Sweetness (18 page)

While lying in my blanket
soaking up the rays of the
sun, I can feel my whole body loosening up. I keep
thinking that in two weeks I will be in Miami with
Dominic. Relaxing and hanging out together...Gabe’s
image pops into my head. Him whispering in my ear, “I
know what you meant Emma”.

Whoa. What the hell was that? My eyes dart open
from behind my sunglasses.
Refocusing, I imagine what it feels like to have
Dominic hold me while we sleep in the same bed.
Waking up in his arms. Gabe sweating, running towards
me…
“Shit…stop it Emma! He is your boss for fucks
sake.” I chastise myself.
Ugh…I need a distraction. I glance over and catch
Max watching me. I flip over onto my stomach and his
eyes flick towards the ocean. He may have his sunglasses
on but I know he was watching me. I don’t need to see
his eyes to feel them.
“See something you like Mr. Reed.” I slap his leg
and he smiles.
“Yup. Can I lotion you up? Wouldn’t want you to
burn.” I roll my eyes knowing he is more then willing to
rub lotion on me any day of the week.
“Sure.” I toss him the bottle and he lights up like a
kid on Christmas.
“Really?”
“You don’t want to?” I look up at him from the
top of my sunglasses and without thinking he is out of
his chair and kneeling next to me.
“No, no. I do. I am just surprised you are letting
me.”
Max climbs on my back straddling me so his legs
are on either side of my thighs. He squirts the lotion into
his hands and rubs them together before massaging
lotion into my shoulders. His hands feel good as they
kneed into my skin, working out the rest of my tension. I
let out a small moan of appreciation.
“Feel good?” He probes, clearly pleased with
himself.
“Yes, very soothing. Keep going.” I feel a small
poke in my behind and my eyes dart open from behind
my glasses. I immediately tense. Did he just get a hard
on? He pushes his knees further off the ground then
moves off of me so he is now sitting next to me. Max
makes quick work of rubbing lotion on the rest of my
back, then announces he is done before scrambling to his
feet, mumbling something about being hot as he lightly
jogs toward the water. Probably needing a cold shock to
his groin. I laugh at the thought but immediately feel
guilty as I watch him dive into the incoming waves.
I know that given the opportunity Max would
jump at the opportunity to push our friendship further.
We have always been such good friends, I never wanted
to jeopardize that. I think we both know if we tried and it
didn’t work, we would be sorry we did. His friendship
means the world to me. Maybe one day we could be
more, who knows, but for now it’s not a risk I’m willing
to take. Besides, at the moment I’m sort of taken.
“Whatcha’ looking at?” Wanda says as she hands
me a red cup filled with rum punch from the outside
beach bar. I sit up with my legs crossed as I watch Mark
and Max jumping into the waves trying to impress the
girls who are standing close by giggling.
“Just watching the boys being silly,” I snicker as I
sip the refreshing fruity drink.
“You sure you are not sitting hear daydreaming of
Mr. Rock and Roll.” She looks at me through the top of
her glasses, “or Mr. Hernandez?”
“Wanda! Gabe-Mr. Hernandez is my boss. I am
not thinking about him.”
“If you say so. So thinking of the rock god himself,
huh. How’s that working out for you? You’re leaving in
what, 2 weeks?”
“Yes, I can’t wait,” I sigh.
“So what’s the deal? Dating? Or just sleeping
together? This is very interesting you know. Usually you
go on a date or two and get bored. But this guy has you
moping around waiting for him. It’s all very intriguing.”
“I know. I never cared enough about a guy before
to get to know him. I have no point of reference when it
comes to jealousy and these feelings of constantly
missing him. It’s so strange that I feel this way. I mean,
come on, we only had two nights together, then he left. I
feel like I am reading more into this then it really is. He
has told me he cares about me, and I him. But seriously,
it’s all a little fast. What do you think?”
“Emma you are awesome and any guy would be
lucky to have you, but long distance relationships aren’t
easy. It is going to take a lot of trust for you two to work
out. And this early on in a relationship…I am not saying
it won’t work. I am just saying it’s going to be tough to
start a serious relationship, if that’s what you want.”
“I know. He tells me the same thing. I just can’t
help get jealous. I mean, he is…well…he’s him. What can
I offer him that he can’t get from the random sluts that
would be more than happy to fulfill his every fantasy. He
is motivated and good-looking and all those
woman…gggrrrr.” I run my hands through my hair and
fall back onto the blanket in frustration. Sloshing
perfectly good rum punch from the sides of my cup.
“Emma, you don’t think he may feel the same
way.” I turn my head toward Wanda who is sitting on
the lounge chair next to me. “You are smart, beautiful,
and like it or not wealthy. I am sure you are just as
intimidating to him as he is to you. That is where you
two are going to have to trust one another. You’re both
going to be jealous, its only natural. The only thing you
can do is what’s right on your end. You have no control
what he does, but you can control what you do. If in the
end it doesn’t work because of something he did, then
you will know that you gave it your all and have no
regrets.” Wanda glanced toward the ocean to watch the
boys talking to some girls.
“You may also want to stop being so flirty with
Max,” Wanda states matter of factly in her protective big
sister voice.
