Love Me? The Trust Me? Trilogy (9 page)

I feel tears welling up for the second time today, and this time I can't hold them back. I bury my head into my hands and sob.

Aiden places his arms around me and holds me tightly to his chest. "Please don't cry." He strokes my hair and kisses the top of my head. "He isn't worth your tears."

I start to calm down, and he hands me a tissue from the coffee table.

"I'll stay, but I don't know how much more of this I can take. I'm so emotional all the time, and it's just not me."

He kisses my forehead. "I know, and I understand, trust me. I've been getting this my whole life. Somehow, I've become immune to his taunts, but when it involves you, it's a whole new level of pain." He wipes my tears from my cheeks with a tissue, places his hand under my chin, and pulls my face up in front of his. "I love you. You know that, right?"

"I know. I love you."

He moves in to kiss me. There is a knock at the door.

"I'm sorry to interrupt, but Mr. Anderson is on the phone for you," Brielle says quietly, peeking through the door.

"That's quick. I bet they're going to pass on the deal because of me. I'm so sorry."

He looks at me sympathetically, kisses my forehead again, and walks over to his phone. He turns from boyfriend to business mode while I sit on the sofa, trying to compose myself.

"Mr. Anderson. Hello." Aiden watches me as I wipe more tears from my eyes.

"Yes, it was great to see you all today." He laughs in response to something Mr. Anderson says.

"Yes, sir, she's new, and I think she's doing a great job too." He laughs again. I listen intently, my interest piqued.

"She'll be pleased to hear that, sir." He chuckles. "I bet he does. Yes, I certainly will, sir."

I look at him, and my tears stop flowing.

"Oh, that's great news, sir. Welcome aboard, Mr. Anderson. We're so glad you chose us to manage your account."

My eyes open wide with shock. Seems they have accepted the deal. I turn on the sofa, kneeling, and attentively listening to what he's saying.

"No, thank you, sir. Yes, I think she'll do great here too. Thank you again, Mr. Anderson. We'll get right on it and get back to you with that information. Have a good rest of the day, sir. Yes, goodbye." He hangs up the phone and looks at me, shaking his head.

"What?" I ask as he makes his way back over to me.

"Jeni, they loved you."

I look at him, shocked. "Huh?"

"He said that you did very well for a new girl, and that his son, James, has a bit of a crush on you. He thinks you're adorable."

My eyes widen.

"They took the offer because of you, Jeni."

I shake my head. "What?"

He laughs at me. "We got the Anderson account because of you." He gives me a quick kiss.

"Really?"

"Jeni, believe it, you did it. James, apparently, hopes that you're single."

"He's a bit young for me, don't you think?"

"See, you're not doing as badly as you think, and that James better stay the hell away from you." He starts laughing. "I'd better go tell Father." He kisses me atop my head and rushes out the door.

I casually wander back to my desk.

"I gather from the look on his face that we got the account?" Brielle asks.

I nod.

"Yay, how about some lunch? Are you hungry?"

"Not too sure that I'm hungry, but it'll be nice to get out of the office for a while."

We walk to the elevator.

As we walk through the main foyer, I slip and stumble on a cracked tile on the floor. My bag goes flying across the room, and its contents fall out everywhere. Josie comes rushing over to help and starts placing my things back into my bag. Brielle asks if I'm all right, but she's smirking.
How embarrassing!
Brielle and I continue to the little restaurant next door and have a nice chicken salad for lunch. When we go to leave, I trip again, and my bag falls to the ground. I huff and Bree laughs, I pick up its contents
again
from the floor in the middle of the restaurant. A man covered by his hoodie bumps into me then walks off.
That's weird.
I shrug it off and walk back to work with Brielle.

When we return, I notice that Aiden and Alistair have continued their meeting through lunch, writing up proposals and plans for the new Anderson account.

***

It's home time. Alistair and Aiden are still planning.

Brielle shuts down her computer and walks into Alistair's office. "You guys ready to go home?"

I lean forward in my chair and watch them both look up at her.

"Yeah, I guess we can continue this tomorrow," Aiden says.

I turn off my computer monitor.

"No, we need to stay and get this finished, son."

