“Ryleigh, you can’t go back to him. He hurt you and he is just going to keep doing it. I am not asking you to just jump right into my arms and forget all about him, but I love you so much! I care about you and your wellbeing. I lost you once and that was my fault, but I don’t ever want to lose you again!” He grabbed my arms and pulled me into his embrace. I couldn’t stop the tears from falling now.
“Caleb, I just can’t.” I sobbed into his chest. I reached up and squeezed around his neck and gave him a kiss on the cheek and turned and headed out the door.
I ran down the hall towards the elevators. I could tell that he was coming down the hall towards me.
“Ryleigh, please don’t go. Come back inside and just talk to me!” Caleb desperately begged. “Caleb, I don’t think I should. I need to really get things back to normal. I love being with you and I think about you all day long, but it is going to end up bad. I don’t know how this got so far and me pretty much leading you on.” He interrupted.
“You did NOT lead me on. We both felt something from the second that we ran into each other. There is something here, I know it! Ryleigh, I really can’t lose you again. I understand that you are married, believe me, I get it, but I wish you would realize that he is only hurting you. Ryleigh, look I am begging you to just give this a little more thought and come back in the room with me and talk to me. Tell me why you are giving him another chance.” Caleb was squeezing my hips, trying to pull me towards him.
“Caleb, I am so sorry.” The elevator door opened and I stepped on. I could see tears in his eyes as the doors closed in front of us. I broke down. I walked across the lobby wearing my sunglasses to make me feel like nobody could see me crying. I knew everyone was watching me run out the doors.
I had wished that I drove over here and not left my car in the work parking lot. It seemed to take forever to get to my car, especially in my heels. I can’t believe that I just left him there; he was even beginning to cry. I really wished that I had talked to him more, but I know that I wouldn’t be able to control my emotions with him. This was the best for us, but right now I felt like shit.
I could see the garage only a few blocks away, my feet were killing me and my heart was hurting just as bad. I found that I was walking a little bit faster even if it was hurting a bit more. When I finally got to my car, I felt paralyzed. I picked my phone out of my purse and realized I had several text messages from Caleb. Each one saying,please come back, please talk to me, please call me. I sobbed harder as I put my phone back into my purse. I started my car and headed home.
Chapter Fourteen
I drove home in a complete daze; I know that I was in complete autopilot the entire way. I must have been sitting in my car, on my drive way for at least 20 minutes. My mind was trying to get me to go in the house, my heart was trying to get me to turn my car around and just talk to him or even give the poor man a text.
I ended up listening to my heart, I pulled out my phone. I am so sorry, you can’t imagine. I do love you Caleb, I always will. I’m married though and I have to try and make my marriage work. We have been together for so long. He deserves a second chance. I want us to be what we have always been, friends.
I waited for a reply, but nothing. I finally managed to get out of my car and sulk inside. The house was so empty, so quiet. I did not like the feeling of being alone with my thoughts. I needed to go out or maybe have Courtney come over.
I dialed Courtney’s number. I ended up getting her voicemail, I didn’t bother leaving a message, what was I going to say anyway? Court, it’s me. I pretty much just dumped a guy that would do anything for me for my cheating husband. I am all the sudden alone. I couldn’t tell her this; she was already pulling for Caleb and thought that I was ridiculous for staying with Liam.
I would have called Ava, but she was probably having amazing sex right now. The last person that I thought that I would call, I ended up dialing.
“Hey baby. What’s up?” Liam answered.
“I am just sitting here and thinking it’s too quiet in this house. How I miss you. How is your trip going so far?” I asked softly. Hiding the fact that I was upset.
“It’s okay. I’m just finishing up some take out and watching some TV. I miss you too. I will be home in a few days.” He sounded a bit worn out as he yawned into the phone.
“I know. Well you sound exhausted, go get some sleep and I will text you tomorrow? I love you.”
