CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
Desmond
Why is it that nothing ever goes the way I want?
After the beautiful night Lorelei and I spent together, things have been going quite fine. Not only am I happy to see her smile and play with me, but I also look forward to winning her over. I had decided that we would go out on a date tonight, but then Sandra had to show up.
And I should have expected that.
Sandra and I had dated for around six months, which had actually resulted from my needing someone to hang around with.
After finally getting my MBA in addition to the PhD in Economics I just acquired, I found myself looking for something a bit more interesting.
I am not exactly a nerd, but I have spent way too much time buried in books, and Sandra was that outlet.
She isn’t my usual type of woman, which is why I decided on her, a big mistake as I would later come to find out.
Sandra is, without a doubt, fair on the eyes, and I had seen the way people look at her, which is why, at the time, I thought it would be nice to have someone like her on my arm whenever I step out.
Whenever I met with the few people I saw as friends, they would all talk about Sandra, and for a while, it stroked my ego until I realized I had no reason to be with her, then I tried to end things.
Somehow, Sandra didn’t completely get my message.
“You can’t just show up here, Sandra,” I say through grounded teeth, looking at her.
Not only does she waltz in like we’re still together, but she dared to ask Lorelei to fetch her a cup of coffee. I am not in any way going to let her sabotage what I have, and the quicker I drill it into her that nothing would happen between us again, the better.
“To see you. I have missed us,” she coos, trying to act cute.
“We are done and over. Remember? We broke up seven months ago, and since then, I’ve found love,” I say firmly to her.
She scoffs and points towards the door. “Her? Please, I know you’ve always been fascinated by curvy women, but it’s only a fancy of yours.”
“Fancy?”
“Oh, please. We were together for a year, and I know about all the trysts and meet-ups. You’ve always been attracted to women on the fleshy side, and while I can’t be that because of my job, I have no problem with you doing that.”
Is she crazy?
“In fact, I actually think it’s nice, but you shouldn’t have married her, Desmond. Now, how can we be together?”
I was never going to get married to Sandra at any point in time.
We dated for six months, and I kept her around for a couple of months before I finally stopped seeing her altogether.
How she managed to convince herself that our relationship was going to lead to marriage is simply beyond me.
This woman has nothing on Lorelei, and I need her to get the hell out of my office before she destroys the peace I had just found.
“Sandra,” I begin, pushing my hand through my hair. “We were never going to get married. In fact, I was never going to propose to you.”
Her shoulders sag, and it seems my statement had just shocked her. Honestly, I can’t believe how I managed to be with her for a whole year.
“But you told me that-” She begins as I place my hands on her shoulders firmly.
“I never did.”
She tries to stutter, then, before she can start to cry, I make it clear that I am not going to fall for her tricks. I don’t have time to deal with her. In fact, I want nothing but to be with Lorelei and assure her that Sandra is just like Paul.
I make it clear to Sandra that I am married now, and I have no interest in changing that in the future. My rejection infuriates her, and she assures me that she will make sure I regret choosing Lorelei over her.
“One thing, Sandra. I have seen how nasty you can be, and while I don’t care what you do to me, I swear I’d come after you with everything I have got if you do anything to Lorelei,” I make it clear to her as she walks toward the door.
God help me if this woman goes after Lorelei, I will make it my intention to destroy her.
Her agency, her contracts, I’d make it so that she would never be able to step or work anywhere here in the US or Europe, for that matter.
She might have to relocate to New Zealand, Australia, or somewhere in Africa if she dares to mess with Lorelei.
I make that especially clear to her, not bothering to hold back any punches.
Sandra looks at me, her face a mixture of shock and anger.
She has never seen this side of me before, and I need her to know that I meant every word I had just said.
She practically runs out of the room, leaving the door wide open, and I spot Lorelei getting off the elevator.
Not wanting any scene, I rush after her and I hold my breath as Esther whispers something to Lorelei.
What she says to Lorelei on her way out is unknown to me, but I know it has to be something mean, seeing how silent Lorelei has been all day.
I try to apologize to Lorelei, who tells me it is nothing.
“I just dealt with Paul, so I understand perfectly.”
On the ride home, Lorelei doesn’t say a word as she simply looks out the window. I never brought up Sandra because I am confident that I had left her in the past, but somehow, she had popped up in our lives.
“Again, I need to apologize for what happened earlier,” I begin, placing Lorelei’s hands in mine. “I know you must be angry.”
“No, why would I be?” She asks with a casual shrug. “Come on, we just dealt with Paul, and you weren’t angry at me.”
From the way her lips are tightly drawn, I can tell that this bothers her. Calming her down and explaining that she has nothing to worry about is important.
