Forgetting Him

by Anna Belle

  After dinner, they went out on the large terrace on the second floor for some coffee.

  "I'd love to see all the farms." Nathan said as he looked over the vast field in front of the house.

  "I'd love to take you around all of them, but I'm not as young as I use to be." O'Conner answered with a smile.

  "Marie, would you keep me company?"

  "Why not?" She asked after a short pause. She thought that it would be a perfect opportunity to find out why he was really here.

  "So, are we gonna go or not?" He asked as he got up from the chair.

  "Well if you two are leaving, then I will go back to my office to finish up some work." O'Conner said.

  Marie got up from the chair and, together with Nathan, walked out of the house and took the nearest path that crossed the first farm.

  "I don't know how much this interests you." She started to talk as she felt the quiet air suffocating her.

  "Everything interests me." He answered with a smile.

  "This past year, we increased the size of this farm by another 2 acres." She added, turning away from him, staring at the roses that dotted the path.

  "The smell of roses here makes me think of you. You always seemed to take on their smell." He went off track as he took a short whiff of her long hair.

  Marie stiffened and backed away from him a bit.

  "You remember all of that?" She asked trying to seem like she didn't care while her heart beat rapidly in her chest.

  "I remember everything." He whispered in a soft voice.

  "I thought you wanted to see the farms." She said as she noticed how his eyes locked towards hers.

  "Yes, to see the farms and to find out what the most beautiful woman in Texas has been up to." He said on purpose, knowing how much it bothered her.

  "Very funny, none even remembers that anymore." She said, unsure of what she could tell him so that confident smirk on his face would be wiped away.

  "Yea, but I remember, just like I remember everything else."

  "Then I guess you remember how jealous you got when someone would tell me that." She said as she walked in front of him, not wanting to look him in the eyes.

  "I'll admit that, it hurt at times as well."

  "And you still continue to make fun of me for it?"

  "What can I said? It's in my blood."

  "Of course. Anyway, we should turn back now." She said as she felt unsure of being around him anymore.

  "I was surprised when they told me that you agreed to sell your part of the company." He brought it up all of a sudden, thinking that it would be the perfect gateway to find out what happened to her fiancé.

  "I didn't agree with it for a long time, but if I knew that they would send you to examine our company, then I would never have signed those papers." She admitted in one breath.

  "You were always so forward." He said with a smile. Her words didn't hurt him because he knew that her emotions were taking over. "And I was surprised that you weren't married." He added quickly after.

  Marie stopped and turned to face him.

  "That's my business and you're kidding yourself if you think I'll tell you anything about it!" She said in a fit of rage.

  "You're all red." He touched her cheek softly as she swatted his hand away. "Now you really look like a rose."

  "Next time ..." She started, unsure of what to even tell him. She was so angry that she wished that she could just run away and disappear forever.

  "Yea ..." He calmly waited for her to finish her sentence. He loved these moments, where she was completely and utterly speechless. She looked so beautiful to him at that moment that if it wasn't for his pride, he would bring her close to him, hug her and cover her in soft kisses.

  "From now on, me and you only talk about business." She said as she pointed her finger towards him.

  Nathan barely kept his laughter hidden, knowing that it would just push her further into rage.

  The walk was over, he walked with her back home, watched her as she walked confidently and thought a bit about the days that passed him and a bit about the days that were coming.

  Chapter 11

  The next day, Nathan and Marie pulled up into the parking lot at the same time. With a smirk on his face, Nathan got out of the car.

  "Good morning, Marie." He said as he hurried to catch up to her.

  "Good morning Mr. Greco." She said with a cold tone as she hurried her steps.

  "Marie, you weren't actually serious when you told me that it'll be strictly business between us? The whole "Mr. Greco" thing sounds weird."

  "Everything I said I meant, Mr. Greco." She said as she stopped for a second, getting him to catch up to her before continuing towards the elevator.

  "I don't understand, was that suppose to be some kind of threat or something?" He asked jokingly.

  "Understand it any way you wish." She said as she waved her hand, stepped into the elevator and clicked the "door close" button.

  Nathan stood there dumbfounded as the elevator doors closed in front of his face.

  Up in the office, they both crossed each other's paths in the hallway. She was talking with some colleagues and pretended like she didn't see him, while he, with a very serious look on his face, pretended to understand what the IT guy was telling him.

  Nathan tried his best to make sure that they would meet each other numerous times in the office. He would often try to "accidentally" grab her shoulder, or bump into her without anyone else at the office thinking that anything was happening between the two of them.

  Without even noticing, he touched her hair. His dark eyes met her green eyes.

  "Don't touch me." She said through gritted teeth.

  "I almost forgot how nice it felt to do that." He said in a hushed tone so only the two of them could hear it.

  "And you'll never know again."

  Happily, with a smile on his face, he turned around and continued to listen to the IT engineer.

  A few moments later, they found each other in the break room.

