by A. K. Steel
Elena
I can't believe what he’s telling me. This is something that you read about in some trashy magazine, not the story of someone you care about. How could his mother do that to them? His poor dad, with everything he’s been through. First her taking off with some other guy, only to then find out his son wasn’t his. You never would have known, he worked his arse off to do all he could for Fraser. I remember how hard he used to work. He didn’t want Fraser to go without anything, he adored him. I wipe away the tears that have escaped down my face.
“What your mother did to you and your dad is just awful, Fraser. I’m so glad you're seeing someone to work through it all. I wouldn’t even know where to start if I had found out something like that about my family. You're a good man, and you deserve a good life. I hope you can get some clarity working with her.”
His sad eyes rise to meet mine, “But?”
“But I don’t understand why you didn’t come to see me. I would have been right by your side to help, in any way you needed.”
“I don’t know, Elly, I was embarrassed. Look at your perfect family, then look at mine. I didn’t know how to process it all myself, let alone tell you about it. The best part of my family was my dad, and I’m not even related to him.”
“Yeah, but he raised you and you take after him more than you know.”
“Elly, I know this is asking a lot of you after what I did, but do you think we can try again? I miss you. Not having you in my life is torture. I don’t know how to do this without you.” He wraps his arms around me, pulling me into a hug, and the tears are back. I rest my head in the crook of his neck where it fits so perfectly, and we cry.
I don't know how much time passes. After a while I pull back. I’m so sad for him but still so angry as well.
“I have missed you too. I mean, look at me, I'm a mess without you. But I don’t think you know how awful this was for me. I’m going through shit too. I’ve been so worried about my dad, and I needed you. We're supposed to be in this together. How can I ever trust you not to just up and leave when times get hard? And don’t even get me started on Shea.”
He snaps his head back to me. The look on his face says it all. Something happened there.
“What about Shea?”
“She told me at the auction you two were sleeping together!”
“She said what?" He’s up pacing back and forth now, running his fingers through his hair. I can tell he’s agitated. "We’re not, Elly, we didn’t... you can ask Blake, it didn't happen. I didn’t even kiss her.” He’s dropped his head now, deep in thought. “If I’m being completely honest, I could have... I was really drunk that night and I had given up all hope that I could fix things between us. It could have happened, but Blake stopped me.”
“Wow, Blake saves the day again. You really do owe him!” Is he kidding; he could have slept with her? I mean, I know we had broken up but that fucking hurts.
“Yeah, I know! I’m sorry, Elly, I wasn’t thinking straight, and I was very drunk. I knew I had already fucked up with you, I thought I couldn’t make it any worse.”
“You were thinking with your dick! I don't know what to say, Fraser. I think the hurt runs too deep. I love you, I always have, but how do we come back from this?”
He walks back over to the lounge and sits right in front of me, holding both my hands. I don’t pull away. I want his touch, not giving in to him is killing me as much as it is him. All I want to do is take him back and kiss those irresistible lips of his. But I’m not some pushover that will just jump when he says so. Just because he is ready. I need time to process all of this and work out what I want. Work out how I want my life to look.
“You just need time and so do I. I’ve stopped drinking completely, and I’m going to keep working with my psychologist. I'm not turning out like my mum. But if you give me time to work this all out, I promise I can be the man you deserve.”
“Let's just go back to being friends and see how we go. I can't make any promises for anything else, but I want you as part of my life, Fraser.”
He smiles up at me, “Okay.” He kisses me on the cheek. “I’ll give you as much time as you need.” He pulls away and walks to the door, before stopping to turn back to me. “This time I’ll wait for you, though, Elly, no fucking around. There will never be anyone else for me but you, and I’ll be waiting for you when you're ready.”
He walks out the door, and I burst into tears again. This is too much to process. I’m still so angry with him for the way he handled it, but my heart hurts for him and what he’s going through. I have loved him for a long time. Those feelings don't just go away because you’re angry.
Chapter Twenty-Six
Fraser
The rain is really coming down out there today. It’s one of those dark and gloomy days where it feels like it should be time to go home already, but it's only noon. My office is so dark I have the pendant light on and the lamp over my desk. I’ve been staring out the window for a while, going over my conversation with Elly last night. Getting any actual work done seems impossible today.
It stung that she didn’t take me back and wants to just be friends for now, but I understand where she's coming from. She needs time, and I’m going to give her all the time she needs, but she’d better understand I’m not going to give up on her. She will be mine again. One of the things she brought up stuck with me: Shea. I have been avoiding dealing with her since we came home drunk, but there's no avoiding dealing with her any longer.
I need to talk to Shea and she's not going to like what I have to say! Finding out that she’s been spreading rumours, especially to Elly, is the last straw. Elly’s my priority now.
I messaged Shea first thing this morning to book a meeting, she should be here shortly. Blake has offered to sit in on the meeting, just to make sure she doesn't pull any stunts. I need this to run smoothly. We don't want to make an enemy out of her, but she needs to know where I stand.
