by Sadie Grubor
Connor cleared his throat.
"Nothing but the return of the signed divorce papers" he shrugged. "Other than that night when she arrived, I haven't heard anything from her."
That was the last anyone spoke about Ilene.
"What's this?" The sound of his voice could still cause me to stiffen. Only now it was from nervousness. Once again I was in a room with Dr. Bishop and Juliet. I took a deep breath and focused on with the pancakes.
"This would be breakfast." Max said very slowly to Dr. Bishop. Larissa and Juliet giggled.
"I mean, I realize you have everything taken care of for you, but do you really need a person to tell you what breakfast is?" Max couldn't fight his chuckle by the end of his fake rant. I was laughing silently.
"I don't know how you deal with him." Dr. Bishop said aloud.
"What can I say? I love the goof." Larissa replied. I smiled at her statement.
Then I felt his presence like always. The intense sensation of being watched, it seemed to have intensified. Now knowing what he felt like.
"Is there something amusing Ms. Ashwood?" He whispered in the back of my head as he brushed passed me toward the fresh coffee.
I heard Juliet snicker. Goddamn him!
Once breakfast was cooked, Larissa and Connor set everything out on the large dining room table. Everyone took a seat. Dr. Bishop at the head of the table, Max on his right and Victoria on his left, Ryan sat between Max and Larissa, while MJ was in his carrier on the seat next to Larissa. Then I was sitting beside Victoria, with Juliet on my other side, with an empty chair between us. Connor was at the other end of the table opposite of Dr. Bishop.
The conversation was easy going and there was plenty of quiet eating along with the light conversation. Of all people at the table, I didn't expect Connor to be the one to bring everything to a halt.
He cleared his throat.
"Could I have your attention, all of you?" We looked toward him when he stood from his seat.
"Connor," Juliet hissed, "now is not the time."
He waved off her objections.
"I would like to let you all in on some wonderful news."
I glanced to Juliet who had her head in her hands.
"Connor…" she warned so quietly I think only I could hear her. I looked back to Connor, already having a good idea about what he was about to say.
"Juliet has agreed to marry me."
I heard the clatter of a fork dropping on to someone's plate and a glass knock over with a whispered 'shit' following it. Then there was a loud smash from behind us. Everyone turned toward the noise and there was a collective gasp in the room. Juliet groaned from next to me.
"Oh God, Connor."
It was dead silent. Like a vacuum had formed and sucked all of the sound from the room, until that vacuum exploded.
"I cannot believe this!"
Chapter Seventeen
"What are you thinking?" Larissa exclaimed, throwing her napkin onto the table. The screech of her chair echoed off the walls. She pushed away from the table and headed to Allison.
"Are you serious?!" Allison took two large strides toward her father.
Juliet stood quickly.
"Allison, please, we –"
"Save it!" She pushed by Juliet so she could stand before Connor.
"You just finalized your divorce and you are already planning to marry her?" Allison shoved her thumb over her shoulder toward Juliet.
"Princess I want to be with Juliet. She is who I have…"
"Enough," Allison put her hands up to her father. "I think I have entered the damn Twilight Zone." She spun, turning her wild eyes on us all. "Or are you all trying to ensure that I completely lose my damn mind?"
"Allison, calm down." Dr. Bishop stated coolly.
"Like I'm going to listen to you," she cackled, "Like father, like son, huh mister golden boy?" Her eyes narrowed on him.
"Everyone needs to relax. The kids are in the room." Max stood up and picked Ryan up from his seat. Larissa appeared on their side of the table again, picking MJ up into her arms.
Allison and Collin were trapped in a battle of wills, neither wanting to succumb to the other by looking away first.
"I think you should worry about your own issues and stay out of mine." Dr. Bishop's chilled voice warned. Did he just refer to me as an issue?
Allison snorted and crossed her arms over her chest.
"You think I haven't noticed things or that Juliet's the only one to see her," she motioned to me, "sneaking out of your room early this morning?"
Max and Larissa both jerked their heads between Dr. Bishop and me. Juliet groaned from behind me and I dropped my head into my hands.
"Again, my business is my own." Dr. Bishop stated calmly.
I pushed away from the table quickly and grabbed Victoria. We left the room and I could hear Connor and Allison pick up where they left off.
"Sophia?" Victoria spoke quietly as I collapsed onto her bed.
"Hmm?"
"Is grandma no longer my grandma?" I sat up quickly and looked at her. Her face was twisted with confusion. "Is Juliet going to be my grandma now?"
I sighed. Those damned fools!
"Come sit here with me." I patted the mattress next to me, cleared my throat, and tried to clear my head. "Do you know what a divorce is?" I eyed her carefully.
She nodded.
"Yes, Marcy's parents are divorced. They live in separate houses. She has two bedrooms." She looked up at me, her face full of pride for understanding.
"Okay, well, your grandma and grandpa are the same now. They separated and now live in separate houses."
