Beginning with Forever (42 page)

“Are we talking about Isabella from
Homestead High? How does Bianca know her?” He’s baffled.

I
inhale a deep breath. “Belle is an aspiring model slash actress, and Bianca is a fashion designer, I think. I have no freaking idea how Bianca got in touch with Belle from Indiana. Now can you understand why I’m concerned?”

“Yes
,” he replies and hesitates before continuing, “Between me and you, I don’t care for Bianca. She loves her men filthy rich and always gets what she wants. If you really care for Carson, you need to keep a tight grip around him. She was able to persuade him to marry her when no one else could until you came along. She won’t give him up easily.” His warning sends a chilling shiver down my spine. “Now how can I help you with Belle the model?” His tone is more playful.

“Belle wi
ll be in New York on Thursday. Is there any chance you can keep an eye on her for me? I’ll make something up about you wanting to meet her. She’s absolutely gorgeous, and you know how naïve she is. It’ll give me peace of mind if I know that she’ll be in good company.”

“Lil, it must be fate because
I’m actually flying to New York for business on Thursday. You have my promise to keep Belle from Bianca’s grasp the best that I can.”

“Hayden
, I owe you big time. Thank you so much,” I excitedly tell him. With Hayden’s reassuring promise, the anxiety of what may happen to Belle lessens. I’ll be able to sleep better tonight.

“Li
l, don’t think anything of it. We’re all friends, and besides, I don’t consider babysitting a beautiful model a torturous job. It’ll be my pleasure. Belle’s a -10- now, huh?” I giggle after his comment.

“Don’t
you even think about taking advantage of her, Mr. Carter or you’ll have to answer to me!”

“
Trust me, I wouldn’t dare attempt to. I know how cantankerous Midwest women are,” he teases while laughing.

A
ll I need is just two weeks to get me through these baby steps. Owen has made all the arrangements. His friend, Luke, is an ex-military undercover agent whose been linked to top secret operations in South America and the Middle East. It’s a bit extreme, but Owen takes his responsibilities quite seriously. Owen has an impressive MBA business background, and formerly served as V.P. to CureAll Oncology. They’re one of the leading and most successful organizations in advanced treatments for cancer. This is why I recruited him. Owen has been a valuable asset to me throughout these years. He strives for perfection and doesn’t accept or understand failure. To this day, he still beats himself up for losing me in the storm after our emergency landing. I’ve assured him many times that it was a blessing in disguise or else I would never have met Lily, but it doesn’t matter. It’s still a failure to him.

Owen has arranged for me to
get a full Lillian report at 0800 every morning for the next two weeks. Pictures will be provided if there’s suspicious foul play. I know I should trust her, but I’m more afraid of losing her. My fear of being alone is getting the best of me. If the report indicates an inappropriate situation, I’ll be able to handle it immediately, and she’ll never have to know. Luke, if that’s even his real name, will disappear after two weeks and each report will be destroyed as soon as I finish reading them.

It’s only 6
:30 a.m., and I’m wide awake, anxiously waiting to receive my first official MLR1-10242013 for yesterday. I already ran six miles on the treadmill, showered, dressed, had my first cup of coffee and read the business section of the paper. Owen is on his way up to brief me on today’s schedule. This was usually the highlight of my mornings before Lillian conquered my world and became my obsession. Now, all that seems to be occupying my mind is her.

Owen lets himself in with
his own personal set of keys. Besides my parents, he’s the only other person that I trust wholeheartedly to have access to my place. “Good morning, Mr. Bradley. Can I get you a cup of coffee before we get started?” he considerately offers while walking directly into the kitchen, his daily routine.

“Morning
, Owen. No thanks, I already had one. There’s a fresh cup waiting for you on the warmer. You know where the cream and sugar are. Whenever you’re ready, I’ll be in my office.” I grab my newspaper and ignore the shocked expression on his face. Yes, I’m capable of making my own coffee and his, too. Of course I had to figure out where everything was and then YouTube how to use the coffee machine. The damn thing is one sophisticated piece of equipment and is quite user friendly after I stumble upon the correct places to press for my coffee preference, espresso. I had ample time this morning since I couldn’t sleep pass 4:00 a.m. I tossed and turned in my bed before then.

