All of Me? The Trust Me? Trilogy (12 page)

CHAPTER 8

I wake slowly to the sound of the alarm. I’m exhausted and my body is aching from making love with Aiden all night. I get goose bumps and tingle all over at the memories of Aiden’s hands all over me. I snuggle into Aiden’s back and gently kiss his shoulder. His hand tightens around mine, and I lean over to kiss him. Our moment is interrupted by the rumbling of my stomach.

Chuckling, I check the time, wanting to know how many more minutes I can spend snuggling with my man.

“Shit! Mike is going to be here in fifteen minutes. Aiden, get up!”

“Do we have to?” Aiden says, scrunching his face like a pouting four-year-old.

I grin wickedly and rush out of bed, yanking all of the covers off of him. I laugh at his reluctance to get up.

I rush around frantically getting dressed. Once I have my hair pulled into a ponytail and have completed the quickest makeup application I’ve ever done, I glance over and see Aiden lying on his back, watching me with an amused smile.

“Aiden! What the hell? Get up!”

He slowly gets up and stretches dramatically, trying to get me to look at his glorious body.

Ha! So not going to work!

“Baby, don’t stress. We can be a little late to work. I don’t have any meetings until two this afternoon.”

I’m trying really hard not to lose my patience at him, but he’s really testing me. “Aiden, don’t be silly. Your father—”

“Who cares what he thinks,” he says, rather blasé.

“I CARE!”

He frowns at my temper tantrum, but thankfully starts to get dressed.

I don’t want to have to face the wrath of Alistair twice today. I’m already going to be taking an extended lunch to see the new counselor.

Aiden ushers me out of the room, straight to the kitchen.

“We don’t have time to eat,” I say, gritting my teeth in irritation. I tug on his arm and redirect us to the front door, grabbing my bag on the way.

“Good morning, Miss Taylor, Mr. O’Connell,” Mike says with a smirk, watching me pull a reluctant Aiden by the arm.

“Morning, Mike,” I call out, jumping into the car. “Aiden, hurry up,” I call out, but he casually gets in.

“Mike, can you go through a drive thru please. We need coffee and some breakfast.”

“Aiden, no. We don’t have time; we need to get to work.”

“Baby, I love you, but you skipped out on dinner last night and I know you’re hungry.” I huff and cross my arms, knowing he’s right. Of course, my stomach makes the loudest sound ever, as if to prove his point. I roll my eyes. “Fine,” I say reluctantly, “but your father is going to be so mad at us for being late, and he’ll take it out on me, as usual,” I say, frustrated.

“We’re only going to be a few minutes late, fifteen at the most. He probably won’t even notice,” he says, trying to calm me, unsuccessfully.

Aiden hands me a muffin and I scoff it down so fast I don’t even taste it. He gives me a know-it-all grin, and I want to smack it right off his face.

Once the car stops, I yank him out and pull him along, rushing to the elevator. When we enter O’Connell Finance, Alistair is standing next to Brielle’s desk.

Crap!             

“Oh, it’s the afternoon shift. I wasn’t sure if you both still worked here?” Alistair asks loudly.

“Yes, of course we do, Father, don’t be ridiculous,” Aiden says.

“
Then get here on time like the rest of us do
,” he yells, slamming his fist down hard on Brielle’s desk. “Damn it, Aiden, can’t you see that she’s going to be your downfall. Your full attention needs to be on this company, not what’s between
that’s
legs.” Rant over, he storms back to his office.

My mouth drops open as does Aiden’s.

Aiden turns me to face him. His brows crease and his nostril flare as he shakes his head exhaling loudly. “Are you alright, baby?”

I smile to reassure him I’m okay, even though I am hiding behind my sadness. I lean in to hug him so he can’t see the hurt and also because I need to be close to him; he always eases my discomfort. “I’m fine.”

He holds me at arm’s length and looks at me with a slight nod of his head in acknowledgement that I’m okay. I look at him holding all my fears inside and he leans in and kisses me gently.

“What comes out of his mouth is total
bullshit
, you know that right?”

I nod, knowing that Alistair always talks bullshit, but it doesn’t mean that his words don’t cut me to my core. He kisses my head and walks over to his office and enters.

