Just Go (16 page)

Typically, Dianne and I get through a week without any phone calls to another. It’s such a big company, that emails are the best way to discuss topics, so that’s just what we do. I wish she’d just leave the company, but she won’t do that just to spite me.

“Yes, Adam?” she sighs into the receiver, obviously pissed that I actually picked up the phone to call her. I’m not too thrilled about it either.

“Dianne,” I greet then get down to business. “I have on good authority that you’re up to something that could ruin the business. Now either you inform me what’s going on, or I hire an investigator and take you to court. Your choice,” I growl. Just saying it out loud is absurd. She’s smarter than to pull something that would damage her baby, no matter how much she hates me.

“Oh, Jesus, Adam.” She curses again then I hear the hold music again without any warning. She’s never been a very personable woman. “Okay, I’m back. Listen, it’s nothing you need to worry about,” she tells me in the same voice she had when she told me not to worry that she was cheating on me. My stomach feels sick and I’m about to throw the damn phone across the room.

“What’s going on, Dianne?” I’m close to screaming at her, but that wouldn’t get me anywhere at this point, so I hold it back.

“I just… Adam you drained me!” I hear the tears in her voice and press my fingers on the bridge of my nose, holding back my anger for her. “I have all these bills… and all the payments I have to make. It was just a little bit, and I plan on paying it back,” she whines into the phone. My ears start to ring and I fight through the rage building inside of me.

“How much?” I growl.

“Uhhh… I.... Ummm….” she stutters.

“How much?!?” I scream at her, losing all control over my emotions.

“A mil,” she whispers and I see red. Slamming my fist on my desk, I lose all sort of control of my composure.

“You did what?!? You took a million fucking dollars, Dianne?!?”

“Adam, you ruined me!” she cries. I have no remorse for pulling the pre-nup on her though. I didn’t ruin her. She did that herself. It’s not my fault she didn’t keep a copy of it, and totally forgot to tell her lawyer about it. It’s not my fault I conveniently kept it hidden until the final signing of the divorce papers. 

“Dianne, you were left with a hundred grand. A hundred grand! How do you spend all of that in only a few months’ time? It’s not even been a goddamned year!” I never thought I could feel this much rage, but at this point in my week, I’m certain everything I ever thought is a joke.

“My… my car. The house. My credit cards.” She hiccups and I know she’s forcing the tears. I’ve seen it a million times before with her. This is all just a show.

“You didn’t adjust your living style at all, did you?” I growl.

“I didn’t think you’d actually cut me off! I had to do something. They were going take my car, Adam!”

Jesus Christ.

“You’re out of the company, Dianne. Thanks for making this massive mess for me to clean up. I’ll have my lawyer contact yours about the lawsuit,” I growl. I hear her start to beg me as I hang up the receiver, but I don’t stay on the line to hear her out. She’s had enough chances.

“Reese,” I say into the intercom. “Please come into my office when you get a chance.”

Not a minute later, she’s standing in my doorway, iPad in hand, waiting for notes.

“I need you to call security over to the Aurora offices. Dianne no longer works with this company. Then I need you to contact Benton and get him in here ASAP.”

“Got it. Anything else?”

“Yeah, send flowers to Annaliese Ryder’s apartment with a note that says ‘Sorry I couldn’t see you tonight. Miss you.” She gives me a funny look, then grins and nods.

“Great, consider it all done.” She’s the only person I’d ever consider having do my dirty work, since there’s never any questions that come out of her.

“Thank you, Reese,” I say as she shuts the door.

Now to figure out why Annaliese’s dad is so against her being with me.

What the hell is he up to?

Chapter 15

Annaliese

“Hello,” I huff into my phone, carrying groceries up the stairs. Our elevator’s been broken all week, and it isn’t getting any cooler as summer rages on and our AC is way too weak to keep our old building cool.

“Hi, may I speak with Annaliese Ryder, please?”

“Yes, this is she,” I say.

“Hi, this is Angela Warden from Allmeyer Middle school in St. Louis. I’m calling regarding an opening we have available in one of our fourth grade classrooms.”

“Oh, great.”

Shit, why now?

“Yes, hi. How can I help you?” I try not to sigh into the phone while my brain attempts to remember even applying for a job so far away.

“Ms. Ryder, we’ve taken the steps already and spoken to your professors from DePaul. They all had wonderful things to say about your professionalism and behavior with the students and teachers you’ve worked for.” She pauses and I feel my heart beat escalating.

Is this really happening? Am I about to be offered a real teaching position?

“Ms. Ryder, I know you are located in Chicago at the moment; however, we are quite desperate, and have heard wonderful things about you. The school year starts in a week, and we’d love to set up a phone interview with you tomorrow to see if you are a good fit for the current position we have available.”

“Yes… yes, absolutely.” I’m trying to sound a little upbeat about this, but it’s hard to find any excitement over this news

This is what I’ve been waiting for. Why am I not as excited as I should be, though? I should be over the moon excited that I’m finally getting my break. I could finally get out of my dad’s office and get into a career that I love. A career that I went to school for. A career I want to retire in.