“Max. Why? We are just friends.” I defend
“Emma, you’re really dense sometimes. Max is
your friend yes, but he sees you as more. Always has.
Now that you have a boyfriend or whatever, I don’t think
you should play around with him the same way. It gives
him false hope. Would you like it if Dominic was as
friendly with his female friends as you are with Max?” I
didn’t really think of it that way. I wouldn’t want any
woman to be straddling Dominic, rubbing lotion on him
the way Max was doing to me before. And I don’t want
to give Max false hope.
“I see your point.”
I sit up and sip my drink. Wanda as always, is
wise beyond her years. What she is saying makes sense.
Dominic has told me that he is not interested in anyone
else and all I can do is take him at his word. I will just
have to control my actions so I don’t hurt him. The rest is
out of my control.
After a few more hours of summer fun, and traffic,
we are back at Hill tower, feeling exhausted. I let Mark
keep the car because I rarely need it during the week. He
drops Wanda and I off at the curb. Wanda eyes up Luke
who is waiting at the front of the building with my
fathers car. She winks at me and double times it over to
him, popping her hips a little more as she approaches
him. The do make a cute couple. I roll my eyes and pop
inside out of the heat. I am so relaxed I just want to take a
shower, get some dinner and veg out in front of the TV.
Just as I hit the front desk I spot Mia and my
father exiting the elevator. Mia as always is
breathtakingly beautiful, to say the least. My father
mentioned once that her family was straight from the
Mediterranean; small town in Greece if I recall. She is in
her mid 30’s, tanned skin, light brown hair, big brown
eyes and a body yoga instructors strive for. Her blue
fitted cocktail dress hugs every curve she has like a
second skin, and silver Christian Louboutin peep toe
pumps throw her six inches higher into the air. Her
signature strut and slight accent adds to her exoticness;
she is just stunning to look at.
When Mia walks into any room woman as well as
men take notice. When my father and Mia started dating
I tried to dislike her, I truly did, but she was so nice to
me. My father seemed happy with her so I stopped
trying to find fault in her and just accepted it. We get
along very well now. Even though I know she would
have never given my father a second look if he were a
poorer man, she treats him like he is the only man in the
world. That’s all that matters. My father was lonely for a
long time after my parents got divorced so it is just nice
he found someone to spend his life with who makes him
happy. She is everything the polar opposite of what my
mother is. I am sure that’s no coincidence.
“Emma, darling, so nice to see you. You look
great,” Mia fusses, kissing me on both of my cheeks. My
father stands by and smiles as he watches us interact.
Once I pull away he pulls me closer to him, giving me a
big hug.
“I could say the same about you. Wow.” She steps
back and waives off my statement is if it is the most
ridiculous thing I have ever said. My father places his
hand on Mia’s lower back and looks down at her
lovingly.
“Where are you two off to tonight?” I ask my
father who looks devastatingly handsome in his typical
black tuxedo.
“Opera. We are going to see the “The Tempest” at
the Met,” my father murmured as he looks down at his
phone with interest. “Excuse me ladies I have to take
this,” he continues as he answered the call.
“So Mia, how was your vacation?”
“Oh Emma, it was magnificent. Having your
father all to myself without him worrying about work for
three whole weeks is something I could get used to. I
thank God all the time that Gabe is able to run HMA so
we can have more time together,” Mia gushes, giving me
a crooked smile.
I nod slightly.
“Sooooo, how are you and Gabe getting along? He
is a stunning man Emma, you should really snatch him
up before someone else does.”
“I have a…a friend, thank you.” I roll my eyes. I
know I sound a little more irritated by her comment then
I aimed to but her intrusion to my personal life irritates
me.
“Hummm, yes your father said. A drummer or
something, right,” she scrunches up her nose and shakes
her head. “You are a young girl Emma, so I get it.
Chasing hot boys and having fun is great and all, but
dear girl you will need to think about the big picture.
More sooner then later.” She is giving me dating advice?
No. She is giving me ‘how to marry a wealthy man’
advice.
“Mia, Dominic is the lead singer of the band, not a
drummer. And, yes I am young and I think that love is
love no matter what his social status is. Besides, Gabe is
my boss. I don’t think my father would approve of me
dating my boss.”
Mia chuckles. “Approve? Honey, I think he would
insist.” I see my father turn toward us and tap on his
watch to hurry her along while still on the phone by the
front door.
“What?”
“Why else do you think you are the intern of the
assistant CEO of HMA. Got to run darling. Call me and
we will do lunch soon,” she declares while strolling out
the front door.
I narrow my eyes at her as she walks toward my
father. I wave at him, to which he blows me an air kiss in
return, while exiting the building. When I enter the
elevator a few people climb in with me.
Surely what Mia said is wrong. My father didn’t
put us together to, get-us-together. Did he? I sigh heavily
and tilt my head back until it hits the wall behind me. Of
course he did. He is always calculating his next move.
What better way to get his protégé to stick around as
CEO then to marry off his only daughter to him?
Oh, Daddy.

