32. Families Always Have Issues
FAMILIES ALWAYS HAVE ISSUES
TARA
“So… How are we playing this at work?” I ask Aiden on Friday morning.
He had arrived at my apartment with a hot chocolate in hand for me, shyly admitting that he’d made it himself before coming up.
The nervous smile on his face as he said it was enough to melt any woman’s heart, and I’d gratefully accepted it while hiding the keep cup full of tea that I’d just poured myself.
I’m now sipping the rather delicious drink while holding his hand as we walk across the bridge into the city.
He shrugs. “Well, as far as I’m aware, there’s no rules about colleagues dating, right?”
I shake my head. So many people have dated in this office, it’s almost ridiculous. But in a company of this size, it’s not particularly surprising.
“Do you want to just keep it between us for now?” he asks, stopping to the side of the bridge so that he can look at me while allowing others to pass by.
I contemplate our options for a moment. While yes, others have dated, those people weren’t the boss’s son and his assistant.
The vipers in the admin team would love nothing more than to make this seem like something sordid, when Aiden and I both know that his status as the boss’s son has nothing to do with it.
“I think we should play it cool, at least to start with. I don’t want anyone gossiping about us. I have nothing to hide, but I’ve always kept my personal life to myself and I’d prefer to keep it that way.”
He nods. “I’m on board with that. I don’t want our relationship to cause you any issues.”
I smile. “Relationship, huh?”
He grins and tugs me in close, pressing a soft kiss to my lips before stepping back. “Yep, you’re in a relationship now, Tara. Deal with it.”
We continue walking, and I’m glad he doesn’t see the goofy grin that has taken over my face.
Once we reach the building, he lingers downstairs while I head up first. Five minutes later, he saunters past my desk and heads into his office.
Once he’s seated at his desk, he looks up at me and gives me a cute little wink, and I muffle a laugh before getting started on dealing with the mess in both our inboxes.
Just over a week after our return from Singapore, Aiden is sitting on my couch, waiting for me to finish getting ready before our first official date.
Although we’ve yet to actually go out anywhere, we’ve spent every night together since we got back.
But I realised last night that we can’t just spend all our time together naked in my bed, no matter how good it feels.
So I’m taking him out to check out the Eat Street Markets in Hamilton.
It’s long been one of my favourite places to go on the ferry when I’m over the city and South Bank, and he hasn’t been very far outside the CBD limits yet.
When I appear at my bedroom door, I find he’s been entertaining himself by throwing Toulouse’s favourite ball for him, laughing when the kitten keeps bringing it back to him.
“Are you aware that your cat thinks he’s a dog?” he asks, turning to look at me when I round the couch to stand beside him.
“Yeah, he definitely seems like he’s having an identity crisis.” My stomach does a little flutter when his eyes widen, taking in my outfit, and I’m glad I put in the extra effort.
He stands and pulls me in for a long, slow kiss that causes me to melt against him.
“I changed my mind. Let’s stay right here,” he murmurs against my lips, before slowly kissing his way down my neck.
It takes every bit of my willpower to resist giving in, the feel of his hands making their way towards my butt making it very difficult.
“Nope. We are leaving this apartment tonight.” I step out of his arms and pat his cheek.
He pretends to pout, but I can tell he’s looking forward to our night out as much as I am. Slapping his butt as I pass, I reach down to pat Toulouse’s head before grabbing my handbag and lead the way out the door.
It’s almost scary how easily I’ve fallen into things with Aiden.
Perhaps it was because we’d sort of become friends before we started sleeping together, but he manages to make me feel comfortable around him in a way that I never felt with Travis, the ex who I’d met through an old school friend.
Or maybe it’s just because Aiden has age and experience on his side, unlike the twenty-two year old who wanted to spend all his time partying with his boys.
Either way, it’s been the best week and a half of my life and I’m determined to hold on to this feeling for as long as possible.
Hand in hand, we walk down to the City Cat terminal at Mowbray Park and wait for the next ferry. I feel my phone buzz in my pocket and pull it out, smiling when I see a text from Bri.
Bri
Hey. Are you up for visitors for Riverfire? Think you guys can handle coming out of the sex cave for a night to hang out with everyone on Saturday night?
I snort, knowing she had fun writing that. Given that she and Jake no doubt had sex on every surface possible in the apartment when they first got together, she definitely can’t give me a hard time about enjoying being dick-matised by Aiden.
Aiden raises an eyebrow and I show him the message.
“What’s Riverfire?” he asks.
“You haven’t seen all the signs about the Brisbane Festival everywhere?”
He shrugs. “Maybe… I hadn’t really been paying attention.”
“Riverfire is this massive fireworks display that opens the festival for all of September. It always the last weekend of August. It’s takes over the whole city, the Story Bridge closes down and fireworks are going off everywhere. We’ve got one of the best views of it from the penthouse.”