Owe
n walks into my office with an iPad under his arm, absolutely satisfied after enjoying his morning cappuccino prepared by his boss. “Owen, is Luke reporting at 8:00 a.m. our time or St. Croix’s time? There’s an hour difference.” I do my best to impassively ask him, so I don’t come across overly excited. It’ll be in my favor if it’s St. Croix’s time because they’re an hour ahead of Boston.  I’m too damn antsy.

“I belie
ve it’s our time, Mr. Bradley. Are you ready for me to go over your schedule and a quick synopsis of the past month?” He sounds all business and methodical.

“Sur
e. Let’s get this over with.” I seem to be concerned with only one thing, getting my first Lillian report. I hope I’m not too apparent.

Bradley
Corporation continues to function successfully under Mr. Owen Chandler’s one month guidance which is impressive. His commendable merit is worthy of a promotion, I make myself a mental note. This will be advantageous for me because I’ll be able to work less and spend more time with Lily once I shift some of my responsibilities over to Owen.

My schedule is hectic and packed with appointments like every other day
of my life. I fast forward all the minor details in my head, a skill I’ve acquired over the past ten years. Did I hear that right? “11:30 a.m. appointment, Ms. Bianca Sorte,” Owen rattles off.

“
Who approved Ms. Sorte’s appointment? I don’t want to see her today or any other day if I can avoid it.” My voice is louder and more astringent than I intend for it to be. I thought I’d made it clear to her that things were over between us. There’s nothing more I want to hear from her.

“Sir, Evelyn did.
Ms. Sorte confirmed the appointment with her. She said you had agreed to see her when she had dinner with you at your parents’ last week.” Shit, I had forgotten all about that. She trapped me into seeing her because I didn’t want to keep Lil waiting for me at my parents. She told me she had something important she wanted to share with me. Well, it better be important because this will be the absolute last time I’ll agree to see her. I promised Lil that I’ll avoid Bianca whenever possible, and I intend to keep my promise.

Owen continue
s to fill me in on the details of my schedule, but I had to rudely interrupt him midway after glancing at my watch. It’s now 8:01 a.m., and I’ve waited long enough to receive my first report. “Owen, I need a few minutes in private if you don’t mind. We can continue this on our drive to the office.” I hurry him along because the anticipation is killing me.

“Very well, sir.
I’ll be waiting downstairs for you.” He keenly picks up on my cue and exits my office immediately. I nod my head and anxiously click on my Inbox. Luke is professionally punctual, very respectable. The report was sent exactly at 8:00 a.m.

October 28, 201
3

12:0
4 P.M.-truck swerved dangerously off road, but returned safely.

12:18
P.M.-stopped at a local pharmacy. Roommate stepped out to purchase an item in small white paper bag.

12:26
P.M.-back on road in direction of school.

1:13
P.M.-parked car and walked to dorm building.

1:13
P.M.-8:00A.M.-no activity, remained in dorm.

Amelia’s driving was briefly affected
, and Luke’s report indicates that she stayed at the dorm the entire time. She told me she was studying on the beach. This doesn’t add up. Why would she lie to me? What was she doing in the dorm that kept her away from answering my calls? Fuck, what is she hiding from me? I’ve given her ample opportunities to freely open up to me, but she hasn’t once given me a single clue. That’s it! I’ll get my answers one way or another! I’ll have Luke be her driver. He’ll be both my eyes and ears. I respond to his report with a request for a plan revision. I have to gather my thoughts and figure out how to introduce Luke to her, but first, I have to convince her to agree to a driver. Though we’ve talked about it, she hasn’t given me a definite ‘yes,’ and knowing her stubbornness, this task will be more challenging than it may seem.

