Be Mine

by Alyssia Leon

  “He’s not here.” Aura turned away, stirring the bolognese as it simmered.

  “Where is he?”

  “He left for London, Tuesday night.”

  “Straight after your Valentine’s date?”

  Aura glanced back at her and nodded.

  Lisa was frowning. “When is he coming back?”

  “He’s not coming back.” A tear slipped down her cheek and she dashed it away with an impatient hand.

  “Oh, darling.” Lisa came and wrapping her arms around Aura’s shoulders, pulled her into a hug. “I’m so sorry. I’ve been yakking about my troubles, and here you’ve been feeling like horse shit.”

  Aura tried to laugh it off, but it came out as more of a sniffle. “No, I’m over it. Really. I always knew he’d be leaving. It wasn’t a surprise.” But Lisa shook her head, her expression disbelieving. “No, really,” Aura said. “It’s just that it might take me a few days before I’m ready to talk about it.”

  “Fine. I won’t mention it. For now. But you know there are several choice things I’d like to say about him.”

  Aura looked at her imploringly.

  “All right.” Lisa threw her hands up in defeat. “My lips are sealed until you decide you want to talk.”

  “Thank you.”

  The sound of the front door opening came from the hallway followed by her mother’s voice as she spoke to someone, and they both walked out of the kitchen to look.

  Mum stood by the coatrack, and Gary was stepping into the house after her, holding her suitcase which he placed on the carpet.

  “I met this rather handsome young man outside, Lisa,” Mum said with a smile. “He says he’s here for you.”

  Both Lisa and Gary coloured and grinned sheepishly at each other.

  A fond smile touched Aura’s lips as Lisa went to him, and he hugged her and placed a lingering kiss on her lips. No, Lisa didn’t need to worry. Gary was all hers.

  “Ready?” he asked, and Lisa nodded. He took her coat and held it open for her to slip into, then bidding them goodbye, he opened the door.

  “You look after yourself, okay?” Lisa said, turning back to Aura with a worried frown.

  Aura nodded and smiled. “Have fun.”

  Mum studied her after Lisa and Gary left. “Why do I get the feeling all isn’t as well as it should be?”

  “Everything’s fine.” Aura pulled up a smile. “Come and tell me all about Hawaii over dinner.”

  Mum glanced up the stairs. “Where’s Nathan?”

  “He had to return to London, but we already knew he would.”

  “Oh, I see.” Mum smiled then, inhaling deeply as she took off her coat. “Mmm, dinner sure smells nice. After all that traveling, I’m definitely craving a hot meal, a hot bath, and a warm bed preferably in that order.”

  With a smile, Aura led the way to the kitchen. It was good to have her mother back.

  “The strangest thing,” Mum said as they ate. “I read an article in the paper a few days back about Nathan having a serious head injury and no longer being able to work because of it.”

  Aura stiffened. “That’s a load of cobblers. He’s fine.”

  “Oh, I know that. But apparently, it was Vivienne who gave out the information.”

  “Nathan’s mother?” Aura said with a frown. “I did hear him say she’d leaked details about him to the press.”

  Mum put down her fork. “She must know speaking about him like that would cost him business.” She shook her head. “I’ve always known they weren’t especially close, but Vivienne is his mother, and I assumed… Well, a mother is a mother, isn’t she? And no matter what I thought of her, I was always careful not to bad-mouth her in front of Nathan. I never wanted to upset him.”

  Aura looked down at her plate and toyed with her spaghetti. “You can’t upset him. The way he spoke about her, it didn’t sound as if he much cared for her. In fact, I don’t think Nathan cares for anyone other than himself.”

  “Aura,” Mum said gently. “I know there’s something between you and Nathan. I think there has been since you first set eyes on him. I would have to be blind not to see it. Do you want to talk about it?”

  Aura met her concerned gaze. She wanted to tell her mother everything, remove the heavy burden from her heart, but the words she wanted to say still refused to come out. “Not now, Mum. Later.”

