“Miss Nels,” another voice said a few minutes after the delivery man left, and everyone looked over as Trace Blairson stepped away from his own office. “What is the meaning of this?”
“Mr. Blairson,” she began. “It is someone’s idea of a practical joke.”
Mr. Blairson nodded his head as he glanced briefly at Samuel and Marla standing together before he turned back to her, and said, “And yet, the message was clearly a warning for you to stay away.”
Miss Nels shook her head as she smiled at him charmingly, “I don’t have any idea what the message was talking about, sir.”
“About a month ago, didn’t a vase of roses come for you and you made the point of telling everyone that the sender was a secret as it would be against company policy?” One secretary said giving Miss Nels a narrowed look although there was a mocking smile on her face.
“There was also that box of chocolate that was delivered a few weeks before that,” another one chimed in.
It went around the office until everyone had their say, and in the end, it wasn’t just Samuel’s name that had been used on some of these deliveries although his name was the last one used recently.
“I think, Miss Nels,” Mr. Blairson said looking at her with hard eyes, “that you need a different climate.”
“What?” She muttered looking at everyone in disbelief before turning her attention back to Mr. Blairson.
“Oh, I’m not going to fire you because you are a good employee according to your evaluations, but as it seems you are having a relationship with the men in your department then I think a transfer is in order,” he said his voice bland.
“But I’m not having…” she started only to stop as snorts circled around the room.
“As I said, Miss Nels, this is not acceptable in the work place so either you take the transfer, or you can quit now, and I will count it as your two week notice so that it doesn’t reflect on your work record,” Mr. Blairson said.
Miss Nels swallowed as she said, “I will take the transfer.”
“Good choice because as I said, I would hate to lose a good employee for something so minor,” he told her with a smile before he walked off.
“Oh, Miss Nels,” he said turning back, “I will have your transfer ready to go by the end of the day.”
She nodded her head as he continued on his way and as he disappeared from sight, there was laughter throughout the department.
“Ladies,” Samuel said a frown on his face. “Please get back to work.”
They nodded their heads as Samuel looked at Miss Nels his eyes hard before he turned to Marla and said, “Let’s go.”
Miss Nels watched them walk away with tears in her eyes and she wondered who delivered the flowers, but as she looked around the room she knew anyone could’ve done it including the psychotic woman she was working with. She glanced in the direction that Marla and Samuel went before she shrugged her shoulders as she didn’t see any reason to get involved anymore and she packed up her things.
Trystan walked into the house later that evening among laughter as he heard Samuel say, “Marla, you shouldn’t laugh about such a thing.”
“And why shouldn’t I?” Marla demanded. “Ever since we started dating that woman was constantly dropping little hints about you and her…”
“Why didn’t you tell me?” Samuel demanded as Trystan entered the room.
“She was your secretary and I didn’t know if she was just playing a head game with me,” Marla admitted.
Samuel shook his head giving her a glare as she pouted her lips at him leaning forward saying softly, “I am sorry. I just didn’t want to cause trouble.”
Samuel sighed as he wrapped an arm around her shoulders before he kissed her forehead.
“I wonder who did it though,” Delilah, Trystan and Marla’s mother, said a thoughtful look on her face. Her eyes went to Samuel and Marla as she suggested, “Could’ve been another woman who has her sights set on you, Samuel?”
Samuel stilled for a second before he turned to Marla and asked a note of urgency in his voice, “Have you been having any problems like accidents and such?”
Trystan suddenly stilled at his words as he came farther into the room to sit down.
Marla looked at him with a frown as she shook her head. “No, why is there something wrong?”
Samuel shook his head as he said, “No, but I want you to be careful for now on, okay? Just in case what your mother said is true and it was someone who is obsessed with me.”
“Maybe you should stop being so charming,” Marla teased him.
“I will do that when your brother does the same,” Samuel said with a challenge, and Trystan looked over at him with a lifted eyebrow.
They all started laughing except Trystan who smiled before shaking his head as the doorbell rang.
Bea walked in a few minutes later with a smile on her lips and Trystan allowed his eyes to go over her as she walked over to him.
“Hello,” she said sitting down next to him as she addressed everyone before turning to Trystan. “Trystan, how is work coming along?”
“I think at the end of this week, I can take some time off,” he said with a smile watching as her eyes lit up excitement.
He turned his eyes to Marla who looked confused for a second before she remembered what they had discussed earlier in his office. She turned to Samuel with a smile as he laughed with her mom and said, “Samuel, would you like to go with me to the charity gala that they are having this coming weekend?”
Samuel looked at her slightly before he said hesitating, “Well, actually I wanted to…”
“Samuel, Marla has participated every year since she turned 18,” their mother said aiding them without even knowing it.
Samuel sighed gently as he said, “Yes, I know.” He turned to Marla with a smile as he told her, “When do you want to leave?”
“After work would be fine on Friday, if you don’t mind picking me up here,” Marla told him with a smile.
“Then we have a date,” Samuel teased as she laughed and hugged him.
