Silent No More (19 page)

Thursday morning arrives, although not soon
enough. It’s been three days since my trip to the emergency room. Nick has kept
a watchful eye on me, making me stay at home. I don’t protest, but the last
three days have sucked. Well, mostly sucked.

If not for my friends and Nick’s sister keeping me
company, I wouldn’t have lasted more than a day sitting around doing nothing. I
like to read, but even that gets old if that’s all there is to do. Don’t get me
started on watching TV. Daytime TV is the worst. I can’t take all the soap
operas and talk shows. Who enjoys that crap?

Nikki has become as essential person in my life. I
adore Nick’s sister, and over the last few days, I’ve discovered we’re a lot
alike.

Luckily for me, she doesn't kill me for outing her
to her brother. She and I are doing a “spa day” at Serenity after my meeting
with Teresa Matthews this morning. I really need a few hours of being
pampered.

The elevator doors open and I walk out into the
main lobby at Lockhart Publishing. Rachel is all smiles as I make my way over
to her desk.

“Good morning, Shannon,” she says cheerfully.

“Morning,” I greet her.

She stands, walking out behind her desk. “Miss
Matthews just wrapped up a conference call, so I’ll take you to her office,
unless of course you want to say 'hi' to my boss first.” She’s giving me a knowing
smile. Great. She knows I’m seeing Nick.

“No, I’m only here to meet with Teresa. I’m sure
Nick is busy anyway,” I say.

“Okay, right this way then.” She leads me a short
distance down a hall on the east side of the building. Rachel knocks lightly before
entering the room. “Miss Taylor is here.”

Teresa looks up from her computer and immediately
pushes her chair back to stand. She is an attractive woman, and I’m guessing
she’s in her early thirties, probably only a year or two older than Nick. She
has loose blonde curls that stop right past her shoulders. She is wearing a
tight-fitting black dress that stops just above the knee. The top is a swoop
neck that shows off her abundance of cleavage.

“Shannon, it’s great to see you again. Please come
in and take a seat.” She gestures to the chairs in front of her desk. I walk up
and plant myself in one the comfy chairs.

“How are you this morning?” I say, making an
effort to be nice. I like Teresa, but she always comes off a little fake. I
wonder if she is like this with all clients?

“Well, and you?” she asks, sitting back down in
her chair.

“Great thanks. So, what things in my portfolio did
you want to discuss?” I ask, getting to the point. I’m ready to get my hour-long
massage on, so the quicker we wrap this up, the quicker I’ll be relaxing.

She turns in her chair grabbing what I’m assuming
is my portfolio on the counter behind her. She turns back around and lays the
collection on her desk. Thumbing through a few pages, I see she comes to a
group of photos I took downtown in San Diego of an industrial warehouse that
had graffiti art sprayed on it. These are my favorite photos in the collection.
They showcase the artist’s beautiful talent.

“I feel we need to remove these photos replacing
them with a couple,” she pauses for a beat, “of more tasteful pictures.
Wouldn’t you agree?”

Uh…no.

“How are these photos not tasteful?” I ask,
lowering my brow. I’ve taken somewhat of a defensive tone with her, but I don’t
care. She has just criticized my work. It’s not that I can’t take criticism,
because I can. Everyone can use a dose of constructive criticism from time to time,
and I also know I’m not going to make every person happy with my work. I don’t
strive to. However, to say these photos aren’t tasteful is to say the artist’s
work I captured isn’t tasteful. There aren’t many people in this world that
have that type of creative talent.

“These pictures show the work of a hoodlum
defacing buildings. They don’t belong in a book that’s published by Lockhart
Publishing.” She is trying to match my defensive tone. And now, she has pissed
me off. Hoodlums? Did she really just use that term?

“Is Nick…olas in agreement with this?” I spit out
too quickly. I don’t know if she knows I’m in a relationship with him and
really I don’t care. I wouldn’t use him to get my book published, but I do think
he would have talked to me about this first.

“
Mister
Lockhart,” she emphasizes the mister confirming that she doesn’t know about our
relationship, “trusts my judgment. I’ve been doing this for many years. I know
what needs to be done, and I know when to make tough decisions. I’m not trying
to upset you. I’m trying to steer you in the right direction with your book.”

