*Andrea*
What did I just witness?” Alison said when the door closed.
I had no answer for her. “Come on, Andrea. Tell me, what happened to the boss who would not speak to you at work? Why did he suddenly kiss you? And why the hell did you come with him? I left you with a tall blonde guy the last time I checked. What happened to him?” Alison asked all at once without stopping to catch her breath.
I sat. “I’ll answer you, give me time,” I said. She sat close to me. “So…” I didn’t know where to begin. I could still feel Alejandro’s lips on mine. He kissed me in front of Alison, and earlier today, he warned me not to call him boss. He wants me to call him by his name. Does this mean he wants to be with me?
“Stop daydreaming and answer me already,” Alison said, nudging me by my arms. “It’s not what you think,” I said.
“Was he at the show?” She asked, and I nodded. “So you dished the other guy for him?” She asked.
I wiggled my finger in front of her, “You sly.” She leaned back. “In fact, I am not telling you anything.” I said, standing up, “Come on, don’t go.” Alison held me down.
“You know what I did for you? I didn’t want you to be alone. I had to be with my own man.” She explained. I scoffed.
“You sold me to be with your man. You didn’t even care to ask if I knew him. What if he was a serial killer?” I asked.
“No. He is too handsome to be a serial killer,” she said, and I hated that I agreed with her. “Now, let’s not talk about him. It’s Alejandro I want to hear about.” She said.
I took a deep breath and eyed her after setting me up with that unbearable fool. I had learned something about him today, though. He is the CEO of a company.
While he beamed when he saw me, I growled at him within. He kept telling me how he knew we would meet again, and I hated the way he spoke as if we were friends.
“So, where did you meet Alejandro? Like how did you meet him? Did you go to him?” She asked, adjusting on the coach. I told her everything about how we had met when I left Mr. Blonde to take a break from him and the crowd.
“And we went to a hotel,” I said.
Alison’s lips are left hanging. “You what?” She squires excitedly. “Wait, it’s not what I think, right?” She asked, and I shook my head. “We had sex.”
“Again,” Alison added. “Oh my God! You’ve got him.” She said, and I wished I had felt that way. I told her how he had stopped me from calling him boss. “I think he didn’t know what he was doing before,” I said.
“No. What if I tell you he got jealous of Mr. Blonde?” She said, and I only chucked at such a nonsense thought. “He has no reason to.” I reminded her.
“He saw you first, right?” She asked, and I nodded slowly, “And he met you where you were?” She asked, and I nodded again. “Then that’s it. There’s nothing to dispute about it.” She sounded so sure, and I wanted to believe her.
I didn’t believe her, though, but I didn’t repeat anything about it. There’s a knock on the door. “Who could that be at this time?” Alison asked. She stood and walked to the door. I stared at the wall clock ticking slowly as I awaited her return.
I still felt sore down there, and my body was weak. All I wanted right now was rest, and it didn’t seem I’d be getting any soon, not when Alison was hovering over me.
“Andrea, there’s red roses for you.” She said, and I stood. Who could that be? I walked to the entrance and was surprised to see a bouquet. “Anna?” The man bearing the bouquet asked, and I nodded.
He gave me the bouquet and asked me to sign. I did, and he left. Alison closed the door and walked behind me as we returned to the sofa. “Who is the bouquet from?” She asked.
“Calm down, Alison,” I said. She inhaled sharply and sat still, but her eyes pinned me as I fetched the card from within the bouquet. “I bet a Hundred percent that this bouquet is from Alejandro.” She said.
It has to be from him, he is the only that knows me by Anna and Mr blonde.
I inhale a whiff of the bouquet. I was about to open the card when Alison grabbed it from me, “it’s truly from Alejandro.” She said that when she saw his initials signed on the card,
I snatched it back from her. Settling the red roses by the side, I opened it and beamed. “What does it say?” I didn’t answer; how do I tell her he said, “Thinking about you.” Alison pulls the note from my hand, “thinking about you.” She read it out loud, “And there’s a heart design.” She said.
She looks at me, “You, my friend, are lucky.” She declared. “The most eligible man in the city has you in his mind.” She said.
“He has a son,” I reminded her in case she had forgotten.
“It doesn’t matter.” She said.
“And the son is my ex.” I reminded her.
“So?” I inhaled sharply. “I say, this man is falling for you.” A part of me wanted to believe her. “I don’t know what to say. It may be true. But for now, I think he is trying to be nice.” I didn’t know how to define our relationship yet, but it was more than an employee and employer relationship and, at the same time, more than friends.
I didn’t know how Alejandro knew I loved red roses. “I’ll text him to thank him,” I said. “What do you want to say?” Alison asked. I raised my brows, not entirely understanding her. How else should I thank him? If not, I should say thank you, “thank you.” I said.
