my own."

  "Is your Maserati a special occasion?" she asked bitterly.

  He smiled despite himself. "The Maserati was a birthday present which is precisely why you have never seen me drive it."

  "Oh," she said her mouth popping open again.

  "You know what?" he asked. "I think it might be better if I just show you what I do. You might not understand if I just explained it."

  Lexi gulped unprepared for this. "You sure she's just your business partner?"

  Ramsey's smile lit up her insides. He was so magnetic. Something about him just turned her body to mush when she looked at him. Not only was he incredibly handsome, but he had a certain charm, a certain charisma that she just couldn't get over. And when he looked at her just then, she knew that she had been irrational. She had acted impulsively out of fear. Too long had she become accustomed to a life of secrecy that she assumed anything suspect was just that…because it always had turned out that way in the past. When she looked at him, she knew that he was hers and no one else's in that moment.

  "Alright, where are we going?" she asked a cautious smile forming on her face.

  "That's more like it," he said drawing her to her feet and kissing her tender lips. She leaned into the kiss letting her hands twine through his short blond hair. His arms wrapped around her slim waist pulling her body flush against his own

  Someone clearing their throat in the doorway made them jump apart in surprise. "Don't let me interrupt anything," Bekah cooed leaning against the door frame. Her shoulder length hair was perfectly styled with choppy bangs covering her forehead. She wore a black skirt suit over a blood red tank top with matching black heeled boots.

  "Hey Bek, what can I do for you?" Ramsey asked pulling Lexi closer to him more for her support than for his own.

  Bekah strolled in the office putting one foot in front of the other as she walked. The smile she wore was devilish, and Lexi could see the wheels turning in her mind. She looked as if she was ready to pounce. "Well I came over to ask you about some paperwork on my desk."

  "Why would I help with that?" he asked coolly.

  "I was hoping that you would reconsider your position in the company. I could always use your expertise," she said taunting him.

  "Right well I'm not reconsidering," he told her flatly.

  "Yes well, I figured as much. When I got over here, I couldn't help overhearing," she said still walking slowly towards them.

  "Is there a point Bekah?"

  "Of course. I was just surprised to hear, since Lexi is now your girlfriend. Well actually, I was surprised to hear that she's your girlfriend," she said crossing her arms and stopping a few feet from Ramsey. "Why haven't I heard about this? Why haven't any of us heard about this?"

  "Really, it's none of your business," Lexi spoke up for the first time not needing the support Ramsey was offering, though she did appreciate the gesture.

  "Everything that happens here is my business."

  "Well it's a good thing I'm not here, isn't it?" Ramsey told her.

  Bekah smiled cheerfully. "Right that brings me back to my other point. Thank you for reminding me. I was surprised to find out that you still hadn't told Lexi about your whores."

  "Whores?" Lexi asked glancing up at Ramsey. She didn't want to be taken in my Bekah's tactics, but the look on Ramsey's face was murderous. What she had said had hit home.

  "Thank you Bekah," he said her name as if he wanted to spit. "I think you've helped enough. You can see yourself out, yes?"

  "Wait you mean she doesn't know about them?" she asked completely ignoring his request. "I mean since you spend all of your time with them, I thought that she should know. I saw Lola leaving so I figured you had to have told her."

  Lexi gulped not wanting to continue this conversation with Bekah in the room, but she couldn't help herself. "What is she talking about?"

  "Nothing," he grumbled glaring at Bekah.

  Bekah chuckled to herself seemingly enjoying Ramsey's discomfort. "Oh Ramsey, why don't you just give it up?"

  Lexi realized for the first time since Bekah had walked into the room that this wasn't actually an attack on her. Bekah's motivations were to hit Ramsey. She didn't know what she was saying about whores, but she wasn't going to let Bekah do this. She knew how she worked now, and she was smarter than that. She would find out eventually what Bekah was talking about, but she didn't need to know what it was about just then. She needed to be there for Ramsey, because it looked like she had been thrust into the middle of some age old sibling dispute.

  "Fuck off Bek," Ramsey cried. "Stop trying to ruin everyone's life."