“Those photos are art and I want them in the
published version of the book,” I say, crossing my arms over my chest. I will
stand firm on this.

“Shannon, our contract states both parties must be
in agreement to move forward with publication. I’m not in agreement with these
pictures. Do you see what it looks like to have photos of buildings being
defaced next to a photo of a saint?”

“No, I guess I don’t see your point here,” I reply
a little louder than I intended as I uncross my arms and begin to stand.
“Perhaps we should terminate the contract if you aren’t going to publish it as
is?”

“What is going on in here?” I hear a deep and
strong masculine voice. It’s a voice I’m all too familiar with. It’s a voice I
can’t get enough of. Nick. My Nick.

Teresa plasters on a fake smile while rolling her
shoulders back to enhance her cleavage. Really? Doesn’t this chick know they
can be seen without her poking her chest out? I roll my eyes, realizing what
she is doing. She has a thing for Nick. It’s so obvious.

“I asked a question,” Nick says as he walks
further into the office.

“I’m glad you stopped by. I’m sure you remember
Miss Taylor,” she says, gesturing to me. “She and I are having a disagreement.
Perhaps you can help me.”

“What’s the problem?” he asks, pointing the
question at me. Before I can answer him, Teresa speaks up.

“I’m trying to explain to Miss Taylor that these
photos don’t belong in her book. I’ve asked her to replace them with better
photos,” she tells Nick as she is closing my portfolio and standing up.

“If Shannon wants those photos in there, then they
stay. If there aren’t any other problems, go ahead and send it off to
publication.” He turns to look at me with a smile. His smile fades when Teresa
speaks again.

“Nicholas, did you not see the photos?”

“I’ve seen every photo in there. Teresa, don’t
make me repeat myself. Now, is this meeting over?” he asks her. She looks a
little stunned, like she isn’t used to him disagreeing with her.

“Yes.” She crosses her arms over her chest, only
emphasizing her breasts even more.

“Good.” Nick’s smile is back in place as he’s looks
at me. “I’m taking you to lunch. Where do you want to eat?” he asks me.

“You’re taking a client out to lunch? Since when
do you do that, Nicholas?” I look over, noticing Teresa has stood up and is
placing her hands on her hips.

“No, Teresa, I’m not taking a client out to lunch.
I’m taking my girlfriend out to lunch.” Her jaw falls open and I smile. Yeah,
bitch, he’s mine.

Nick takes my hand, pulling me out of her office. My
mood has drastically changed in the last few minutes. “So where does my
beautiful woman want to eat lunch?”

“Mint,” I say quickly. “Nikki and I are meeting at
Serenity at noon. Do you mind if I invite her to lunch with us?”

“Of course not. I’ll shoot her a text to meet us
there.” He takes his phone out of his pocket.

“So, do you know Nick’s VP, Teresa Matthews?” I
ask Nikki while I’m laid out naked on a massage table with only a towel
covering my ass. Nikki is in the same position next to me.

“Yeah, I've met her a handful of times. Why?”

“I don’t think I like her,” I admit.

“Honey, are you the jealous type?” she teases.

“I don’t know, maybe. I’ve never been before, but
there is something about her that rubs me the wrong way. I mean, it’s obvious
she has a thing for Nick, but…” I trail off, not sure what I’m really trying to
say. Maybe I am being the jealous girlfriend type. I don’t want to be the
jealous type at all.

Nikki is quiet so I turn my head in her direction.
She is looking at me and biting her bottom lip, like she’s trying to stop
herself from speaking. “What?” I ask.

She releases her lip and takes a large breath of
air. When she exhales, she says, “I’m not sure if I should tell you this, but…”
she stops scrunching her eyebrows together.

“Spit it out. You can’t say that and then not
spill,” I tell her.

“Nick got really drunk at his office Christmas
party last year and fucked her.” She is biting into her lip again like she’s
bracing herself, wondering how I’m going to take this news.

“Oh!” I’m not really sure what else to say to
that. I turn my head in the opposite direction. I don’t want her to see the
jealous look that I’m sure is plastered on my face. I can’t be mad and I’m not.
Nick and I have only been dating for a month, and that happened close to six
months ago.

