Enemies To Lovers: A Second Chance Romance Series (Book 3)

by Wood, Lauren

  Dina had that pity look on her face and I didn't like to see it. I didn't want her to pity me. I didn't even really care if people understood me. But I was trying something new and I told her a little bit about the situation.

  “So you really loved this guy, didn’t you?”

  I agreed that I did. “I think he was the first and maybe only person, I’ve ever really loved.

  “That's pretty deep, Lisa. Are you sure that you don't want to work things out with him? Maybe you just need some closure.”

  The last thing I needed was closure. What I needed was for him to just go away, so that I didn't have to think about him. How was I supposed to do better and be a better person when the main reason that I had gone towards the dark side was in front of me? I just needed to get away from him and it wasn't going to be possible at the moment. At the moment, I was supposed to go to work with him on Monday and I couldn't even imagine that. How in the world was I supposed to just let it all go?

  “No, I don't think I need that at all. For some reason my father hired him and I'm going to have to see him Monday morning at work. I don't even know what position he has, but from what he said, it's pretty high up.”

  “Wow, I can't even imagine that.”

  “What I can’t imagine is that my father would even hire him to begin with. When we were dating and I was in love with him, my father found out about it and told me that I had to break up with him. More than once. He actually at one point, said that he was going to cut me out financially if I didn't find someone more suitable.”

  Dina looked over at Frank. “More suitable than that?”

  I waved her off, because she didn't seem to understand much about my family. But truthfully she did. She had her own family that did the exact same thing. When a woman came from such a well-known name, it became very clear very early on that they were expected to do more and to marry better.

  “Back then, he wasn't what he is now. He did not have all this money obviously and he didn't come from a very wealthy family. He was playing football, on a full ride scholarship, and my dad said that he was another charity case. Of course he didn't realize what was going to come of Frank. I always knew that he would do something great.”

  The emotions were too much and I felt my voice break. Why did I care so much?

  Wetness that ran down my eyes just made me even more upset and I brushed them off angrily. I wasn't going to let him get to me. He had made me cry many years ago when he embarrassed me, but I was never going to let him do that again. I had always promised myself that I would never allow anybody to treat me badly like he did again.

  Dina gave me a hug and most of the time, I would have just pushed it away but she was different. I had learned a lot from her, and even though I knew I had a lot more to learn, she had helped me immensely.

  “The wedding was so beautiful, Dina. Thank you for having me. I think I'm going to take off though. I think I've had enough fun for one night. I wish you guys all the best. I really do.”

  Dina smiled and kind of shook her head. “I never thought that we would be in this kind of place.”

  “I know. It's kind of crazy, but I'm glad that we're friends.”

  “Me too.”

  I left the wedding not long after that, because I said all the goodbyes that I needed to. One person that I avoided was Frank. I wasn't ready to have any kind of conversation with him. What I wanted to do was get home and get some sleep. It had turned into an extremely long day.

  There was a heavy knock at the door Sunday morning, and when I looked at the clock, it was only nine o'clock in the morning. That was too early for me, especially since the weekend was the only days that I didn't have to wake up at six o'clock in the morning.

  “Who is it?”

  I hollered through the house as I was getting my clothes on. I didn’t know who it was, but I didn’t want to talk to anyone. I knew that much for sure.

  When I got to the door, it was a man holding flowers. The delivery guy asked if I was Lisa and he handed me the flowers.

  “Thank you, but I didn’t know I had some coming.”

  “There is a note in there. Would you like me to read it to you?”

  I disagreed, because there was no telling who they were from. I thanked him, gave him a few dollars for a tip and then smelled the roses that were in the vase. It was a pretty arrangement, but I swear, I was looking at it like it might blow up. Why did someone send me flowers?

  The note was folded in half and had butterflies on the front. They’d always been my favorite and now my curiosity was peaked. I had no idea who had sent them, but they must know me pretty well. Then I saw the name on the card. I almost threw them away. Of course it would be Frank.

  ‘I hope that you can forgive me. I hope that we could go back to the way things used to be. Love, Frank.’

  Now I felt like I wanted to be sick and I pushed the vase away from me. Not only had it ruined my mood so early in the morning, but it got me out of bed as well.

  I heard another knock at the door and I sighed loudly to myself. There was no way that Frank should even know where I live. This better not be him.

  7

  Lisa

  “What?!”

  I opened the door so quickly because I was so sure that it would be Frank on the other side of it. I don't know what came over me and I don't even know what I was going to say to him when I confronted him, but that was exactly what happened on my mind.

  “Chill out, geez. I was just coming to say good morning.”

  “I'm sorry.”

  This time it was out of relief. The last thing I wanted to see in the morning was Frank and the roses with a card with his name on it, had been bad enough. I don't think I could have taken him in person. Not today.

  I moved out of the way so that Angie could get in and she asked me who I was pissed at so early in the morning.

  “You would not believe the day that I've had.”