“I love you, too.” He yawned and then we both hung up. Tonight, this bottle of wine was going to be my best friend. With my phone still in hand, I grabbed the bottle out of the fridge and decided it was going to be a classy night; sans glass. I trudged upstairs, set the wine bottle on my end table and plopped down on my bed. I checked my phone, but Caleb still had yet to respond. Courtney had not called back. I turned on the TV and took a big chug of wine. I found the tears were falling again; I was the one that had ended things and left him; not sure why I was the one that felt like this. Shouldn’t I be the one that is not returning phone calls and having a nice evening in my home?
After a few more sips from the bottle I decided to finally get off the bed and get my lounge pants on. I wanted to throw this dress away, but threw it into the bottom of the laundry basket. I could still smell Caleb all over me. I climbed into bed, wishing that I had more energy to take a shower and wash him off.
I felt a few more tears roll down my cheeks as I began to fall asleep. I really needed this week to fly by. I woke to the sound of my alarm going off for the third time, I managed to hit snooze once more, telling myself that 10 more minutes was not going to hurt. I don’t think I really went back to sleep after the first alarm, but lying in bed was quite comforting. I looked over to my nightstand and realized that the bottle of wine was empty. I know that I had enjoyed at least one glass last week, but if that was just the case, I enjoyed a little more than half the bottle last night. My head was pounding.
I rolled out of bed before the alarm went off again and stammered over to the shower. The water felt amazing and I hoped that it would at least help a little, but my head seemed to pound with each drop. It definitely was going to be an extra coffee day and a lot of Advil.
I decided to wear black slacks today, the idea of wearing a dress made me want to cry. Thoughts of Caleb were pouring through my brain as I continuedto get ready for work. The way he looked as I got on the elevator, the tears he had building up in the room, his smile in my office hours before.
“Ah! I’m driving myself insane!” I screamed at myself in the mirror.
I hurried myself up and grabbed all of my things soI could drive in to get coffee. I checked my phone to find I had a text, I quickly opened it.
Hi honey, I hope you have a great day. I might be home sooner than expected! Trip is pointless for me to be here, might catch a flight later tonight! Keep you posted. Love you! It made me feel a little better getting that message from Liam, having him home tonight would be comforting. I don’t think that my liver could handle more alcohol. I then remembered Courtney’s Vegas wedding; I needed to make sure that he could go.
Thank you baby. Courtney and Jason dropped bomb, they are getting married in Vegas. First weekend of June, you in? Staying at the Aria, book tickets for the both of us? I headed downstairs and decided that today was going to be a home brew day. I don’t think that my head would be able to handle Tiffany on a wine hangover. I grabbed a glass of water as I began to work with the coffee maker. As I fiddled with it for a moment, I could smell the delicious coffee begin drip into the pot. My phone then buzzed back.
Of course, it’s their wedding! Use up the miles on the card and be sure to get us some sort of suite…don’t wanna spend a weekend in a small room. This will be fun! Confirmed, I am getting home early- well late tonight but don’t have to be gone til Thursday! I will call you before I board. Love you lots!
I was excited to see that he was looking forward to a weekend away. I definitely needed it. Great! Booking tickets at work tod
ay. TTYL. Love you too. After what seemed like forever, my coffee was finally ready. I poured it into my travel mug and grabbed everything and headed out the door. I still had not heard anything back from Caleb or oddly enough Courtney.
Sitting in rush hour traffic was enough to make anyone lose their minds, but when you had million things on your plate, it made matters worse. I sipped on my coffee as we inched forward, I tried to block out my thoughts by listening to old school jams that I had programmed onto my phone. Just as I was getting into some Justin Timberlake my phone began to ring. My heart stopped before I looked at the caller ID. Courtney.
“Hey, I was just thinking about you! I tried to call you last night, but…” I began as she interrupted
“Yeah, sorry about that. Things got busy with planning. How are you doing?” She asked bluntly.
“I’m doing okay. Just sitting in traffic. Why?” I was really thrown off by this.
