44. Lucas
Lucas
Amelia has never been late before, and a nervousness like I’ve never felt is consuming me.
Why did I fuck her like that on the plane? After that wonderful night under the stars, I destroyed everything between us because I’m angry at a situation of my own making.
My fingers clench into fists, heart thudding as I shift in my seat, glaring so hard at the clock that the blood starts to pound behind my eyes.
My spine straightens as I hear the sound of heels approaching over the carpet. I pretend to look busy, reading through the documents on my desk. My final meeting with Barnes is scheduled for this morning, and I should have been preparing for it since I arrived.
Instead, I’ve been staring at the clock, waiting for Amelia like an idiot. I look up, my heart plummeting to my knees as Kaitlin walks in.
“Good morning, Mr. Crawford. I have the pack for this morning’s meeting.”
“Where’s Amelia?” I ask, my tongue so dry I can barely speak.
Kaitlin frowns, placing the pack on my desk as she fidgets. “She called in sick, Mr. Crawford, she didn’t let you know?”
“She’s sick? What’s wrong with her?” My tone is harsh, but this is way too coincidental.
Did you really expect her to stick around when you gave her fifty grand?
“I’m not sure,” she replies, her eyes guarded.
“Did she say why she was sick?”
“No. She simply told me that she couldn’t come in today. I’ll talk to her tomorrow and make sure she knows that she has to inform you if she’s off.”
“I don’t care about that. Did she say anything else?”
Kaitlin’s frown is getting deeper by the second. She must think I’m crazy.
“Uh, I can call her back if you need me to?”
“No. No, that’s alright.”
“Is there anything you need before your meeting with Mr. Barnes?”
Yes, I want Amelia here where she’s supposed to be.
“No. That’s fine. Thanks, Kaitlin.”
She walks out past Amelia’s desk, and I grip the pen in my hand so hard it snaps in two.
Where the hell is she? What could possibly be wrong after less than twelve hours?
I glance at the clock again. I have limited time to read the agreement legal sent through. One of the most important deals of my life, and I can’t focus.
I pick up my cell, dial Amelia’s number, and pray that she’ll answer. But the phone cuts out to voicemail three times before I give up.
Maybe she really is sick.
But it’s odd that that should happen right after our vacation. I want to kick myself for how I treated her on the plane. Jesus, I just wanted to own her. I could feel her slipping away, the whole situation between us a thorn in my side.
I wanted her there as my girlfriend; that was the truth. I wanted to teach her to scuba dive and buy her everything in the world to eat so that she could taste it for the first time. To watch her face as she experienced all the things I love in my life, and to learn what she loved in return.
Fuck, I’m late.
When I walk into the conference room, it’s filled with people. Barnes’s financial advisors, his wife, and one of his sons stand with him behind his chair.
But the atmosphere in the room is unexpectedly upbeat. It’s rare for a merger of this kind to be mutually beneficial to all parties, but with Barnes remaining on, everyone seems to have relaxed.
I smile and note Barnes’s eyes moving behind me as the doors swing shut. I wonder whether he might be looking for Amelia, and quietly hope he has the professionalism not to mention our little business trip together.
Vanessa and my legal team are seated on our side of the table as I take a seat.
“Where’s Amelia?”
That’s the first thing out of Barnes’s mouth. Where is my EA, who shouldn’t have any bearing on this deal and yet has somehow become integral to it.
I feel Vanessa stiffen beside me, but find myself chuckling.
“My executive assistant appears to have charmed Mr. Barnes completely,” I say, glancing around the room. “Unfortunately, she’s out sick today, but I’m sure she’d wish you well if she were here.”
Barnes eyes me curiously from the other side of the table, and I give him a long look. He gives a brief nod, takes a seat, and we open the folders in front of us.
Both our legal teams have already reviewed and countersigned the documents, but this is the final rubber stamp. We both take a few minutes to review the revisions implemented under our verbal agreement, and I feel a rush of satisfaction as I realize just how much money this deal will generate.
