Acquiring Hearts

by S. Donahue

  “I can take you myself. It’s not a problem. Then I will be able to see your beautiful face longer.”

  “You’re so sweet. Whatever is easier for you.”

  “I’ll drive you myself, baby.”

  They gathered all of Gia’s belongings and Brad put them in the trunk of the car. He opened the passenger door for her. She got in and felt weird. She really didn’t know where this was going or what would happen next but it was moving rather quickly.

  Could this be the last time we see each other? Is this going to turn into a relationship?

  She would just have to wait and see what fate had in store for her.

  When they reached her house, Brad brought her bags. “I’m going to miss you tonight. I’ll be thinking of you.”

  “I’ll miss you too. We probably won’t be able to see each other again until next weekend, because I’ll be in court all week for a client that I am representing.” She felt a sadness take over.

  “Well, I’ll call to check up on you and make sure you are ok. Get a good night’s sleep. Sweet dreams.” He kissed her good night.

  He is sweeping me off my feet.

  Brad then walked to his car and left. Gia hoped their schedules were not going to interfere with any chances they may have.

  * * * * *

  Gia didn’t speak with Rachel until Tuesday because she was so busy all day Monday. She told her all about her day with Brad on Sunday, not leaving out any details.

  “Really? You had to go and sleep with my boss. I don’t know if I can look at him, now. That’s weird.”

  “Pretend you don’t know. Did he say anything about me?”

  “Yeah, Ok. How do I do that? Now I have these visions in my head? He just said your sister is very lovely. I enjoyed spending time with her this weekend. He said it all CEO-ish. Meanwhile, he’s secretly banging you.”

  “Shut up! Ah, he’s so cute. He just sent me a text saying he missed me with a heart.”

  “Uh gag me. I hate men.”

  “Hmmm. Speaking of which, how’s the cheating bastard?”

  “Whatever.”

  “Oh, you can dish it out but you can’t take it.”

  “He came over last night bearing gifts, flowers, candy, and cards. I wouldn’t let him in at first. I told him to leave, but he insisted he wanted to talk. I finally let him in and he told me that he doesn’t want to be with Clara- the musical instrument.”

  They both cracked up laughing.

  “He said that he wants to come home and work on our marriage. He said he loves me; he always has and always will. He said it took this for him to realize it. He slept on the sofa last night, so we’ll see what happens. I’m not guaranteeing that I can forgive him, but I have two kids to think about.”

  “You know what you need to do in your heart. Listen, shit, I have to go right now. I am being buzzed to go back into court. I’ll call you later or tomorrow.”

  “Ok. Bye.”

  At that moment, Brad came out of his office. “Rachel, may I talk to you in my office?”

  Oh God, what did I do now?

  “Did I do something wrong, Mr. Roberts?”

  “No, not at all. There are some things that I need to discuss with you.”

  Rachel was wondering what was going on. She hoped it wasn’t bad news. That’s all she needed in her life right now.

  “Have a seat.” Bradley gestured to one of the guest chairs in front of his desk.

  Rachel sat down eyeing him wearily. He’d never acted like this before. She hoped she wasn’t getting fired because of her sister.

  “I know you’re aware that I am working on opening a new division of this company in Miami. I just spoke with one of the developers and I need to go to Miami for two months. It’s very important that I am down there during this phase,” Bradley explained.

  “I’ll just stay at the condo that I have down there, so I don’t need you to book any hotels or anything of the sort. I’m going to need you to run things at this location for me, while I’m down there. I’ll try to come back a couple of times during the two months, but I’m not sure when that will happen.”

  “Are you serious? I’m only your admin. What do I know about running a business?”

  “You know more than you realize. You can handle things around here. I’m only a phone call away if you need anything. This opportunity comes with a promotion and a salary increase.

  “Are you kidding me? Is this because of my sister?”

  “Of course not.”

  “I think you have the potential to handle this. When I return, we’ll talk about other opportunities for you within this company.”

  “Wait,” Rachel said, putting up her hand. Does my sister know that you’re leaving? When are you leaving?”

  “No, she doesn’t know. I haven’t told her yet. I don’t know how to tell her. We’re just starting to get to know each other and we want to take this further and now this is happening.”

  “She is an understanding person. She’ll be ok with it.”

  “Yeah, it’s not her that I’m worried about. It’s me.”

  “It’ll be ok. This is very important to you. If it’s meant to be you’ll make it happen no matter what stands in your way. Trust me, I know from experience.”

  Bradley’s phone rang. Rachel reached for it since being his admin was still technically her job. “I’ll get that.”

  Brad answered the phone and waved her off. He covered the mouthpiece. “Hey Rachel, thanks for the pep talk. Don’t say anything to Gia. I’ll tell her tonight.”