“Shannon, I’m sorry. I really have no filter. I
tend to say whatever pops in my head.”

“No, it’s okay. I’m sure Nick has slept with a lot
of women before me. He’ll be thirty-one in a couple of weeks after all.” I turn
back to face her. I don’t care how many sexual partners Nick’s been with, but
her…ughh…I just don’t like knowing this.

“If it makes you feel better, you’re the only
repeat,” she says, and I don’t think she is joking. Am I dating a man whore?
Probably. Even I hopped into bed with him after day two of meeting him. I give
her a weak smile.

“Repeat, huh?”

“I’m serious, and it’s a bit weird. I never
thought I’d see the day my brother let himself fall in love.” She beams.

“I wouldn’t go that far. We’ve only just met, you
know,” I joke, but feel a ping in my chest. Certainly, we don’t love each other?
Not yet anyway. Love takes time to grow and form. Nick and I have known each
other two fucking minutes and didn’t I just end an engagement? Do I really want
to be serious this quick? News flash, Shannon, it’s a little late for that. You
already are serious with this man. We’ve only slept apart two nights since
meeting, and that was only because he had to go on a business trip to Las
Vegas.

“Hello?” I look up to find Nikki waving a hand in
front of my eyes. “Where the fuck did you just go? We were talking and then you
just zoned out.”

“Sorry,” I tell her and decide to change the
subject. Enough about Nick and the subject of love. “So, how long have you and
Jase been dating?” I ask as I feel the warm soft hands of the girl giving me a
back massage start to knead the tight muscles below my shoulders. God…that
feels so good. This is much needed after the month I’ve had. The message
therapist is careful and stays away from my tender ribs and the center of my
back area.

“Um…that’s complicated,” she sighs out. “It’s not
an easy answer I guess is what I’m trying to say.” She looks away.

“Meaning?” I ask, not understanding. I asked an
easy enough question. She turns her face back to look at me.

“Jason and I are complicated, or well, I
am…complicated that is. Jason is pretty normal…pretty great actually.” She
leans her head from side-to-side, and I hear the crack of her neck. “We started
dating when I was fifteen and he was sixteen.” There’s a small smile across her
lips. She is obviously in love with her boyfriend.

“Wow. Fifteen years, really…that’s amazing,” I
tell her, but her smile fades at my enthusiasm.

“It's been fifteen years, yes, but we haven’t been
together a solid fifteen. There have been others in-between.” She sighs then
adds, “For both of us.”

“Oh,” I respond, not sure what to say. Her face
has saddened, but I don’t know her well enough to say something that will cheer
her up. “Everybody needs experience, right?”

“No, not when you know it’s the right person. When
you know the person you’re with is the only one you’re meant to be with, you
gain experience exploring each other, not accumulating multiple bed partners.
I’ve known Jason was my forever since I was a kid.”

Damn. Nikki surprises me at every turn. She is so
different from anyone I’ve ever met. She’s young, but wiser than I would expect
a thirty year old to be.

“When people find out we have been together for as
long as we have, the next question is always, when are you getting married? Followed
by, don’t you want kids?” She spits it out like it’s a bad taste in her mouth.

“So, you and Jase don’t want to get married?” I
ask for clarification.

“Oh, Jason wants to get married,” she states.

“And you don’t want to get married or have kids, I
mean?” She looks up at me like a deer caught in headlights. I’m missing
something here. She’s hesitant.

“Nick doesn’t want kids either,” she huffs out,
not really answering the question, but giving me more information that I think
I want to know. So, Nick doesn’t want a family. Not that we are even close to
that type of relationship and I certainly don’t want kids now. I have a career
and I’m content. The mommy bug hasn’t bitten this girl…yet. But I think one day
I’ll want a family. I’m sure of that.

Over the next two hours, I put what Nikki has
revealed out of my mind and we are pampered with facials, manicures, and lastly,
pedicures. I don't get my nails polished because I can’t stand it when they
start to chip, but I love the color on my toes. It’s a French pedicure, but
with a black tip instead of white. Once my feet are dry, Nikki and I depart and
I head home.

I know I should think over the things I have
learned today, but doing that will only hinder my good mood and welcome stress
back into my relaxed body. No, thank you. I can mull over that at a later time.