Chapter Thirty Ella
Chapter Thirty
Ella
Over a week had passed since the announcement that Stars and Swipes was being revamped into a much friendlier, safer spot for dating, and the team at Flirtify was delivering outstanding results.
The tech department had downloaded data from a wide range of dating apps.
Jimmy and Katy had scored a coup of a meeting with the police commissioner for real-life NYPD tips on the safest ways to date, then added the information on to the app.
I felt like we were really breaking through.
I also got the go-ahead to put together my own PR campaign involving one of the most iconic venues in New York, the Met.
I planned to host an investor media night there the week before the app launched – a romance-themed event.
Then, for the official launch party the night before Thanksgiving, we’d head to the Four Seasons, throw a lavish black-tie event and incorporate the holiday as much as possible, with a gratitude tree in the lobby showcasing the relationships we were thankful for.
We hadn’t received any new messages from the stalker, which was the longest we’d gone without communication. Zola’s plan of continuing to knock it out the park with our jobs and not feed into an ever-darkening paranoia spiral seemed to be working.
Jimmy and I were also progressing well following our office romp.
We’d instigated a continuous flow of flirty messages.
He’d sent the most stunning red roses to the apartment, and we’d had a romantic dinner at his favourite restaurant in Little Italy.
I tried to gather as much information as I could about scorned exes or unhappy employees or disgruntled competitors whenever I was with him, but every time I fished, he seemed utterly oblivious to any beef.
His attitude was that if there were ever a problem at his company, he’d simply handle it head-on.
The problem was he didn’t know he had a problem in the first place.
Today, I was getting ready for work, having completed my usual morning run and finished finger-twining my hair into loose waves, when I heard a deep voice enter the apartment.
‘Good morning, ladies!’
I immediately recognised Jimmy’s sexy tones and came scurrying out of my room like a child on Christmas Day.
‘Well, this is a nice surprise!’ I called out, wanting to hug him as he came closer. Jimmy’s snow-white shirt and black suit looked fresh out of the wrapper. I felt almost afraid to touch him.
‘I thought I’d surprise my girl.’ Jimmy leaned in, kissing my neck while I giggled, feeling that immediate rush of pleasure from his touch.
‘Can you two get a room, please!’ Zola moaned, joining us in the living room, fully dressed for work.
‘Hey, Zo. Coffee’s on the countertop,’ Jimmy said, his eyes diverting to three takeaway cups waiting for us. ‘There’s sugar at the side. I wasn’t sure of your orders.’
‘You’re the best boss ever, do you realise that?’ She bulldozed towards the coffee, just as Katy stumbled out to the living room, completely engrossed in her phone, not noticing any of us.
‘Good morning?’ Zola called out extra loud, forcing Katy to lift her head. ‘Coffee, babes?’
‘Oh, morning.’ She grinned. ‘Oh, hey, Jimmy! Didn’t see you there.’ She headed to the kitchen counter, lifting a cup. ‘Is this for me?’
‘Sure is,’ Jimmy replied, still struggling – to my intense gratification – to keep his eyes off me.
‘So, are we heading into work together?’ I asked, curious as to why he’d shown up so early.
Jimmy pulled my hands in. ‘I thought the girls could head in and we could catch up a bit first, if that’s all right with you?’
‘Sure.’ I grinned, wondering if I was finally getting a chance at round two of his Loch Ness Monster. We’d been dating properly since our office romp, and as respectful as I found that, I was craving his dick more than I’d have ever thought possible.
‘Fine with us. You ready, Katy?’ Zola said, walking to the elevator. ‘Katy! Are you ready?’
‘Yeah, sorry.’ Katy laughed, a little flushed as she broke eye contact with her phone screen once more. ‘I think I might have a visitor over tonight, so I don’t know if you guys have plans, or . . .’
‘Who?’ Zola halted, glancing between Katy and me.
Zola had been on the highest alert since the stalker – she didn’t want to go out or talk too loudly in the office.
I was sort of glad, as this drama had been keeping her focus away from Curtis.
Zola had said he’d stopped texting her apology messages now, and I knew it bothered her.
I’d walked past her on the sofa and seen her reading, then rereading the old WhatsApp messages.
I felt terrible for her and was glad that work and the stalker at least gave her a distraction from her life back home.
‘His name is Cobi, and it’ll be purely for sex,’ Katy stated, sniggering at her phone. ‘We met on Tinder.’