I should be stoked, but I can’t help but feel a sinking feeling in my gut.

“Great, how’s four work? I will have another administrator on the line for the interview as well.”

Another administrator. A real phone interview. For a real school. I should be excited for this, but it’s so far away. From everything.

From everyone.

“Yeah... yes. That’s great. I’ll talk to you then.” I hang up the phone and stand there, groceries sitting on the floor in the hallway of my dingy apartment.

Looking around, I sigh and take in everything that I’ve been overlooking since we moved in. The peeling paint, the burned out light bulbs that never get changed. Even the smell isn’t very welcoming. My family wasn’t happy that I moved in here, but I didn’t care at the time. Now, seeing how the other side lives, seeing how I could have been living right now if I didn’t force my father’s influence out of my life. I was so convinced that I could make it on my own, and I proved them right, even if it meant living in this apartment, shopping at Target instead of Macy’s, and hitting clearance wherever I can.

“Hey, whore, you waiting for the food to spoil?” Gabby’s voice brings me out of my thoughts.

I look up and smile, cocking my head at her. “Take these, bitch,” I say handing her a bag. We walk inside and she silently starts putting away the groceries. About a minute into emptying the bags, she stops and looks at me, hands on her hips, head cocked and eyebrow raised.

“So, you ever gonna tell me what’s got your mind all sorts of out of it today? Too much sex with hotness making your brain useless?” She grins and I can’t help but laugh.

Her nickname for him is
hotness
, but he hates it. The fact that he hates it has made her more open about using it in front of him. The two get along fine, I guess, but she still doesn’t trust him. Gab has a tough time trusting many people, though, so it’s not surprising he hasn’t gained her full trust yet. The fact that she can stand him at all is still surprising to me. Maybe working at such a big law firm has helped get her used to being around arrogant pricks.

Not that I’m calling Adam a prick, but he can get a little arrogant at times.

Like yesterday when he told me I needed to just quit the job I’m at and live at his house if I was so miserable in that office. Well yeah, I’m miserable, and the employee situation hasn’t gotten any better since my first day, but I’m also making my own way, which is huge for me. I’d rather not have to rely on someone else for an allowance, and become the needy stay at home girlfriend. Jeez, who even does that?

“Hello? Annie?” I blink a few times and realize I’ve been staring at the block of cheese in my hand this whole time. Gabby’s staring at me like I’m insane and all I can do is smile weakly as I place the cheese in the fridge and grab more items to put away. “Oh my God, you love him,” she gasps which makes me fumble and almost drop the yogurt in my hand.

I stand up straight and glare at her. “Excuse me?” What would make her say that?

Am I that easy to read?

“You’ve been daydream central lately, Annie. Hell, you just stopped putting the cheese away and stared at it like it was going to give you your next big orgasm. You can’t stop thinking about him, Annie. I see it. He’s always here or you’re always at his place. The smile hasn’t left your face since you guys got together, and you ‘re not bitching about your job as much as you were the first week now that you’ve got him to keep you company. I see it… you love him,” she says, then grins at me and continues putting away the groceries.

So what if I can’t stop thinking about him. So what if every time I think about him, my heart flutters and my face turns up into a goofy grin. So what if I’ve already fallen completely head over heels with him in less than a month. He’s not ready for that, and I’m about to get a job five hours away from him.

“Well, that’s it.” I sigh and toss the reusable shopping bags into the pantry.

“So you’re not gonna talk about it?” Gab clips.

“I’m not sure what you want me to say, Gabby,” I look at her and see that she’s upset with me. I know she wants me to talk, but I can’t say the words out loud. If he loves me, he’s not the type of man that would hold something like that back, and I’m not going to be the girl that declares her love for a man just to be pushed away.

“I just want you to be happy, Annie. That’s all.”

“Well,” I start to tell her about my interview, when my phone rings. “Sorry, it’s my dad.” She shakes her head and slaps my ass on the way to her room.

“Hey, Daddy,” I answer cheerfully. No reason to let him in on how down about things I am.

“Hey, baby girl. How are you today?” He sounds stressed about something but I’ve never asked before so I’m not about to start now.

“I’m okay. What’s up?” I sit on the couch and look out our picture window to the city skyline. I love this city, and I’d rather not have to leave, but if I can’t find a job here, I don’t really have a choice.

“Listen, I need you to do a run with Joe tomorrow night. There’s some sketchy areas he’s listed for, and I’d rather not have him alone.” What?

“Why?” This makes no sense.

“Don’t question me, Annaliese. I’m your boss, and I’m telling you to do a ride-along tomorrow,” he growls at me, and my mood suddenly changes. Why do I get the feeling he really doesn’t need me to do this as much as he wants me to for some reason?

“Fine,” I sigh. “I’ll be there.”

“Good girl.” With that he hangs up and leaves me staring at my phone in a stupor.

