“
They’re in the bathroom
with a towel. Shampoo, Conditioner, and body wash are in the
shower. There should be a blow dryer in there too. Oh and,” Stefan
coughed like he was trying to think of what to say next. “Jennifer,
this is Charles, my body guard.”
If Stefan
thought I was actually going to shake his hand, he had lost his
damn mind!
I looked at him and smiled, “Nice to
meet you.” Charles smiled at me.
Stefan turned towards Charles, “Would
you give me a moment of privacy, please?”
The big guy in the suite nodded and
walked out the door. I stopped before walking into the bedroom and
turned around, a puzzled look on my face.
“
I just wanted to assure
you, nothing happened last night. You got sick outside the bar and
I was going to take you home but then you passed out and I wanted
you somewhere safe so I brought you here. You had puked all over
your clothes so I had Charles wash and dry them for you. I didn’t
watch you undress; I had my back turned,” he grinned at me.
Yeah right.
“Once you
undressed I helped you into bed and covered you up; you went right
to sleep. That was it. Nothing else happened.”
He took another drink of his water and
waited for my reply.
I let out a huge sigh of relief.
“Okay, well that’s good to know, thank you. I’m going to take a
shower now.”
He nodded and headed back out the
door.
After I showered, I got dressed and
ran my fingers through my hair trying to make myself look
presentable. It felt so natural being around him. He took care of
me while I was sick; what kind of guy did that for a girl he just
met? I decided not to blow dry my hair, but I did want to brush my
teeth. I saw an extra tooth brush still in the wrapper from the
hotel so I quickly brushed my teeth and pinched my cheeks to give
myself a little color. I took a deep breath before opening up the
door. I walked into the living room; Stefan was sitting on the sofa
talking on the phone, again.
“
Two million copies? Is he
crazy? I can’t do that by next month….well Nancy, you shouldn’t
have told him we could do that…..yes I expect you to get that fixed
right away…..I want a call in two hours…” He looked over at the
clock that hung on the wall. “Yes that’s right Nancy……get it fixed
or you’re fired!” He quickly hung up and let out a stressful
sigh.
What was that all about?
“
I’m going to jump in the
shower and then I’ll take you home.” He got up and walked towards
the bedroom…..the same bedroom I had slept in.
Had he slept in there with me?
He
paused and looked over at me.
He cocked his head and
smiled. “I slept on the couch, just in case you were wondering.” He
closed the bathroom door and I heard the water start
running.
What was it about him?
It felt like the whole world could come crashing
down and as long as I was with him, I’d be okay.
Stefan soon emerged from the bathroom
wearing a pair of dark Rock Revival jeans with white stitching and
a white V neck shirt that hugged him in all the right places. His
shoes were black chucks, my favorite.
“
Are you ready to go?” He
asked me, walking over to the counter to grab his keys.
“
Oh, yeah...um let’s go.” I
bounced up; embarrassed he had caught me in the middle of my
daydreaming.
Stefan swung the car door up as I got
in. There were so many gadgets on the dash and buttons; it was very
hard to keep my hands to myself.
Stefan walked around and got in and
started the car, the screen came to life; it was a navigation
screen. I couldn’t help but stare at it. I had seen nothing this
expensive.
“
Pretty cool, huh?” Stefan
pointed at the navigation screen. “It’s also a radio and a blue
tooth wireless. It’s one of the main reasons I bought this car.
Well, besides that the car is fast and just looks badass.” He
rubbed his hands over the steering wheel; he was in love with this
Mercedes. “Do you want to go get some coffee before I take you
home?” He began to pull out of his parking space. I wondered what
had happened to Charles.
“
Oh, sure, there’s a great
coffee place just down the street, we can go there if you
want.”
He nodded his head and pressed hard on
the gas pedal. I flew into my seat with a bang and I looked over at
him. He had a huge, devilish smile on his face. I couldn’t help but
laugh.
“
I get the hint, its fast.
No need to prove it to me.” He slowed down and rounded the corner
before pulling into the coffee shop. He got out and walked over to
my door lifting it up into the sky; it made me giggle. I took his
hand to help me out of the car; he pushed the door back down and
shut it.
“
That is the coolest thing
I’ve ever seen!” I couldn’t hide the amazement in my voice. He
smiled and locked his car. Everyone in the parking lot was looking
at him, guy’s mouths were dropped open gawking at his car. Girls
were practically drooling over him.
Back
off bitches, he’s mine.
Or at least I could
pretend.
We stepped into the coffee shop; it
was a small little place that had some chairs and tables with a
couple of couches. It had a very homey feeling; all the local
students came here to study. Stefan ordered a black coffee; he
looked at me expectantly.
“
Oh, sorry. I’ll have a
skinny caramel macchiato with an extra shot of espresso, light
whipped cream please.” My face went red after realizing I didn’t
carry my purse or any money last night.
He leaned down whispering in my ear
like he knew exactly my thoughts. “Don’t worry, Jennifer, I’ve got
it.” I sighed and walked over to a table. Stefan sat down soon
after I did and handed me my coffee.
“
I am the CEO of Long
Publishing Company.” His voice trailed off as he took a drink of
his coffee.
I chocked and started
coughing.
Where the hell did this come
from?
“
Are you okay?”
“
Uh, yeah,” I cleared my
throat.
“
This is not something I
usually come right out and talk about. Jennifer, I am a very
wealthy guy and sometimes when you meet other people and they know
who you are, they take advantage of you and I didn’t want that to
be the case here.” He took another drink of his coffee and waited
patiently for my reply.
“
I don’t care about money.”
I took a drink of my coffee. I was frustrated that he would think
that. He didn’t even know me, why would he think I would want his
money or anything from him for that matter?
