Chapter 32
Chapter Thirty-Two
K ingston
"I cannot believe she fucking canceled our date." I mumbled to myself. "I spent freaking $300 on theater tickets and she canceled our date." I'm pissed off, and angry, and all I can think about is the fact that Skye has ended things with me. I call her number and listen to it go to voicemail.
"Hey, Skye, it's me. ’Me’ being your boss, Kingston Chase, also known as your weekend lover. I'm not really sure what's going on, but can you call me back, please?" I hang up the phone and head to the bedroom again. I lie down on the bed and close my eyes. I have no idea what I'm going to do. The last two months have flown by and I feel like I was living a life I'd seen in movies. Skye was everything I could have ever hoped for in a lover and a friend, and every weekend was more magical than the next. The lines had even become blurred at work. We'd fucked in my office, we'd fucked in the HR room, we'd fucked in the elevator, we'd fucked in the restroom, and I hadn't cared if anyone had found out, I hadn't cared if we were about to be caught. It took everything I had to keep my hands off of her. My phone rings and I blink when I don't recognize the number.
"Hello, Kingston Chase?"
"Hi, this is Pool Draft calling from Geronimo Productions."
"Okay. How can I help you?"
"Are you the employer of Skye Redding?"
"Yes, I am. How can I help you?"
"Oh, hi. Yeah, so I'm calling from Geronimo Productions. We've got Skye on a short list of candidates to be in our upcoming production of a reality dating TV show. However, we would need for her to have a minimum of two to three months off of work. We like to call to ensure that this isn't going to be a problem with the employer. These relationships don't always work out, and we don't want people to lose their jobs and have nothing by the time filming has ended."
"What? Didn't she just have the audition today?"
"She did have her second audition today. When she applied, she sent in a little video saying why she wanted to be on the show. Today’s was just to ensure that she was going to be a fit. We definitely think we would like to move forward with her. I'm sure you know she's very bubbly, she's very pretty, and any man would be lucky to have her. I do think that the producers are going to offer her a position on this show, which would start filming in a couple of weeks in Croatia, so I just?—"
"In Croatia?" I blink. "What?"
"Yeah, Skye actually seemed really excited about that fact. Turns out she's always wanted to travel to Europe."
"Yeah." I say as I remember how much travel matters to Skye. "So you're saying she's on the show?"
"Yeah. We definitely want to offer her a position on the show. I'm just following up to ensure that that's not going to be an issue with you, her employer."
"I mean, if that's what she wants."
"Great. Between you and me, there are a couple of guys that I think she will match with perfectly. We looked at the information they filled out and we think they're very compatible. One man in particular is also into travel, and I think if they hit it off, we…" He pauses. "Well, I shouldn't say too much. I just get excited when I feel like we have some really strong candidates for the show."
"Yeah, I'm sure you do. Well, was there anything else you wanted to ask?"
"No, but it was great speaking to you. I'm so glad that Skye has an employer that's understanding about her desire to find love."
"Yeah. She's very lucky." I hang up and I can feel the anger seeping through my bones. Is this fucking for real? “So she can find love?" I mutter under my breath. "When she has a man who loves her right here." As soon as the words are out of my mouth, I freeze. "Fuck." I press my hands to my temples and massage my forehead. "I'm in love with her. I'm in love with Skye Redding. I should have known it. I should have known it from the first moment I let her sleep over. I should have known it from all the times she made jokes about me buying her a wedding ring and me not completely freaking out. I should have known it from the time she dragged me to a rom-com movie and I didn't immediately leave. And then the time she begged me to take her to a concert from some female singer that wailed on and on about love. Should have known from the time we went to the nightclub and spent hours dancing the night away before slipping back to my place and making love all night. Fuck." I mutter under my breath. "I love her. I want her and there's absolutely nothing I can do to stop what has already been set in motion."
I told her before we even started this charade that I wasn't looking for love, that she and I were not going to be like Max and Lila. I told her that this was just fun, and she'd gone and she'd applied to a dating TV show, and now she was going to be on it and they had a perfect man for her. I've lost her. I take a deep breath and call her again. I'm about to throw my phone against the wall because I think it's going to hit voicemail again, but she answers.
"What is it?" she snaps.
"No need to talk to me like that," I say, my heart pounding.
"You have been calling me all night. I'm not going into the office to do any work. I'm not."
"I was hoping that we could hang out."
"I don't want to hang out. Like I told you earlier today, what we had is done. I'm not going into a situation where I'm looking for my husband while fucking my boss. That's not a conversation I want to have on the show. ‘Oh, who was the last guy you were seeing?’ ‘Oh, I was seeing my boss. We were hooking up every weekend.’ ’When did you stop hooking up?’ ’Oh, the week before I got here.’ I'm not going to do that."