Victoria pursed her lips.
"Grandpa is going to marry Juliet?"
I nodded with a small shrug.
"It seems they are planning to do that, yes."
"Oh." Her hands fidgeted in her lap and she kept her eyes on them.
"You okay?" I rubbed circles against her back.
She nodded.
"Do you think they will let me be in the wedding?" When she looked up at me I couldn't help but snort in laughter. "What?" She asked with a small giggle. She had no idea how funny that question was.
A quick knock stopped my laughter.
"Victoria?" At the sound of his voice, I swallowed hard and sat up straight.
"Daddy?" Dr. Bishop was entering her room when Victoria hopped from the bed and hurried toward her door.
"Are you okay?" It was nice to hear sincere concern in his voice.
She nodded.
"I didn't want you to find out about grandpa and grandma that way." He knelt down to her.
"It's okay daddy, Sophia talked to me about it."
His eyes flickered to me.
"She did, did she?"
"Yeah," she nodded. He returned his eyes to her. "Daddy, can I be in grandpa and Juliet's wedding?"
I saw the same amusement I had felt flash across his face.
"I don't see why not, but we will have to talk to Juliet about it."
"Okay," she turned and bounded back toward me.
"Ms. Ashwood?" I looked away from Victoria to him, surprised he called for me. "Can I speak with you for a moment?"
"Of course," I smiled nervously. Before I exited I turned to Victoria, "I will be right back."
I left her room and felt him pull her door shut behind us. It startled me causing me to jump a little. His long fingers wrapped around my arm and tugged me to his office, sealing us in with the close of his office door. My eyes widened at his urgency.
"What's the matter?"
The words barely left my mouth before he pressed me against his desk with his body and brought his lips to mine.
For a brief moment I melted into him and savored the taste of his tongue. Then, once again, rational thinking pushed passed the lusty fog. I pushed him back and turned my head.
"Dr. Bishop," I panted. "Stop."
His lips caressed the skin along my neck.
"Dr. Bishop," I pushe
d harder against his shoulders.
He pulled back and looked at me with those damn intense emerald pools.
"I apologize." His breathless words made my knees feel wobbly. After he took a few steps back, I took a deep breath and exhaled loudly.
"I need to get back to Victoria." I stepped around him and grabbed the door knob.
He was quickly at my back. I closed my eyes and bit my lip at the closeness. His hands lightly caressed my hips and my body tingled.
"Stop," I choked out. "This isn't –"
"Don't," His voice was stern. Leaning fully into my back, I could hear him inhale against the back of my head. "There is no more line, Sophia. I want you."
"I'm an employee." I blurted.
He chuckled.
"I thought I fired you?" His arms wound around my waist.
"I seem to still be receiving a check." I retorted, leaning back into the comfort of his chest. I'm getting carried away again.
"Hmm…" his lips grazed the back of my neck.
"Sophia?" Victoria's voice rang out loudly.
Dr. Bishop hesitated for a moment, possessively tightening his hold before releasing me.
"We will finish this conversation," he whispered against my ear before stepping back from me.
I didn't dare look back as I spoke.
"I didn't realize there was any conversing that had transpired here". I exited the room, closing the door behind me.
This is so dangerous and stupid.
"There you are!"
I opened my eyes and pulled myself off of the door. Victoria was careening toward me with a large smile. We went back to her room to get dressed and decide what we wanted to do for the day.
I didn't want to do much away from the house simply because I didn't know what was going to happen in regards to Grace. I mean, Dr. Bishop had gone and taken her. I was sure repercussions were on the way. Oh man, was I correct.
Well into the afternoon of doing manicures and pedicures, we heard a commotion downstairs.
"Stay here," I instructed Victoria.
Careful not to bump my freshly painted toenails, I walked on my heels toward the door. I turned the knob and was immediately assaulted with shouting.
"Where are you going?" Larissa sounded distraught. "Max!" She screamed.
"I need to get away from here, from all of this." Allison's voice was sharp and decisive. "It's all too much. The boys and I are getting for a while." Then I heard the door slam shut.
"Collin! Max!" Larissa screamed and then I heard her stomping up the stairs. She was grumbling the entire way. "Goddamn men are never around when they are needed."
I quickly closed Victoria's door, realizing I had been eavesdropping like a little kid. Mentally scolding myself, I went back to Victoria.
"What's wrong?" She looked at me worried.
"Nothing honey," I smiled at her and sat back down. "Aunt Allison just decided to take a vacation for a while, that's all."
"Oh," she shrugged. "Why is everyone mad about that?"
I shrugged in response.
"I just don't get adults sometimes." She shook her head and went back to adding Silver Star stickers to my toenails. I bit the side of my mouth so not to laugh.
After our day filled with at home spa treatments, manicures, and pedicures, we were both surprisingly tired. Victoria fell asleep quickly during the bedtime story.
