Whatever He Wants (39 page)

 
     
She was a
self centered
narcissist, but he could only feel pity for her and mild disgust. “Sometimes,
Gillian, we can’t have what we want.” As he walked away he found the irony that
he’d once had those words said to him. He was determined in that moment that no
matter what he would no longer let his yesterday dictate his tomorrow.

 
     
Noelle debated contacting James for the
next few days but wasn’t sure what to do. She waffled back and forth from just
letting things be to picking up the phone and calling him. That following
Tuesday after her run-in with James, Noelle received a surprise visitor.

 
     
She was at the front of the bakery helping
with the morning rush, when she spotted a familiar redhead in line. Noelle
planned to tell the woman to fuck off if she wanted to warn her off of James.
To Noelle’s surprise, when it was the redhead’s turn, she smiled at Noelle.
“Hi. I don’t think we were formally introduced at the hospital event. I’m
Eleanor.”

 
     
“Yes,” Noelle said not returning the
smile.

 
     
“Well, I was wondering if I might have a
minute of your time.”

 
     
Noelle gestured to the people in shop. “As
you can see, we’re a little busy right now.”

 
     
“I can wait. In the meantime, I’d like one
of your key lime cupcakes.”

 
     
Without taking her eyes off the elegantly
dressed redhead, Noelle retrieved the cupcake from its case and placed in it on
a disposable plate. “That will be two-fifty.”

 
     
“Do you take cards?”

 
     
“Sure.” Noelle took the card and swiped it
on the register.

 
     
Once the transaction was complete, Eleanor
smiled at her again. “I’ll just have a seat at one of these tables and wait for
you if you don’t mind.”

 
     
Noelle shrugged. “Suit
yourself,
I need to take care of all my customers first.”

 
     
“No worries. I have some time to kill.”
And that’s exactly what she did.  As Noelle helped the customers, Eleanor
sat at one of the tables nibbling her cupcake.

 
     
Once the shop cleared out, Noelle
reluctantly joined her at the table. “Look, if you’re here to warn me off of
James, you’re wasting your time. There’s nothing between us.”

 
     
Eleanor raised one finely arched brow. “I
see.” She took another bite from her cupcake.

 
     
Noelle grew impatient. “Look, as you can
see, things can get a little hectic around here, so please, just say your peace
and leave.”

 
     
Eleanor put her cupcake down. “This is
delicious by the way. Of course, I’ll probably have to run an extra two miles
on the treadmill and take an extra Pilates class to burn this off.”

 
     
Noelle barely stopped herself from rolling
her eyes but she didn’t respond.

 
     
“Noelle, we don’t know each other but I
came here about James.”

 
     
“I figured.”

 
     
“I believe you’ve got the wrong impression
about us. James and I are just friends. He’s helped me through a really
difficult time and I don’t think I’ll ever be able to repay him for what he’s
done.”

 
     
“What about your engagement?” Noelle asked
cautiously.

 
     
“We called it off. We don’t love each
other. Honestly we were only engaged as a matter of convenience.”

 
     
This news shouldn’t have mattered but it
did. She stubbornly dug in her heels, however. “I’m not sure why you’re telling
me this. James and I are nothing to each other.”

 
     
“I’m telling you because James still loves
you, and what’s more I think you still love him too.”

 
     
Noelle was rendered speechless for a few
moments before she found her voice. “Is that what he told you, that he still
loved me?”

 
     
“It wasn’t something he volunteered at
first but I managed to get it out of him. Besides, I was there at the art
gallery and saw the way he looked at you. I put two and two together. So I kind
of interfered a bit.”

 
     
“By coming here?”

 
     
“
That,
and hiring
you to provide the cupcake tower at my event this past Saturday. I was kind of
hoping you and James would run into each other but it didn’t quite work out the
way I expected.  You saw me and assumed James and I were still together.
We haven’t been for months. Every now and then he escorts me to some events and
he’s been helping me save my family business, but there’s nothing between us
beyond that.”

 
     
The cynic in Noelle wouldn’t let allow her
to let her guard down just yet. “And you’re telling me this all out of the
kindness of your heart?”

 
     
“I see you still don’t believe me.”

 
     
“Eleanor, I’m sure you mean well but
telling me this won’t make much difference.”

 
     
Eleanor’s smile faltered.
“Why not?
I saw the way you looked at him too. You still
have feelings for him. Why don’t you go to him?”

 
     
“Because it’s too late.
And there a lot that’s happened between us you’re not aware of. I’m not sure
how James was with you but he wasn’t always nice.”

 
     
“I won’t presume to know what happen, but
I can tell when two people care about it other and you two obviously still do.
Please talk to him. If the two of you can’t work something out at least you’ll
be able to move on with your life, and so can he.”

