by Parker, Ali
Danny didn’t budge. “Dad would have told me if he was planning on doing this. You’re lying. Get out, because I actually do have a lot of work to get done today.”
I shook my head. “I’m not going anywhere, but if you don’t believe me you should go to the hospital and speak to Dad yourself.”
“Fine.” Danny grabbed his phone, wallet and keys from my outstretched hand and stormed to the door, turning just before he left. “I’ll find out, but if you’re wasting my time here little bro, you’re going to be sorry. I’ll make sure you are travelling to all of our branches in the most boring places for the rest of the fucking year.”
I pretended to shudder. “Bring it on, Daniel.”
The door banged shut loudly behind him. I sighed, looking around the office before sinking into Dad’s chair. The place was a mess. Danny had papers lying around everywhere. It was going to take me hours simply to get everything in any kind of order that made sense to me.
It was time I got to work. Taking off my jacket, I hung it over the back of the chair and rolled up my sleeves. It was going to be a long day.
There were a lot of things that Danny had screwed up that I was going to have to fix, but as I leaned forward to get settled in, I felt a sense of control. As soon as I had sorted out the mess, I would have Norma help me move it all to my office and then I could get down to the real work.
Fixing Danny’s mistakes was probably going to mean a couple of months of traveling to undo everything he had already started, but I would get it figured out. I just had to get busy and sort it all out so I knew what I was up against.
Chapter 45
Aston
It had been a month since I had gotten back from Florida and today was the first day that I wasn’t quite feeling the sparkle from getting to meet and speak to Wayne McAllen in person. I had powered through this last month and the branch was doing better than ever.
But maybe it was time that I started listening to the staff when they told me to slow down, because I was pretty sure I was coming down with something. The long hours had really worn me down.
Exhausted, I trudged into my office two hours before my shift was supposed to start. I fired up my computer but nearly fell asleep before I had done so much as log into my emails.
Enough, I told myself. A strong cup of coffee and a little bit of blood flowing through my veins was what I needed to get going.
Ignoring the kettle in my office, I headed to the staff break room where there was a state-of-the-art coffee machine we had just received last week. It was a gift from Wayne McAllen himself. The card had been addressed to all of us and congratulated us on being the branch with the fastest growing numbers.
I still felt a bolt of pride surge through me when I remembered the day the quarterly report came through, hailing us as being well on our way to becoming the number one branch. Despite my slightly achy body, the memory of reading that report and receiving the gift made me feel like I was walking on clouds to the break room.
Tiffany was already there when I arrived. She turned when I pushed open the door and shook head when she saw it was me. “Is your watch broken or something?”
“No.” I frowned. “Why?”
“Because you’re always arriving early and staying late,” she said, glancing at the clock on the wall behind me. “I hoped being with Blake was going to calm you down but instead it's as if you’ve been supercharged since you got back.”
I shrugged. “I’ve been inspired after my trip to Florida.”
“Inspiration usually doesn’t last a month.” She grabbed two mugs from the stand beside the machine, inserting one into the slot and fiddling with the buttons. “Speaking of Florida, how are things going with Blake? Is he ever going to come around here again?”
“He’s been really busy since he took over from his dad. He’s been all over the place undoing deals Danny made, hiring back some of the people who were cut and trying to manage the setup of the new properties.”
Tiffany pretended to wipe sweat from her brow. “It’s no wonder you’ve been running around like a headless chicken if that’s what you have to keep up with.”
I laughed. “I don’t need to keep up with him, but I do like feeling like I’m helping by making a success of things here, at least.”
“You sure have been doing that,” she said, waiting for the last few drops of foam to drop into the mug before handing it to me. “How is he?”
“He’s really good,” I told her. “At least that’s what he said, but I think he’s just as tired as I am.”
“I can just imagine,” Tiffany said. “It’s got to be tough, running a company like this.”
Nodding my agreement, I sipped my coffee. “It has been tough on him, but he loves the company and he doesn’t mind working so hard so his Dad doesn’t have to.”
“Still, even if he loves it, it has to be hard. It’s got to be hard on you too. How long has it been since you last saw him?”
“I’ll be seeing him this weekend for the first time in a month. That’s been the hardest thing. We still Skype almost every day and are talking on the phone constantly, but it’s just not the same.” Trust me to have fallen for the first time in my life, but for a guy who was so busy we couldn't even carve out a Sunday afternoon to spend together.
I wouldn’t have changed any of it for the world though, Blake was great. Speaking to him on the phone was better than spending twenty-four hours a day with anyone else.
This month had been quite a test for our fledgling relationship, but I thought we had passed it with flying colors. We were both committed to speaking as often as we could, skyping at least once every other day and being fully present when we did talk to one another.
We both made sure there were never any distractions while we were talking, which meant that it mostly happened late at night. The last few nights had been a challenge for me. It was becoming impossible for me to keep my eyes open once I got home.
