Page 48 of Completely Captivated
He walked to my kitchen table and picked up the packet the process server delivered.The older brother in him didn’t hesitate to open the envelope and snoop.The lawyer in him needed to know every single detail, especially when he realized what he held.He took a seat then took his time reading every word at least three times.
He finally looked up at me.“When did this happen?”
“As soon as I got back from San Diego.The process server was waiting for me in the garage.Served me at my car.”
“She wants an annulment.This is perfect.”He had the nerve to sound excited.“It’ll be like it never happened.She won’t have any claim to anything you own.You are one lucky son of a bitch.”
“You must be fucking kidding me.Did you not just offer to helpnegotiateto get her back?I’m not accepting an annulment.I’ll fight tooth and nail to stop it.”
“Aaron, come on.You can have the marriage annulled and still date her.It’s not like you knew her long enough or well enough to get married anyway.”
“Why are you here?You have about thirty seconds to tell me, and then I’m tossing you out on your ass.”
“You’re needed back at work.You’ve had your sabbatical, but now it’s time to get back on track.Kylie was thrilled with the models you selected, and the results of their dry run are better than she expected.Word will spread fast, and more major designers will contact us to stay in league with Kylie.”
“I’ve told you, I’m not staying.I’m done.”
“You really mean it this time, don’t you?”His brows furrowed, and he cocked his head to the side.He finally stopped calculating every move and countermove to take a good, long look at me.
“Yes.”My fists went to my hips, and I stood tall.Determined.
“Can you at least work out a two-week notice and train one of our up-and-coming junior agents?”
It was the least I could do for the company we built from the ground up.“Two weeks, Lance.I’m not traveling, and I’m not staying any longer than that.If you ask me to do either of those things, you’ll piss me off.”
“No travel and no extensions.You have my word.”
“Then you have mine.I’m yours for two weeks.After that, you buy my half of the company.”
“I’ll get started on the paperwork.So, you’ll be back in the office Monday morning?”
“Yeah, I’ll see you then.”
Lance left, and I glanced at the clock.It was too late to text her again and finish what I wanted to say, knowing how early she got up for work in the mornings.Instead, I sat at my laptop and did the next best thing—I arranged for special delivery sent directly to her shop the next day.
As I closed my laptop, a memory flashed in my mind, and I saw her as clearly as if she were standing in front of me right then.She was tossing a bouquet of flowers over her shoulder at our small reception party.Several other people we didn’t know were there, but they were all wearing black-tie attire, as if they were members of other wedding parties.
“The chapel held a joint reception for everyone who got married there that evening.We were laughing because our party of four was the smallest one they had all day.”
She threw a bouquet of Stargazer lilies, with dark pink centers and a bright white edge.Her favorite flower.The girl who caught the bouquet waggled her brows at her date, and then the rest of us pointed and laughed at his terrified expression.
I grabbed my phone and opened my contacts.I stared at her name with my thumb barely hovering over the button.Just a slight movement more and I’d hear her voice again.
But I’d hear her angry voice.The one that didn’t want to hear from me.The tone that said all the things she couldn’t, or wouldn’t, because she was too good of a person to try to hurt me in that way.
“Motherfucker!”I dropped my phone on the couch and paced across my condo.From the door, across the width of my home, to the wall of windows overlooking the bay.Then back again.
Going nowhere fast.
Getting nowhere slow.
Jared
“Let me walk you in.”I put the car into park and cut the engine outside Christa’s apartment.“To make sure you get in there safe and sound.”
“Jared, I’ve been walking inside my apartment alone for many years now, and I always make it in safe and sound.Tonight won’t be any different.Thank you for dinner, and for the offer, but I’m dead on my feet and have a full day ahead of me tomorrow.Drive safely.”
She jumped out of the car before I could even respond.She was quiet the entire ride back for some reason.She seemed more distracted and even a little jumpy, but she never said why.I chalked it up to the predicament that shithead of a husband had left her in.Her heart was broken, her pride was wounded, and her mind was twisted.Expecting to be more than a friend with a shoulder she occasionally cried on was a surefire way to set myself up for disappointment.