I hear Claudia greet her at the front desk, “Good afternoon, welcome to The Green Door. Can I help you?”
“No, I’m here to see Fraser, he knows I’m coming,” Shea barks, rudely dismissing her. I can hear her power walking down the hall with her heels tapping along our floorboards. She walks everywhere like she's on a mission.
“Fraser, you wanted to see me?” She walks into my office, standing her umbrella by the door, and takes a seat. She’s dressed in a short body-fitting dress with her tits on full display. You can tell she means business, and I’m not talking about anything to do with real estate.
“Yes, thanks for coming. Sorry for the late notice. I’ll just grab Blake so he can join us for this meeting.”
“I’m sure we can work whatever this is out ourselves, you don’t need to bother Blake.”
“That's okay, it's not a bother to him, and it's a business matter so he wanted to be included.”
I walk into his office, “Shea’s here for the meeting.”
“No worries, I’ll be right there.” He follows me in and takes a seat beside me.
“So, what's all this about then, boys?” she says. Sitting tall in her chair, one leg crossed over the other, her hands resting on her lap tapping her long red nails impatiently. Her eyes look between me and Blake.
“Shea, we both appreciate the wonderful job you do for us every time we need a property sold, and the past 12 months have been a pleasure working with you, but going forward, we have decided to go in a different direction for all of our sales. We feel it's best for the company.”
She stiffens in her chair and her eyes go straight to me. “What? What are you talking about? You know I’m the best agent around. How could anyone else be better for the job than me?” Now she looks pissed, and I’m sure if it weren't for all the Botox injections in her forehead it would be wrinkled with concern.
“That you are, the way you work and get the best price every time is nothing short of impressive. I’m sure you will be very busy with the upcoming spring season, b
ut at this time, we have decided it’s just best for the company to go another way moving forward.”
“Nothing to do with what happened the other week then?” she sneers. Her eyes are still fixed on mine. She's furious. You can practically see the steam coming from her ears.
“Let's keep this professional, hey,” cautions Blake.
She whips her head over to look at Blake. “Blake, I think it's time for you to leave. This is clearly more than just business, and I need to talk to Fraser in private. Close the door on your way out.”
He looks back to me and I nod. “Okay, I’ll be in my office if you need me.” He gets up and walks back into his office, leaving the door open.
Shea gets up from her seat and makes her way over to me, sitting on my desk and crossing one leg over the other. The way she moves is very calculated. This woman is used to getting what she wants, and she's happy to use her body to make that happen. She leans over, giving me a full view down her top. “So, what’s really going on with you, Fraser?” she says, placing her hand on my arm. “You bring me back to your place the other week, I thought we were having a good time until Blake put a stop to it. Is he into you or something?”
“That's a definite no!”
“I thought we were finally getting somewhere. It's been clear how into me you are, and after the last year flirting with each other, I knew it was only a matter of time before we ended up together. Then you don’t respond to my messages, and now this! Trying to block me out completely. What's going on?” She looks really upset. I didn’t even see it from her perspective before.
“I’m sorry, Shea, it was never going to happen with us. I’m in love with someone else. I was in a really bad place that night, and I’m sorry it went as far as it did. I didn’t mean for you to get caught up in my mess. One of the reasons I just don’t think we should work together anymore. Lines have been blurred, and we can't keep it professional anymore, don’t you think?”
She removes her hand from my arm like I have just burnt her. “I think I see pretty clearly how it is, Fraser... what, you’re back with little miss goody two-shoes and she's told you not to work with me anymore? Is that what’s going on here?”
“No, Shea, it's just what I said, simple as that. Now, unless there is anything business-related to discuss, I think this meeting is done. Don’t you?”
She's mad, I can tell, but she hops off my desk, smooths out her dress, and turns to me with a glare I have never seen from her before. “You will regret this decision, Fraser. No one dismisses me like this. It doesn’t work like that in this town.” She grabs her umbrella and struts out of my office as fast as she can.
What the fuck was that look? Now I believe the rumours. She’s a total bitch when she doesn't get her own way. I mean, what could she actually do, anyway? I have as much pull in this town as she does. She's just all talk, and other than a couple of loose ends we need to tie up with the Broken Point townhouses, I shouldn’t have to deal with her again, and hopefully, that will be the end of it.
Elena
Indie and I ceremonially hang up our aprons and give each other a high five as Rachel closes the front door. Today is our last shift at the café. We have officially resigned, with more work than we can handle coming our way in our styling business. It was time, and I can honestly say I will not miss this place.
Well, maybe some of the customers. Tristan and I have become quite good friends and seeing his smiling face as he walks through the café makes my day. He’s back in the dating game and has been coming into the café regularly to give me updates on his terrible dates. He has worse luck than me! The rest of it, like the bloody coffee machine that hates me and that mothers’ group that insists on coming in every Wednesday morning with screaming toddlers, I will not miss one bit.
