What the Heart Needs

by Jessica Gadziala

  “You can take a shower in here,” he started, then noticed her envious look toward the bathtub and smiled. “or a bath.” He walked over to a cabinet and got two fluffy white towels out and placed them on the steps that lead to the whirlpool. “These buttons turn on the jets,” he said then walked over to the sink and grabbed a few containers from the cabinet beneath. “Here are some soaps and salts,” he said, placing them next to the towels and backing away toward the door. “Take your time, I’ve got everything covered downstairs.”

  “Thank you,” she remembered to finally say to him before he was out of the door. She saw him shrug and close the door behind him.

  She was out of her clothes and sinking into the most glorious bath she had ever had in her life in less than two minutes.

  --

  Seriously, what had gotten into him? He released her of her duties to take care of the party and take a bath instead? In his bathroom? There were four other full bathrooms in the house and he had led her into his bedroom and then into his personal bath.

  Elliott shook his head to clear his scattered thinking.

  He had wrapped up things at the office early, wishing to get home and settle down a bit before he had to deal with a house full of all his colleagues and associates. It was going to be a long and tedious night and he wanted to sit and have a drink before he had to get into the host mindset.

  He hadn’t expected to walk in to see Hannah perched precariously on top of a chair and dusting his bookshelves. He hadn’t meant to sneak up on her. He certainly hadn’t been quiet coming in the house, but her mind must have been preoccupied and he startled her.

  Thank god he had been close enough to catch her or she would have hit the floor hard and certainly hurt something. She had felt so soft in his arms, looking up at him with those huge grey eyes.

  She looked vibrant but tired in her oversized sweatshirt and leggings. Something deep within him just wanted to reward her for being such a dedicated worker. Or, perhaps it was something more than that, but he wasn’t going to let his mind go there.

  The way she had eyed his bathtub was downright endearing. It was a luxury completely lost on him, but he could tell by her expression that it was something she had longed for for ages. And he couldn’t deny her such a small thing.

  He walked in to the kitchen to meet the staff, but couldn’t shake the knowledge that she was right above him, sinking naked into his bathtub.

  Six

  Hannah had lounged in the bubbles and jets of the rub for longer than she should have. It was so nice after months of quick showers to be able to lay and enjoy a soak. Her tub at her apartment was a shower/tub in one and when filled, the water would barely come up to her ribcage. A soak was not a soak if half of your body was constantly cold.

  She crawled out of the bath only when her phone had chimed, announcing a text message and she worried that, perhaps, it was from someone messaging about the party. Wrapping herself in the softest towel she had ever felt in her life, she padded over to her cell phone to a message from Tad.

  Tad: 7:30PM: Wear your hair down.

  Hannah checked her reflection in the mirror, her hair was drenched.

  Hannah: 7:32PM: I don’t have a blow dryer.

  Tad: 7:32PM: Look around. He has one somewhere.

  Hannah rolled her eyes but checked the cabinet where the towels and the toiletries were located. Then she looked under the sink, and to her utter disbelief, there was a blow dryer. She pulled it out and went to work on her hair, brushing through it with her fingers. It had been almost a year since she took the time to dry her hair. Since it was so long, it could take upward of twenty minutes to get it fully dry. But when it was finished, the end result was a avalanche of shiny black hair falling straight to her waist.

  Checking the time with rising anxiety, she quickly went about apply a few coats of mascara and slathering on some pink lipstick before sliding into her dress and slipping into her skin-tone heels that Tad had chosen for her.

  She took a few steps back from the mirror so she could get a full view of her body. Tad was right. Her hair had to be down. She barely even recognized herself. She quickly snapped a picture for Tad who had threatened to steal her office stereo if she didn’t sent him one. Somehow, she truly believed he meant it.

  Tad: 8:02PM: Damn girl. Go show um what you got ;)

  Carefully walking down the stairs, she heard the band practicing in the front sitting room. She placed her cell phone behind the lamp on the front table and walked into the study.

  Inside she found Elliott standing, holding a glass in his hand. James was sitting at the desk, feet propped up like usual, with a glass held against his leg. He looked up when he heard her heels in the doorway and let out a low, appreciative whistle. “This might be the first time ever that I am not the most beautiful person in the room,” he teased, getting up and walking over to her to kiss her on the cheek. “You look absolutely gorgeous, Hannah.”

  Elliott had turned when James had started to talk and fought to keep his jaw off the floor. Hannah had only ever worn clothes that were strictly professional and unflattering to the female frame. He had no idea what she was hiding behind bulky sweaters and button-ups.

  She had a gorgeous frame with rather large breasts and flared hips. He legs were long and shapely and her pink dress hugged her in every flattering way possible. And her hair. He had known it was long. Even when she had it pulled into a ponytail, her hair fell down her back, but he hadn’t realized it would fall straight to her waist. It looked soft to the touch and he couldn’t help but imagine running his fingers through it.

  He wished he could say something. She looked beautiful, more gorgeous than he even cared to admit to himself. But he knew it wasn’t professional to ever comment on his employees appearance.