‘Fuckin’ hell!’ Zola shook back her hair while Jimmy nearly choked on his coffee.
Katy held her head up high. ‘There’s no point in looking for Mr Right, so I’ll go looking for fun instead. And you should see the messages this cunt’s sending me – whoa, am I gonna have a whole lot of fun!’ She laughed – and the sound was pure filth.
‘Tell Zola in the car, please. Jimmy does not want to hear this.’ I placed my hands over his ears.
Katy rolled her eyes as she and Zola headed for the elevator, both of them turning to give us a cheeky wave as they left.
‘So.’ I smiled at Jimmy once we were alone. His dark eyes stared up at me. ‘Did you really want to “catch up” or . . .’ I leaned in to him but drew back a little at the lightness of his kiss.
‘Something has been on my mind, Ella,’ he said, and my stomach dropped. Does he know?
‘I’ve wanted to tell you this for a while now, and the longer this has gone on, the harder it is, because I really like how well things are going here. Between us, I mean.’
I felt nervous. Fuck, he seemed so serious. He drew me to the sofa, and we sat down side by side. I wasn’t about to get my hole, after all.
I gulped. ‘You can tell me anything, Jimmy,’ I reassured him, wondering if this was maybe the moment the entire mystery was about to be solved.
He sighed a little before starting. ‘I know I mentioned before about being in the foster system, yeah?’ His eyes looked heavy, and he sat with his hands interwoven, focusing on them.
‘Yes, I remember.’ I nodded.
‘Well, the truth is . . .’ He glanced up from his hands, and there was a long moment of silence between us.
‘Look, Ella, when I was younger, I was wild. I did some bad shit, which I went to juvie for. I was taken away from my mom and Fee, and ended up in the system, but when I got out, I never did that shit again.’ I could hear the determination – and the truthfulness – in his voice.
‘OK. Erm . . . What . . . what did you do?’ I asked. He’d hinted at this before, but still my heart raced, wondering what type of man I’d been falling for.
‘My friends robbed a liquor store, and I was there. One of them punched the old guy in the face, knocked him out, then we ran off.’ He shrugged, and I thought I’d never seen him look so defeated.
‘That was the final straw. I was always in and out of trouble, hustling away, but charges were brought against us and I got sent to juvie for six months.’
I breathed, taking it in. I almost felt bad for him. I could see how ashamed he was, telling me his darkest secret – he looked vulnerable, clearly wondering if this was a dealbreaker.
‘When I got out, I vowed never to be that man again, and I’m not.’ He cleared his throat. ‘But I thought you should know the truth of who you’re getting involved with. You have a right to know, and you’re so inquisitive – every time you asked me something, I felt like I was lying to you.’
I shook my head and held out my arms, reaching for him.
‘Jimmy, that was a long time ago. You’re not the same person you were.
You were a child,’ I reassured him as I cradled his head in my arms. ‘I don’t care about who you were then, just who you are now.
’ I felt his body relax in my arms as he finally got this huge fucking secret off his chest. But I couldn’t help wondering if any of his past friends or acquaintances held a grudge against him.
Maybe they were jealous of the man he was today?
Of what he’d achieved? Maybe they wanted to bring him down?
‘What happened to the old man who was hurt during the robbery?’ I asked, running my hands through his short, close-shaved hair. ‘Was he OK after the incident?’
Jimmy sat up. ‘He’s good. He’s keeping an eye on you.’ When I gave him a puzzled look, he smiled. ‘He’s your doorman, Otis. I reached out when the block his shop was on got bought up a few years ago and brought him and his family out to the city, set them up. It was the least I could do.’
I couldn’t hold back the smile that spread across my face then. Yes, he was precisely the man I knew him to be, if not better. Using his wealth for good, treating people right, making amends for past mistakes.
‘Ella?’ he asked.
‘Yeah?’
‘I haven’t scared you off, have I?’ His voice was full of worry. ‘Or given you the ick, as Katy would say?’
‘No ick here,’ I replied. ‘I don’t think there’s anything that could scare me off you, Jimmy Link.’
He stared up at me for a few more seconds, gratitude pulling at the corners of his mouth. Then he leaned in for a kiss. I pushed my body against his, feeling things instantly steam up between us. I stood up, took hold of his hand, then led him through to my bedroom.