Chapter Seventeen
Alfie
It had been a long week at work, and a longer one at home. Molly was pulling away from me emotionally. I could feel it all over me.
Sleep evaded me night after night as we quickly approached Friday. She’d tried to make plans to fly home, but I’d talked her into just letting me take her on my private jet. She was excited to hear that I was coming to the U.S. for a short visit, or so it seemed.
We hadn’t had the discussion about us, and I wasn’t sure if we would be having it. Maybe she just thought of me as a rebound, a way to heal herself emotionally from Harry’s exploits.
And if that was the case, then so be it. I’d take the few weeks I had with her as a blissful reprieve from the lonely bachelor life I’d created for myself. The ball was in her court, whether she knew it or not. I was good going with whatever she wanted, however she wanted it.
The truth was as plain as day: I was falling in love with her, and I knew that it was unfair to both of us to tell her. As such, I kept my lips sealed. We’d find a way to be together, or we wouldn’t.
After another arduous day in the office on Wednesday, I made the long drive home from London to Devon. Nothing had been solved with my marketing team despite hours of phone calls. I needed to find a fast solution to it, and Molly’s insights were sounding far more tempting by the hour.
I got home to find Molly already sound asleep in my bed. A plate of dinner sat on the stove, and I assume that it was from one of the restaurants in town. My stomach growled loudly, but my appetite waned thinking of what I would have to deal with in the morning. I gulped down a glass of wine instead before heading up the stairs to gladly cuddle up next to her. When I got there. I found her in a night shirt. One of mine. I felt drawn to her instantly, like she belonged to me, and in a way, she did.
The only times I did sleep were the times that Molly curled up against me in her sleep, resting a hand on my chest as though she could sense the tension even in her sleep.
*
I woke right as pale daylight spilled in through the windows. The coldness from the other side of the bed startled me further awake. Rolling over with a pounding heart, I let out a sigh of relief to find that Molly had only rolled away in the middle of the night in her sleep. I watched the steady rise and fall of her back as she slept on before sliding into the cool sheets next to her.
Her skin was warm when I curled up next to her absorb the warmth radiating off of her. It felt natural to have her there lying next to me in bed. Nothing could ever replace the feeling of Molly’s body next to mine as I leaned over to press a kiss to her temple. Not even in a sexual manner either. Just having her there relaxed me when a glass of wine couldn’t even do it.
She was so far beyond beautiful. Mine.
The realization washed over me numbly. What am I doing? I pulled away from the warmth of her body before she could stir awake. She would return back to the States, to her old life. She had no intentions of staying here in England. There was nothing holding her here anymore with Harry no longer around.
I swallowed thickly as I slipped out from beneath the blankets to get ready for another long and hellacious day at the office. I had to get Molly out of my head before walking into my meeting first thing this morning. My head needed to be clear, so I could make the right decisions for my company—the company I started with my father’s help and ran by myself now.
The cold spray of the shower cooled every torrent of emotion brewing inside of me. I moved about my room quietly as possible to not wake Molly from her sleep. She still had a day to enjoy some much-needed sleep before going back. I didn’t want to disturb that, and I knew, without a doubt that our conversation would turn to us. It needed to, but both of us were avoiding it like the plague.
I arrived at work a little while later, and my secretary walked into my office with a mug of coffee in her hand. “Morning, sir. You doing okay today?”
“No. Not really.” I tabbed down the e-mail sitting in front of me from my marketing director. After three tries, that bastard still had the focus and ad appeal wrong. I wasn’t even a marketing major in University, and I could tell that. “Send Bill in here, Sicily. And tell him he’d better jog if he wants to keep his job.”
“Sure thing, boss.” She set the coffee down and gave me a concerned look. “Anything else?”
“Just get Bill,” I barked out between clenched teeth. I was rarely mean, but my company meant everything to me, and if the marketing guys didn’t get the ads right for this newest product, then it would flop. The amount of money we’d spend on research and development would come crashing down on us, and I would have to pull money from all angles to cover the fuck-up. I hated fire drills that could have been avoided. There was no reason for them.
