Chapter 28
Alex
"This can't be happening, Eric," I snap, slamming my fist on the table.
"Why isn't the damn cat back yet? Put up more posters, organize a search party.
Cutie has to be somewhere." I immediately regret saying damn cat, because I miss Cutie.
She's somehow grown on me and has become a symbol of my losses.
I've been out looking for her myself on lonely evenings, even ringing a few neighbors' doorbells, who just gave me questioning looks.
Most of them didn't even know me. Of course, in a neighborhood full of mansions, nobody knows each other.
"Sir, boss... I really don't know..." he stammers, uncertain.
"And find out who in my company is leaking information to Jake. This can't go on, understand?"
"Got it. Can... can I go now?" Eric asks, a little sheepishly, gesturing toward the door.
"You can," I say more quietly as it dawns on me that it's happened again: I exploded and took my bad mood out on the one person who's forced to be around me because his job requires it.
"Eric?" I ask more quietly, and he turns around again.
"Is there something else, Sir?"
"I apologize for my tone. It's just... this week has been... not my best," I say, trying to sound a little gentler.
"I know. No problem, boss," he says, nods, and turns to leave.
"Not my best week," I mutter once I'm alone. I know that phrase could easily be nominated for understatement of the year. For the first few days, a feeling I'd never known before gnawed at me, growing larger and larger until I felt like it was eating me alive.
Even my old buddy Troy got an earful of my bad mood when we talked on the phone. When I told him everything, he just said, "Alex. You're in love with the girl. Don't you see that?"
I dismissed his idea as ridiculous, but the sentence kept working its way through my mind and wouldn't let go. Could it really be that I was in love with Beth? Or maybe even more than that?
I was moody and irritable, my food tasted bland, and I couldn't stop thinking about her, wondering again and again how things could have gone this far. It didn't even seem to matter to me that she had hidden her child by another man from me. I wanted her and was ready to accept a child, too.
I even went to a strip club with a few suppliers, a yearly tradition of ours.
And what happened? I didn't even look at the dancers.
All I could think about was Beth, our magical dinners that were so much more than the ridiculous meat market my clients were so enthralled by, throwing around dollar bills.
What was wrong with me? Where was the Alex who changed women like he changed his underwear? I didn't know, but somehow, I didn't want my old life back, because looking back on it now, it felt strangely empty. I wanted Beth.
The thought grew clearer and clearer in my head. I think, subconsciously, I already knew it the day we argued and Cutie ran away, when I visited my pilot in the hospital late that night after the helicopter crash.
God knows how many guardian angels he had, because despite the crash landing, he got away with just a few scratches and was able to go home the next day.
A blessing in disguise in its purest form.
But that wasn't what stuck with me. It was his wife and family, sitting by his bed, holding his hand, the worry clear in their eyes.
I realized there was no one who would sit by my bedside if something happened to me.
Maybe Eric. But only because he was paid to.
There was no one who would do something like that because they wanted to. I was alone.
And I hated it.
The pilot even apologized for it. I waved it off, told him to take as much time off as he wanted, and that by the time he came back, I'd have a new helicopter.
The old thing was in the shop more often than it was in the air anyway.
I should have recognized that the helicopter was nothing but scrap metal.
This realization about my life led me to make a few calls and decisions that I hope might one day fill this inner void.
One of them was an important call to the mayor, who, contrary to my expectations, had apparently managed to convince the city council of my proposal to offer double what Jake had bid.
Sure, the city was short on cash, and double Jake's offer was an astronomical sum, but it was one I could easily afford and that wouldn't affect my lifestyle in the slightest. Of course, BigBurger wasn't doing as well as I'd like.
But my private accounts were overflowing with money. So it wasn't a problem.
I transferred the amount immediately, and that same day, we sealed the deal with our signatures, along with our lawyers and a notary. You wouldn't believe what's possible when a nearly nine-figure sum suddenly changes hands. All of a sudden, everyone has time and no one has to wait.
Admittedly, I enjoyed winning this round and edging Jake out. But that wasn't why I did it. Deep down, I knew that. I did it for Beth.
Because Jake would have built a mall, put a flower shop in it, and Beth would have been ruined.
I had similar plans, of course, but I wouldn't allow a single store in there that had anything to do with flowers.
Instead, I would hang up posters advertising Beth's shop, and Beth would be so swamped with customers she wouldn't know what to do.When I told Eric we had won, he looked at me blankly.
Almost as if he didn't care. I didn't quite understand why.
But maybe I'd just been too rude to him too many times this week, and he simply didn't want to give me an opening.
The thought of doing something good for Beth made me feel a little better. I knew things were over between us, and yet I couldn't turn off my desire for her. If I couldn't have her, she should at least have a good life and not be harmed by Jake and his schemes.
And maybe... just maybe, she'll realize why I did it.
For love.
I pause as the thought hits me like a lightning bolt. That was it.
It was love. Not just a simple crush. I loved this woman—and had since the first time I saw her last year, which was why I was so furious when I found out Dilara had sent her home that I fired her on the spot.
RING RING RING
I jump, startled, as the ringing of my desk phone interrupts my thoughts. The small red light tells me it's Eric, my assistant. Not another caller on a different line. Maybe he has good news for me about Cutie, or the mole I suspect is somewhere in the company.
"Yes?" I ask curtly after picking up the receiver.
"Sir, SHE's here... The woman from the flower shop. She wants to talk to you," Eric says, his voice nervous.
My heart skips a beat. Beth? She was here? How had she found me? Of course, it wasn't particularly difficult to find out that my office was in the ARS Group building. After all, my face was on the website, and it was an open secret that my company owned one hundred percent of BigBurger.
"Sir? Are you still there? Should I... Hey, wait a minute, you can't just..." I hear my assistant's voice cry out. The rest of his sentence is cut off as the door is thrown open, slams loudly against the doorstop, and Beth stands before me, her face flushed.
"It's alright, close the door behind her, Eric," I say into the receiver, which I'm still holding, though my eyes are fixed only on Beth. I hang up without waiting for a reply.
"Beth," I say, my voice suddenly thick. My thoughts are racing, my heart pounding wildly.
There's so much I want to say to her, yet I don't know where to begin, even though I'd gone over it several times this week in case we saw each other again.
But now my mind is a complete blank. I rise from my chair and start toward her.
Should I hug her? No, that wouldn't be right.
Why is she even here, and why does she look so pissed off?
"I'm happy to see you," I say, looking directly at her and trying to put on a friendly face.
"Stay away from me," she snaps, holding out her hand as she sees me start to approach. I can see clearly that her hand is trembling.
"My God, Beth, what happened? Why are you so upset? I haven't done anything to you. Okay, we parted on bad terms. But since then, nothing has..."
"You call this nothing?" she asks, her loud voice cutting me off. "Destroying my livelihood is nothing to you? The billionaire just snaps his fingers and gets rid of the annoying little thing?"
"Beth? What are you talking about?" I ask, my mind racing. What does she mean? Could she have found out about the purchase of the property across the street? No, there's a non-disclosure agreement, and only a handful of people know about it. That can't be it.
"And now you're lying without even blushing," Beth replies, pulling something from her bag and holding it out to me.
"Wait a minute... No, that can't be," I say, wondering what kind of game is being played here.