She wouldn’t talk to me. After a couple of days, her silence was deafening. I knew I had made her mad, but there was something in me that told me to keep my distance. Nicola could get really angry, really fast, and like most women, I figured she just needed some time to cool off. I gave Connie a vacation. I didn’t want to see her around the office after what she’d done. More than that, I didn’t want her as my assistant anymore. She had been a good employee at one time, but she had gotten way too wrapped up in my personal life.
I felt alone on the ocean, and Nicola did not seem to have any intention of saving me. I was not going to get any help from her. As the days went by, it was becoming clear that she was not even going to answer her phone.
By Friday, I knew that the only way I was going to see her was if her mother gave me another invitation. When it was almost five and I hadn’t gotten a call, I figured that the best way to get invited would be to just call and ask. I knew that Angela was too nice to say no.
She was cordial on the phone and offered me a spot at her table without me having to say much of anything. I thanked her and asked if she needed me to bring anything.
“Well, you’d better bring an apology. Nicola is not happy with you, and she is very stubborn, like her father. She likes roses. Red ones.”
I kind of chuckled. I wasn’t sure how I felt about Angela knowing that I was in the dog house. Nicola was mad at me, I knew that, but she was also very private, so it was surprising she had told someone what had happened. Going to the dinner seemed a little more worrying when I thought about what she might do or what the other people knew about what happened. Did they know that I had messed everything up and let her be fired?
Getting dressed, I made sure that I was wearing a suit like the one I had worn the week before. Nicola hadn’t been able to keep her hands off of me then, and I wanted nothing more than to have a repeat at the pier like the time before. It had been perfect and had become my own personal porn that played in my mind. I could remember every curve of her body and I could still taste her lips on my own. I had to have her, and I was going to take her mom’s advice and come with my A game. Anything was worth it if she said that she would have me back in the end. I knew that I hadn’t done anything wrong, but I knew that she was upset and I did understand why.
I was back to being nervous. It was too late in our games for me to feel this way. She was supposed to be mine by now, submitting in every way, but that was just not Nicola. I could tame her for a little while with sex, but she was too strong-willed to give into me completely. Before, that would have been a problem for me, but now I liked that she wasn’t just a mindless sub. She had fire, and her submission was far sweeter because of it. I had to work for Nicola, and I found myself liking that far more than I had thought possible. She had always been like no other woman I had ever known.
Going over to her parents’ house, I drove slowly and tried to figure out what I was going to say to her. I had gotten a large bouquet of flowers that I hoped her mother was right about. I tried to shake the words that were going through my mind. What if she wouldn’t see me? I knew that she wasn’t too polite to tell me to leave if that was what she really wanted. So I was in her hands, and I hoped that she was gentle with me, because I didn’t think I could take that rejection. Not from her.
When I knocked on the door, her older brother Rich answered and greeted me like we were old friends. Her whole family welcomed me with open arms, but it was Nicola I was worried about. She had made me want her more than anything else ever before. I wasn’t used to wanting things. I was used to taking things.
When Rich offered to take the wine into the kitchen, I told him that I would do it. I knew I would find Nicola there. She could never stay out of a kitchen, and I knew that she was in there cooking with her mother. I liked to see her doing what she enjoyed, and I found myself watching her for a minute before she saw me. The flowers and wine were in my hand, and I caught Angela smiling at me before she turned her back to the scene to give us a little privacy. She wasn’t leaving, though, so I was going to have to do it with her in there as well. No pressure.
Nicola was not so happy to see me. She had that dark look in her eyes, and I could tell she was upset. “What are you doing here, Jerold?”
I kind of shrugged and grinned, handing her the flowers that her mother had suggested. While Nicola would act like she didn’t care, I knew that she did. Her eyes softened a little, and I smiled to myself. I guess Angela did have a few tricks up her sleeve, and I was more than happy to give them a try.
“I wanted to see you. I’ve been trying to call you.”
She looked over at her mother’s back and pulled me out of the kitchen. There were a few comments as she pulled me out onto the porch, and I tried to pretend like she wanted me, not wanted to yell at me. We got outside and she shut the door behind her. I didn’t want to hear her. I only wanted to kiss her, and I moved in to pull her to me before she could start in on me. Didn’t she know how much I wanted her? How could she not?
Her lips softened and her body sagged against me. She was pinned between my hard body and the door, and so help me, I wanted to take her right there. I knew that I couldn’t – her family was just inside – but I also knew that she would do what I wanted. She was mine after all, even if I did have to chase her down. She was worth it, and more than anything I wanted to prove that to both of us.
“Why didn’t you answer my calls?”
I had pulled away and was looking into her dark eyes. I wanted answers, and I wanted her to know that she was not supposed to do that to me. She couldn’t do that to me again. I couldn’t live without her, and I certainly didn’t want to. I wanted her to know that she was mine forever and leaving me was not an option. We were going to get through things, not just give up on it all.
“What did you want me to say? Thanks for getting me fired? You could have done it in person without sending that evil little troll of yours. I really don’t like her. You know that, right?”
I had known that Connie had fired her, but the venom coming from Nicola told me that there was more to it than that. I started to wonder how long Connie had been undermining me with Nicola.
“I didn’t know that you had a problem with her. Connie was not supposed to fire you. She did that on her own because of something minor.”
“Minor? She basically called me a slut in front of the entire fifth floor and some of her cronies from the sixth floor. She had warned me to stay away from you, but I couldn’t listen to both of you. Then I’m fired without even a word from you. I didn’t want to answer the phone. I didn’t know what to say to you, and I still don’t.”
“I’m sorry she did that, Nicola. It was not my wish. I will get rid of her today if that is what you want. I have already sent her on vacation. It would take nothing to put together a severance package that would satisfy her.”
“She was right. I shouldn’t have been boffing the boss while I worked there.”
“You are mine, though, Nicola.”
She pulled away from me. “I was yours, and I did everything you wanted. I cannot be what you want me to be anymore. I need to figure out what I’m doing next.”
“So you are not going to come back to work for me?”
Nicola shook her head and looked up at me with those big eyes. “No, I will never work for you again.”
I didn’t know where that left us.
“What about us?”
“I don’t know yet. I need time, and I’m sure you are not willing to wait.”
“I will wait as long as I have to.”