  He saw Marie talking to a colleague while she prepared some coffee, he noticed how soft and delicate her hands looked. He heard how she complained about the fact that rarely anyone in the office makes new coffee once it runs out.

  As she saw him, she put on a more serious demeanor. Once again, under her long and thick eyelashes, she watched his every move. She noticed that he watched her just as intently. At once, her cheeks became rosy again. She felt how his looks sent her body in spell of intense heat which bothered her and made her weak.

  Marie felt the secrets that were hidden behind the looks that they exchanged. Every time she met his dark eyes, a small smile would part her lips against her will. Her eyes gave her away the most, in them you could see how badly she ached for him.

  Knowing how crazy it use to make him, Marie would run her fingers through her hair, touch her neck and face, all while locking her deep green eyes on him. Every one of her movements seemed deliberate, seductive and erotic.

  Nathan, once again, tried to go past her. He didn't say anything to her, because that wasn't even necessary, his body was telling her everything he didn't.

  The third time they met in front of her office. He arrived at the same moment when one of the employees gave logistics information for the next shipment from the farms.

  "Can I see them as well?" He asked as he placed his hand on Marie's at the same time as she grabbed the papers from the woman.

  His warm touch sent anxious shivers through her body, making her face blush in an instant. She tried her best to look at him.

  "And, what do you think?" The woman asked.

  "It looks good." He said, as he moved his eyes from the papers back up to Marie.

  As he handed the papers back to go Marie, her lips parted in an open smile.

  He looked at her and felt his body shiver, his skin pop with goosebumps and his mind race with anticipation. In those moments he only wished to kiss her and quiet his hunger for her soft lip
s.

  "Great work, it looks amazing." Marie said as she looked over the papers quickly, paying hardly any attention to them.

  "Thank you." The woman answered as she smiled and walked away.

  Marie turned to head back into her office but she felt a warm breath run through her hair.

  "I need you." Nathan whispered.

  Their lips were only a few centimeters apart. The air between their head was electric, the chemistry undoubted.

  She felt the blood rush through her veins. She felt the warmth spread through her body and climb into her head, she quickly stiffened, scared by the rush she felt from him, she moved away. She turned around and looked at him with her glossy gaze, which wanted to confirm if what she heard was true or if it was something that she only wished she heard.

  His answer was one unmistakable smile and uncountable look, from which she felt shivers run down her spine.

  When Nathan left her in front of her office, Marie shook her head, almost as if she was coming back from a trance.

  "Gorgeous," she heard the secretary say.

  "What is?"

  "Mr. Greco. He's so handsome and ambitious, definitely husband material." She said as she took a deep breath.

  Marie turned around and walked into her office, closing the door behind her. At that moment, she only had one wish, to never again see Nathan again. For every moment that she spent with him, it took every ounce of her willpower to not throw herself willingly into his arms.

  Chapter 12

  The next few days, Nathan and Marie only met each other in passing.

  "Good afternoon, Mr. Greco." She would tell him.

  "Good afternoon to the most beautiful woman in Texas." He would answer her back with a smile.

  He could hear her getting frustrated as he turned away from her and walked down the hallway. She would kill him for his playful comments, if she could.

  He planned to bump into her as soon as he was done going over the company's books. As much as he loved teasing her, he was there to get some work done as well.

  That day, the same story continued to play out. At the same time as he was stepping into O'Conner's office, she was stepping out.

  "It seems my work day consists of mainly seeing you, it would be nice if it continued that way even after work." He said as he stood in the doorway, blocking her way out.

  "What're you implying?" She asked aggressively.

  "Nothing really, I just like to remember the time when you'd run away from your home and into my bedroom and under my covers." He said with a smile as he noticed how red her face turned.

  He used that opportunity to lean down and give her a quick kiss on the lips.

  "Why did you do that for ?" She managed to get out as her heart raced.

  Her eyes were wide open. She couldn't believe that he would kiss her and that, even for a moment, she kissed him back and felt the anxiousness build up in her stomach. She couldn't believe that all of that was happening at the door of her father's office, or the fact that he would have the guts to stop her just as she was leaving.

  "It helped me bring back some long lost memories." He said as he went in for another kiss.

  "Don't you dare!" She threatened him as she pointed her finger towards him. Her lips were red and her eyes fiery.

  Nathan calmly grabbed her extended hand, opened the clenched fist and gently kissed the palm. She just watched him, dumbfounded. Her entire body shook from that one kiss. Her body felt like warm electric waves washed over her thousands of times, covering her completely.

  "The door to my office and my house is always open for you." He said as he cherished the fact that she was speechless.

  "You're dreaming, Mr. Greco." She woke up from her gaze, stepped around him and disappeared down the hallway.

  He turned around him and, since nobody was around and the door to O'Conner's office was now closed, laughed out loud. Before he opened the door to O'Conner's office, he fixed his attire and put on a much more serious, business-like face.