“That’s us,” Gabe says
as they announce all first class
passengers to board the plane. I look up from my phone
just as I was finishing up a response to Dominic’s latest
message. I cannot believe after a month of being apart we
will finally see each other again, very soon. Even though
we speak every day or text or email, nothing beats the
real thing.

“Can I carry your bag for you?” Gabe tells more
then asks. I give him a shy smile and pick up my purse
and laptop case. Before I can respond he grabs my carry
on off the floor.

“Thank you. I can manage.” Gabe thins his lips
and shakes his head. I give him a curt nod and make my
way to the gate and down the jet way onto the plane. I
find our seats and stow my laptop and purse next to my
feet.

Gabe puts our carry on bags in the overhead
compartment and takes the isle seat next to me. We give
each other an awkward smile as he settles in. I don’t
know what we are going to talk about for almost four
hours but I am grateful that we went on a commercial
flight and not the company jet. Being alone in a jet with
the man who makes me want to crawl under a rock from
just one glance, only adds to the awkwardness. I have
been thinking long and hard about what Mia said about
Gabe and I getting together.

I know my father well enough to know he is going
to do everything in his power to see to it that we wind up
together. But that is not going to happen. He just wants
to keep his company in the family. He knows it is my
plan is to take over HMA but my father loves Gabe and
having us together makes his life easier. He could care
less that I am with Dominic, and that pisses me off. Every
time the subject is broached he changes the topic of
conversations as if it is not important. That my choices in
life and the man I am going to date is not important. This
is my life and I will date and marry whomever I want to.
It is no ones choice but mine.

They close the doors and the flight crew goes
through the inflight procedures before we take off.
Although flying doesn’t bother me, take off and landings
make me uneasy. I close my eyes and tilt my head back
against the headrest to ride out the feeling of dread that
builds in the pit of my stomach. The plane starts to
ascend upward and my vice like grip on the armrest
causes my knuckles to go white under the prepressure. I
can feel Gabe’s eyes on me and I tilt my head and look
over at him, embarrassed.

“You okay?” He says to me pleasantly. He seems
genuinely concerned and places his hand on top of mine,
giving it a reassuring squeeze. His touch causes the hair
on my arms to stand on end.