  He was jealous of James who could whistle at her and whisper to her, and stand there toying with her hair and making her smile.

  Hannah agreed to let James get her a glass of wine though she had no intention of drinking it. When he left, she felt awkward standing there in front of EM for a moment in silence. “Thank you for letting me use the bathroom,” she said, shifting from foot to foot.

  Elliott waved the hand with his drink. “Don’t mention it.”

  “Is everything all set up? Did Mary have enough time to get all the food ready? And how is the band’s sound? I wasn’t sure about setting them up in that room.”

  “Everything is fine,” Elliott said, his tone reassuring and firm.

  “Did the bartender finally…”

  “Hannah,” Elliott said, walking closer. “I have everything under control. Just relax.”

  Relax? How was she supposed to relax? This was her event. Well, fine it was his event, but he had placed her in charge of overseeing it. Why should she just trust that he had handled everything the way she would? And why would he encourage her to step back from the job he had appointed her to?

  But before she could try to clarify everything, Elliott had walked out of the room and disappeared to the other sitting room.

  James came back a second later, a glass of white wine in his hand. “I figured white was a safer bet. You’d never get red out of that dress.”

  “You’ve given this an impressive amount of thought,” she said, taking the glass from him but not taking it to her lips.

  “You did a great job, you know that?” At her shrug, he shook his head. “I know Elliott would never say so but you did. I snuck a few of the finger foods and they’re some of the best I’ve had.”

  “Mary is a genius.”

  “You are a genius,” he smiled and gestured to her glass. “drink.”

  “I’m working tonight,” she said, shaking her head.

  James smiled, a big smile that reached his eyes and made them crinkle at the corners. “No you’re not.”

  “Mr. Michaels told me…”

  “I don’t care what Elliott told you. And I don’t know why
he invited you, but its not to work,” he winked at her. “Maybe he just wanted someone to distract me so I don’t embarrass him.”

  “He told me he wants me here to oversee…”

  “There’s nothing to oversee, Hannah,” James interrupted her again. “There have been many of these parties put together by many assistants. None of them have ever been here to oversee anything because there is nothing to do. I honestly don’t know what Elliott’s motives are here. It’s out of character for him. But you can relax, have a drink, and stay away from the business d-bags that are going to want to be all over you tonight.”

  “Oh, please,” Hannah rolled her eyes, but finally took a sip of the wine.

  “You obviously haven’t spent any time around these men. Their money and power makes them think they can have, and are entitled to, whatever they want. And they are going to want you.”

  “Great,” Hannah mumbled. So there was no work for her to do and she would have to politely dodge half of the guests at the event so she didn’t get groped and flip out on some important guy.

  James took his chin in between his thumb and forefinger, forcing her to face him. “Don’t freak out. I can see the wheels working in there. I’ll keep an eye on you. If anyone gets too involved in your business, I’ll come over and be my usually charming self so you can politely excuse yourself. Elliott doesn’t actually want me here to help him discuss business. He makes me come so it looks good.”

  “Why would it look good?” Hannah wondered. “What, exactly, do you do at the company?”

  “Ouch,” James winced, holding a hand to his heart. “Easy, princess. I am actually the guy he sends out to other companies. People have a tendency to receive me better. I’m more of a people person I guess. Elliott can be difficult to deal with. He’s great at sealing the deals, but I’m the one who brings them to the table.”

  Hannah was surprised. She had always figured James was a lackey that Elliott put up with out of family obligation. It was intriguing that James had such an important role in the company, despite not doing near as much work as it seemed Elliott did daily.

  “Interesting,” Hannah murmured, looking around at the servers moving to and fro, getting used to the floor plan. It was an equal mix of male and female servers all dressed in black slacks and tucked-in black button-up tops. They all looked neat and efficient despite their young ages.

  She watched the goings on for a few minutes, standing in companionable silence with James. Then the doorbell rang and Hannah jumped. Was she supposed to play hostess? But these people wouldn’t recognize her if she was the one greeting them. What would she say?

  “That’s me,” James said, handing her his empty glass. “time to be my charming self.”

  James went to the door, opening it with a flourish and a huge smile. He shook hands with the man who stood there and kissed the cheek of the man’s wife. To her surprise, after a moment of small talk, James led them right over to her. “Edward, May, this is Hannah Clary. Hannah, this is Edward and May Campbell.”

  Hannah has just finished saying hello when EM walked out and into the hallway, a rare smile on his face as he walked up and greeted the couple like old friends. Feeling out of place, Hannah slinked away unseen and went over to the band that had just started playing their first song.

  Within fifteen minutes, the enormous space of Elliott’s lower floor felt cramped. Conversations rose up as glasses got filled and refilled. Hannah was engaged in conversation a time or two by random people, curious at who her connections were. She casually dropped that she was an associate of Elliott and James- choosing not to disclose their actual situation.

  James kept looking over at her, as promised, to make sure no one was pestering her unnecessarily but guests seemed to keep him unexpectedly busy.

  She felt incredibly alone in the room full of people. She walked from room to room, not wanting to stay in one place too long and make herself look as out of place as she felt. As she rounded back into the study for the fifth time, she felt a hand rest, familiarly on her lower back. She turned, expecting to find James there as he was the only person who would take such liberties with her.