What the hell just happened? There’s no reason that I should be needing to ride along with anyone tomorrow night, but apparently my father has other feelings on it.

“Gabby!” I yell, storming into her room. She’s sitting on her bed texting someone and when I walk in, she quickly puts the phone away and looks up at me, smiling.

“What’s up?”

“I need to bitch,” I say plopping down on her bed. “I feel like nothing’s in my control anymore, Gab. I got an interview for a teaching position in St. Louis.” I look at her and her eyes grow wide.

“That’s… I didn’t know you wanted to leave,” she whispers and I feel my heart breaking.

I don’t want to leave
, that’s the thing.

“Gabby, I never applied for it. I wouldn’t ever apply to a school that far away. School starts next week and they are apparently desperate, so they called and already talked with my professors, and really seemed interested. It’s so weird….” I trail off, wondering why my dad would send me out of the city just for a teaching job. I’m doing a good job at the company, even if I hate it every moment I’m there. He wouldn’t send me away without other motives.

“Maybe he just wants to see you happy, like all of us that care for you,” she says then gives me a weak smile.

“I am happy though,” I sigh and lay back on her pillow. “I just hate my job.” I laugh and she follows. “I don’t know why he’d send me so far away. If he wanted me to get a teaching job so badly, I feel like he’d try in the city first or somewhere in the suburbs, not five hours away in a city where I know no one.”

“I don’t know, Annie. Maybe you should talk to him.” She shrugs and gets off the bed. “Now get up, I’m about to pass out if we stay on that bed any longer. Time for me to tell you all about the new guy I met today.” She grins and walks out to the kitchen. I smile and sigh, figuring the conversation with my dad can wait. Hopefully.

As I walk into the kitchen, there’s a knock on the door.

“Weird,” Gab says walking to the door. I stay behind in the kitchen, getting out a bottle wine and some crackers and cheese to munch on. We both skipped dinner, but it’s already too late for a full meal so this will have to do. When she returns, my eyes fly open and jaw drops.

“What the shit is that?” I say, astounded at the outrageous arrangement of flowers she’s carrying in. I hear her laughing, but I can’t see her face from the massive floral mess she’s carrying.

“Jesus, Annie.” She laughs and I shake my head.

“You know I hate that name, Gab. And I’ve heard it way too many times tonight.” She sets the flowers on the counter and laughs then plucks the card from the flowers before I’m able to read it.

“My dearest Sweet,” she says and I smile. “I wish I could see you tonight, as I miss everything about you, but something came up that will keep me in the office all night. I miss you. Love, Adam.” Her eyebrows raise and she smiles at me. “Love?”

“Stop. Give me that!” I snatch the card out of her hand. It’s typed, meaning he didn’t really write it. “Gab, this was probably done by his assistant. Anyway, just because it’s signed ‘love’ doesn’t mean anything,” I say, not wanting to believe my own words.

“Alright,” she says skeptically. “I still think you’re in denial of your feelings towards him. Life’s too short, Annie.” She grins and takes a bite of cheese.

All I can do is stick my tongue out at her, like a spoiled child, because she’s right. I’m in denial of my true feelings because no matter how much he tells me to trust him, I still am scared that I’ll end up the one being hurt. The flowers are beautiful, though, and he is thinking about me. I pull out my phone and send him a quick text, sitting down on the couch to relax for a bit before I get my brain ready for the interview tomorrow.

ME
: Thank you. They’re beautiful. Tell Reese she did well.

I add in the final part, letting him know that I know he didn’t do this all on his own. Shortly after, I get a text back from him.

ADAM
: In meeting. I’m sure she’ll be flattered. ;)

I laugh, then decide to mess with him.

ME
: A meeting, huh? I’m all alone…

ADAM
: Don’t do this, Annaliese.

I smile to myself, able to hear the growl in his tone. This could be fun. Instead of replying, I stretch my bare legs out across the couch and snap a picture of them, making sure the lighting makes them look perfect.

ME
: Miss you….

I hit send and smile, hoping that makes his meeting a little more bearable. Not thirty seconds passes and I get another text.

ADAM
: Jesus…I can’t wait to be between those legs again, my Sweet.

ME
: Oh yeah?

I quickly snap a photo a little higher, almost showing him what he wants to see. Grinning, I send it and wait for a response. Just playing like this has me hot and wet for him, and I haven’t even heard his voice yet. It’s not long before my phone dings again.

ADAM
: You’re killing me, Annaliese. I’m so hard for you that I won’t be able to stand up when this meeting ends.

I grin and send him one a little higher, making sure he sees my fingers pushing aside my shorts and playing with the edge of my panties.

ADAM:
Jesus…Touch yourself for me.

I smile and move my fingers under my panties, feeling the wetness that this conversation has created. I moan then close my eyes, playing with my folds while imagining it’s his hand. My phone buzzes next to me and I read the screen in a lustful haze.

ADAM
: Now stop.

God, how does he do that? I pull my fingers out as another text comes through.