Trystan settled back against the couch as they talked around him and Bea leaned her chin on his shoulder her eyes scanning the room around them.
“Bea,” Marla called suddenly as she and Samuel got up so she could walk him out. “Would you like to ride with us to the charity gala?”
Everyone looked at her as Bea said, “Oh, I’m not attending this year.”
Marla frowned as she said slowly, “I was sure that I saw your name down as one of the presenters for the event.”
Bea’s eyes widened as she sat up suddenly and said in a loud voice, “I forgot all about it as my friend asked for my help months back.”
Delilah nodded her head as she said, “Then you should go if your friend asked for your help.”
Bea shielded her eyes as she pouted her lips, “But Trystan and I had plans on the weekend.”
“Bea,” Trystan said sitting forward. “Don’t worry about it, we can reschedule our weekend, but you did promise to help at the event.”
Marla and Samuel saw the satisfied look on his mother’s face as Bea asked, “How about if you go with me?”
Marla now knew why her mother was satisfied because Trystan never went to these things although he donated to them. In his mind, it was nothing but a reason to dress up and socialize, and nothing to do with why they were there in the first place.
“Sorry, Bea,” Marla said with a slight smile. “You should know by now that Trystan never goes to those types of events unless he actually has to.”
Bea’s eyes narrowed, but she sighed and accepted the decision as Marla and Samuel walked out to his car.
Trystan was called away to answer the phone a few minutes later while Bea and his mother talked, which lasted for ten minutes at the most before Bea told her that she had made some plans with friends.
Not too long after Bea left, Trystan returned from his phone call and looked at his mother with questioning eyes
although his mother noted he didn’t look upset that she was gone.
“Bea said she had made plans with friends,” she told him, and Trystan nodded his head settling back down to talk with her as Marla joined them.
Miss Nels looked at the plane ticket with a scowl although it changed as she remembered the conversation she had with her partner before she left her apartment. A smirk worked its way across her face as she tapped the ticket against her palm and she laughed softly remembering the woman’s scream at her words.
She glanced down at her watch realizing that she had some time before her plane left. Lifting her purse to her shoulder, she headed first to the restroom before she went to the airport store hoping to find something that would occupy her attention while on the plane, and she smiled as she passed a good-looking man who gave her an answering smile back.
Maybe she didn’t need to find anything at the store, she thought to herself as she entered the restroom.
In a doorway down the hall from the restroom, a shadow stood silently and as the restroom door closed behind Miss Nels, the shadow stepped out making sure that the door marked ‘staff members only’ didn’t close all the way as she headed for the restroom.
Miss Nels stood in front of the mirror fixing her makeup as the dark clad woman entered the room. She gave the woman an impersonal glance before she went back to her appearance. Her attention was so focused on making sure her appearance was perfect that she didn’t realize the other occupant had walked up behind her until she saw her reflection in the mirror.
“There are other mirrors you can use,” she told her icily shifting her glance to the other mirrors before looking back at her reflection.
The woman didn’t say a word as she pulled a syringe from her pocket and as Miss Nels turned, plunged it into her arm.
Miss Nels glanced at her astonishment in her eyes before she began, “What…” as her mind became sluggish and she collapsed to the floor.
The woman stood over her with grim satisfaction before she kneeled down and lifted the unconscious woman to her feet with difficulty as another woman entered the room.
Keeping her eyes averted in what the woman would consider shame, she said in a colorless voice, “Already drunk and we haven’t even gotten on the plane yet?”
She nodded her head briefly at the woman before she muttered, “Excuse me.”
She dragged her out, but instead of heading for the terminals she went back to the partially open door. With a quick glance behind her, she went inside closing the door behind them with a click not realizing that the woman who entered the restroom came out hurriedly clutching a purse in her hand.
“Miss,” the woman called out heading in the opposite direction.
In the room, Miss Nels hit the floor with a thud her head bouncing off the concrete floor and her assailant watched with a light of satisfaction in her eyes as blood began to coat the floor.
The woman chortled at that as she walked over and pulled a large trunk from the wall. As she reached her enemy, she stopped flipping up the lid of the trunk before she muttered, “You will never have him. I will make damn sure of that as he is mine.”
The woman was unaware that Miss Nels had lied to her earlier when she called her although if she had been in a reasonable frame of mind, she would’ve seen through the lie. Unfortunately, her mind never made the connection as she hurried out of her apartment her eyes wild that her neighbor noticed as she passed her in the hallway.
“That woman is psycho,” her neighbor had whispered as she shivered before entering her apartment.
“Honey, what did you say?” Her husband asked coming from out of their bedroom with a towel as he just got out of the shower and she frowned at him.
Now here she was the same wild look in her eyes as she bent down and began to lift Miss Nels up as she started to fold her into the trunk. The sound of snapping bones echoed around the room although the woman never flinched as she used all her strength to force the woman into the trunk.
Once she was satisfied, she slammed the lid close and pushed the trunk grunting back against the wall where it had been before as she patted the top.