“Sir. You wanted to see me?” Bill walked in, his complexion a little pale. Sicily must have threatened his life. I’d have to thank her later.
“Sit.” I turned from my computer and crossed my hands over my stomach. “Who exactly are you targeting with our new marketing plan on the Zenith project?”
“Um, everyone, sir. I thought that—”
“Next question,” I barked loudly as red flashed before my eyes. “Who did I tell you to target?”
“Millennials, sir, but we as a team thought that this product would be great for everyone. You have to see it from our perspective. We’re all in our thirties, forties, and fifties and would use the new phone. It’s amazing.”
“I’m aware of that, Bill, but the way marketing works, and I’m seriously pissed that I’m having to remind you of this, is that you target one group of influencers. These twenty-something kids are that group. You sell to them, and if you do a good enough job, then they sell it to the world. You don’t target everyone. Are you nuts?” I threw my hands into the air. “You’re going to blow through our ad budget in no time at all with the plan you sent me this morning. Do you have some special pot of gold hiding somewhere on the third floor? I’m a little lost here.”
He shrunk back in his chair, his eyes wide. “I-I…”
“Get. Out. Now.” I pointed to the door and turned back to my computer as the room grew dim. It was like everyone drank some tainted Kool-Aid and couldn’t find their asshole from a crater in the ground. I was spinning with fury by the time he stumbled out.
“Fuck,” I muttered under my breath and ran my hands down my face. I was overreacting. It was everything else in life that had me feeling weighed down. The ad team had been good to me and the company for years, and Bill had worked with my father before I came on board. I shouldn’t have chewed his ass like I had.
I got up, wanting to apologize but knowing that I couldn’t just yet. I was upset over Molly leaving and me feeling completely tied down to the thought of not telling her how I felt. For the first time in my adult life, I could see myself buying a ring, but it was stupid.
She’d crashed into my world a few weeks back, and I was already thinking about forevers? No. Not me. I was the practical one in the group.
I grabbed my keys and walked out of the office, passing Sicily. “I’m out for a while. Buzz me if you need me, but not unless it’s an emergency.”
She mumbled something, but I ignored it. The blood was pumping by my inner ear too fast to hear anything. I got into the elevator and pressed the button before closing my eyes and trying to focus on breathing.
I had to calm down. Now.
When the door opened, I walked out, not paying much attention. I slammed into Darren, a good friend of my father’s and Chief Accounting Officer.
“I’m sorry, Darren. Forgive me.” I moved around him.
“Hey. Hold up.” He turned and walked toward me. “Come on. Let’s walk and talk.”
“I’d rather just spend some time by myself. I’m a bit of a hothead right now, and the last thing I want to do is lash out at someone else. Especially you, old friend.” I reached over and patted his upper back as we moved to the front doors.
“Well, your father lashed out a lot at me, but it was one of the reasons we were such good friends. When he got nutty, we’d go to his favorite bench in the park and work through the problems of the world.” He smiled over at me before pushing the door open. “Both his world and mine. Give me a half an hour with you, and if you don’t feel better, I’ll go back into the office and clean up the mess you might have left for you. Deal?”
I smiled, feeling a little better already. Darren and my father had been old fraternity brothers, both of them taking care of the other like they were blood. He was the closest thing I had to Dad since my father passed. An ache ran through my chest as I walked out into the chilly morning air. I missed my father like crazy. He’d been my rock and the one person I knew that I could lean on and he would never move.
But he had moved on, and now I was alone. Sort of.
“All right. It’s a deal.” I glanced over at him as he winked at me. “My life is in a bit of a tailspin right now, and I wish like hell my dad was here to help guide me through it.”
“Well, Alfie, he’s not, but I loved him like he was my own brother. I’ll fill his place today, and hopefully we can figure this out together.”
I nodded. He was right. He wasn’t my dad, but he was a damn close second.