Chapter 13
Elijah
I woke up at seven a.m. and headed to my home gym for some light exercise. From the look of my well-toned body, I thought it was obvious I had put in a lot of hours working out.
Peter arrived after my workout, on the dot of 10, and I thought he was probably the more punctual one out of the two of us.
“Want to take one of my cars?” I asked Peter as I gestured with my hand to choose one.
“It’s okay, mine will do, there will be plenty of time for that when you are healthy again,” he replied being my comfort again.
“We jumped in his car and headed to the city, past Lake Erie as Peter told me it was named. I could see there had been a lot of development in recent times. Peter explained there had been tax incentives for companies who moved to the area to encourage growth, and that was one reason the business had boomed, as well as that it was ideally placed in the market as for clientele.
We turned the block, and there was my company building just as Peter had described it. It took my breath away, and it was the size of two full blocks.
The walls were a milky white emblazoned with red and black for the logo, and when we crossed the lot and headed toward the reception the glass walls of the office building glinted in the rising sun. A fountain spouted water in the lobby and helped to cool the inside from the summer heatwave.
I looked at the floors. A gray marble incorporated the company logo. The reception desk held three young girls who greeted us as we walked toward the elevator, and I felt as if they were just showing false gratitude rather than a real pleasure in seeing me as I arrived.
We reached the fourth floor, and the elevator door opened, Peter stepped into the hallway and gestured for me to follow him. I looked all around me as I walked behind him, I sensed that everyone stared at me as if I was a complete stranger. I really had no idea how to act, so I just greeted everyone with a, “hi” or a, “how you doing?” and I got a few strange looks when I did.
We headed to an area which was partitioned by glass. I could see the images of the workers who stood behind it, and wondered what made this area different to the first area we had just walked through. Peter opened the door for me. I sheepishly entered, wondering why my appearance felt so cold.
“Welcome to your new stomping grounds,” Peter said as he waved his hand before him like a servant or jester.
“What, this is my office area?” I asked as I scanned the vastness of it.
“Your area is here, yes, and this is Kendall, your new personal assistant,” he replied as he smiled.
“It’s a pleasure to see you, Mr. Hanson, Peter has told me so much about you during recovery,” Kendall said as she held out her small, soft hand to greet me.
I took her hand and politely shook it, her warmth passed into me as she gently squeezed. I saw her amazing dark-green eyes and the genuine look she gave stunned me.
Peter continued and led me to my office and explained a few things and what he had arranged. He told me Kendall had a background in nursing as well as business administration.
I sat in my chair and listened to Peter, but my focus was far from his words. I just had to look at Kendall through the glass; she looked divine, with her long blond hair that cascaded down her body. She had real curves... she had fantastic, curvy curves. And her eyes, I couldn’t avert my gaze from her dark green eyes as they looked down at her work.
“I have to run somewhere for an hour, but I’ll be back. Just get re-acquainted with your office and with Kendall, and take it easy,” Peter said, obviously in a rush.
Peter spoke to Kendall before leaving my office. She walked to the kitchen area and returned to the office. She tried to open the door with her ass so as not to spill the drink. I jumped up and grabbed the door as I glanced down and smiled.
“Please come in for a while. It feels nice to have a friendly face around me, not that I don’t appreciate what Peter is doing for me. But you are far better looking.” I took a sip of my drink. “Good coffee, it's very tasty. So, tell me about yourself.” I eyed her gorgeous curves, wondering how the fuck I’d gotten so lucky.
I leaned on my desk and listened as Kendall told me she was 25 and had been hand-picked by me just a few months ago for this position. And about how she had always wanted to go into nursing because she cared about people. But, her career had taken her in another direction.
“Well, I think you will be a good fit. I did hear the boss likes you,” I added with a cheeky grin.
“Why thank you, Mr. Hanson,” she replied with a perfect smile. “I’d better get back to my work.” I could see she was smitten. She stood and turned toward the door.
“Elijah. Call me Elijah,” I said as she walked out.
She smiled through the glass, and I my body hardened. This was going to be a long, hard day! Damn, she was perfect. Almost too perfect.
***
Peter returned to the office, and we got ready to leave. As I walked from my office, I paused next to Kendall’s desk.
“Kendall, would you like to have dinner tomorrow evening before I go back to the office?” I asked politely. “In a way, we are both new, so it might be easier if we are on the same page.”
“Why sure, whatever you say,” she replied as she smiled.
I felt something inside me. Maybe it was because Peter had been saying I used to do whatever I wanted, something was off.
