“Mr. Gosling called a meeting for ten ‘o’clock,” Heather informed Erin, watching as her boss strode to her desk and sat down. Erin paused, one hand reaching for her laptop and regarded her assistant.
“Did he mention what the meeting was for?” Erin asked as she booted her laptop, simultaneously checking the folders Heather had left for her attention. Already congratulating herself for her decision to come in to work, she knew the activity would keep her mind occupied and thus keep those disturbing thoughts at bay. She checked her watch-seven am and that meant she had three hours to catch up on the backlog of emails and things that required her immediate attention.
“Nope, but the memo did say that attendance was absolutely mandatory for all senior executives.”
“Thanks.” Heather turned to go then stopped. “Umm, I don’t know if you want to know, but Ethan came here asking to see you.”
Erin froze, and looked up from her laptop, glaring at her assistant.
“Heather, do me a favour? If he comes back, please send him away, I don’t fucking care if he threatens to kill you, just keep him away.”
The twenty four year old sketched a mock salute and left. Erin rubbed her temples and opened her email. There were a dozen work related emails; mostly memo’s reminding her on guest schedules and dietary needs. She dealt with those quickly and moved to her personal mails. Her eyes widened as she saw Ethan’s messages and she sat back, staring at the screen, her mind a whirl of conflicting emotions. After a moment of indecision, she clicked on the most recent one from four days ago.
Erin,
I’m worried about you, please call me and let me know you’re ok. Left messages on your phone too. Also, please forgive me for acting like a douchebag.
Ethan.
“Oh boy.” Erin murmured, unsure of what to make of the whole thing.
His apology sounded sincere, but she couldn’t seem to get past the nagging feeling he was doing it out of guilt. That would make things even worse, the last thing she needed was Ethan acting romantic out of a twisted sense of guilt. With trembling hands, she hit the reply button and typed out a quick response.
Ethan,
Thank you for your concern, but I’m fine. There’s nothing to forgive, but I think it’s best if we stayed away from each other for a while. Take care.
She hit the send button and closed the page, determined to put it out of her mind as she concentrated on work. A few minutes later, a new message notification popped up and even without checking, Erin knew it would be Ethan’s reply.
Ethan: Best for whom exactly? Me, or you?
Her lips thinned. Of course he would be stubborn about it.
Erin: The both of us.
His reply came faster this time.
Ethan: What if I don’t want to stay away? What if I want more than we have now?
Heart pounding faster, she took her time replying. The last thing she wanted was for him to think she was eager to talk.
Erin: That’s not possible. There are a million reasons why it won’t work.
Despite earlier hesitation, Erin found herself tapping her fingers on the desk impatiently, waiting for his reply. Her phone rang and she jumped, rummaging in her bag for it. Her breath caught when she saw who it was.
Biting her lips, she hit the call button.
“I can give you just one reason why I can’t stay away from you.” The intensity in Ethan’s voice sent a shiver down her spine.
“Ethan,” Erin licked her lips, his voice like warm caress, sending her pulse faster. “I can’t talk right now, not about this, not now.”
She heard him sigh, and she expected him to object, but instead he said.
“Okay, we won’t talk about us if you don’t want to. But, you have to promise me one thing.”
“I’m not making any promises, at least not until I hear what it is.”
“I know you don’t want to talk about our relationship and I’m cool with that, but maybe we could talk about other things… get to know eachother better, as friends.”
Erin paused for long moments, unsure of what to say. Friends with Ethan Lachlan? That was like putting a box of her favourite chocolates in a locked room with her and forbidding her from devouring the whole thing.”
“Erin, are you there?” Ethan asked, sounding worried.
“Yes… yes I’m still here. Ethan, I don’t think that’s a good idea.”
“Just think about it,” he urged. “No pressure though, and I’ll respect whatever decision you make.”
“Ok. I have to go now.” She ended the call and swung her chair around to stare out at the view, deep in thought.
The next thing she knew, Heather was shaking her awake, reminding her of the meeting in less than ten minutes. With a quick stop to repair her makeup, Erin hurried to the boardroom.
She entered to find most of her family there with the exception of Nicky, as well as several top executives and major shareholders all seated around the huge conference table.
Erin spotted her father at the head, deep in conversation with one of her uncles and a team of the hotel’s lawyers. Murmuring greetings as she moved, Erin joined her father. Harold Gosling beamed at his daughter, accepting a hug and a fond kiss on his cheeks.
“What’s going on, Dad?” Erin asked, nodding as one of the lawyers pulled a chair for her. She set her briefcase on the table and began pulling out papers.
Before he could reply, there was a small disturbance at the entrance.
Erin glanced up and froze as Ethan, immaculate as always in a black tailored three-piece suit that fit him in ways that sent many female hearts in the room pounding, strode into the room.