  "I almost forgot." O'Conner remembered as Nathan was already preparing to leave his office.

  "Yes?" He turned around.

  "Tomorrow, around five, we have business partners coming from Chicago and we planned to make a small presentation for them. I hope you will be there as well."

  "Thank you for letting me know, I'll be there." He promised.

  "Five o'clock, in the main conference room."

  Chapter 13

  Nathan came to the presentation, but he didn't hear anything that they were saying. He sat right next to Marie, taking in deep breaths of her attractive smell and he only thought about how he could get her to notice him.

  "You changed your perfume." He whispered to her.

  "Oh, God!" She rolled her eyes. She crossed her arms on her chest and looked at him in boredom.

  "Admit that you did it because I told you that I loved this smell on you." He played with her.

  "This had nothing to do with you." She whispered as she turned around to see if anyone noticed.

  She noticed that Bruce was focused on the presentation and wasn't paying any attention to her, which worked out perfectly for her.

  "Marie." He whispered to her again.

  "What do you want?" She almost screamed at him. But, as she noticed people around her turning around to glance at them, she put her finger towards her lips to tell him to keep quiet.

  "Come outside if you can and I'll tell you." He said.

  "I'm not playing games with you Nathan."

  "This isn't a game." he said as he placed his hand over hers.

  "What are you doing?" She pulled her hand away quickly as if his very touch burned her.

  She hated that she had to whisper and pretend like nothing was going on. She would have loved to scream at him, to tell him all that was on her mind.

  Nathan just smiled and watched her, pretending to not understand what she was talking about. He pointed towards a man that was saying something, who at that moment looked at the two of them. She instantly put on a serious face, smiled, and nodded her head like she had been listening the entire time.

  "You'll pay for this!" She seethed under clenched teeth.

  "I'll wait for you." He said as he got up and slowly sneaked out of the large room. He easily moved through all the chairs and disappeared through the door.

  She remained in her chair and watched him curiously as he made his way to the end. Who does he think he is, she asked herself. She continued to sit, but she couldn't pay attention anymore. She leaned from one hand to the other, looked from one face to the next and wondered if he was really waiting for her or not.

  With thoughts of all that she had to say to him, she moved through the people and went out of the room. There was none in the hallway.

  Her heart began to beat faster as her stomach began to turn on itself.

  She made her way down the hallway that would take her out of the building. At the end of that hallway, she felt his hand on her waist as he pulled her to the side.

  He smiled and put his fingers to her lips, telling her to be quiet. She found herself in his arms, her eyes were lost in the depth of his and even if she wanted to, she couldn't say anything to him.

  He bent down a bit and kissed her. That was one fiery kiss, one which she willingly gave into and returned.

  "Let's go back and fix what happened before." He said in a cracked voice, anxious from having her so close to him.

  "No, this is crazy!" She tried to force herself out of his strong hands.

  "Marie..." He murmured her name as he massaged his lips against hers.

  "This shouldn't have happened!" She whispered excitedly. The feelings that flowed through her as he kissed her scared her.

  "But it happened and it'll happen again." He gently caressed her cheek, wanting to take all the fear and doubt from her beautiful face.

  "Never again." She said suddenly as she pushed herself away from him. "You will NEVER try this again." She threatened as
she turned around and left the building, leaving him alone.

  "But why?" He asked her in a soft voice as the door closed behind her.

  Chapter 14

  This time, instead of going head first into uncomfortable situations, Nathan decided that he would open up his ears more to the "talks" around the office. He wanted to make sure that he got every juicy detail of what was happening in his colleagues lives.

  Among the more mundane details, he overheard the fact that Marie has been dating an engineer called Bruce.

  At that very moment, he decided to go talk to her in her office. With his folders in his hands and a face which seemed cold, but hid the anxiousness he felt in his guts, he knocked on her office door and entered without waiting for a reply.

  "It's you." She rolled her eyes. "Good afternoon Mr. Greco." She said as she began packing her things, ready to leave the office as fast she could.

  "I see that you're very happy to see me."

  "You need something?" She lifted her beautiful head to look at him.

  With her fingers, she moved the few strands of hair that slipped across her face. She seemed very disinterested and business oriented.

  "I need your help with these documents." He threw the folders on the table in front of her.

  "I'm in a hurry, but if it can't wait ..."

  "It can't." He cut her off.

  Marie opened the folders and looked at the papers.

  "Hmm, ok, I still don't understand why it's so urgent." She said as she looked over the papers.

  "I came to an understanding that nothing has changed around here." He said as he put his hands on her table and leaned in towards her. His eyes bore into hers.

  "What do you mean?"

  "I heard that you're dating one of the engineers." He said, more angrily than he intended.

  "That's my own business."

  "I'm just curious if Bruce noticed the different taste on your lips when you left the presentation yesterday." He said with a smirk.

  "You're lucky that he didn't, because if knew, he'd kill you." She said in a cold voice.