Discovered (13 page)

Chapter Eight

“Love has no other desire but to fulfill itself”

~ Kahlil Gibran ~

EMILY

“Emily, I need you to chop up these scallions for the soup special,” Thomas ordered. This was the tenth time Thomas had approached me today and I was beginning to lose my patience.
Just ignore him Em! He just wants you to react and lose your job. Don’t punch him in the face!
I tried my hardest to reason with myself but from time to time I felt my hands ball up into a fist at my sides. There was obviously a mystical force keeping me from assaulting the man.

“Yes,” I simply replied before I turned to walk away from the annoying man when he cleared his throat. I turned around to face hi
m, my hands still balled into fists.

“Aren’t you forgetting something Emily?” he asked with the most ridiculous smirk on his face. “Yes, what?” he continued.

He stood at about six foot three in his pristine white chef’s uniform. The man had no real muscle or definition to him. He was puny, weak and I knew I could take him but I had my future to think about. Despite my knowing how satisfying it would be to finally give him all he deserved, I had to go against everything that was brewing within me. Through a clenched jaw, I responded, “Yes Chef…” and spun around and walked away.

The rest of my morning consisted of avoiding Thomas at all cost
s. Each time I spotted him walking towards me, I ducked! It was working for the most part but when he couldn’t find me himself, he sent one of his apprentices to-be to track me down and order me around.

When lunchtime came I was beyond thrilled because it gave me a chance to forget about the tyrant  long enough to head to the one place
that I swore over a year ago that I would never step foot in again, Tajh. I had texted Adam before leaving for work and I asked him if it would be ok if I stopped by for lunch so that we could talk and a whole fifteen minutes later he responded with a simple, ‘sure.’

As I peeled out of the parking lot of my job
into traffic, after spending ten minutes tearing off my black chef’s coat, running my hands through my hair and applying a little makeup, I started to feel nervous.

It was silly really. If anyone should feel nervous it was Adam. He was the one who had cheated on me and embarrassed me in front of
the whole restaurant. Although I probably shouldn’t have dated someone I worked with. Still, I knew the way the place worked, no one there would ever pass up an opportunity to spread juicy gossip. Nonetheless, here I was going to Tajh after avoiding the place for over a year, to meet Adam.

When I pulled up in front of the restaurant, I felt my stomach turning into knots.
Ok Em, just walk in and ask for Adam. You can do this!
But as I handed my key to the valet, dressed in his crisp white shirt, dark pleated pants and shiny shoes, I felt the urge to run. As the man drove off with my car, I stood there in front of the restaurant, unable to move. My breath was caught in my throat and my palms began to sweat.
What the heck was I thinking? I’m not ready for this!
Just as I turned and began to walk away I heard someone call out my name.

“Emily! Where are you going?” I sighed before turning to face him. He was dressed in his
black and red Chef uniform, the same one that I still had hanging in the back of my closet and I fought the urge to curse.

“Hey Adam, can we
take a walk and talk?” I asked while trying to avoid his gaze. He was still handsome and I hated that he was. Over the past year, I secretly wished he would start balding or suddenly get a bad case of adult acne; something, anything that would hurt his growing ego. To my detriment, that hadn’t been the case. He still had the sexy, boy-next-door look about him.

He caught up to me and we walked in silence at first through the
busy Los Angeles streets. He was wearing the same cologne he wore when we were together again; a mixture of fresh fruits, sandalwood and musk. He knew how much that cologne drove me crazy when we were together.
Why would he still be wearing it a year later?

I thought back to when we first met. It was my first day at Tajh and I was unbelievably nervous. I
had just finished school and my internship at Tajh came immediately. I was thrilled and scared all at the same time and then Adam walked in. He was definitely a charmer. His smile alone sent chills up and down my spine and I fell in love with him that first day; before we had even spoken. Two weeks later, after all of the women in the internship had exhausted all of their options to get his attention, we started dating. He told me it was because I hadn’t tried to get him. Adam definitely loved a challenge. Little did he know; I had figured him out since the first day and had deliberately ignored him. I knew that he would gain interest eventually… and it worked!