We both sign, and as he finishes his signature, Barnes turns to his wife, a happy smile spreading across both their faces as the deal is finally, finally agreed upon.
The love between them is palpable, a warmth shared in their eyes that could never be manufactured—or bought.
God, what I wouldn’t give to have a relationship like that one day.
I stand up, and Barnes does the same. As we shake hands, the room breaks into spontaneous applause, and I nod to the door as Kaitlin ushers in the catering staff with several bottles of champagne to celebrate.
I stand in the room alongside Barnes as several members of the board come in to congratulate us. It’s a jovial atmosphere, and everyone is in a cheerful mood, but I just want to be out of there.
After spending as little time as I can in the room, without appearing rude, I make my excuses, heading back to my office.
Instead of going inside, I signal to Beatrice that I’m done for the day and head down to the parking lot. For once, Melvin isn’t waiting for me, and I have to call him to come pick me up. He looks surprised as he draws up beside me a few minutes later, and I get in.
He stares at me in the rearview, waiting for my instructions. When I left my office, I didn’t know where I was headed, but now the idea slides into my mind like a beacon.
“Where did Amelia go when she brought me all that stuff when I was sick?”
“A Whole Foods market, sir,” Melvin says. “Are you feeling sick?”
“No. Amelia is. She’s called in sick today.”
“Oh dear,” Melvin squints at me. “Do you know what’s the matter?”
I hesitate. “No. But she brought me a whole bunch of stuff when I was sick. Maybe I could do the same.”
“Chicken soup is traditional.”
“Yeah, but she makes the best one I’ve ever tried. We’ll have to settle for second best on that. How long will it take if I stop off there and then head to her house?”
“About an hour, maybe an hour and a half depending on how long you take to find what you want.”
I look at him reproachfully. “Melvin, are you saying I don’t know how to shop?”
“Well, I’ve never seen you shop, is all I’m saying. You have ‘people’ for that kind of thing.”
“Fine. Well then, you can come with me.”
“It would be a pleasure, sir,” he says with a lopsided grin, and I lean back in my chair, rubbing my hands over my knees as I stare eagerly out the window.
By the time we arrive at the tiny little white house on the corner of Amelia’s street, I have enough food to feed an army in the car.
Melvin has some strange ideas about what is healthy, insisting on buying some weird sludge called Spirulina, which I’d never even heard of, let alone put near my body.
“She’s gonna think I’ve lost my mind,” I murmur for the third time as Melvin glances at me in the rearview.
“She’s going to think you care, Mr. Crawford. Is that worse or better than her thinking you’ve lost your mind?”
I narrow my eyes at him. “You’re paid to drive me around, man, not psychoanalyze me.”
“Ah. Was that in my contract?”
“Shut the hell up,” I grumble as I open the door and head up the drive. I decide to leave everything in the car so that I can see how she’s feeling first. If she tells me to get lost, at least I have my answer about our future.
I knock on the door, looking around at the cracked paving slabs, trash, and weeds around the front step.
After a minute, I hear shuffling footsteps from inside, and a man opens the door.
He’s almost as tall as me, but wide and beefy. He has piggy eyes, bad breath, and a furious expression that makes my hackles rise instantly.
This must be the guy who was screaming his head off the other day.
He looks me up and down. “Who the fuck are you?”
I stare at him, straightening my spine so that I can use my full height to really glare at him.
“I’m Mr. Lucas Crawford. Your daughter’s employer. Is she here?”
He doesn’t look surprised or shocked; his expression doesn’t change at all until his mouth twists into a sneer.
“Oh, you’re the high and mighty asshole, are you?”
“Excuse me?”
“We don’t got no business with you no more. You can get lost.”
He tries to shut the door, and I slam my arm against it, feeling the flimsy wood bending under the impact.
“Where is Amelia?” I ask, and this time my tone brooks no argument.
“What’s it to ya? Didn’t turn up for work and you’re firin’ her is that it?”
“No. Tell me where she is, if she isn’t here. She called in sick.”
“Course she did. She’s at the hospital.” My whole body freezes. “Her sister’s sick.”