A timeout with Blake this weekend was exactly what I needed. I was looking forward to a weekend of never leaving the bed. Sex and sleep sounded equally heavenly to me, but feeling the way I was feeling right now, that sleep was going to have to come before the sex. Although, I was sure that would change as soon as Blake had me in his arms.
Tiffany watched me carefully, her eyes narrowing slightly. “What’s wrong? Is there trouble in paradise?”
“No.” Things with Blake were perfect. They were going even better than I ever would have imagined. Long distance was hard, but we are making it work. “No trouble. I’m just not feeling very well.”
“I knew it,” Tiffany said triumphantly. “No one can run themselves ragged the way you’ve been doing and not feel it eventually. Take the day off. Go home, get in bed and don’t get up until the actual time you are supposed to be here tomorrow morning.”
“I can’t do that.” We had VIP guests checking in this afternoon, a vow renewal ceremony taking place on the beach tonight, and I was meeting with the chefs to go over the budget for a few luxury items they wanted to add to the menu. “There’s way too much to do here. I’ll be fine. I just need to walk around a little and get the blood flowing again. I thought I’d check in with everyone before I start doing the groundwork in my office.”
Tiffany put her hands on her hips. “I know you don’t want to hear this, but you are only human. You need some rest, and possibly some fluids—preferably in the form of a gallon of wine—and a chance to kick your feet up for once. Don’t make me call the boss on you.”
Chuckling, I imagined Blake’s reaction if Tiffany called to tell him she thought I was overworked and burning out. Once I imagined his reaction though, I realized he would probably agree with her that I needed to go home and take some time for myself.
I stopped laughing immediately. “You wouldn’t. Please don’t. He’s got enough on his mind as is. The last thing he needs is to be worried about me for no reason.”
She sighed but agreed. “If you’re not fee
ling better by tomorrow, stay home or I might actually just call him for real. If you won’t stay home for yourself, stay home for us. If you’re coming down with something, you don’t want to infect the rest of the staff.”
“Fair point,” I told her. It would be catastrophic if I ended up being contagious and inadvertently passed it on to the staff. We had tons of events coming up. There was the anniversary party tonight, a birthday and a bar mitzvah this week and a special tasting menu at the restaurant up on the deck on Friday night.
That was why the chefs wanted to discuss luxury items with me, they were putting a lot of effort into upping their game. With the hotel getting so much more attention, they wanted our restaurants to become renowned as well.
If they or any of their staff caught the flu or something now, they would never forgive me. Ever.
“Maybe you’re right,” I told Tiffany. “I’ll tell the chefs to email me what kind of budget they want instead of meeting with them, but I’ll tough it out a while longer. I can’t just go home because I might be coming down with something.”
“Fine,” she replied. “Promise me you’ll stay home tomorrow if you’re still not feeling well?”
“I promise I won’t be the start of a pandemic that will put an end to the good run we’ve been on lately.”
She laughed. “Okay, but remember I know who patient zero was if everyone starts getting sick.”
“Don’t quit your day job, comedian,” I teased, but if I was being honest, I did feel a bit like the ‘patient zero’ she mentioned.
Tiffany gave a mock little bow, saluted me and headed out with her coffee. I went back to my office and tried to get some work done, but I couldn’t focus on anything for more than ten seconds at a time. I was too tired. My movements felt sluggish and to top it off, I was starting to feel queasy. Something was definitely wrong with me.
As much as I didn’t want to admit defeat and surrender, I was in real danger of falling asleep on my keyboard or vomiting all over it. Eventually, I decided to save the rest of the staff from feeling like this and packed up to go home.
Once there, I made a cup of tea and grabbed a blanket, making myself a cozy little nest on the couch in my living room. I found a cheesy romantic comedy and even though I never cried while watching movies, found myself reaching for tissues a few times in this one.
It wasn’t even a good movie. I had no clue why it was reducing me to tears. The only explanation I had was that now that I had stopped running for the first time all month, I was missing Blake something awful and the weekend was too far away.
As the day wore on, I stayed tired no matter how many naps I took, and the queasiness only got worse. I always preferred to tough things out rather than take any medication, but I was feeling terrible and eventually gave in.
Walking into my bathroom, I rummaged through the cupboards to see if I had any nausea tablets. I was pretty sure I had some somewhere, but if I did they were bound to be buried away somewhere in the back.
As I was searching, I pushed a box of tampons out of my way. At that moment, I realized I couldn’t remember when my last period had been. I’d been so busy at work, I hadn’t even noticed I didn’t have it.
My blood suddenly ran cold in my veins. I was tired, nauseous, achy and obviously overly emotional, since I’d cried at that silly movie. Was it possible I was—oh no. It couldn’t be that.
I’d only ever been with Blake and we had always been careful, hadn’t we? I knew that condoms weren’t always one hundred percent effective, but the chances of them failing was so low. Although, in the vague recesses of my mind I remembered there had been one time just after he got back that—oh God.