  Her mother regarded her for a moment and then nodded. She picked up her fork again and turned the conversation solidly to Hawaii.

  Aura listened dutifully, nodding along and smiling where required, but her thoughts were stuck on Nathan. Maybe if she never spoke of him again, this love she nursed for him would die a neglected death. It was a hope, but an even bigger doubt lurked in the back of her mind. Would she ever be free of him? What if she was pregnant? There would be no clean break then. He would always be a part of her life, even if distant. Still, even the chance of a peripheral existence in his life made her traitorous heart jump for joy.

  * * *

  The next morning, Aura stood in the hallway and shrugged into her blue wool coat. Friday mornings tended to be busy, and she needed to be at work before eight o’clock. Good thing. The busier the better. It kept her mind occupied.

  And just like that her thoughts strayed to Nathan. Today was the day of his investor meeting. He’d be all right, surely. With a sigh she pulled her mind back. It was no longer any of her business how his day went.

  For heavens sake, this was supposed to become easier as the days passed. Perhaps she should have told her mother everything last night. Perhaps getting it off her shoulders might have speeded up the forgetting. But then, she didn’t want mum worrying about her.

  Just then her mother came rushing down the stairs, dressed in a smart lemon-yellow skirt suit with a black cape coat over it. She looked like she was headed out for a job interview somewhere.

  Aura frowned. “Mum? You’re not working today, are you?”

  “No, but I thought I’d visit a friend of mine who lives out of town.” She paused at the bottom step and rummaged through her cream handbag as if looking for something.

  “This early?”

  Her mother looked up and nodded, but said nothing more.

  “Okay…” Aura hesitated. “Well, I was going to tell you I’d be late coming home today. I’m going over to Lisa’s new apartment after lunch to help her move in.”

  Her mother smiled. “That’s fine. I’ll be late myself, so have dinner with her if you like. No need to wait for me.”

  A sudden suspicion formed in Aura’s mind. She’d tried fruitlessly these past two years after Ralph’s death to push her mother back into dating. Had Mum met someone in Hawaii? Was that what this sudden trip was all about? If it was, she didn’t want to ask too many questions and scare her mother off the whole idea of dating again.

  “How are you traveling, Mum?”

  “Train.” Her mother checked her watch. “There’s one in twenty minutes actually.” She smiled winningly at Aura. “Drop me off at the station on your way, love?”

  Aura grinned. “Get in the car.”

  * * *

  Nathan glanced around the glass walled boardroom with it’s panoramic vista of London on two sides and a view into Astreca’s modern offices on the third. The wide presentation screen was lit up on the solid white wall behind him, and the attention of all eight smartly suited investors was on it and him as he stood before them, ready to wrap up his speech.

  It had taken him a whole year to bring these people to this table. A year during which they’d carefully stood back and assessed Astreca’s steady rise until they couldn’t ignore it any more. This was his moment. His crowning glory, and he should be seizing it with both hands, but all he could think about was Aura.

  He should have spoken to her before he left, but what could he have said? According to her, they had nothing more between them. Funny, those words usually came from him at the end of a brief relationship, but to hear it from her… fury coursed thr
ough him again, and he scowled.

  Andy coughed lightly from the black leather chair beside him, and still scowling, Nathan glanced down at his friend.

  Andy was staring at him, a clear ‘what the fuck?’ look in his blue eyes.

  Perspective dawned. Oh, yes. The meeting.

  He cleared his throat and briskly ran through the points why Astreca was the ideal candidate for an investment of multi-millions of dollars.

  The investors nodded along, not looking as if they’d noticed his small distraction. They were hardball representatives of the big banks and venture capital firms. But they wouldn’t find better technology out there than Astreca’s, and they knew it. This meeting was just a pretty formality they’d insisted on having in an effort to make him sweat. But he’d wager the deal was already done. Gathering together like this was sort of like putting a steak on a plate before you ate it. Waste of time. You were going to eat it anyway. What did it matter if it was on a plate or still in the pan?

