CHAPTER 25
Tobias
Libby had saved the day, completely carrying me through the meeting and helping things move along without too many hitches. I had though, been made painfully aware of how far I’d fallen behind with my work, and it wasn’t a good feeling at all. This firm had been my pride and joy for a long time, and never before had I fallen so behind and out of touch with the goings on around the place.
I have to get my head back in the game, I thought to myself as I returned to the office with a fresh cup of coffee in hand.
“Courtney, no visitors today. Tell everyone I’m busy. I’ve got too much work to catch up on,” I said, passing her desk on the way to my office.
“Got it,” she said.
Shortly thereafter, I closed myself in my office, determined to catch up on everything I needed to. Taking a large gulp of my coffee, I turned on my computer and prepared to start sorting through hundreds of emails, reading over reports, and returning missed phone calls, even if it meant I would be stuck in this office until well after midnight.
Scarlet may have turned my life upside down and seriously messed with my head in the process, but I wouldn’t allow her to let me lose track of my business.
I’d been pounding away at my keyboard with such intensity that I hadn’t initially noticed the knocking at my door. I glanced at the time, seeing that nearly three hours had passed.
“Who is it?” I called out.
“Courtney.”
I sighed. “Come on in.”
She pushed the door open and carefully slid inside, her face full of apprehension as she chewed her bottom lip.
“What?” I said.
She stared back at me for a moment. “Look, do you want to tell me who this woman is? It’s the same one who showed up unannounced before. I tried to tell her that you’re not taking visitors today and that you’re extremely busy, but she started throwing a fit again, demanding and insisting that you see her. What’s her deal? What’s going on?”
“You have got to be kidding me.” I closed my eyes and pinched the bridge of my nose. “She’s here? Right now?”
“Yes.”
“Send her away,” I said.
Courtney blinked, taken aback. “I think that may be easier said than done. Unless you really want to cause a scene and have security literally drag her out of here.”
I almost told her to go ahead and call security, but I realized I couldn’t let that happen. If there was a chance that she actually was pregnant, regardless if by me or someone else, I couldn’t let her get manhandled like that.
I sighed and shook my head. “Dammit,” I muttered. “Send her in.”
Courtney retreated and not before long, Scarlet Kale appeared, peering in at me from the doorway.
So many emotions raced through me that I could hardly make sense of them. As always, I was first stricken by her beauty, but then I recalled how this woman had played me and my blood began to boil. Staring at her, I wondered if she was really going to have the audacity to ask me for money. I hated to admit it, but if she did, I halfway wanted to just give it to her so that she could get her out of my life and leave me in peace. I could give her more than enough to satisfy her without putting a dent in my bank account.
“You’re still here?” I said, breaking the awkward silence between us.
“Yes,” she said. “Because like you wrote in your note, we need to talk.”
Still seated, I folded my arms across my chest. “Okay then. Talk.”
Scarlet moved forward until she stood in front of my desk. Her eyes were large and glossy, and her bottom lip trembled slightly before she started speaking. “Look Tobias, I know what happened. The text messages, right? You read them.”
I cast my eyes downward and folded my arms more tightly.
“Well,” she continued, “I just want you to know that they aren’t at all how they seem. That was just a friend of mine. I’d been so nervous about coming to tell you about the twins that I asked her for advice first. She helped convince me that I should tell you. That you deserved to know. And I agreed with her, because you did deserve to know. This wasn’t all some scheme to weasel money out of you, Tobias, I swear. You don’t have to give me and the babies anything if you don’t want to. Not a dime. I just thought you had the right to know, that’s all.”
I looked up at her, taken aback by how genuine she sounded and looked. I watched as a single tear fell from her eye. The hardness I felt toward her slowly started to melt, and suddenly, I no longer felt sure of myself.
Had I really misinterpreted those text messages? After all, I hadn’t known who they were from, so it was entirely plausible that I’d taken them out of context.
“You’ve got to believe me, Tobias,” Scarlet said. “I wouldn’t use you like that, especially not over something as serious as this.”
I squirmed in my seat, realizing that I’d been too quick to judge. And if I truly thought about it, I knew precisely why. Not only did I already have trust issues, but Headmaster Greene’s words had been replaying in the back of my mind the whole time. No doubt a part of why I had reacted the way I had was because he had planted a seed in my head about Scarlet all those months ago.
“Tell me why Headmaster Greene told me you were trouble.”
“What?” She cocked her head at me.
“When we met, he told me you weren’t someone I wanted to associate myself with. Any idea why?”
She shook in her head. “I’ve been known to be a bit stubborn, and I think the word spitfire was thrown around by some teachers in high school. I skipped classes, went to parties… I was a bad girl I guess. Especially for Hullen. I was also a scholarship kid. I didn’t have money like a lot of the kids there. So they had to pay more attention to me. But what a shit thing for him to say. I didn’t do anything illegal. And the nonprofit I work for? Helps disadvantaged teens, like I was. Kids looking for purpose. I chose that job specifically.”
I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. Had the Headmaster really skewed my vision so much?
“Tobias,” Scarlet said, her voice cracking, “I understand if you don’t want anything to do with me. But just know that I honestly do care about you. I think about you nonstop, and I can’t even put into words how much it would mean to me to…To have something with you. To have something real. How I feel about you has never been faked.”
My heart pounded at her words. I stood from my chair and rounded the desk until I was mere inches away from her. Her eyes scanned my face, searching for my reaction.
“I’m sorry, Scarlet,” I said. “I shouldn’t have judged you so quickly. And I definitely shouldn’t have let Greene put doubts in my head. It’s just…This has all been so much for me.”
She nodded. “Yeah. It’s been a lot for me too.”
“I’ll tell you one thing though,” I said. “Nothing has ever made me happier than to hear that you want something with me.” I grinned. “Because that’s exactly how I feel too.”
A wobbly smile came to Scarlet’s face as I collected her in my arms.