Adam cleared his throat which brought me out of my revere. “Last time we spoke…” he said before trailing off and looking me in the eyes. “I didn’t mean to upset you. I know that things can’t be fixed that easy but there’s just so much that you don’t know about the situation.”

I stopped and looked him dead in the face. He seemed sincere again but how could I trust him? Was he sincere when he said that he loved me and then slept around on me? “If that’s the case then spill it Adam, because I would love to know what would cause you to cheat on me? What is it that you can say to me now, a year later that would make a difference?” I demanded.

He looked away and started walking which caused me to trail behind him. “I never cheated on you Emily, I love you. I would have never hurt you,” he began. I watched as he stared at
his feet as he walked. His eyebrows frowned. “I know that Diana told you that I did, but I didn’t. You need to ask her for the truth Em. I would tell you myself, but that would cause you more pain and I just can’t do that to you.”

He turned to face me and I stared at him in amazement. What the heck was he talking about? What truth? Adam knew
that I hated riddles, and hated when people would beat around the bush.

“Ask her and after you do it will all become
clear,” he said just before leaning in and giving me a kiss on the forehead, the scent of his cologne smothering me when he did. He turned away and walked off, leaving me standing there even more confused than before.

After he disappeared, my phone buzzed in my pants pocket. I reached for it and saw
that it was a text from Julien.

‘Can you meet me for lunch amour
?’

Perfect timing!
I thought while shaking my head at what my life had somehow become.

‘I’m sorry but I al
ready made plans… rain check?’

JULIEN

Leaving Emily’s house this morning without having a definitive answer as to what was going on with her ex was all I could think about at work. Was she regretting not being with him? Was she thinking about going back to the Backstreet Boy wanna-be? The more I thought about it, the more annoyed I became. I was so annoyed in fact that Sylvie noticed my behavior.

“Mr. Belmont, are you alright
?” Sylvie asked when she brought in my messages from lunch. My mood had plummeted even more during lunch when I texted Emily asking her to meet me and she’d declined, stating that she had other plans.
Did those plans involve the blond haired man from her car?

What bothered me
the most was that it bothered me at all! Never before had one woman caused me so much grief and while I my mind urged me to walk away from her, I just couldn’t. I definitely couldn’t let her ex have her. No, she was mine!

“I’m fine Sylvie,”
I grunted as I looked over my messages, hoping that something would capture my mind long enough to keep me from thinking about Emily or strangling that ex of hers.

Sylvie walked away
from my desk and headed for the door before she said, “If you say so boss, but if looks could kill… I sure hope whoever has you upset steers clear of you.”

I continued flipping through the stacks of messages until one caught my eye, Charlette.
A groan escaped my throat as I read the message.

‘
Darling, please be sure to wear a black tux to the gala tonight. We mustn’t draw any unnecessary attention whilst the media is already suspicious of your little situation. How is dear Emily by the way? I see you like them young dear, I would run a background check if I were you but I trust your judgment.’

I crum
pled up the message and threw it on the floor. The meddling woman never passed a chance to grate on my last nerve. I was sick of it. Tonight I would put an end to her interference with my life.

I had completely forgotten about my father’s annual charity gala and couldn’t help but curse at the thought of having to go
, with Charlette
. With everything going on with Emily, I had fallen completely behind on everything. My father would definitely not be pleased with my distractions. My blowing off work yesterday would surely be the topic of discussion tonight, along with my affair with Emily. I was not looking forward to it, but as the Vice President and the Host’s son, there was no way out of it. I quickly texted Charlette what time I would have the limo pick her up and assured the irritatingly intrusive woman that I would indeed be in a tux. I didn’t mention her comment about Emily, determined that I would handle it face to face tonight.

I buzzed my assistant on the intercom. “Sylvie, I need a black tux delivered to my home by five this evening.”

Sylvie assured me that she would have it done and I turned towards the mountain of paperwork on my desk for the new hotel Belmont International was planning on opening next month downtown, grateful for the potential distraction from Emily, her ex and Charlette.