  “It's nine o'clock in the morning, Lisa. How bad can it be?”

  The thing with Angie was, that even though she was my cousin, we have been raised as siblings and I didn't have to say anything more to her about it. I just handed her the card and watched her face change as she read it. There was a bit of shock on her face, just like I knew was on mine.

  “You can't be serious?”

  “No, I am. Can you believe that?”

  “No, I really can't. Why in the world would Frank send you roses? What happened that I obviously don't know about?”

  I told her about the wedding and Angie told me that it was strange enough that I went to it to begin with. I had to agree, but at the same time I was happy that I had made my amends with Dina and John. I still felt bad about all of that.

  * * *

  I'm glad I went to the wedding, but I wouldn't have gone if I had known Frank was going to be there. As soon as I saw him, I swear my stomach dropped and I tried to literally run away. Do you know how long it's been since I felt that way?”

  “Ten years. That was when you stopped feeling anything, Lisa. Frank really did a number on you. So why is he sending you flowers now? Is it just because he saw you at the wedding? I feel like I’m still missing something.”

  I told her about the short confrontation and she was all for it, telling me that it was good that I got it out.

  “But you haven't heard the worst part.”

  “It gets worse than seeing your ex that destroyed your life ten years ago?”

  I shook my head in agreement.

  “Well lay it on me, cuz. What happened?”

  “Well, he also told me that my father hired him into the company. Not just that, he hired him into the branch that I work in.”

  Her face dropped and her eyes got a little bit wider and it made me feel better, because that was exactly how I had reacted to it as well. I was still in shock if I was honest with myself. I knew that my next step today was going to be going to my parents’ house, but I wasn't looking forward to that at all.
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  “Are you kidding?”

  “I wish I was. I really do. I don't know what to even think about this. If I'm honest with myself, I feel like my own family has betrayed me. They gave me such a hard time when it came to Frank and now, they are completely fine with it. It just doesn't make any sense to me.”

  I could tell that she agreed with me and that was all I needed to hear. I felt like at least somebody was in my corner, because she knew about our past and everything. I wasn’t crazy for feeling this way. The man had done all kinds of things to me and I think he had changed me completely.

  “So what are you going to do, Lisa?”

  I just kind of shrugged because that wasn't something I really had an answer for. I took a sip of coffee that she had brought in and sighed. “I think right now, all I'm going to do is drink some coffee and try to wrap my head around it. I'm not really looking forward to seeing him tomorrow.”

  “I bet not. Do you want me to come in with you?”

  I waved her off and told her that she didn't need to. Angie was pretty protective of me, which was kind of funny, because she was at least six inches shorter than me. She was tiny, but she was mean, and I thought about it a little bit longer and harder than I should have. Of course I didn't need her help. I had spent all this time becoming a strong independent woman for a reason. I could handle Frank, even if he made every single bone in my body ache.

  The more we talked, the more I was able to relax. Angie was single and she understood how crazy it was in the dating pool. Not just that, she had her own heartbreaking relationship and it changed her as well. It made us bond and feel closer to each other. There was nothing like shared experience to really drive a point home. It also made us feel like we weren't alone.

  Finally she got me out of my funk that I didn't even realize I was in and we decided to go out for lunch. Knowing that Frank was somewhere lurking around the city, even though it was big, didn't make me feel any better. My luck had run out when it came to Frank.

  I didn’t think much about it the rest of the day. Angie grabbed a few friends and we made our way out to the beach. It was later in the season, so there weren’t a lot of people. But since the weather had been so hot, it was still a beautiful day.

  We stayed most of the day there, having a bonfire when it started getting dark. It was the perfect ending to a rather emotional and stressful weekend. I was able to put all of my cares aside and think less about the fact that I was going to have to come face to face with Frank again, real soon.

  8

  Frank

  I sent the flowers, to hopefully send an olive branch to my new employee. She didn’t realize yet that not only did her dad hire me, but he hired me for the position right above her. As mad as she got just from seeing and hearing that I would be working in the same building as her, I couldn't imagine how upset she was going to be if she found out the rest.

  Now that I was in the building though, realizing that I was going to be right next to her office, I realized that this probably was the worst way for her to find out. I had tried to smooth things over with her so it wouldn't be so awkward, but it really wasn't possible. She would not listen to any sort of reason and once again, I really don't blame her for it. I knew damn well she had her reasons.

  As I waited for the rest of the office to get there, I sat in my own office and tried to get my mind right. Since seeing Lisa again, I wasn't able to eat right, play or even sleep right. I wanted to spend every waking moment with her, nothing else mattered.

  When I was young, virile, I wanted to spend my life playing a game I loved, and it was hard for me to give it all up on love. Love was something that would come again. I was so sure of it then. I questioned everything, my feelings and emotions towards her. In the end, I had to do it so publicly, I had to break her heart, because I knew that it was the only way that we would be apart. I had to make it so she would never want to be with me again and in doing so, I had screwed my future without even realizing it. Now I wanted all of those things back and I didn't think I would be able to get them.