Rachel, the café owner, has organised a bit of a party for us after we closed today. We make our way to the courtyard out the back to see a golden ‘Good Luck’ sign, hanging from two branches on the old tree.
“Girls, I’m going to miss you, this place will not be the same without your smiling faces. No new staff will compare. I have no idea what I’m going to do without you.”
We both hug her. “Good luck with your new business,” she tells us, “don’t forget about us when you get rich and famous.”
We laugh. “I’m pretty sure we're not going to get rich and famous. Keep our positions open, we might be back within the month,” I laugh.
Indie bumps me with her hip. “Not this time, Elly, we’ve got this.”
“I’m sure you two will be amazing.” Rachel smiles warmly. “Now let’s celebrate with some cake.”
I’m pretty sure her speech was aimed at Indie. She's been here a lot longer than me and she was Rachel’s right-hand gal. She's going to be lost without her. She’s also made the most delicious black forest cake, like the one she did for my birthday. I’m secretly hoping there’ll be some left after the party so we can take it home with us. It's the first thing I have eaten in weeks that hasn’t made me feel sick.
Indie is chatting to Luca, and Tristan has come along with him. They have just arrived. Tristan's eyes go straight to me. He mutters something to Luca then walks through the party over to where I’m sitting, with that same cheeky smile on his face.
“Hey, Elly.” He smiles warmly.
“Hey, Tris,” I say, throwing my arms around him in a hug. “Thought you would have something better to do with your Saturday afternoon than come to our farewell party, like a ridiculously bad date to be on or something.”
“What's the point when I won't have my favourite barista to tell the story to on Monday?”
“True, you’ll have to make friends with the new girls, but they won't be as much fun.”
His dark eyes are locked with mine. He’s really intense today. Why do I get the feeling something is different with him? “Or as beautiful, I’m sure.” I blush instantly at his kind words. Shit, something has changed, we’re back on this.
“I’m sure they will be better at making coffee, that machine can’t hate them as much as it does me!” I laugh, trying to break the tension he’s creating. What's going on with him today? Ever since that double date we had, it’s been just friendship, nothing else.
“Why do you do that, Elly? Deflect the compliment I give you by putting yourself down?”
“I don’t know, I guess I don’t really know what to say when you give me a compliment like that.”
“Say thank you. Do you even know what you do to me?” He runs his hands through his hair in frustration, his eyes are back fixed on me. “Let me take you out again.”
“You're asking me out again?” I gasp in surprise.
“Why not? It's been enough time for you to get over your ex, and we clearly have fun when we’re together. There’s more than just friendship here, Elly, I know you can feel it too,” he says, picking up my hands and pulling me closer to him. I can see the hunger in his eyes, but I can't do this with him. I take a step back, dropping his hands.
“I’m sorry if I’ve led you on, Tris, but this is just friendship for me. I can’t do anything more than that.”
He now looks pissed, “So it's true then? You're back with him?”
“No, where did you hear that?”
“It's a small town, people talk, and that's what they're saying.”
“I’m not, but we're trying to work things out. We have a lot of history, it's complicated.”
“I can’t be friends with you anymore, Elly,” he says sadly.
“I’m sorry, Tris, that's all I can do.” I really am sorry. I like him, just not the way he wants me to.
“Guess I’ll see you around then, Elly.” He turns with a deflated smile.
“I’m sorry, Tris,” I call after him.
He walks away and I feel so bad, but it's just not going to happen between us. I’m in love with someone else.
I need more cake. I cut another slice and move to sit at the table under the big fig tree. The cake will ma
ke me feel less guilty. I’ve gone from feeling completely alone, wondering what’s wrong with me, to fighting them off when I just want to be alone. “How did we get here, Elly, how did it all get so complicated?” I mutter to myself.
I laugh to myself at how fucked up the timing in life can be sometimes. Then I realise I’m in public. Indie’s probably right, I must be ready for that straitjacket. I'm not just talking to myself but laughing out loud. I must look completely crazy.
I don’t know what Tristan's heard and who from, but we’re not back together yet. I know it's what Fraser wants, and after what he told me the other day, I can't stop thinking about it. All my heart hurts for him.
I feel bad I haven’t reached out to him. What he’s going through is heavy and he and his dad have a lot to work through. I’m just not ready to go back to what we were just yet. I know it's selfish, but I need this time to sort out my own life, just like he needs time to work through his past.
Now’s my time to work out my life by myself. I need to know I can do this on my own, not have to always rely on a guy to follow through life. When I’m ready, if Fraser’s still interested, I will give it another go with him, but only on my terms.
But starting something up with someone else, even if he’s as good-looking and nice as Tristan, is a bad idea when I know my heart lies with Fraser, it always has. It makes me sad that I can't keep Tristan as a friend, but I also understand sometimes it’s just too hard.
Indie leaves Luca’s side and comes to sit next to me.
“You okay, chick? We saw Tristan take off, what happened?”
“He wanted more than just friendship. I can’t give him that, I was just being honest with him. Now I feel terrible.”