  He placed the tiny remote he controlled the presentation with down on the table. “Gentlemen, if you have any questions?”

  The murmuring began around the boardroom table as people discussed, and he sat down next to Andy and took a sip from his glass of chilled water. The sooner he wrapped up this thing the better.

  One heavy suit, in his late fifties, turned to him. “I must admit, the offer is very tempting, but the trouble is, Mr Travers, just how reliable are you in heading this venture?”

  Nathan clenched his jaw. It would have to be a banker with a question like that, and not just any banker. The guy represented the biggest bank in Europe, and Astreca would go far with that sort of backing. But if they were looking to get personal and dirty in this fight…

  “I fail to understand that question. I’ve headed Astreca to where it is now. I don’t see why I can’t take it to the next level.”

  The suit smiled indulgently and cast a glance around the boardroom table. “This past year has been rather interesting for you, hasn’t it Mr Travers? You’ve become quite the darling of the society gossip columns. And of course, there was your recent unfortunate skiing accident.”

  “That was a minor accident.” Andy jumped to his defence. “And the rest exaggerated.”

  The suit shrugged. “We’ll have to take your word, since you’re here in front of us in good shape, Mr Travers.”

  “What exactly are you getting at?” Nathan pinned the man with a direct look.

  And beside him, Andy groaned quietly.

  Well, fuck that if the suits didn’t like what they were being offered. He wasn’t in the mood to roll over and show his belly like a well-behaved little kick-toy.

  The man leaned forward. “Let’s get serious here, Mr Travers. Has your recent celebrity become a concerning distraction? After all, this is an unusually large deal on the verge of being given to someone who is at a tender age in business terms, and who only has a record of building up one company.”

  “One company…” Nathan said quietly. “That is now one of the most valuable in the tech sector.” He glanced around the table. “I’m twenty-eight, but I didn’t build Astreca to where it is today by partying and whoring my time away, if that’s what’s being implied. Now this deal comes with me at the helm because no one else has the vision or the balls to lead it. And I will do this with or without your backing. So, it’s up to you, Gentlemen. Do you wish to be part of the next business revolution or not?”

  The murmuring started up again, and the investors exchanged looks, then one by one there grew a wave of nods.

  The suit from the bank stood up and extended his hand to Nathan with a smile. “Congratulations, Mr Travers, I do believe you’re the man we’re looking for to head this venture.”

  Nathan stood and took his hand in a firm handshake.

  The deal was done. Astreca was now firmly on the international stage.

  But it was a hollow victory. Something vital was missing inside him.

  15

  “Bloody hell, Nathan. You’ve more balls than a bull elephant, sticking it to them like that.” Andy gave a bemused shake of his head as they stood in front of the bank of elevators on the twelfth floor of Astreca’s headquarters, having seen the last of the investors off.

  “They were looking to wrangle down the offer. They should have known I wouldn’t settle for anything less than what this company is truly worth.”

  Andy laughed. “And there’s a smack in the face they’re not likely to forget in a hurry.” He rubbed his hands together in glee. “But now that’s all in the bag… Let’s party!”

  With a groan, Nathan pinched the bridge of his nose between his thumb and forefinger. Andy had a huge party organized for the rest of the afternoon, so everyone could drink themselves silly if the deal went through, or drown their sorrows if it didn’t. It looked like all of Astreca was about to get rather silly.

  The peace and solitude of his office beckoned. “You go ahead. I’ll catch up with you later.”

  Andy looked at him in concern. “You all right? Do I need to get Dr Johnson?”

  It wasn’t something Dr Johnson could fix. “Look, don’t worry. I just need a few minutes alone before cutting wild with the party poppers.”

  “Ah, you need to unwind from the interrogation. Gotcha.”

  One of the elevators pinged and the doors slid open to reveal Andy’s wife Jasmine holding their tiny baby girl, Bella, against her shoulder. She stepped out of the elevator and looked expectantly at Andy. “Well, do you need a shoulder to cry on or a congratulations kiss?”