“No. Don’t just say thank you. Say something else.” She said, “Something like?” I asked. “A reply that fits his care.” She said.
I thought for a long time, even in the bathroom. When I finally settled on my bed, I typed back, “Thinking about you too.” It seemed like a perfect reply.
I gazed at the bouquet that I had kept by my side as I fell asleep.
The following day, Alejandro came to pick me up. I had woken up early to pack a few things, and Alison slipped red lingerie into my luggage. I didn’t try to remove it. I secretly hoped I’d have a lovely time with Alejandro.
I wore a black sleeveless gown, which revealed my cleavage, and wore a jacket over it.
“You look beautiful,” Alejandro complimented as I stepped into his car.” I smiled shyly as I entered his car.
“You are not looking bad yourself,” I said. The car drove to the airport, and I waved goodbye to Alison.
“What are we going for?” I asked. I was still his pa aside from being his… I still didn’t know the right words to say, but my duty comes first.
Alejandro briefed me. “We are opening a park.” He said. He told me about the private beach they had bought and how he planned to make the surrounding area a park. I took notes as he spoke.
“We’ll meet with a few investors and finalize some legal documents before returning.” He said.
We spoke about other things. I had to reschedule most of his meetings. Alejandro’s phone rang, and he answered it, “Yes… I’m on my way to the airport… I know, but I can’t delay this… is she still in the hospital? I met him yesterday… not good. …Okay… I’ll try calling him…. Keep me posted.” I only heard Alejandro’s side, but I immediately knew the call was from Williams.
As soon as the call ended, Alejandro called someone else. His chest rose and fell in anticipation. “Hey… how is she? … I know… wait… don’t hang up…” but the call seemed disconnected before he said the last words.
He sighed sadly.
I didn’t want to pry, but his emotions changed, “Is anything wrong?” I asked.
He sighed again, and for a moment, I thought he didn’t want to talk about it. Then he said, “It was my son,” I froze. His son, Lucas. Lucas had called. Did he know I was here? Why did he call? I saw Alejandro’s lips move but didn’t hear a word.
The car halted roughly, and I was pushed forward. I wasn’t wearing a seatbelt and almost bumped my head into the back of the driver’s seat in front of me. My head hit Alejandro’s palm.
“I’m sorry,” he said. The car had stopped. The driver quickly apologized; it wasn’t his fault. A driver had sped into the road.
The car started driving once more. Alejandro helped me with the seatbelt. He was so close to me, and he smelled so good.
I thought he would stop talking. Honestly, I had already begun feeling guilty. I shouldn’t have asked him. Alejandro went ahead to tell me about how his ex-wife had a car accident. He wasn’t on good terms with his son. “He hates me. I want to make amends. He is my blood and the only one I have. It hurts me to see him grow distant.” Alejandro said. His voice was low and filled with pain.
I felt terrible for feeling happy that they were not on good terms. “I’m so sorry to hear that.” I had to pretend I didn’t know him. “What do you think? You think he would ever be able to forgive me?” He asked me.
I felt bad as his eyes bore into mine; momentarily, the thought of what he would do when he found out I had dated his son crossed my mind. I pushed it aside, “he will.” I assured him and placed my hands on top of his. I gave it a light squeeze.
“Thank you, Anna,” he said.
It was the first time I flew in a private jet. And it was just me and him.
When we got to France, I was exhausted. We checked into the hotel he had made arrangements for. “One room?” I was surprised.
He nods, “We’ll have to work late at night, and I thought it would be easier to stay together.” He said.
I looked around uneasily. “It’s fine if you don’t want to. I’ll get you another suite.” He said.
I shook my head, “it’s fine.” I said. It wasn’t like I didn’t want to. The thought of staying in the same room as he was was just so…
“You get the room, and I’ll sleep here. On the coach.” I wanted to disagree, but that seemed right. So I nodded. We had lunch in our rooms. He told me about a meeting we had to go to.
I was tired and kept yawning. “You need rest.” He said. I nod, “I will get it after the meeting.”
“No. Rest now. I’ll cancel the meetings.” He said.
“I appreciate but you don’t have to. I’ll rest after the meeting.” I said. But he disagreed, “I insist, Anna.” He said.
He stepped out.
I liked the way he was kind. A bit too kind, and truthfully, that scared me. But there was no harm in it, at least for now. I walked to the room, deciding to change into something casual since the meeting had been canceled.
I didn’t lock the door. I should be done before Alejandro comes back.
I took off my clothes. I was wearing just my bra and pants as I ransacked the luggage for something to wear.
I froze when I felt a familiar pair of hands wrapped around me.