  “No problem! Thanks, Bradley.”

  Bradley went back to his phone call. He finally found someone that he actually wanted to get to know and he now had to possibly end it.

  What the fuck am I going to do?

  * * * * *

  Gia groaned as she closed her front door. It was 8:00 and she was just getting home. She’d had a long day in court and all she wanted to do was go to sleep. Her stomach made a grumbling sound and she realized she’d barely eaten all day. She threw off her shoes and went into the kitchen to put a frozen meal in the microwave.

  While that was cooking, she ran upstairs to get undressed. She put on a pair of her old sweatpants and ratty t-shirt.

  While she was eating her meal, she watched Dancing with the stars, her favorite television show. It was freezing in her house because she liked to keep the air conditioner on blast. She pulled a soft blanket over her and checked her phone. She had a voice message from Brad, timestamp 5 P.M that said to call him when she had a chance.

  She waited patiently for him to answer after she dialed his number. He answered on the third ring.

  “Hey, my beautiful baby, how are you? You’ve been working so hard these past couple days.”

  “I’m ok. Just tired. I need a vacation.”

  “I can arrange that. When do you want to leave?”

  “Yeah, right, I wish. I couldn’t leave now if I wanted to, with this case I’m working.”

  “There’s something I need to talk to you about. It’s important.”

  Gia didn’t like the sound of that. What could be going on? Maybe he felt things were going too fast and they shouldn’t see each other anymore. “Is everything ok? Are you ok?”

  There was silence on the line and then Brad spoke. “I have to go to Miami for two months. I’m working on opening a new division of my company and I have to be down there to oversee some things that are happening. I talked to your sister today about it. I gave her a promotion as the assistant manager. She’ll be running things at the Philadelphia office while I’m gone.”

  “Wow, that’s a great opportunity for Rachel. I’m so happy for her.”

  At least she will have this one good thing going for her.

  “I’m glad that you’re happy for Rachel, but how do you feel about me leaving,” Brad asked anxiously.

  “Well, I’m sad you have to leave, especially now, but you have to go. I wouldn’t really have a say anyway. It�
�s not like we are exclusively together. We haven’t even talked about any of that yet.”

  “We can talk about it now if you like.” He wanted to understand how she was feeling. He hoped he wasn’t getting the wrong impression and she was ready to be with him.

  Gia had been so focused on her work that she never really let her guard down, but Brad had managed to change her focus and she wasn’t entirely comfortable with it yet. “I think maybe we should take a step back and slow things down.” Gia knew she didn’t mean what she was saying but she didn’t want to end up hurt again.

  “Is that what you really want? It’s not what I want. I want to continue what we started. I have a possible proposal for you.” He was willing to try anything to make her realize she wanted to be with him.

  “Am I a business deal?” she asked sarcastically.

  Fuck. This might not be the best thing after all.

  “It’s not like that,” Brad assured. I want to know if you’d be willing to take a leave of absence and come to Miami with me. I want you to oversee the legal aspects of the implementation of my new division.”

  Silence was never a good thing.

  Gia shook her head. He obviously didn’t know, but what could she expect. They’d had one date and sex. She chose not to say anything related to that.

  “I can’t just leave my clients high and dry to run off with a guy I met five days ago. What do I do when I come back? My firm won’t take me back.” Gia took a deep breath. “I’ve worked too hard to get where I am and just blow it off for a relationship that wasn’t even formed yet. She had responsibilities and she needed to look out for herself.

  “Can we continue to talk? I’ll probably be back in a month, for a weekend. Do you think we can make it work?”

  “We can try. I don’t want to sound like a bitch but I just can’t drop everything, Brad. I hope you understand.”

  “I do, Baby. I was just trying to figure out how we can still be together. I know what I’m about to say is going to sound corny but do you want to date exclusively? I can’t bear the thought of another man touching you.” Brad hoped that she said yes because the thought of not having her in his life wasn’t something he could easily face.

  “You’re too cute. We can date exclusively, but I’m not sure how it’s going to work. We need to get through these next two months. I guess that will be the test. When do you leave?” She hoped she was going to be able to see him again before he left for Miami.

  “I’m leaving on Monday at 8 A.M. Do you want to come and stay with me this weekend? We can go out Saturday night and then hang out together on Sunday.” Brad didn’t know if spending this time together was going to make the separation worse, but he had to see her before he left Monday.

  “That sounds like a wonderful plan.”

  “I’ll send Gary to pick you up on Saturday morning. We can have breakfast together or maybe we can skip it altogether.”

  “I can’t wait to see you! Should I bring the black bathing suit?”