I huff, leaning back in my chair.

"I'll be right back, Father." He stands up and walks out to me. "Do you mind if I stay back for a bit tonight. I won't be long. We're nearly done, and I'll get dinner on the way home. Can you tell Mike what's going on so he knows to come back and pick me up? Is that alright with you?"

I know I don't have a choice, but it's nice that he offered one to me. "Sure, stay as long as you need."

He leans down and kisses my forehead. "I won't be long, maybe a couple of hours. I promise."

"I'll see you at home." I kiss him quickly on the lips, and he walks back into Alistair's office.

Brielle calls out, "See you at home, Father." Alistair doesn't reply. She shakes her head and puts her arm in mine. We walk together to the elevator.

"How are things going with Adam? How did you meet?" I ask her entering the elevator.

"Great, we went to high school together. I bumped into him at the shops, and we hit it off again."

"I'm glad. He seems lovely, Bree."

"He is, but we're taking things slow. It took him nearly a month to ask me out on a date."

"Ahh, men. Huh!"

"Yeah, men!"

We exit the building. Mike is waiting for me and Bill—Alistair's driver is waiting for Brielle.

"Hi, Mike. Aiden's staying back tonight. It's just me for now, and he asks if you can come back and pick him up when he calls?"

"Yes, of course, Miss Taylor." He opens the front passenger door for me.

"See you tomorrow, Bree," I call out while she slides into the back of Bill's car.

"Bye, Jeni," she calls out, then Bill shuts the door.

As we drive home, I tell Mike all about what happened today.

"Miss Taylor, if I may say, Mr. O'Connell, as in Alistair, is very temperamental. I'm sure everyone is telling you not to take any notice of him, and I'm going to say the same. Don't let him get you down. He'll never change. All the people around him have to have a very thick skin. Everyone, Miss Taylor, especially you."

I look at him curiously. "Especially me?"

"Yes, because you're the
one
and
only
person who can take Aiden away from him. You've made Aiden care about something other than work, and that's a big deal for Alistair. He wants Aiden to be solely focused on his job and on him. He sees you as a distraction but, more importantly, as a threat. Alistair has had his son to himself for a very long time, molding and shaping him into the businessman he is today."

"Yeah, I got that feeling. It's easier said than done though because I shouldn't let him get to me, but he does. I know how important it is though. I've never had a father, and I never want Aiden to lose his because of me. That thought is abhorrent to me, Mike."

Mike looks at me briefly and then turns his attention back to the road. "He gets to all of us at one point or another unfortunately, Miss Taylor."

We pull into the parking garage, and I make my way to the elevator. I search through my bag for the swipe card, but I can't seem to find it anywhere. I walk back to the car and tap on Mike's window.

"Sorry, Mike, I must have left my swipe card at the office. Can I borrow yours?"

"Sure thing, Miss Taylor." He gets out of the car and walks over to the elevator.

I push the button and the doors open. Mike pulls out his swipe card and swipes it, and I push the button for the top floor.

"Thanks, Mike, you're a life saver."

The doors close, and I travel up to our apartment. I wander inside, and it feels weird. It brings back memories of Aiden being taken from me. Those are dark thoughts; I put them out of my mind. I rarely get time alone, so I decide to make the most of it.

I walk into the bedroom and change into a little pink negligee. I seem to wear them a lot more now that I'm in a relationship. Moving to the kitchen, I pour myself a glass of wine to calm my nerves. I pick up my iPod and cell from the counter and take them and my wine outside and sit on the balcony. I decide to message Sarah. I haven't seen much of her lately. I've been so caught up with having Aiden back.

Hey Sez, had a very weird day today. Started out with an undeniably great lovemaking session with Aiden, and then it all turned to shit when we got to work. Alistair was being a dick, and then I got some coffees mixed up in an important meeting, and then I thought they were going to pass on working with Aiden, and then the guy's son James was crushing on me, and then we landed the account apparently because they thought I was cute. So my day has been crazy! What have you been up to?

I hit
Send.
Taking another sip of my wine, I can start to feel myself relaxing when I hear my phone
beep
.