“
I’m sorry; I didn’t mean
to upset you. I have just lived all my life with people, especially
women, having an underlying purpose with me. I’ve just started
assuming all women were that way.”
“
I’m not like that,
Stefan.”
We both took a drink of our coffee’s
and sat there looking around at the other people drinking their
coffee’s, on their laptops, doing homeworking, and
studying.
“
So, why do you need a
bodyguard?” I wasn’t sure if I was allowed to ask this question,
but I did anyway. My mom always told me if you want answers, you
had to ask questions.
“
I had to hire Charles soon
after I took over Long Publishing. I came too damn close to being
killed, so after that, I figured it would be nice to have a body
guard. At home, in Dallas, I have a whole security team. Charles is
the head of security. He stays far enough away to remain unnoticed,
but close enough to be able to protect me if things get
intense.”
“
You were almost killed?” I
paused waiting to hear more. Stephan took another drink of his
coffee and cleared his throat.
“
It was a while ago, it
doesn’t matter now.” I could tell he had no intentions of talking
about that moment so I moved on.
“
How long has Charles
worked for you?” I took another sip of my coffee.
“
Just 2 years. My dad died
about 4 years ago, the business was handed down to me when I was
just 21.” He let out a sigh as he took a drink of his coffee, like
he was remembering when he first started running the business.
“After my brief run in with death, I decided it was a good idea to
hire a security staff. Charles has been very good.” He took another
drink. I saw him look down at his watch and then look back up at
me.
“
Do you have somewhere you
need to be?”
“
I have a meeting at 3. I’m
really enjoying talking to you.” He smiled at me and I couldn’t
help but smile back.
“
Any more questions
rattling your brain?” I saw a smile form at the edge of his lips as
he took another drink of his coffee.
“
How did your dad die? Can
I ask you that?” He hung his head down; it looked like someone had
just punched him in the stomach. I suddenly felt bad for asking the
question and wished I could take it back. He raised his eyes and
looked out the window.
“
He had to stay late at the
office one day; he called my mom to tell her to go ahead and start
dinner without him. My mom tried to object saying we’d do it
another night, but he insisted, saying he wouldn’t be too late. He
never came home that night. My two sisters went home and I stayed
behind with my mom trying to ease her worry. After many tried calls
to my dad my mom finally called the police. When they got there, it
was too late. He was already dead. According to the police, the
intruder got through the night security, which he ended up killing
him, and got into my dad’s office and shot him in the head.” He
squeezed his eyes. My whole body ached for him.
He looked at me; his eyes danced with
flames.
“
We still don’t know who
killed him, but one day I’ll cross paths with that bastard and
he’ll wish he would’ve killed himself that night.” He took a deep
breath before taking another drink of is coffee.
“
I am so sorry Stefan that
is awful!”
Stefan just shrugged. “So, what about
your folks?” He had trusted me with the information about his dad;
I think I deserved him an explanation about my parents.
Well, not a lot to know. My dad has
been a drunk all my life; practically killed my mom when I was 14
and he’s still a drunk now.” I shrugged, trying to appear as
unemotional as possible. It still hurt to talk about my mom and it
still made me mad as hell to talk about my dad.
“
My dad has always been an
alcoholic. I remember hiding behind the couch in our living room
crying and begging him to stop beating my mother. Eventually, he
beat her really bad and put her in the hospital.”
“
So two days after my
14
th
birthday, I was in the living room watching TV and my dad came
home from the bar smelling like pure liquor. He started touching me
and I’d finally had enough so I started fighting back. I knew he’d
probably beat me, but I didn’t care. My mom saw what was going on
and came into the living room, trying to protect me but it was too
late. My dad pulled out a knife and stabbed my mom; he just kept
stabbing her. Eventually he stopped and realized what he had done.
He blames me and has never forgiven me.” I tried to hold back the
tears from my eyes, but a couple escaped. He leaned over and wiped
my eyes with his thumb. His touch made me feel better; I felt like
crawling up in his lap and just letting it all out. Talking about
that awful night made me miss my mom. It was a very bittersweet
moment.
“
Jennifer, I can’t even
imagine what that must feel like. I am so sorry.” His look into my
eyes was very sincere. I knew he felt for me.
“
My dad made it look like
my mom came after me with a gun and that he protected me by killing
her. He told me if I talked to the police he’d kill me. After that
he kicked me out, said he never wanted to see me again. I’ve been
pretty much living with Kennedy ever since. I never had the heart
to actually go to the police. I figured I would just let him drink
himself to death. It would be a much more painful death than
throwing him in jail. I moved to Oklahoma to get away from him, and
so far, that has worked out fine.”
“
Jennifer, he is a
worthless asshole who doesn’t deserve somebody as amazing as you.
What happened was not your fault, you understand that right?” He
had the softest caramel eyes while looking at me. I saw the pity in
his eyes, but I didn’t want pity.
“
I know that, but I can’t
help but blame myself. Stefan, he killed my mother and hated
me
for it. He hated me
for what
he
did;
it’s hard to pretend everything is just fine.”
“
You don’t have to pretend
everything is fine, but you shouldn’t walk around with that weight
on your shoulders, it’s not fair to you.” He grabbed my hand and
gave it a loving squeeze.
“
Until you’ve been there,
until you’ve walked in my shoes and watched your mother murdered in
front of your eyes, you are not allowed to tell me what weight I
can and cannot carry on my shoulder.” I pulled my hand away
quickly.
“
You need to let it go,
Jennifer. That will eat you alive, if it hasn’t already. I may not
understand what you went through because I’ve never experienced it,
but that doesn’t mean I haven’t had my own problems in life. This
world will eat you alive, Jennifer, if you let it.”