 
     
Paul had basically told her the same
thing. This had to be some kind of sign. Maybe it was time she and James had a
talk.

 
     
Noelle blew out a long breath. “This is
something I’ll need to think about.”

 
     
“I understand.” She gathered her purse.
“Thank you for sitting with me Noelle. I need to get back to my office, but it
was really nice finally talking to you.”

 
     
“Likewise.”
Noelle stood up with her.

 
     
“Hopefully we’ll see more of each other
soon.”

 
     
Long after the shop was closed Noelle
still remained in the bakery, telling herself she wanted to work on some new
recipes, but she couldn’t get the conversation with Eleanor out of her mind.
Finally she gave up pretending to work and searched through her desk. After
rooting around a few drawers she retrieved the card James had given her months
ago.

 
     
She studied the number before picking up
the phone and dialing the number.

 
     
“Mr. Rothschild’s phone, Stella speaking,
how may I assist you?”

 
     
Noelle almost hung up, quickly losing
nerve. “Uh, may I speak to him please?”

 
     
“May I tell him
who’s
calling?”

 
     
“Noelle.”

 
     
“One moment please.” The woman was back in
less than a minute. “I’m putting you through to him now.”

 
     
“Hello?” James asked with uncertainty.
“Noelle?”

 
     
James couldn’t make it out of his office
fast enough. After a long day, the last thing he’d expected was a call from Noelle.
When he was informed the person calling his personal line was Noelle, he
thought he’d misheard his secretary at first. He was pretty sure it was his
imagination until he actually answered the phone and heard her voice. Noelle
wanted to meet him in one hour and suggested the deli that they’d gone to on
the night they had met.

 
     
He eagerly agreed and wasted no time
shutting down his computer and rushing to his destination. He made it to the
deli within a half hour of her call and waited anxiously for her to arrive.
James wasn’t sure why she wanted to see him, but he was just happy to see her
in any capacity.

 
     
James eyed his watch impatiently and
shifted in his seat several times as he waited for Noelle to arrive. 
Relief assailed him when she walked into the deli. She wore a pair of jeans and
a t-shirt that displayed the logo of her bakery. It was apparent that she’d
just left work. Her tight curls clung to her head like a halo, and her eyes
were large and luminous.

 
     
As she approached, she neither smiled nor
frowned, keeping her expression neutral. She slid into the seat across from
him.
“Hi, James.
Thanks for meeting me on such short
notice.” Her voice was hesitant.

 
     
“When I said I was just a call away if you
needed me, I meant it. I’m glad to see you again.” He balled his fists in his
laps to keep himself from reaching across the booth and touching her. “So what
can I help you with?”

 
     
She cleared her throat as she broke eye
contact with him. She twiddled her thumbs in a nervous gesture. “Actually, it’s
how we can help each other.”

 
     
“I’m not sure if I follow.”

 
     
“I think it’s time for us to have the talk
we should have had a long time ago. I started telling you at the hospital but I
guess I kind of made a fool of myself jumping to conclusions like that.”

 
     
“If I had been in your shoes I probably
would have made the same mistake. But I swear
,
Eleanor
is just a friend.”

 
     
“Apparently a good one.
She came to the bakery and spoke on your behalf.”

 
     
He groaned out loud. The last impression
he wanted to give to Noelle was that he needed someone else to fight his
battles.  “Believe it or not I didn’t send her.”

 
     
“I know. She made it quite clear you
didn’t. She’s nice. She probably would have made you a good wife.”

 
     
“She would have made me a great wife, actually.
But there’s just one problem. She’s not you.”

 
     
Noelle’s eyes widened. “James…”

 
     
“It’s true, Noelle. The problem is
,
I only wish I’d had the courage to tell you when I had the
chance instead of hurting you the way I did.”

 
     
She bit her bottom lip and looked away
again. “I’m not really sure what to say to that. Last year it would have been
everything to hear you say that to me but I’m not the same person I was. I like
who I’ve become and I don’t want to go back but it’s important for me to tell
you why I was the way I was, that is if you have the time to listen.”

 
     
“For you, I have all the time in the
world.”

 
     
A slight smile tilted her luscious lips;
he so badly wanted to kiss them. James managed to get his body under control so
that he could listen to what she had to say.

 
     
The silence between them lengthened as
Noelle fidgeted in her seat. He imagined she was trying to find the right words
to say. Finally, she began. “I’m still a work in progress, but when I look back
on myself from when we were in the middle of our arrangement, and way before
then, I can see how pathetic I was.”

 
     
He wouldn’t stand for anyone talking bad
about her, even Noelle herself. “Noelle, you were far from pathetic. I saw a
sweet, gentle woman who was probably a little unsure of herself but you had
a warmth
about you that a guy like me wants to bask in. As I
got to know you better, I found you to be compassionate and genuine, a rare
commodity these days, it seems.”