“Because Sandra was nothing but rude to you, and I should have thrown her out immediately.”
Lorelei laughs at that, telling me that I don’t need to go over the top to protect her. Something about her answer makes me wonder if there is something else on her mind. Since we’ve discussed extensively every issue, I can’t think of anything that might be on her mind.
Is she thinking about Paul again?
“How do I make it up to you? Anything you want,” I offer without a second thought.
“Everything is fine, Desmond,” Lorelei assures me with a kiss.
Believing that everything is fine turns out to be a huge mistake, and three days later, I need to find a way to get things back the way they were.
“To be fair, she might feel a little bit intimidated by Sandra,” Timothy points out as I pace the room.
“Yeah, which is why I never brought her up.”
“But she showed up. I think you should just try to talk things out with her.”
Timothy doesn’t seem to understand that you can only talk things out with someone who is willing to admit that something is wrong.
Despite all my best efforts, Lorelei just keeps assuring me that everything is fine, even though I know that it isn’t.
I wish there were someone I could talk to, but the truth is that I have never been good with women, and calling my mom for relationship advice is a no-no, since not only have we not spoken in months, but I have no idea where in Europe she might be.
“Just have a conversation with her, I’m sure she just needs you to assure her or something. Get her gifts, too.”
I know that it won’t work on Lorelei, but I thank him for his advice nonetheless. Before he leaves, I ask him to look into Paul for me.
“Why? Did he do something again?”
“No,” I say with a wave. “I just don’t trust that guy, and despite how much Lorelei wants us to leave him in peace, I don’t think that’s a risk I want to take.”
“Okay.”
Once Timothy leaves, I decide to call my grandfather, the only person who might be able to give me some advice on what I should do. He patiently listens to my dilemma, then bursts out in laughter.
“Should you be laughing at your only grandson?” I ask, realizing that calling him might have been a mistake.
“Sorry. I never thought I’d see the day you’ll grovel, but I guess a good woman would change you.”
I rub my forehead, wishing that he would just skip to the point. He tells me to try to take her out on a date and apologize sincerely. I have considered that idea, but Lorelei simply assures me that everything is fine, though she has been giving me the cold shoulder.
“She’s angry at you, of course, she’s giving you the cold shoulder.”
“And a romantic date would solve that?” I ask..
“It should. Let her know how much you love her.”
“Great. If this works out, I owe you one,” I say, ending the call before he can say anything else.
For the very first time since the moment Sandra stormed into my office, I feel good.
Planning a romantic date shouldn’t be a task; in fact, I have the perfect idea.
Lorelei often talks about this bowling place she usually goes to whenever she feels down, and while I haven’t been to the place, it would be a nice place to go.
Lorelei has me so wrapped around her finger that I am currently planning a date for the two of us, something I would never do.
“Great, I was just about to call you,” I begin as Timothy enters my office, a frown on his face. “Is something wrong?”
“Yeah. Paul is missing. Just got off the phone with the guy I had handle things, and I’m told Paul hasn’t been seen in a few days.”
That doesn’t exactly bother me since he has probably fled the city, not wanting to be anywhere around me, but something about Timothy’s face makes me think there is something I am missing.
“What?”
“I think he has been kidnapped.”
I open my mouth, but I can’t think of what to say. Leaning back into my chair, I realize what this might mean.
“Kidnapped or he disappeared?”
“Still difficult to say, but everything seems to be leaning towards a kidnapping.”
I bite my lip, not liking how this sounds. Considering how I am the last person to have gotten into a spat with him, it can be made to look like I had decided to take him out of the picture. Heck, I made a few comments to Lorelei about eliminating him from the picture.
“Does Lorelei know?”
“No, I don’t think so.”
Good. Maybe she doesn’t know yet.
“We need to find him as quickly as possible, Timothy. I’ll reach out to Dean and ask his guys to look for Paul.”
I need to be sure where he is before Lorelei finds out that he has gone missing.
It looks very bad on me that I had threatened to make him go missing, and he had vanished.
Once Timothy leaves, I call my uncle, who assures me that finding Paul won’t be a problem.
I need to ask Lorelei about it, but for now, I need to focus on the romantic date for this evening.
“What do you think about us going on a romantic date tonight?” I ask Lorelei once she returns to the office.
“Is there someone you want to meet?”
She doesn’t seem all that excited, but that is because she is still angry with me.
I tell her that I realize we haven’t gone on a date recently, and I plan to just spend this evening with her.
She simply shrugs, telling me that she would love to spend the evening with me.
Her cold reaction really bothers me, but I’m sure I’ll win her over this evening.
As long as she doesn’t know about Paul’s disappearance, everything should be fine.