  Andy grinned at her. “I’ll take the kiss.”

  He grabbed her in a bear hug and kissed her full on the lips leaving her gasping. Then taking Bella from her, he kissed the dark curls on his smiling daughter’s head.

  Jasmine giggled, her cheeks a pretty pink. “And congratulations to you too, Nathan.” She came and hugged him, and he hugged her back, bending to place a kiss on her cheek.

  She reached his heart, same as Aura. And Jasmine’s hair was midnight-black, like Aura’s, but longer, hanging like a straight shiny sheet down her back. Her eyes were black too, and her skin a golden-brown that spoke of her Indian heritage. Holding her brought a sudden twinge of loss spiking through him, and he released her at once and stepped back.

  “You’re staying for the party, right?” Andy asked, grabbing her to him once more.

  “If you’re on baby duty, sure.”

  “Yay, Daddy’s on baby duty, Bella. You hear that? It’s pink champagne for you.”

  Little Bella gave him a gummy smile and gurgled, her dark eyes twinkling into Andy’s bright blue ones.

  Jasmine regarded them both. “Uh-huh… Yeah, on second thought, give her to me.” She reached for the baby.

  “I’ll leave you to it.” Nathan said with a smile. “I’ll be in my office.”

  “No worries.” Andy grinned at him. “I’ll give you a call when everything’s in full swing.”

  With a nod, Nathan stepped into the elevator and punched the button for his floor. The doors slid shut on Jasmine and Andy fussing over Bella.

  He stood in the middle of the empty elevator, head down, shoulders slumped, his hands thrust in his trouser pockets, and only one image in his mind.

  A little baby with dark curls and bright green eyes.

  The elevator pinged to a stop on the fifteenth floor, and he raised his head, staring ahead unseeing as the doors opened.

  He’d offered Aura marriage and she hadn’t wanted it. In fact, she hadn’t wanted him. Perhaps he should be grateful for the easy escape. Besides, he’d never be the sort of husband and father Andy was. Hadn’t he spent his whole life running from commitment?

  His set his jaw and strode through the reception area of the executive office suite, passing Andy’s section and heading through the glass door leading to his own.

  Maria looked up from behind her spacious desk outside his office. “There’s been a few calls for you.”

  He p
aused, a twinge of hope surging in him. How soon would a woman be able to tell if she was pregnant or not? “Anything personal?”

  “The meeting you wanted for Miss Aurora Willis with the Flavian Design House has been okayed for consideration.”

  “Consideration?” He raised his eyebrows.

  “I know. I know. They’re pompous gits who think the sun shines out of their collective backsides, but they are the best. Actually, when I told them you asked personally, they were tripping over themselves to oblige, despite the way they worded it.”

  “I want a definite date and time from them. I don’t have patience for artistic flakery.”

  “Will do, and you also had two calls from Oksana in the past hour.”

  His mouth thinned. “Hold any further calls. I’m not to be disturbed.” And he walked on, pushing through the dark wood door to his office.

  * * *

  The door to Lisa’s new apartment was wide open, and Aura walked straight into the barren living room with its cream walls and soft chocolate-brown carpet.

  Lisa was kneeling in the middle of the room next to a large open packing box. She looked up with a grin. “Nice timing, we just got started. Bill’s due up any minute with the second lot of boxes.”

  The apartment block was a spacious building with just three floors, and Bill’s and Lisa’s apartments were two of four on the top floor.

  “He’s got a load of climbing to do. I didn’t see any elevators.” Aura slipped off her coat and placed it on the windowsill.

  Lisa giggled. “There aren’t any. That’s why I gave him the job of bringing up the boxes.” She paused in the midst of pulling out books and knick-knacks from the box in front of her. “How are you doing?” she asked, her voice soft.

  The concern in her eyes had Aura cringing with guilt. If she didn’t move on fast from her hangup over Nathan, none of her loved ones would either. She smiled brightly. “Surprisingly okay now.”