“Enjoy your time here,” she said in an eerie voice before she headed for the door.
After taking a quick look out, she eased out the door forgetting to close it all the way behind her as she hurried into the busy airport.
Inside the room filled with lost and misplaced luggage, a low painful moan came from the trunk before it stopped.
Suddenly the door was push opened as one of the airport maintenance members came in with a frown and a set of keys in his hand as he pulled a trolley behind him.
“Why is this door unlocked?” He asked in the silence of the room as he unloaded the trolley before he scowled starting back for the door. “Damn kid probably playing one of his games instead of working.”
Still mumbling under his breath, he walked out of the room pushing the trolley out of the room as he turned and locked the door before he walked away shaking his head.
Chapter 11
Alina walked back into the hotel after spending four days in Tiers getting to know Mrs. Santos and her family. She had enjoyed herself with Mrs. Santos as they settled the arrangements about the house and she began to refurnish the house.
She had needed to buy furniture as Mrs. Santos had told her with an apology that the furniture in the house belonged to her youngest daughter who recently gotten married. Alina wasn’t too upset about it although it meant she had to wait a little longer than she hoped to move in, but it couldn’t be helped.
She had kept her phone off the entire trip because she just wanted to relax, which she admitted to herself that she didn’t want to hear from Trystan. She had turned on her phone a couple of times to talk to Sam and she noticed the calls she received from Trystan’s secretary, which she ignored. As for Sam, she had wanted to let him know that she was staying a few days longer before he started telling her about Marla’s wedding plans.
She felt bad about not telling him what she was doing because as far as he knew, she was merely sightseeing around other towns.
She had been in her room ten minutes when her hotel phone rung and she shook her head as she picked it up.
“Hello,” she said as she unzipped her overnight bag.
“How about eating lunch with me?” A deep voice said in her ear sending a pleasant sensation down her spine.
She considered it for a second before she said, “Sure. Should I meet you downstairs in the hotel dining room?”
Trystan smiled as he said, “No, we will go someplace else.”
He exited the elevator on her floor as he heard her say, “Okay. Do you want me to meet you in the lobby, or better yet, just tell me where and I will meet you there.”
“That won’t be necessary, Alina,” he told her a second before he stopped in front of her door and knocked.
“Why won’t it be…?” She started only to stop at the knock. She shook her head as a rueful chuckle escaped her lips and she hung up the phone before she went over to open the door. “Do you have spies in the hotel or something because I doubt that you are working with Mr. Tyeson every day?”
Trystan leaning against the doorframe in his suit although his jacket was unbuttoned and one hand was in his pocket while the other hand held his cell shrugged his shoulders before he said in an arrogant tone, “Something like that.”
“Probably wouldn’t have hurt your ego any if I had declined,” Alina told him with a laugh as she waved him inside.
He followed her in closing the door behind him as she went over to the bed and grabbed her purse opening it with a thoughtful look before zipping it closed.
As she did this, Trystan observed the unpacked overnight bag still lying on the bed as her cell rung eliciting a reaction from him.
Seeing his reaction, she gave a grimace and apologetic look as she told him, “I turned the cell back on when I entered the hotel.”
He nodded his head wondering
where she had gone although he knew that she wasn’t with Samuel because he spent all his nonworking time with Marla.
He was looking at her when he watched a frown form between her brows as she answered her cell, but it was her voice that had him narrowing his eyes. Her voice was flat and emotionless as if the person on the other end was a nuisance although she still answered the call and he listened intently to her side of the conversation.
“I don’t know what to tell you, Janice,” she said her voice still flat.
Trystan went to say something, but as his mouth opened Alina looked at him sharply and shook her head. He froze at the look in her eyes as she spoke in to her phone, “I am on vacation, Janice, and I don’t know when I will return.”
The frown deepened on her face at the caller’s next words before she said, “I suggest you work it out with him.”
Trystan heard the cursing and shouting before the phone went silent indicating the other person hung up and Alina sighed as she closed her own phone.
“A friend of yours?” He asked as they started out of the room.
Her reply was short as she closed the door behind her and settled a hand around her purse strap, “My mother.”
After a simple lunch, Alina assumed that Trystan would take her back to the hotel, but instead he drove in the opposite direction.
She glanced at him as she asked, “Don’t you need to get back to work?”
He didn’t look at her, but he felt the searching glance she gave him as he responded, “If I told you that I missed you and want to spend a few hours with you before heading back to work, would you believe me?”
He had grabbed her hand with his free one as he spoke and Alina looked down at their clasped hands before she sighed.
She shook her head as she told him without anger, “No, but it is still nice to hear even though it isn’t the truth.”
She missed the stunned look he gave her as they came to a stop sign before he refocused back on the road. His jaw tightened slightly wondering if Alina was so secured in her relationship with Samuel that she didn’t need to believe him although for some reason he got the impression that she didn’t think he thought anything of her.
His Sister's Return Page 12