One of the things I planned on speaking to Blake about this weekend was birth control. We hadn’t even gotten to that point in our relationship yet—so we couldn’t possibly be having a baby.
The thought was absurd, but I couldn’t explain away the symptoms. They were definitely there and getting worse.
“Shit,” I muttered and dropped to my knees on the floor. Once when I went shopping with Tiffany, she insisted that every self-respecting girl should have a vibrator and a stack of pregnancy tests in their house.
She told me that the last thing you would want to worry about if you ever thought a pregnancy test was necessary was running to the store to get one. At the time, I thought she was being ridiculous.
Right this minute, however, I was super grateful that I would be able to either confirm my suspicions or set my mind at ease right away. Finally finding the three tests she made me buy right at the very back of the cupboard, I pulled all three out and lined them up on the counter.
My hands were shaking as I picked up the first one. I undid the latch to open the box and shook the little pen looking stick out, followed by the instructions.
Five minutes. That was how long it was going to take to find out if my life was changing forever. I took the test as directed and laid it back on the counter face down.
The next five minutes passed at a snail’s pace. It felt like an eternity before the time came that I could turn it over and learn my fate. My heart stuttered and skipped and jumped when I saw the results. The other two tests came back the same as the first.
All I could hear in my head, playing over and over again, was Blake saying to lock him up in a madhouse if he ever had a son, followed by my joking promise to book the room the day that his baby mama found out she was pregnant.
It looked like I was going to have to make that call and get him that room, because all three tests were positive. I was pregnant with Blake’s child.
Fuck.
Chapter 46
Blake
My plane touched down in California late on Friday afternoon. I couldn’t deny that I’d never been happier to be there. It had been a damn long month without Aston and if I had to wait one more day to see her, my dick and my heart were both going to explode or go on strike.
Both organs were desperate to see her, and my brain had become obsessed as well. I planned on spending every waking minute with her this weekend, and to sleep next to her when we couldn’t be awake anymore.
There were only a few more things I had to take care of before I could shut down for the next few days and just spend time with my girl. One of them was to finish the conversation I was having with my father on my way to the hotel.
“We need to clean up in New York, Blake,” he was saying. “The situation there has been going on long enough and it’s high time to end it.”
I sighed and resisted the urge to squeeze my eyes shut. Since I was driving, letting them close was probably a bad idea. “I know, Dad. I’ll get it done. It’s on my to-do list for next week.”
“I could go myself,” my dad offered. “I could fly out and meet you there. It’s important we get this done right and fast. Your mom will understand.”
“Oh no you don’t,” I laughed, shooting down yet another attempt by my father to come back to work before his doctors had given him the all clear. “You need to stay home and focus on your recovery. Doctor Richards told me you were under strict orders to take it easy at least until your next checkup.”
“Doctor Richards doesn’t know what he’s talking about,” he grumbled. Over the past month it had become clear that while my dad wanted to spend more time at home with my mom, he would be back to work before he retired completely.
I still didn’t know if he would ever manage to retire for good, but while he was happy to let me run the company, he definitely wasn’t ready to retire yet. “Doctor Richards was the one who pulled you through this, so he has to know something.”
“But he doesn’t know that I really am ready to get back to work,” he protested before I heard my mom calling him in the background.
“New York is slipping, Blake,” he said urgently. Obviously, he was expecting my mother was going to tell him to get off the phone. “I won’t join you, but I need to know you are going to take care of this as soon as humanly possible.”
“You have my word,” I promised. “It’s my first priority for next week, now that we’ve gotten all the information we need.”
It had taken me a while to unravel everything Danny had done in his short stint as CEO, but I had finally managed to get a handle on everything that was happening in New York. It was even worse than I thought before, but Dad didn’t need to worry about that. I would get it done.
“You let me worry about work. All you need to do right now is get better so you can come back. I’ll let you know once it’s done,” I said firmly, knowing my dad was raring to get back to work, but trusting that he would listen to his doctors about when he might be able to do it.
If I knew my dad, he would surpass all expectations and be back in record time. But I would have to deal with Dustin and New York alone for now.
Next week.
This weekend, I wasn’t going to worry about anything or anyone but Aston.
After making a few more calls, I made sure the sky wasn’t going to fall while I took some down time over the weekend.
When I landed, I let Aston know I was on my way. She texted me back to tell me she was waiting for me in the suite I had booked for my arrival.
She lit up with a brilliant smile when I stepped into the room and opened my arms. “God, it’s good to see you.”
“The name is Aston, actually. Not God. But it’s good to see you, too.” She giggled as she stepped into me, embracing me like she was never going to let me go.
Good, because I felt the same way. Tilting her chin up with my finger, I grinned. “Smartass.”
She pushed up as I leaned down and our lips met in an explosive kiss that told me she had missed me as much as I‘d missed her. This woman was going to be the end of me. Somehow, I didn’t feel whole when I wasn’t with her.
I buried myself in work, but there was always a constant ache in my chest. Until I had her in my arms, and only then did everything feel okay again.