“That sounds fun,” he replies, nodding.
I cock my head to the side. “So, are we at the ‘meet the friends’ phase yet, or do you need to hide at your place next weekend when everyone takes over my place?” I try to sound casual, but I keep waiting for him to run away scared because everything is moving too quickly for him.
I mustn’t be that great at hiding it though, because he pulls me in closer and nuzzles my neck. “I’d love to meet your friends properly, Tara. I can tell they are important to you.”
I grin and give him a quick peck on the lips before texting Bri back.
Tara
I suppose I can put some clothes on for you guys .
Another thought occurs to me then, and I feel my smile drop slightly.
Tara
I’m assuming everyone includes Will?
I wait while the little text bubble shows up, sighing when Bri confirms that Jake wants to see Will, too.
“What’s wrong?” Aiden asks after I type back “OK” and pocket my phone again.
I haven’t filled him in on the drama between myself and Will yet, so once we’re on the ferry, we settle into seats on the back deck and I give him a brief overview of the events of three years ago.
“Why do Bri and Jake think it’s okay to invite him over when you’re not comfortable with him being around anymore?” Aiden asks, looking like he’s ready to throw down.
I smile softly, squeezing his hand. “While I’m hurt by how Will handled the fallout with Annelisa, he’s still like family. I’ve been trying to work on getting over how it all went down, because my friends have always had my back. Even Will.”
“Still… You know you can say you don’t want him there, right? It is your home, after all.” As much as I love that he’s concerned, it’s clear that he doesn’t understand our group dynamic.
“If I really couldn’t handle having him around, I would tell Bri.
But it’s not that big of a deal, really.
” His expression tells me that he doesn’t agree, and I stroke his cheek.
“I promise. You’ll see when you meet everyone that they really are like family.
And families always have issues, mine included. ”
He considers me closely for a moment. “What does your sister have to say about it?”
I shrug. “I’ve never told Lis how people reacted after she left. I don’t talk about them at all with her.”
His eyebrows raise higher. “Not even once in the three years since she left?”
I shake my head. “She was the one who chose to leave in such a spectacular fashion. She doesn’t get to ask me about the others when she broke so many hearts with the way she left.”
Aiden is quiet for a few moments, processing my words.
When he finally speaks again, I can tell he’s trying to choose his words carefully.
“It seems like you’ve got a lot that she’s just left you to deal with on your own.
” He squeezes my hand. “This, and the stuff with your dad.” I’d opened up about the situation with my father two nights ago when Dad had sent me a message asking me again about meeting the girls.
I take a deep breath, about to admit something out loud that I’ve not said to anyone since Annelisa left.
“How do you tell your sister that her own selfishness has upended your life over a video chat? If she hadn’t left the way she did, then she’d be here with me and I wouldn’t be dealing with all of this alone.
But Annelisa didn’t take anyone else’s thoughts into account when she ran away from whatever happened three years ago.
And I’m still trying to pick up the pieces. ”
Aiden wraps his arm around me and pulls me into his side. “And she’s never said what happened to make her leave?”
I shake my head. “Only she and Will know what happened, and neither of them have told us what it was. I know he wouldn’t have done anything to hurt her, that’s just not who he is.
In the months before she left, she was acting weird.
We all noticed it. But no one expected her to just up and move to the other side of the world without so much as a goodbye.
My heart broke. Not just for me, but for Will.
They were each other’s entire world. So whatever it was had to have been pretty serious for her to do what she did.
She has never been great at dealing with her issues.
When Dad left, it was like something inside her broke, and the carefree sister I grew up with disappeared overnight. ”
He kisses my temple, and I close my eyes, allowing myself to draw comfort from his presence. It’s been so long since I’ve felt like I could be so open with someone, and it feels like a weight has been lifted slightly off my shoulders to get these words out that I’ve long been choking down.
“Well, I don’t have any advice other than to say that you don’t need to do all of this on your own.
If your friends are family like you say they are, I don’t think they’d want you to pretend you’re okay all the time.
And I certainly don’t expect you to pretend you’re not hurting when you’re around me either.
So anytime you need to let it out, I’m here. ”
What did I do to deserve this man?
The rest of the evening is perfect. We wander through all the food stands in the brightly lit open air food market, buying a wide array of foods to share and just people watch while we sit near the river to try a bit of everything.
I love being able to show Aiden one of my favourite places, and he takes it all in with a wide smile.
But my favourite part is when he just stops in the middle of all the activity to kiss me whenever he feels like it.
Since that first night together in Singapore, he’s been openly affectionate in a way that I’d always hoped for in a relationship but never thought I’d find.
After watching my friends happily settle down over the years, it had felt like it was never going to happen for me.
I just have to stop myself from getting too comfortable, because good things like this never last.
Not for someone like me.