He had eyes only for her, holding her gaze as he strode up to her father, breaking the eye contact only so he could shake hands with Harold and her uncles. Erin held her breath, keeping her eyes lowered, reluctant to meet that knowing look that seemed to penetrate her skin and reveal the one secret she was determined to keep.
Schooling her features to exude professional competence, she ran a hand down her skirt, thankful she’d chosen the conservative grey business suit, her hair which she’d swept up in a chignon added to her aura of cool detachment, effectively covering up her true inner turmoil.
She felt Ethan’s eyes on her as he took a seat directly across from her, and Erin forced herself to return his gaze. His mouth curved in warm smile, and she looked away, pulse racing.
Hold steady, Erin.
She dragged her attention to the papers on her table. Her father stood and cleared his throat, getting everyone’s attention.
“Good morning,” Harold began, his voice filled with quiet authority. “First of all, let me thank you for making it to this impromptu meeting, I understand a lot of you would rather be doing other things than to sit in a stuffy meeting.”
A murmur of polite laughter rang out.
“Still,” he continued, “I believe it is important to make this announcement here, before the media gets a hold of the latest developments.”
He paused and glanced around the room, taking all the expectant faces.
“As you are all aware, there was a recent purchase of a majority of our stocks by Holbourn Enterprises, a move that well… none of us expected. However, in the past three days, I have been in negotiations with the CEO, Mr Lachlan…”
He nodded in Ethan’s direction but Erin kept her gaze on her father, too intent on finding out where this speech was leading.
“Mr. Lachlan, would you care to do the honours?”
Ethan declined with a murmur, indicating Harold to carry on.
“Go ahead, Mr Gosling.”
“Very well. Holbourn Enterprises will be giving us the option to buy back more than half of the acquired shares at less than the current stock price, which will leave us with an impressive profit in the long run.”
Her father droned on, but Erin barely heard him, all her attention fixed on the man seated across. Ethan didn’t meet her gaze, keeping his focus on Harold instead, his expression blank.
He was returning the shares? If The Gosling repurchased those shares at less than the current price, it would mean a huge gain for the hotel and an appalling loss for Ethan. Why would he something so stupid? What was he trying to prove to her? That he would willingly lose everything just to satisfy his guilt. She was aware of the applause that accompanied the end of her father’s speech, as Ethan stood and excused himself from the meeting, leaving before anyone could corner him with questions.
Erin sat through the rest of the meeting in a daze, her mind unable to process what had just happened. Once she was back in her office, she pulled out her phone and checked for messages, curiosity getting the better of her as she listened to Ethan’s voice messages from that day.
“Erin, I’m worried about you, I’ve left a dozen messages already and I’m scared something’s happened to you. I’m sorry I let you go and I understand if you don’t want to talk to me right now. But at least let me know you’re safe? Please? I lo…. yeah… so call me.”
She frowned and hit replay, paying attention to the last part of the message, the words Ethan had been about to say but had stopped at the last moment.
Could it be? Or was she simply hearing what she wanted and what she longed to hear? She played it over and over again, her heart melting each time she heard the unspoken words.
Her phone beeped, signalling a new message. Nervous, Erin opened the message. It was from Ethan.
Ethan: You look beautiful today.
The words coaxed a smile, which she quickly squashed, and typed a reply.
Erin: Thanks. Why did you sell those shares? That was either a very brave mood or a stupid one.
Ethan: What do you think?
Erin thought for a minute, a small smile playing across her lips.
Erin: I don’t think it was a very wise choice.
The phone rang, displaying Ethan’s name.
“Hey.” Erin said, proud of how cool she sounded. She leaned back in her chair, cradling the phone to her ear, feet up on the desk.
“Hey yourself,” Ethan said. “So, Marcus thinks I should see a shrink after this stunt. He’s convinced I’ve finally lost my mind.”
“He’s not going to be the only one, wait till this hits the news. Seriously Ethan, you shouldn’t have done that. I don’t think my dad would have minded paying the stock price, as long as he got the shares back into the company.”
She took a deep breath and continued. “I know you think you have to make amends, but ruining your company isn’t the way to do things.”
“I made a conscious but stupid choice to destroy something that meant a lot of things to a lot of people. Consider it as my restitution. My dad always said if you want something bad enough, you have to be ready of let go of something equally meaningful.”
“That’s…. very insightful,” she murmured, chewing her lip as she reached an impromptu decision. “I’ve given your offer some thought.”
“Oh?”
She could hear the curiosity behind the single word.
“Yes, I guess it would be a good idea to get to know you better.” She said in a rush, hoping to hell she wasn’t going to regret this. “But, just talk, no complications.”
“Just talk.” Ethan agreed, relief lacing every syllable. “So, is it safe to ask you to dinner tomorrow night?