Hey, Jen Pen, so, sounds like your day was boring then. lol. What do you mean Alistair WAS being a dick? He IS a dick, a teeny, weenie, tiny, little shriveled limp dick, like seriously pinky-finger sized! So don't worry about him. Just show him your tits and that might cheer the old fucker up. lol. What have I been up to you ask? Well let me tell u. Chris and I bought the Kama Sutra off eBay and we've been trying out all these new positions and stuff. There's one called the praying mantis - u so have to try it! With Chris' stamina we've nearly done the whole book. I'll lend it to u if u want it, but only when we're done of course. lol.

Oh my god! Too much information, but I guess I always get that from Sarah. I hit
Reply.

I think showing my boyfriend's father my tits might be breaking the girlfriend code, just saying. Oh and thanks for sharing the name of the sex position, the praying mantis. lol. You made that up, didn't you? So, seems since Chris has moved in things are going well for you guys?

I hit
Send
and giggle at the thought of flashing Alistair. Who knows? Maybe it would get him to like me. The only problem is that I could never do that, so I guess it's out of the question. My phone
beeps
.

Yes things are going great with Chris and me. And yes the praying mantis is real! Well, I guess technically it could be seen as a bad thing flashing your boyfriend's father, but what if Aiden was in the room and he saw it too, then you could say you were showing your tits to Aiden and unfortunately Alistair was there, it's a win-win, good old limp dick might start to appreciate your 'assets' in his business, and it'll get Aiden all horny and you can have some more of that undeniably great sex you've been having. See, win-win, Jen Pen, what do you have to lose?

I laugh at her text, and I hit
Reply.

Maybe my dignity?

I hit
Send.

Dignity schmignity, get those babies out and flash the world their brilliance.

I laugh again and hit
Reply

Okay I'm going now, love you :-)

I hit
Send.

Love u too ;-p

I laugh, putting my cell phone on the table while listening to my iPod. A gentle breeze blows in the air. The sun starts to set in the background in hues of pink and turquoise; it's really beautiful. A song plays, "Thank You for Loving Me" by Bon Jovi. I relax back into the chair and listen to the lyrics.

I think this should be our song. It explains perfectly how I feel about Aiden. I take a mental note to play it for him when he comes home. I take a sip of my wine and relax back into the chair, listening to my music as the sun sets over the city. I finish my wine and it starts to get a little chilly. I decide to take a spa bath; surprisingly, I haven't used it before. I make my way to the en-suite, take off my negligee and underwear, and set the taps running. I pour in some sweet-smelling oil. I wander to the kitchen and pour myself another glass of wine; it's helping with my anxiety.

I tie my hair up out of the way. I place my glass of wine on the side of the spa, slowly ease into the hot water, and press the button to turn on the bubbles. They waft up from the jets while I slowly relax, resting my head on the edge. I listen to my iPod, close my eyes, and relax, letting the stress of the day float away. Time goes by, and I start to become wrinkled.

With my eyes shut, I suddenly get the shivers. I open my eyes; because I have the feeling someone is watching me. I sit up and look around, but I can't see anyone. My heart starts to pound. I take the ear buds out of my ears.

"Hello?" I call out. I slowly get out of the spa bath. "Aiden, is that you?" I ask loudly.

I hear the elevator chime. I start to panic; I grab a towel off the towel rack and run toward the en-suite door. I slam it shut and lock it. I sit up against the door, and I look around the room for something to protect me. There's nothing in here except toothbrushes and conditioner. I sit on the floor, holding my back against the door in a complete state of panic.

"Take what you want and leave,"
I yell.

"Jeni, what's wrong?" I hear Aiden call out.

Oh, thank God. I stand up and open the door to Aiden, who's standing there looking confused. I lunge forward and hug him, soaking him completely. I start to shake and sob uncontrollably.

"Jeni, what's going on?" He holds me at arms' length to look at me.

"I was in the spa, and I thought someone was watching me."

He looks at me, his eyes darting back and forth checking the apartment. "We're at the top of the building. How could anyone be watching you?"

I shake my head. "You're right. I was probably dreaming."

He looks at me, furrowing his brows, and leans in to kiss my forehead.