  “You may not need it”, he said clearing his throat.

  “Uh, I better go to bed before you get me all hot and bothered,” She joked with him.

  He is so frigging hot.

  “Sweet Dreams, baby. I’ll talk to you tomorrow after your court hearing.”

  “Ok, Good Night!”

  * * * * *

  Gia fell asleep on the sofa watching TV and thinking about her conversation with Brad. She hoped she was making the right decisions. She had been sleeping about an hour, when she heard a knock at her front door. She peeked out the window to be cautious and saw Brad standing there.

  Gia opened the door and before she could say anything he pulled her into his arms and kissed her intensely.

  “I couldn’t wait until Saturday to see you.” He wanted her so badly at that moment.

  She moaned lustfully. “Brad, I’m so glad you’re here. Take me upstairs, right now!”

  Brad didn’t need to be told twice. He scooped her up into his arms and carried her up the stairs to her bedroom. They made hot passionate love all night long. Brad spent the night and held Gia securely in his arms. He was surprised to discover that he was really going to miss her while he was gone.

  How am I going to survive these next two months?

  Chapter Seven

  The rest of the week flew by. Gia spoke with Brad several times throughout the week. He advised her that his mother and stepfather were going to stop by for breakfast on Saturday. He wanted to make sure she was alright with that. Gia was panicked at the prospect of meeting his mother, but excited that he wanted it to happen.

  When Gary picked her up on Saturday morning, her nerves started to get the best of her. Gia really didn’t care what people thought of her, but meeting Brad’s mother was different. She just wasn’t someone off the streets.

  When the car pulled up to the front door, she was greeted by Brad, his mother Joanna and Patrick, his stepfather. Brad kissed her on the cheek and he then introduced her to them. She gave them a hug and said hello because that was how she was raised.

  They went inside and proceeded to the dining room. Bradley wanted a more informal setting for this occasion. He didn’t want Gia to be uncomfortable.

  Gia could see the resemblance between Brad and his mother. They shared the same rich green eyes. Joanna Morganthau was a beautiful woman. She was a petite little blonde with a fit body.

  Brad must have gotten his height from his father because he is 6’3.

  Joanna warmly asked, “How did you two meet?”

  Gia was feeling a little anxious. “We met in a book store. My sister is Brad’s secretary, Rachel, and I was with her when we ran into Brad.”

  Oh dear God, I hope Rachel made a good impression or else I’m done.

  “Oh yes, Bradley did tell me that. Rachel is a lovely woman. We’ve met and spoke on the phone several times.”

  Joanna looked like she wanted to say something else but was unsure.

  “I want to apologize for Sheila’s behavior. I didn’t want to bring it up but I had no idea that she was going to show up at the restaurant like that.”

  She really did mean well, Gia could tell by her expression, but Brad didn’t look too happy about it.

  “There’s no need to bring it up, Mom.”

  “Well, you were very upset and I didn’t want Gia to think it was intentional. I spoke with Sheila and told her it was uncalled for.”

  “Thanks. Can we move on?”

  “So, Brad told me you’re a doctor. What kind of doctor are you?”

  “I’m a surgeon. It’s my passion. I absolutely love it. Patrick is as well, that’s how we met.”

  “She’s my life.” Patrick reached over and touched her hand.

  “Ah, that is so sweet.” Gia could tell they were happily in love and she hoped that she would have that kind of love someday. She looked over and noticed that Brad was uncomfortable and stiff. She reached over, patted his leg and smiled at him. He smiled back and blew her a kiss.

  Why did he have such animosity toward his mother? She would remember to ask him later.

  Breakfast was fantastic. Brad’s cook, Mena, made all Gia’s favorite foods courtesy of Brad’s request on her behalf.

  After breakfast, they retreated to the patio deck with their coffee to enjoy the morning air. It was a beautiful day. The sky was a clear shade of blue.

  “Bradley, do you want to take a look at the boat for a few minutes, while I’m here”, Patrick asked nonchalantly.

  “Sure” He turned to Gia, “Will you be ok?”

  “Yes, I’ll just sit here and talk with your mother. Maybe she’ll let me in on some secrets.”

  Brad’s face turned completely serious, like he was afraid of what his mother was going to say.

  “I’m just kidding. You need to lighten up a little bit.” Brad smiled and left with Patrick.

  Joanna was shaking her head. “Bradley is always so serious. I can see that he’s different around you. You make
him happy.”

  Where is she going with this?

  “The night you went on the date and Sheila showed up, he called me. He was furious with me. I had no idea that Sheila would behave like that.

  “It wasn’t your fault. The way she is, she would’ve probably found him anyway.”

  I’m tired of Sheila, already.