Chapter 8
A week later Annie was home getting ready to go to the gym when her doorbell rang. It was odd that someone would decide to come by her house so late on a Saturday night but she also wondered if Lidia had decided to come home early from her party and was too drunk to open the door. Since her night of pleasure with Leon, she hadn’t seen him again. Alonso’s health was consistently deteriorating, and Leon had been out of the office all along. He hadn’t written, called or even texted her. She hadn’t been waiting by the phone per-se but she had been disappointed that he had totally ignored her.
Deciding to forget Leon and revert to her former state of rejecting relationships she banished him from her mind. She walked over to the door and threw it open and stepped back when she saw Leon leaning against the wall outside her room.
“Leon?” she asked, “what are you doing here?”
He looked disheveled and she was worried he was drunk.
“I had to come see you,” he said slurring his words, “I’ve missed seeing you.”
Annie let out an exasperated sigh realizing that he was indeed drunk. She stepped aside allowing him to stumble into her apartment and closed the door behind him.
“I’ll go get some coffee going.” She said walking into the kitchen.
She was surprised to see Leon and she wanted to know why he was here, but she was also wary of him being here.
“So, I’ve missed you.” He shouted from the living room.
Annie groaned as she filled a glass with water and brought it into the sitting room.
“Drink this.” She said handing it to him.
Leon looked up at her and smiled.
“You have to be the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen.” He said, “and I mean that.”
Annie smiled and slumped down on the ground beside him.
“What’s wrong?” she asked realizing that this was out of character for him.
“Dad died.” He said in a soft solemn tone.
“I’m sorry” she whispered as her heart ached.
“Yeah, I have to officially take over now. I didn’t want to do it so soon.” He replied.
He leaned over and rested a head on her shoulder and she ran her hand through his hair. It was so intimate sitting there with him as he struggled through what had to be the most difficult thing in his life. She couldn’t imagine what he felt like, but she could be his shoulder to lean on if that’s what he needed.
“I’ll do everything I can to help.” She said.
She looked down at him and realized he had passed out on her shoulder.
Annie steadied him and stood, she had no idea what to do with this grown man who had fallen asleep on her living room floor. She eventually managed to get him off the floor and into her room where he collapsed on her bed. She leaned him up a bit and then went into the living room where she got herself a bottle of wine. She was almost through the entire bottle when Lidia walked in.
“Wow, drinking is never a good way to pass your Saturday evenings Annie,” Lidia said teasing her
“It’s what I need tonight.” She replied
“What’s wrong?” Lidia asked
“I got a visitor,” Annie replied. “Leon is here, in my bed.”
“You dirty girl!!” Lidia shouted, “I didn’t know you planned to have visitors.”
“It’s not what you think.” She said. “he’s drunk. Alonso died.’
“Oh no.” Lidia said, “I guess that’s going to change everything at work.”
“Yeah.” Annie said, “he seems really torn up about it.
“You know I never got to ask you what happened between you two,” Lidia said sitting down next to her.
“I have no idea,” Annie said honestly
She had secretly been crushing on him for a very long time. That, coupled with their heated lovemaking had turned her crush into a more toxic feeling of need. She couldn’t put her hand on it, but she often found herself thinking about him and what they could have had if they had dated like normal people. Too bad things had gone awry from the beginning. She didn’t even know why it was such a big deal when she didn’t even think of herself as someone who was out looking for love. At best, Leon had given her everything she would look for in a man. He was caring, attentive and beautiful and they had shared one night of passion that blew her mind, but now she almost thought she wanted more, and she wanted more from Leon.
“You should figure it out.” Lidia said, “you both need to because there’s a reason that man is in your bed and not his.”
“Do you think he likes me?” Annie asked.
“Of course, he does. Who wouldn’t?” Lidia said stroking her hair, “you’re beautiful.”
Annie smiled. She only had to ask, her friend was always her biggest supporter.
“I need to get to bed,” Lidia said.
“Me too” Annie replied as the effects of the alcohol finally began to settle in.
“Yes, try not to get fondled by your roommate.” Lidia teased.
Annie laughed as she walked to her room. On the inside, Leon was still passed out in her bed. She covered him with her blanket and lay down beside him. As she thought about what he meant to her she realized that they were very similar in many ways. He had found great love and lost it and she had seen great love and watched it walk away. She couldn’t tell him how she felt because she knew it wouldn’t come off right and she was afraid of revealing that part of her to anyone.
As she drifted off into a deep calm sleep she felt as if Leon ad reached over and pulled her towards him. She reached down and felt his hand wrapped around her stomach and instinctively she snuggled closer to him.
“Thank you.” She heard him whisper before she fell asleep.
The next morning when Annie woke up she fully expected to see Leon next to her. She turned in the bed and saw the space next to her empty. She let out a long sigh of disappointment but soon after her phone rang. She picked it up and realized it was Leon calling. She wondered if she should answer but considering everything that had happened she decided to answer it.
“Hey.” She said finally deciding to pick up the phone.
“Hi, Annie,” Leon said with a voice that spoke of his sadness.
“Leon,” she said, “is everything alright. I awoke this morning and you were gone.”
“Everything is great.” He replied, “I just wondered if you could come by the office today at about midday.”
Annie looked at her watch and realized that would only give her half an hour to get ready. She usually slept in on Sundays which was why she had woken up so late.
“Oh, I think I could.” She replied
“I’ll see you then.” He replied before hanging up.
She figured he wanted her to come by and get the company in order considering his father’s passing. They would have to issue a public announcement, and she would have to notify all the employees at once. As it stood, the company was in a precarious position. She hurried and got dressed and made her way to the office. She walked in and saw a few employees busily working. Making her way past their offices she walked into Alonso’s old office and saw Leon standing behind his desk looming over company documents.