I sit down at my desk, rest my elbows on the table, and put my head in my hands, closing my eyes to fight back the tears that are forming. I can’t help but feel emotional as Alistair’s taunts are starting to really wear me down. I just wish there was a way to fix whatever is broken between Alistair and me. I can’t seem to grasp onto the reason that he despises me so much. I exhale loudly and shake my head looking up as Brielle sits on the edge of my desk, looking at me sympathetically.

“I think it’s a good thing we’re going to see Dr. Lovatt today,” she says quietly.

I nod in agreement. “I think so, too. I’m not sure how much longer I can keep holding in my fear of your father and his abuse.”

“I’m worried about you, Jeni. I think you should tell Aiden what’s going on.”

I frown at her. Why doesn’t she understand? I wish she would stop bringing this up.She knows how I feel about telling Aiden. “No, you heard Aiden say that his father’s taunts are pushing him away. I can’t let him think that it’s worse than he already thinks it is.”

Brielle shakes her head in disagreement.

“Things will get better. They can’t get any worse.”

There’s a moment’s hesitation before she speaks.

“I still don’t like it, Jeni, keeping this from Aiden is just wrong in all kinds of ways.”

I nod in acknowledgement and exhale. I know not telling him is wrong, but I just can’t bring myself to ruin his relationship. She pats me on the shoulder and walks back to her desk.

I turn on my computer and immediately get busy working on the expense report that I didn't finish yesterday before I left.

The elevator chimes and a delivery driver walks in with a bouquet of flowers.
But it’s not Monday?
I look at Brielle who looks at me in confusion.

“I have a delivery for Jeni?” he asks. I raise my hand, and he brings the small bouquet over to me. I sign for them and he leaves.

“They’re a lot smaller than the ones he normally gets you,” Bree says. I take the envelope from the bunch and open it.

I’m so glad you’re back; hopefully I’ll get to see more of you. I hope these brighten your day like you brighten mine every time I think about you.

James Anderson.

My eyes widen in shock as I read the card.
Oh shit!
This is
not
good. Aiden is going to flip.

“Who are they from?” Brielle asks, walking over to my desk.

I look up at her, and she takes the card from my hand and reads it.

“Oh,” she says, looking at me curiously.

“What’s he thinking? He knows I’m engaged. Why would he send me flowers?” I ask her.

“I don’t know, unless he’s the type who doesn’t care that you have a fiancé. There are people out there like that, you know?” she asks, and hands me back the card.

“What the hell do I say to Aiden?”

She shrugs. “I have no idea, but can you do it when I’m not around.”

I roll my eyes at her, and she heads back to her desk. I decide that maybe the best thing is to not tell Aiden. So I take the card and the flowers to the trash in the kitchen. Out of sight, out of mind as they say.

Aiden comes out of his office a couple of hours later, and I’m too busy typing up a report to notice where he goes.

“Are you
fucking
kidding me? What the hell is this, Jeni?” Aiden yells. I look up to see him standing there with the flowers and card.
Oh crap!
Brielle stands up and walks to the bathroom.
Thanks for the support, sis!

“Jeni?” Aiden asks, walking over to my desk.

“Aiden, it’s obviously nothing because I put them in the trash. Don’t make this into a big deal. The kid has a crush, that’s all it is.”

“The kid has a crush? Okay let me see. Where’s the best part? Oh...
I hope these brighten your day like you brighten mine every time I think about you.
That doesn’t sound like a crush, Jeni, it sounds like lust to me. That
dickwad
is lusting over what’s mine. Little
fucker.
I’m going to call him and tell him to back off right now, the ignorant little—”

“Aiden, that’s enough. Why are you so jealous of some kid? He’s got to be what? Nineteen, if that? He’s no threat to you, babe. He’s a kid and you’re my man so stop with the jealousy and just let him be,” I say.

Aiden furrows his brow. “Seriously? Let him be? Baby, he sent you flowers; he knows you have a fiancé. How much more of an
asshole
does he have to be before I can tell him to
fuck
off?”

Alistair walks out of his office and glares at us.

“If you two want to have a domestic argument, then can you do it on your own time, not on my time when I pay you good money to be working,” Alistair says, and storms back into his office.