"Okay. Maybe I just want to hang out. Maybe it's not about sex."
"It's always about sex with you. It's only ever been about sex."
"That's not fair, Skye. We've done a lot more together than just have sex."
"Yeah, sure, but ultimately it's been a precursor to sex, right?"
"Are you telling me you didn't enjoy the sex?"
"I love the fucking sex, but I need more now, okay? And I no longer want to have sex with you. I am kind of done with your penis I need a new penis.”
"Really?" I'm pissed now. "You're fucking done with my penis?"
"Yeah. I thought you'd be happy to hear that."
"Why the fuck would I be happy to hear that?"
"Because you want me to find another penis to enjoy, right?"
"Excuse me?"
"You're the one that was like, ’Go ahead and apply to the show,’ and?—"
"I did that because you're the one that told me that it was important for you to?—"
"Important for me to what?" she cuts me off.
"Can I see you please? This is a conversation we should have in person."
"I just don't even want to talk about this right now. I am processing a lot and?—"
"Can I see you tomorrow? I got us tickets to?—"
"I have plans tomorrow.” She cuts me off again and I can feel my blood boiling.
“How can you have plans tomorrow? It's Saturday. Our day.” Did my voice break? Shit. Why do I feel so disappointed? I do not want to admit that I’ve been looking forward to Saturday all week.
"Yeah, well, I have plans with someone else tomorrow and I can't break them."
"But we literally had plans for tomorrow up until today.” Out comes the attorney in me. I need to make sure I don’t grill her.
"Actually, I canceled all plans yesterday. I only told you today."
I press my lips together to stop from cursing in aggravation. How and why did this get so complicated?
"So who are your plans with?” I ask casually, like I’m not ready to go off. I feel like a petulant child thats just been told Christmas has been canceled. I’m far more devastated than I should be. Maybe I’m slightly heartbroken. Or just disappointed. My heart is definitely not involved.
I do not love spending my Saturdays with Skye more than I’ve loved any other free time.
I do not love making her laugh.
Or making her glare at me.
Or watching the way she plays with her eye.
Or reapplies her lipgloss hourly.
Or the way she checks me out when she thinks I’m not looking.
Or the way she kisses me when we’re together.
I do not love any of it.
"It's none of your business, Kingston."
“What’s going on here? Is it another guy? You're going on a date already?” I sound accusatory. My attitude would not fly in a court of law. I feel hot, like a dagger has been pushed into my chest. My collar feels tight and I clench and unclench my fists.
"It's with Juniper, okay? I'm taking Juniper to get some new clothes and a makeover and?—"
"I see." I lick my lips, feeling lighter again. I shouldn’t be so happy to hear she’s not going on another date with a man. "Can I see you afterwards?” Do I sound pathetic? I feel like a school boy asking a girl to Homecoming.
I am so sprung.
Fuck!
She lets out a deep sigh.
"You'll see me on Monday morning in the office."
"Please. It's important.”
“What's so important that it can't wait till Monday?"
"Really? You want me to do this on the phone?"
"Yeah, do it on the phone."
"I don't want you to."
"You don't want me to what?"
I stare at my reflection in the mirror, and for a few seconds, I don't recognize myself. For a few seconds, I don't even know what I want. I don't know if I'm reacting to the news of her being on the dating show, if I'm reacting to the realization that I'm in love with her, or if I'm reacting to the fact that I'm confused as fuck.
"Nothing. I'll see you on Monday."
"Okay, bye." She hangs up and I throw the phone to the floor then march to the kitchen and grab a beer.
I chug it within a minute and grab another one before I head to the couch and turn on the TV. I find my fingers clicking on the Netflix sign and then searching for Love is Blind .
"Let me at least see what show you're going to be on," I mumble to myself as I sit back to watch the first episode.
I need to get my shit together before I lose it.
I don't want Skye to be on this show. I don't want Skye to date someone else. I don't want Skye to be with someone else. I don't want Skye to find love with anyone else because I want Skye to love me, because I love her, and I need her, and I want her, and I can't wait until Monday morning to tell her.
I jump up and hurry back to my bedroom and pick up my phone to scroll through the numbers on the HR website. I have a call to make and a favor to ask and I can only hope that it will be granted. I can only hope that I have a chance to make things right. I can only hope that Skye loves me as well and that this isn't all in vain because I fucked up. I fucked up real bad and now I need to get my act together because I need her to know that I love her, and I want her, and I will wait the rest of my life for her.