  I saw Lisa walk in. I had left the door open because her father wanted me to have a meeting with everyone, just to introduce myself.

  She stopped when she saw my nameplate on the door. It was a change that must have happened over the weekend because it hadn't been here when her father had showed me the office when he hired me. Lisa was instantly mad, and I actually braced myself for attack because I figured it was coming. If the meeting at the wedding had anything to do with it, I was expecting her teeth and claws again.

  Instead of coming into my office though, she went right to the source. Lisa jerked the door open to her father's office and shut it rather loudly. It wasn't exactly slammed, but no care was taken for the noise level. I started to wonder if the offices were soundproof. Very quickly, me and pretty much everybody else on the floor, realized that it wasn't.

  “You hired him as my boss?! Are you fucking kidding me?!”

  I had never known Lisa to curse very much, but she seemed very open to it now. She was speaking these words to her father after all and I was in shock.

  “Now calm down, Lisa. This is not the time or place for this.”

  “It's going to have to be, father. You did not even tell me about this. You did not think to warn me.”

  “You were supposed to see Frank at the wedding. I figured that you two kids would work things out.”

  There was a sound of frustration and then nothing. The silence was damning and definitely not the same time. I wanted to hear what she was saying. I wanted to know what was going on in the room, but apparently one of them had calmed down the situation enough so that it was not broadcast to the rest of the employees. At this point, I really wanted it to be.

  Then I heard a beep on my phone and I pushed the blinking red button.

  “Frank, why don't you come in here so that the three of us can have a conversation.”

  There was a sickening feeling in my stomach because I didn't want to deal with both of them at the same time. One on one was bad enough. Each of them was more than one person could take on average, their intensity hard to handle. They were both overwhelming and demanding. I took a deep breath and went towards my new boss’ office. My new boss, that was also my would be ex's father-in-law. This was going to get complicated.

  I knocked on the door and for a moment, I hoped that they would tell me never mind and I could walk away. This was not a situation I wanted to be in. I don't think anybody wanted to be in this particular situation, so it was a little bit harder than I would have imagined to get myself together. How do you steel yourself for this sort of moment?

  “Come in!”

  The words were said sharply and I could tell that Clinton was aggravated. Clinton Gibson was used to getting his way. He most certainly was not used to being talked to in such a manner, especially not by his own daughter. I couldn't even imagine what the old man was thinking right now. I could see that neither one of them looked too happy to see me come through the door and that was not reassuring at all.

  “Good, Frank. I'm glad you're here. I am sorry for the ruckus that my daughter has created. I'm sure that's going to get you a few looks until they get to know you a little better. She can be a little excitable at times.”

  For a moment, I wanted to agree with him because it was the truth. She really was excitable and dramatic and had been known to have more than one conflict with people hearing it. She had no problem getting her point across but on the other hand, I kind of felt bad for her too. Her father was making a lot of assumptions and I felt like I had to set the record straight. It may mess up my job that I just spent months getting, but I didn't care.

  “Well to be fair, sir, I think your daughter has a reason to have this anger towards me. You know a bit about our past and I'm sure you know that I did not handle things all that well.”

  I could see Lisa looking at me a little surprised. I don't know why I had said that. I shouldn't be contradicting
my boss, but she didn't deserve the way he was talking. He was talking about her with her in the room, like she was a child. Lisa was most certainly not a child.

  “You may be right, son. All I know is, that this is the work place and we have to put all of that behind us. That happened ten years ago. A lot has changed.”

  I agreed with him and told him that I was willing to do what it took to make the transition easier.

  “I think we just need to all get together, Frank, and have dinner. Why don't you come to the house tonight? Then you guys can hash it all out and figure out how you’re going to work together. I have several projects that you're going to be heading up together, so we need to let bygones be bygones.”

  The last part was pointed towards Lisa, but anger just masked any other kind of expression on her face. Maybe there was nothing else behind it but madness. As much as I hated to see her upset with me the way she was, I did deserve it. I had been an ass and I had been rather naive to think that I could come back into her life and everything was going to go back to the way it was. That had been my mistake, but now I realized that maybe peace was just going to be a longer road than I first expected.

  The funny thing was, even with that realization and knowing that I was going to have to put more work into it, there was nothing that I wanted to do more. Being without Lisa all of these years taught me one thing. I wanted her back in my life. It didn't matter how long it took. I was in it for the long haul, which was one of the main reasons that I even got this job.

  I was going to make Lisa forgive me. One way or another I would get her back.

  9

  Lisa

  I tried to get Angie to come with me to the dinner. She was family after all and I felt like I really needed somebody on my side. The problem was that Angie knew it was going to be a complete shitshow and she refused to go. I couldn't really blame her. Not really. I didn't even want to go to this family dinner, so why would I expect her to want to?