“Well, I knew that Liam was out of town and I know that being in that big house you don’t like being alone.”
“Oh. Yeah, I am fine. I was a little lonely when I called, but I was comforted by an amazing bottle of Pinot Grigio.” I laughed.
“Sorry, I wasn’t around. You know you are always welcome just come over, right?”
“Yeah, thanks Court. I just needed to get some sleep and unfortunately with drinking a bunch of wine, falling asleep is not the problem, its waking up that is the problem.” I chuckled.
“Hey, did you talk to Liam about Vegas?” She quickly changed the subject. I could tell something was up, but this early was not a conversation I wanted to go into.
“Yeah, just talked to him about 20 minutes ago. We are in! I am booking the flights and the room when I get into the office. What are the exact dates now?”
“We are heading out May 31stand then the wedding will be on June 1stand we are going to stay a couple extra days.” She sounded really excited about this bit of the conversation.
“Great! I will be sure to book that weekend. It will be a lot of fun, Court! Oh! What am I going to wear for a dress? Any specific color?” I was really hoping she wouldn’t pick her favorite color, yellow.
“I was going to pick yellow, but I know how much you say that the color doesn’t look good on you. So I am going to let you pick. Not tradition, but I don’t really have a set color scheme going on.”
“How about red?” I asked a little too excited.
“Red it is! You look HOT in red. However, you aren’t supposed to look better than the bride. Maybe I should make it yellow!” She laughed.
“I will wear yellow; if that is the color you want! It’s your wedding!”
“You would wear yellow for me?” She asked very sweetly. “Yes, I will wear stupid, I mean, wonderful yellow. But just because you sounded so sweet there, you are pregnant and it is your wedding. Want to go shopping on my lunch for a dress?” I needed to keep my mind really busy.
“I thought you would never ask. I will be there about noon and we can eat something quick and go shopping!”
“Sounds great, Court. I will meet you down in the lobby at noon. I can’t wait.” I was actually excited to look for a yellow dress, but more to see my friend.
“Alright, talk to you later then! Bye!” With that she hung up. The drive must have flown by when I was on the phone; I put my phone in my bag and as I rounded the corner to my building. I was running a little late; but I wasn’t feeling too bad about 10 minutes, especially since I had stayed in bed for three snooze alarms.
When I got up to my floor, I was greeted by Ava and her smile that was still lighting up the room. I could actually feel myself starting to smile.
“Good morning, Ava. Or should I say great morning for you?” I chuckled.
“Very funny. After the afternoon you had yesterday, you should be smiling too!”
I didn’t have the heart to tell her about what happened so I tried to smile it off.
“However.” She started. “I do have some bad news. Do you want to get settled in first?” Her smile started to fade.
“Come into my office and tell me.” My heart beat had begun to pick up. I never liked hearing that there was bad news first thing in the morning.
“So, Mr. Rogers, he wants to move the meeting up to this afternoon!” “Are you kidding me, Ava! I just finished the proposal and didn’t even work on any of the contracts! Why the fuck is he in such a hurry?” I rarely cussed at work, but I felt like I was going to be a sailor the rest of the day.
“Ryleigh, I’m sorry. I tried to keep it next week but he said that he’s going to be vacationing in St. Tropez next week and he wants to get this done. I can see if I can get him to do it later this week?” She looked nervous; I don’t think that I have ever been angry in front of her. I actually felt bad.
“No, Ava, it’s okay.” I said calmly. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to snap back there. I just don’t know why he is all the sudden in a hurry, he came to us a month ago and we just got his information a week or two ago. He must have another offer. I will get his contracts done, what time did he want to meet?” My mind kept repeating noon, knowing that I was going to have to cancel on Courtney.
“Noon.” I growled. Of course he wanted a lunch meeting. He was a typical business man whom wanted to have lunch meetings with companies that wanted to cater to him, because they would really cater to him and buy lunches. My ideal lunch was not eating it, especially today, with Mr. Rogers.