I take Aiden’s hand in mine as his face turns red. “Babe, you’re stressing out too much. Don’t let your father or James get to you like this, neither of them are worth it.”

He looks at me and starts to calm down. I stand up, wrap my arms around his waist, and move in to cuddle him. He wraps his arms around me and holds onto me tightly.

“I can’t lose you, Jeni.”

“I told you, you never will.”

He kisses the top of my head and lets me go.

“James and I were getting along well until he started hitting on you. I know he doesn’t know we’re together, but I can’t stand that little
fucker
being near you. I’m sorry. I’ve never been jealous type before, and I guess I don’t know how to handle it.”

“There’s nothing to be jealous of. Trust me, babe, I got this. I can handle James,” I say as I lean up and kiss him softly.

“Can I come back yet?” I hear Brielle call out from across the room. I giggle as Aiden finally smiles.

“Yeah, sorry. I’m okay now,” he says, tucking a stray piece of hair behind my ear.

“Phew, I thought I was going to have to pull out the fire hose to cool you off there for a minute, big bro.”

“Yeah, yeah alright, so I might have overreacted. I love my girl, so sue me,” he says, letting me go and turning to walk back to his office, throwing the flowers into the trash on the way.

The closer it gets to lunchtime, the more anxious I get about my appointment.
A little online shopping therapy may calm my nerves...

“We’d better get going, if we want to make it to your appointment on time,” Brielle says, interrupting my online shopping spree.

I look toward Aiden’s office, wondering if I should tell him I'm going out for lunch. Bree notices and answers my unspoken question. “We should leave before Aiden comes out and invites himself to come with us.”

Makes perfect sense to me
. I gather my bag and walk briskly with Brielle to the elevator. The doors open and we step in, making a clean escape.

CHAPTER 9

“Do you want me to come in with you or sit outside?”

“I definitely want you to come in with me,” I say quickly in response.

She smiles.

“We’re nearly there,” she says, pulling up at the traffic lights.

For some strange reason I feel nervous.
What if Dr. Lovatt thinks that I’m crazy? What if she says I need to face my fears and go and visit Jason?
I start to panic. I’m scared of what the outcome might be.
What if I’m completely insane, and she wants to institutionalize me?
Oh my God, I never thought of that. How would I explain that to Aiden?

“Bree, I don’t think I can do this.” I wrap my arms around myself.

She furrows her brows.

“Jeni, you have to if you want to get better. Do it for Aiden, if you can’t do it for yourself.”

I nod.

“That’s my girl.”

We pull into a parking spot off the street. My breathing is shallow and quick. We step out of the car and walk toward the clinic. Brielle takes my hand, and we walk inside. It’s large and spacious, and there is soft soothing music playing in the background. The receptionist looks up.

“Good afternoon,” she says kindly.

Brielle waits for me to respond, but I say nothing

“Hi, this is Jenifer Taylor; she has an appointment with Dr. Lovatt at twelve-thirty.”

The receptionist gives me an understanding look.

“Hello, Jenifer, I’m Tracey. Please fill out this paper work for me and bring it back when you’re finished.”

I take the forms and we sit down in the waiting room. There are three pages of information to fill out. It’s a little overwhelming, but I do my best and I take it back to the desk.

“Thank you, Jenifer, Deanna will be with you shortly,” she says.

I sit back down with Bree. My leg agitates up and down on the spot. I hold my hands together, and my thumbs fidget with each other. Bree gently places her hand on my knee, stopping it from agitating; I sigh.

“It’s going to be fine, Jeni, I’ll be right here with you.”

I hear people laughing, sparking my interest. I glance up and see Dr. Lovatt and I’m guessing a patient walking towards the front desk. They’re both laughing and the patient seems really happy.

“Have a great weekend, Jo, and I’ll see you in a month,” Dr. Lovatt says.

She picks up my file and looks it over raising her eyebrows at something I’ve written.

“Jenifer Taylor?” she asks, walking over to me.

I stand.

“Nice to meet you, would you like to come with me?” she asks kindly and starts to walk off.

“Is it alright if my sister comes with in with me?

“As long as you’re comfortable talking in front of her, its fine with me. However, if at any time you feel uncomfortable then you must tell me,” she says, calming me.