  Instead, she found EM standing there looking down at her. He was holding a small plate with a piece of each of the finger foods the servers were circulating around. Suddenly, she was hyper aware of the touch of his hand, the firm pressure that splayed half of her hips, the heat she could feel through her thin dress. She felt desire well up, unbidden and spread through her belly and down her legs until she felt unstable. “Here,” he said, placing it in her hand. “you haven’t eaten anything.” And then he walked away toward a group of men who had just passed around cigars.

  Hannah looked down at the plate, her stomach rumbling suddenly. No one else had plates full of food and she felt awkward eating in front of people she didn’t know. Then Elliott looked pointedly over his shoulder at her and she picked up a cucumber roll and put it in her mouth. He nodded and turned away.

  She quietly exited the room and found herself in the second sitting room which was strangely empty. She slipped out of her shoes for a moment and finished all the food on the plate. It felt good to escape for a moment. The stress of not knowing anyone was wearing on her nerves. Growing up in a very small town where everyone knew everyone and their mother… she had never quite gotten used to being surrounded by strangers and expected to interact with them.

  “Ah there she is,” James said from the doorway. “I thought some millionaire out there had stolen your heart and whisked you away for a Vegas wedding.”

  “As if that was even a remote possibility,” Hannah scoffed, picking up sweet potato roll and stuffing the whole thing in her mouth.

  James came to sit across from her, lounging in the chair. His eyes were a little glassed over and she wondered how much he had had to drink. “Elliott give you that plate?”

  Hannah nodded, still chewing.

  “Of course he did. I told you he liked a little flesh on a woman.”

  “Oh stop with that,” Hannah objected, rising from her seat and slipping back into her shoes. She didn’t want to have this discussion anymore. EM was not interested in her that way. She was of value to him because of how hard she had been working, not because she would be a convenient lay. And she certainly didn’t want to get into an argument about it, given her somewhat irritable mood. She quickly came up with a flimsy excuse and started to the door. “I don’t want Mr. Michaels to think I am being antisocial staying in here by myself.”

  “Oh, gorgeous,” he started, rubbing his eyes, “you are so adorably naïve.”

  Hannah felt her heckles rise and fought back the urge to snap at James. She wasn’t used to him sounding like his brother- a little condescending and arrogant.

  But James seemed to notice the look on her face, despite her efforts to cover it. “Go ahead, say it. I know you’re dying to.” He smiled his a smile that she would otherwise find charming but at the moment found it cocky and un-called for.

  “Fine,” she paused. “you’re an ass,” she said, turning on her heel and haughtily walking away.

  She had reached the entryway when he finally caught up with her and whirled her around to face him. “Nuh-uh,” he said, not letting go of her arm. “Don’t run away. I wasn’t trying to…”

  “James,” Elliott broke in suddenly. She hadn’t even seen him in the area when they had come in.

  “Don’t Elliott,” James said. “It’s not about you.”

  Hannah felt her heartbeat pound so hard she felt nauseated. Were they really about to get into an argument in front of her… over her? She knew she should say something and diffuse the situation, but her words froze in her throat and she stood there dumbly listening.

  “You came barging into my foyer and forcibly grabbed someone who was obviously trying to get away from you. You made it about me.”

  Hannah could feel the heat rising in her face. She couldn’t just stand there and allow t
his to escalate. “This is a misunderstanding,” she broke in between their whispered argument. They both stopped and stared at her as if forgetting she was even there. “James just wanted to tell me something and he was trying to catch up to me. That was all.” She lied more easily than she had ever been able to before.

  Elliott looked down at her with a look that implied he knew she was lying but he wasn’t going to refute her claim. James shot her a look that said both ‘thanks’ and ‘I didn’t need your help’ at the same time.

  Before anyone had a chance to say anything further, a woman approached suddenly and put an arm around Elliott’s back. She was tall with shoulder-length blond hair and sharp blue eyes. Her nose was thin, her chin sharp and her face a perfect heart shape. She was absolutely gorgeous and extremely thin. Through her bright red cocktail dress, Hannah could actually count her ribs.

  The lady in question shot James a look with raised brows and gave Hannah a downright withering stare. Elliott was looking down at her as if he couldn’t understand what was going on.

  James was the first one to break the silence, “Hello Dan,” he said in an uncharacteristically venomous tone.

  “James,” she said back with a matching inflection. They obviously hated one another. She glanced at Hannah, seemingly to make a point at suggesting she was purposely not involving her in the conversation. “Elliott, darling, Daddy was looking for you.”

  Elliott looked downright murderous, but kept his tone neutral when he spoke as he carefully stepped out of her grasp. “Go tell Frank that I will be right with him,” he said in a tone that would accept no further discussion.

  Dan looked as though she was contemplating saying something more, but then thought better about it. She shot Hannah another look before turning away and, presumably, finding her father.

  A silence followed for a moment, broken by James who grabbed a glass of wine from a passing server and saying, “Ice, ice, baby.”