“You made it.” He said looking up at her with a bright smile on his face.
She was surprised to see him in such good spirits after his father had died.
“I woke up and you were gone.” She said walking into the office and closing the door.
“I had to get into the office this morning.” He said, “I’m sorry to have just left without saying something.”
“It’s alright.” She said approaching his desk but not going too close. She felt as if she went too close she would become too vulnerable. “how can you help.”
“The company has basically entered and overhaul period. It will run just as if my father was still here at this desk until we figure out the merge. There are no jobs at risk either.” He said as if he was pleased with himself.
“That’s great to hear.” She said feeling a flood of relief wash over her.
“Yes, there was just one thing I need to do.” He said coming around the desk to stand in front of her.
“What’s that?” she asked stepping back a bit to get some space between them.
“I want you to be my wife.” He said.
He must have seen the look of shock and horror on her face.
“It’s just a business transaction.” He said,
“What?” she asked, “what do you mean?”
“Father put a last-minute clause in his will that I have to be married before I take over. I hear he did it right before he died.” Leon said, “I thought it would be easier to agree with him than try to fight it in the courts.
“So, wait, you thought I was the perfect candidate?” she asked.
“Well, we have great conversations, we go well together, and I could see myself coming home to you.”
The moment the words left his lips her heart fell, and she couldn’t understand why it had. She was being given the opportunity to become the wife of one of the richest men in the country. She knew they would make good love together and she also knew he had the resources and the sense of mind to be a good husband to her. She just couldn’t do it. She looked at his beautiful face and realized that she wanted more. She wanted more from him and she wouldn’t accept any less than that. She had no idea what that more was, but she knew that this proposal was not what she wanted.
“I can’t.” She replied, “I can’t be your wife. I have to go.”
She turned and walked out of the office in a fit of tears. She tried her best to keep her composure as she left but the moment she sat in her car she let the tears flow. How had she become the blubbering woman? When did she fall in love with a man who was as oblivious to her feelings as he was to his natural charms? She sat there for a long time before she drove off. She didn’t turn in the direction of her home but went straight to her father’s house. Her dad met her at the door and when he saw the look on her face he pulled her in for a bear hug. She sobbed against his broad chest for what seemed like an eternity before she calmed down.
“What happened?” he asked, “is it Lidia, did something happen at work?”
Annie proceeded to tell her father everything that had happened. He listened attentively without saying a work while sipping on his whiskey. When she was finally done, and her heart was settled he held her hand.
“I have something to tell you.” He said.
“What’s that?” she asked.
“Well, when your mother left,” he said, “she came back eventually.”
“Wait for what?” Annie asked, “she came back when?”
“she came back five years late. She wanted us to be a family again.”
“You didn’t tell me.” Annie said, “I don’t remember seeing her.”
“Yes, that’s because I told her to leave.” Her father said.
Annie looked at him and more tears began to well up in her eyes.
“Why would you do that?” she asked
There was a long pause and she could see all the pain and emotion on her father’s face.
“I asked her if she could promise she would never leave again like she had done before.” He said, “when she couldn’t I told her to leave and never come back.”
“Dad!” Annie whispered.
“I loved your mom Annie,” he said, “but I loved you girls much more. She had hurt me but when I watched the hurt in your eyes every day I couldn’t watch her do it to you guys a second time. I told her she didn’t have to stay with us, I told her she could live elsewhere but she couldn’t come back into your lives if she didn’t plan on staying.”
“And she still left?” Annie asked
“Yes,” her father replied, “I learned something about love that day that I always thought I knew.”
“What’s that?” she asked
“That if you love someone, you will fight for them even if it hurts you.”
Annie let out a sigh. She knew what he meant, and it hurt even more when she thought about the ways she had hidden her feelings in the hope she would never have to feel what her father felt. She realized that he wasn’t bitter about her mom because he had been too concerned about them and although he had lost one love, he had realized true love through his children.
“I have to go home.” She said
“Alright, let me know what you plan to do.” He said as he walked her out the door.
Annie made her way back to her apartment in a rush. She would have to leave the company and find somewhere else to work. Now that she understood that she was capable of love, she wanted to find it. If she couldn’t find it in Leon, she knew there would be love out there for her. She rushed into her apartment building in such a fit that she almost missed Leon waiting for her in the Lobby. When she saw him, she stopped so suddenly that it made her a bit dizzy. She righted herself and walked over to where he stood in the lobby.
“Annie.” He said flashing her a quizzical look.
“What are you doing here?” she asked.
“I need to talk to you.” Leon said, “I didn’t quite get to finish my proposal earlier.”
“I can’t marry you to fulfill your father’s contract,” she said, “I want much more from marriage than that.”
“Me too.” He said, “I’m sorry, I must have lost my mind thinking it would have been more impressive if I came from that angle.”
“What do you mean?” she asked
“I love you, Annie.” He said, “purely, wholly, completely. It’s strange because I fell out of love with a woman I knew for years and fell in love with a woman I’ve only known for a few weeks. I thought it was weird and so I didn’t think I should put all that pressure on you at one time.”
“What?” she asked stepping forward.
“I want to marry you,” He said stepping closer to her so he could put one hand on her cheek, “because I love you because you are beautiful, sexy, brilliant and most of all because you have the purest heart of anyone I know.”
Annie felt as if the ground had opened up and was about to swallow her.
“I love you.” She said not wanting to hold anything back in that moment, “I don’t know how or why but I love you.”
He laughed and crushed her body against him and kissed her long and hard, making her feel as if there would be no end to this perfect moment.