“Great. I made lunch plans, but I will fit him in. Can you call his assistant or someone down in his office and find out typical foods he orders in? I will call him personally afterwards and get an order.” I started typing on my computer with extra force in my keystrokes.
“No problem. Lunch with Caleb?” She asked as she began to walk out.
“No. My friend Courtney, we were going to go shopping for her wedding. No big deal, I might sneak out of here early tonight then. Do I have anything elseset up?”
“Nope, just him and then you are free. I’m going to call around his office and I will let you know what I find.” Ava exited out of my office and I immediately picked up my phone to call Courtney.
“You miss me that much?” She joked. “I wish that was the case, look we are going to have to push shopping back and maybe do dinner? I am so sorry to do this to you; this client I have been trying to get is pushing his meeting up from next Wednesday to noon today! I am so pissed right now!” I was gritting my teeth from saying anything further.
“It’s okay, work comes first. Dinner will work actually, Jason has a dinner meeting and I was just going to grab a burger, but now I can eat something a little better. What time were you thinking? “I am going to duck out of here after the meeting, I am not sure when that will be though. He is a stubborn old man and I need to make sure everything is perfect.” I began to pull up his files on my computer.
“Alright, maybe an early dinner and then shopping or vice versa. Just give me a call when you are leaving and we can meet someplace. You knock him dead. Ry,remember, you are amazing at your job!”
“One can only hope that I knock him dead. Oh man, that was horrible. I better calm down before he gets here! Thanks Court. I will call you later.” I foundthat I was really grumpy We hung up and I began to work on Mr. Rogers’ contracts. I heard my phone buzz but I was really too involved with this project that I put my phone in my purse and tried not to even pay it any attention. This was the time when my head was finally concentrating on something rather than personal related issues.
After working on this project for three hours, Ava finally poked her head into my office. “Hey, sorry it took me so long. I called everyone in that damn office and found that he orders at random during his meeting. So I’m coming in here to tell you that I found out nothing. I feel like I just wasted three hours of both of our lives and I so frustrated right now.” She said annoyed.
“Ava, it is okay. I will just ask him what I can order him when he gets here. Thank you so much for going through the
trouble though. I really do appreciate it.” I said reaching for my phone. “Can I order something for you as well?”
“No, Brantley is coming up and taking me to lunch today. Thanks for the offer though. I will stay to show Mr. Rogers into the conference room, but then I will head out. If it’s okay, of course?” “Oh yeah! That’s fine. Thank you, Ava. You do an amazing job here. I don’t know what I would do without you!” As she walked off, I dialed up our marketing department to make sure I could get a projector in the conference room set up.
I also decided to get the okay from human resources; I wanted to give Ava some sort of incentive. The best way to ever get ahold of those guys was to send an email. They never answered their phones or seemed to be in their office, but when they got an email they jumped all over it. I never understood them.
At exactly noon, I had everything finished. I was pretty impressed with myself that I accomplished an entire presentation in about few hours. I typically liked to be able to take a week to make touch ups and practice presenting the information.
“Hey, he is in the conference room. I am heading out now; can I bring you back anything?” Ava poked her head in.
“No, thank you though. I’m going to order us food and have it delivered and then that way we can have a minute to talk about what he wants to have done. I can then stuff my face. Tell Brantley I said hello.”
“Will do. See you after your meeting, good luck!” She skipped off. I headed down to the conference room. I was greeted by an older gentleman who was wearing a sweater instead of a suit jacket. I would say that he was in his mid-60’s. The television Mr. Rogers was a slender man, the Mr. Rogers in front of me was a heavier man. He was not fat, but had a bit of a gut.
“Good Afternoon, Mr. Rogers.” I held my hand out for a firm handshake. “I am Ryleigh Andrews, we have spoken many times on the phone, but I am glad that I finally have the opportunity to have some face to face time with you. I would love to order us some lunch while we discuss your expectations of us, me and my team.”
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