“Don’t say yes because I have asked. Say yes if you want to, forget I’m the boss,” I said looking for honesty.
“Elijah, I would be honored to be your date for dinner tomorrow evening. Was that better?” she said with a twinkle in her perfect eyes.
“Yes, that was much better, and now I feel better, thank you.” I left the office grinning to myself.
We arrived back at Peter’s car, and I slumped in the passenger seat.
“I think she’s the most gorgeous woman I have ever seen. Well, as far as I can remember,” I said as I grinned. “It would be a tragedy if I had forgotten about her.”
“I agree.” My brother gave me a funny look.
“What was I like before? You know, with the women that I dated?” I asked.
“Honestly, I’m not sure, but I heard you just slept with anyone you wanted,” he said slightly embarrassed by the admission.
“You’re joking. I was like that?” Shock rolled through me. Had a slept with Kendall already? No. I could have picked up on that for sure.
“I heard you blatantly used cash as an incentive if a woman said no. Not that you paid them cash, but you let them know you could buy them for the night,” he continued.
“Jeez, I can’t believe I was like that. Where did you hear that from?” I asked.
“Everyone at the office for starters, they have all seen how you bought your way into people’s lives.” Sadness rose inside of me due to the revelations.
“That explains it. I thought they all looked at me a bit strangely. I just thought it was because I had been away. They probably thought douche number one is back in town.” We both laughed at my comment.
“Do you think Kendall knows this?” I said as I questioned Peter.
“Probably. I’d already told her before she heard it from the staff,” he replied with a chuckle.
“A fine brother you are, just ruin my chances with a fine woman like that. Shit, and I have asked her to dinner!” I said as I threw up my arms.
“She’s much smarter than that, she knows about the accident and everything,” he replied. “You will be fine.”
“I was starting to think my own brother was letting me believe I was a complete asshole, who cared for no one other than himself,” I said as I placed my hand on his arm.
"You would have found out at some point, better sooner rather than later.”
I sat there disgusted, not angry, just disgusted. It sounded like I had alienated myself from everyone, even my own brother, yet he had put it behind him, or at least accepted it because of the accident. I could only blame myself, and maybe the accident was the best thing that could have happened to me.
When we arrived back at my ridiculously opulent house, I felt alone.
“You gonna be okay?” he said with a look of concern.
“Yeah, I’ll be fine, I got your number if I have a panic attack or something,” I replied as I laughed in sarcasm. “Now go and do your thing.”
“I’ll see you later. Just call if you need me,” he said as he waved me goodbye.
I entered the house and sat for a while, I had just gone back to the office and had asked the first girl I had met out on a date; was this my old self? Surely, I would remember or have acted differently.
I decided to check my closet and see what I had to wear. It was for tomorrow but, at least I would have plenty of time. I walked into my closet and started to rummage through my clothes. I had to choose something casual. I didn’t want to look too flashy.
I spotted some plain shirts and trousers. They gave off no signs of being overly expensive. I thought they would be ideal. I looked at the watches I had collected, I guessed all of them were worth more than 10 grand each, apart from one, this had an old leather strap, the buckle had forged a dent into the leather where it had obviously sat for years. I wondered where this had come from, had it been my dad’s?
I had chosen my clothes and had become a little overwhelmed at the day’s events. I laid on the bed and thought about my upcoming date with Kendall. The thought suddenly hit me, I had no idea what it was like to be in the company of a woman, how would I act and what would I talk about? All my interests and things to say had gone. I had no experiences to fall back on. It would be like my first date ever.
I closed my eyes and tried to think of all the things that could go wrong, surely it would be a disaster and I would put my foot in it, or maybe she knew too much of my past and held that against me. Would she think she was having dinner with the boss who expects to sleep with her? Oh God, I thought, had I really done the right thing or had I spoken too soon?
I thought of doom and gloom for the date, it sounded like I had ruined it before it had even started, but then I realized, I started to panic, and the brother who Peter described had no sign of panic, he just bought his way out of a situation.
I closed my eyes and tried to cancel out the thoughts of my date, I suddenly started to doze and fell into sleep.
***
My body jolted as I woke up, my heart raced, and I was covered in sweat, not just sweat from the heat; all of my clothes were soaked. I had a vision of a man in my mind. It was Dad, it wasn’t a dream, it was just an image, an image of him looking down at me. I stood, and the room started to spin, and my vision became blurred, I continued to sweat and felt faint.
Something was very wrong.