  Lexi coughed as if to remind him that she was still in the room, and she was the last person who had had her life ruined by his bitch of a sister.

  "I'm not ruining anyone's life. You're doing that all on your own," Bekah said with a wink.

  "Bekah, just get out," Ramsey bellowed stomping towards the door and wrenching it open.

  Bekah directed her attention back towards Lexi. "Well you'll find out all of his deep dark secrets soon enough. That will be a great day for me," she told Lexi before she began to walk out the door.

  "And why is that?" Lexi snapped immediately wishing she hadn't. Bekah fixed her ice cold stare upon Lexi.

  "Then you'll be out of everyone's life." With that she turned and walked out.

  Lexi stormed after her ready to give her a piece of her mind. She wanted to tell her everything. She wanted to tell her how Jack still wanted her. How that ring on her finger was a goddamn fake. She wanted to tell her all about how she had fucked her fiancé right under her nose. She wanted to tell her everything, but just as she reached the door Ramsey slammed it shut.

  "I'm sorry," he said immediately scooping her up in his arms. "She's wrong. She's all wrong. I don't want you to leave my life."

  The desperation in his voice unnerved her and she hugged him back releasing her pent up anger for the moment. When she stepped back, she looked into his bright green eyes which were filled with worry. "I'm not going anywhere," she reassured him.

  He blew out the breath he had been holding. "Good."

  "But you have to explain what she was talking about," she commanded.

  "I will," he said strength and determination returning to his gaze as he realized he wasn't losing her. "Come on. I'll explain once we get there." He grabbed her hand and pulled her out of the office.

  Lexi had a million questions to ask him, but she remained silent. The confrontation with Bekah had given her energy unlike anything she had felt in awhile. She could feel herself beginning to bounce off the walls, but she remained quite. She needed Ramsey to explain everything to her, and she wouldn't accomplish that by discussing all of her fears with him. She had too many to even begin to articulate which one came first. Bekah was always somehow able to get into her subconscious and eat away at her inner most fears. She really was the devil!

  Numbly, Lexi followed Ramsey back through the lobby, taking the elevator to the parking garage located below the building, and into his waiting Mercedes. Lexi tried to remain calm as they traveled through the city. Her confrontation with Bekah had her on edge. She hadn't thought she was capable of despising her more…but she was wrong.

  Not only had she destroyed what Lexi had had with Jack, she was trying to ruin it for her and Rams
ey as well. She knew that there was more to the story than that. Bekah was never going to forgive Lexi for being ahead of her in anything especially not with the most important men in her life. She was trapped in the middle of some form of family feud that she wasn't even completely conscious of having entered. Lexi just hoped that she didn't have to continually be under crossfire.

  They hadn't been driving for more than ten minutes when Ramsey pulled into a mostly deserted parking lot. There was only one car parked in the far corner facing a tall brick wall. Lexi glanced around apprehensively not liking the secluded nature of their location. Ramsey took the spot directly next to the other car and killed the engine.

  "Here we are," he said smiling hesitantly.

  Lexi noticed the sign posted into the ground in front of Ramsey's car that read 'reserved.' The sign didn't add any legitimacy to the parking lot that they were sitting in, and she could tell her stomach was doing back flips in anticipation. "Where is here exactly?" she managed to ask turning her head to see if perhaps she had missed something.

  "Come on I'll show you," he said opening his door.

  "Is it safe?" she asked before he got out of the car. His boisterous laugh as he walked around the car was answer enough. Stepping out of the car, Ramsey took her hand for reassurance before walking to the corner of the parking lot. A large, black, metal door that she hadn't previously noticed was built into the brick wall. Ramsey pulled out a key, unlocked the deadbolt, and swung the door wide for her.

  She peered anxiously into the dim light that appeared before her down a long hallway. He ushered her inside before closing and locking the door behind him. "This way," he told her motioning down the hallway.

  "Is this where you tell me you're part of the Umbrella Corporation and I'm a test subject?" she asked a stilted laughed following the comment.

  Ramsey cocked his head to the side, the smirk on his face telling her that he was amused. "Precisely. I hope you're immune."