Chapter 7
7
THE GODS DO LISTEN
I ’m convinced the universe has a way of fucking with me. It’s only nine am and it's already punched me in the gut with a dose of betrayal and then balances it out with plopping Amelia right into the center of my sulkfest.
I came here thinking I could get away from the shit storm of a situation I walked out of at the office so I could find solitude. And not ten minutes later, the physical embodiment of my every daydream for the last two weeks appears in front of me.
Who am I to ask questions? All I can think about is the pair of chocolate brown eyes staring back at me and it makes me suck in a breath.
God, she is beautiful.
Also a shocking twist to my day, the sight of her eyes lined with silver makes me almost murderous. An uncontrollable response to seeing her at the brink of tears. I want to find out who could’ve caused that kind of emotional reaction from her and then pummel them to the ground.
What in the hell has come over me ?
I’m normally not the defend some stranger’s honor type. I was the, let me mind my own damn business type.
Which is why I need to stay the hell away from her, even though the idea of Amelia has plagued my every thought since I saw her enter her elevator two weeks ago. She’s a danger to my goals and my focus. Even now, just seeing her in front of me makes me forget to be pissed about what happened an hour ago.
An hour ago I was seeing red when I walked into my office at Anderson & Anderson Law to find Cecelia in a lover’s embrace with Phil, my older brother. The golden child that could do no wrong in my parents eyes.
I knew she had said there was someone else when she broke things off, I just wasn’t expecting it to hit so close to home. Literally .
The majority of my life was spent trying to fit in with the rest of my family which was next to impossible since the picture perfect Anderson family only had room for three. Mom, dad, and their first born son. I was a not so happy addition to their plan four years after Phil was born.
I spent the majority of my childhood with my grandparents. My only idea of family lived and died with them.
The moment I lost them was the moment I lost all hope of ever feeling like part of a family again. So, I’m not quite sure why I cared so much when I saw Cecelia’s fingers laced behind Phil’s neck and his arms locked around her waist. She was comfortably placed between his legs as he leaned against his desk. Really not giving a shit who saw.
Clearly they did not expect me to walk into the office that early. I’m usually not in the office until closer to eleven since I like to have breakfast meetings with clients before their day distracts them too much to focus on legal jargon, but since I had a meeting with Ben again, I wanted to get to my office and look into the other company so I could plan what kind of battle to prepare for.
Big mistake.
They sensed my presence as I turned on my heels and started back the way I came. I heard the scurry of footsteps behind me as the new lovebirds tried to catch up to me while also whispering, “what do we say?” and “he wasn’t supposed to be here.”
Which made my already short fuse this morning that much shorter.
They had made a fool of me. Even though they didn’t think I would be here they sure as hell knew everyone else would be. Which meant everyone around me would know my ex was screwing Phil. Behind my back.
As much as I wanted to tell them to fuck off, the idea of communicating with them wasn’t high on my list of things to do just then.
The pitter patter of their steps stopped and I pressed the down arrow in the elevator.
I swear to god if this is one of those times I have to wait for the elevator to open I will rip these doors off their metal tracks and jump down the shaft.
The same elevator I stepped off a few minutes earlier must’ve stayed put knowing I would need a quick escape because the way the doors slid open just now I could’ve sworn there was a blinding light shooting out and a chorus of angels singing as if it were showcasing the holy grail. The gods do listen.
And in my case right now, this immediate exit strategy was my holy grail.
I hadn’t made it past the greeting desk in the lobby before my phone started buzzing like a damn swarm of bees found their way into my suit jacket .
I already knew who they were from and I didn’t care to see what they had to say but in order for me to turn the damn thing off I needed to actually pull it out of my jacket.
Phil
I can explain.
Cecelia
We never meant for you to find out this way.
Phil
Damn it Riley. Come back so we can talk.
I didn’t want to see what other nonsensical bullshit they were texting so I held the power and volume button until the prompt to slide the key to the right appeared to shut my phone down. I don’t even know what pissed me off more. The fact that they got together behind my back or the fact that I’m even pissed about it.
It’s not like I wanted to be with her anymore. Sure, four years with someone day in and day out then all of a sudden, poof , they're gone, was an adjustment. But it’s not like we were any good for each other. Where I was driven to be the best in my profession, she was driven to be a pampered housewife subsidized by her trust fund. Where I was content staying home on a Friday night, she wanted to be the center of attention out on the town.
The cameras loved to catch a glimpse of Cecelia Vancent, twenty-eight year old socialite and second child of Henry and Robin Vancent, owners of Vancent Real Estate Holdings. Anderson & Anderson’s oldest and top client. Cecelia’s grandfather was my grandfather’s closest friend and the business between our two families for generations created an easy pathway for Cecelia and I to start dating. The courtship betw een us had more to do with familiarity rather than love.
The only reason we lasted so long was because she was able to do what she wanted and I asked no questions as long as she wasn’t dragging me around for her shopping sprees and kept me out of her photo ops. Stupid mistake on my part or else I would’ve seen Phil coming from a mile away.
I needed to get the hell out of the vicinity of them.
Home? No. Too caged in.
Bar? I glance at my watch. For fuck’s sake it’is still only nine am. I’m no alcoholic so that bar won’t do. Even though a stiff drink would probably do me good.
I make it to the parking garage without a destination.
That doesn’t matter. I get into my car and let the vibrations of the engine roaring to life distract me from my thoughts. Putting the car in gear, I peel out of the reserved spot and just drive.
I don’t even realize where I’m headed until I reach a familiar wall of greenery lining a secret garden I know is hidden to the world. Somewhere I can remain hidden even for a little while. Pulling the car into an opening along the sidewalk, I parallel park my car between a black SUV and a red Mini Cooper, and make my way into the most secluded oasis the city probably has.
I close the gate behind me. The smell of greenery and floral hit my senses immediately, washing over me with a calmness that I need. I sit on the bench that Amelia had guided me to the night I met her. Staring out, I take in the whole space. It was dark the last time I was here but everything was illuminated by nearby street lamps and the swarms of lightning bugs. At night it was magical whereas during the day…this place could only be described as serene.
The quiet of it all, the insects that had played a symphony in the night were fast asleep, allowing me to disconnect from everything that happened this morning.
Until I hear the metal click of the latch to my left and in hurries the one person I can’t stop thinking about. A five-foot-four brunette who steals every breath out of my lungs every time she looks at me.
Except she isn’t looking at me right now.
She looks like she’s so wrapped up in whatever she’s thinking about she hasn’t even noticed that she isn’t alone. I watch her drop to her knees in what I can only describe as utter defeat.
“Amelia,” I hesitate, “are you… alright?”
Then she turns to look at me as the realization of someone else being here dawns on her.
And it happens, the air in my lungs magically vacuums from me and suddenly, I can’t breathe.