My Monday is already turning out to be one of those
stereotypical shitty Mondays. No wonder most people hate working on this day. I irritably step into the elevator and ride it down to the main lobby. Why can’t I get the discrepancy in Luke’s report with Lil’s story out of my head? Grabbing my necktie to loosen the knot, I falsely blame it for choking me rather than the crap that’s contaminating my head. What’s even worse is being in the confines of this elevator. I can’t help, but envision Lil standing here next to me, searching for comfort in my arms to help ease her fear of heights. The bell finally dings when I reach the bottom floor, dissolving my reverie of Lily. I slowly walk towards the front door, practically dragging my feet, wishing I could somehow make these next two weeks fly by faster. I just left her yesterday, and now I’m already counting down the weeks or days till I see her mesmerizing face again and make love to her.

Jeremy, the
day shift doorman, politely nods his head while holding the door open for me. “Good morning, Mr. Bradley.” His smile is friendly and genuinely sincere. I’ve always envied this about him; always wished I could be content like him.

“
Good morning, Jeremy.” His expression is of astonishment. I usually just nod my head at him while talking on the phone or to Owen on my way out. His smile grows even wider after hearing me address him by his name. I grin to myself passing him. It doesn’t take much to make someone’s day, just a simple smile. I’ve always noticed this little detail about Lily. She never fails to greet anyone with her beautiful smile.

I climb into the limo and
sit restlessly opposite of Owen. My eyes are glued to my watch, checking the time and wondering where and what she’s up to. Why am I torturing myself like this? I’m sure there’s a reasonable explanation. My ears are half attentive to Owen’s persistent recap of my day. By the time we arrive at Bradley Pharmaceutical Corporation, Owen has finished laying out the rundown of my schedule hour by hour. Three meetings, two conference calls, lunch with Jack and a brief visit with Bianca. I need to keep the door open to Harvard Medical for Lily. Lunch with Dean Filmore every so often is necessary to ensure a spot for her whenever she decides to change her mind. God, I hope it’ll be sooner rather than later for my sake.

The absolute first stop on my agenda is Stewar
d Laboratory, my second home, pre-Lillian. I’ve probably spent more time here than any other places that I call home. I named it in honor of Professor Vincent Steward for all his years of work and dedication. The security on this floor is comparable to high priority military facilities. All the windows and doors are bullet and fire proof. The only way to enter this lab is through computerized palm print and retina identification, thanks to Mr. Carter’s new state of the art computer software. We have not had any breach of information. Our research findings are even more valuable to us than gold is to miners. If any competitor gets their hands on our product components before they’re thoroughly tested, it could be harmful or even lethal to consumers. Not every company spends millions of extra dollars on the safety and efficacy of their drugs like I do before they distribute it into the market.

W
e’ve been developing a new top secret drug for metastatic bone cancer. I’m anxious to see if there’s any new progress since I’ve been gone. This drug will stimulate bone growth where cancer has deteriorated or invaded, and will hopefully reduce or eliminate excruciating pain for patients. Both Hayden and I have painfully witnessed our love ones endure this kind of suffering. If it’s successful, this drug will be a tremendous achievement for both of us. He’s been a generous benefactor with his money and time for the research and development of this product.

The researchers tell me that they’ve had some impressive developments.
I’m ecstatic with the progression. This kind of work could possibly exhaust ten or more years by the time we’re able to cut through federal red tape, but with our successful progress, we might be able to offer it for clinical trial cases in random studies within the next two years. This is great news for all cancer patients with advanced metastatic bone cancer. I’ll have to update Mr. Carter with our positive findings. Hmm, I could meet him for a drink one of these evenings and pry about their relationship and maybe even get some facts on young Lillian as a bonus.

I’ve been avoiding my office
all morning. The last time I visited it, I had my way with Lily on top of my desk. The thought of her seductive body inviting me to take her is more than I can handle on a Monday morning, but it’s unavoidable. I step out of the elevator to Evelyn’s lovely smile. “Good morning, Mr. Bradley. I hope you had a nice vacation,” she greets me with her timid eyes.