I slid from her bed and headed to my room to get ready for bed as well. I was in the middle of washing off the bright blue eye shadow Victoria put on me when my cell phone rang from the living room area. Quickly towel drying my face, I collected my phone. Miranda.
"Hey you!" I answered excitedly.
"Hey!" I could hear the smile in her voice. "How are things going?" Suddenly I detected a hint of panic.
"It's fine, what's the matter?"
"Okay, um, did you get your invitation to the wedding?" She sounded more nervous now.
"I didn't check my mail yesterday. Hold on." I quickly moved to the pile of mail Mrs. Baker had placed on the small table in the living area. "Yep, it's right here" I figured she was afraid she had forgotten to send it.
"Great," she still sounded worried.
"Rand, what's going on?"
"Uh, Sophia, you know how much I love you, right?"
"What do you want?"
"Okay, listen, my cousin in North Carolina can't make it to the wedding and she was supposed to be one of my bridesmaids. She is a size five, just like someone else I know, so I was wondering if you could help a freaking-out bride? What do you say?"
"I say that was a lot of words in one breath." I laughed.
"Sophia, come on. Please?"
I sighed.
"What color are the dresses?"
"SOPHIA!"
I laughed.
"Okay, okay, I'm in." I giggled.
"Oh my god, thank you, thank you, so much!" I could hear the tension melt away.
"You know I would do anything for you. How are the rest of things going?"
Miranda quickly went into all the stress and craziness involved with wedding planning. We talked about Victoria and briefly about Dr. Bishop. I didn't dare tell her about my little secret, because she would kill me and, hell, I didn't exactly know how to answer the questions she would surely have. She picked up on my mood, but I played it off as being tired.
After my call with Miranda and the promise to meet her on Wednesday at the dress shop, I headed to the calendar to write down the time and place to meet her. It was then I realized that Victoria would be heading back to school in only a few more weeks. I needed to take her school shopping. I decided we could start the shopping on Tuesday and finish it up on Wednesday after my dress fitting with Miranda.
The next morning I was woken by a knock on my half shut bedroom door.
"Victoria?" I groaned and pulled my face out of my pillow.
"Afraid not."
I never pulled myself out of grogginess so quickly. Looking to my door, Dr. Bishop stood appraising me.
"Um..." I didn't know what to say to him. "What time is it?" I glanced to my clock as he answered.
"Six," he took steps into my room. With the sound of my door closing, I felt my body tense. "I have a meeting with the lawyers in two hours in regards to Grace's visitations."
"Oh," I sat up quickly and kicked the blankets off of me. "Do you need me to get Victoria ready?"
He shook his head and walked closer to me.
I started to gasp, but bit my lip at his proximity. His eyes stayed on me the entire time he moved.
"Dr. Bishop…" My tone wasn't warning, but hesitant and cautious, "This," I motioned between the two of us, "isn't a good idea."
"Sophia –" his eyes increased in intensity and he came to the side of my bed. I scooted away from him. His presence was drawing me to him and distracting me from my thoughts.
"I know you think there isn't anything wrong with…this, but –" My argument was cut off. He knelt onto the bed and, in two quick movements, had me on my back with him hovering over me.
"Stop fighting it." His eyes left mine and wandered around my face. He positioned himself against me. The position was the same as the time he showed up drunk. He was pressed against my right side with his head lying above my right breast, right hand on my left hip, and his right leg entwined with mine.
"Dr. Bishop –?"
His hand moved from my hip to cover my mouth.
"I have an hour before I need to get ready to leave and frankly I missed your presence last night."
While his words sounded more like a direct order, I was growing accustomed to the many phases of his cold tone. I believed this was his soft side. We lie there next to each other, across my bed, for an hour until I realized it was now seven. I nudged the arm he stretched over my stomach.
"Dr. Bishop, it's seven," I whispered.
Why the hell am I whispering if I want to wake him up? I shook my head at my stupidity and tried again.
"Dr. Bishop, it'
s seven."
He buried further into my side before I heard him groan loudly and stretch onto his back. I began to move to my left side, trying roll out of bed. His arm wrapped around me and pulled me back to him, burying his face in my neck.
"Mmm…you smell so good." He breathed heavily against my skin.
"Caress body wash," I blurted and then slapped myself in the forehead.
I'm an idiot! He chuckled.
"No, I don't quite think it is body wash, but simply you." His lips touched my sensitive skin and brushed back and forth over it.
"It's seven," I squeezed my eyes closed tight and willed myself not to launch a full scale attack on his body.
He growled quietly against my neck before rolling off of me and slipping off of my bed. As he walk toward my door I clenched my hand on my heaving chest and took a deep breath.
"Until the next time."
I raised my head at the sound of his voice, but he was already exiting my room.
Dropping my head back down, I could only pray he didn't run into anyone in the hall. Half of me, the hormone induced half, wanted him to intrude on my sleep regularly. The other half of me, the rational side, was concerned he had entered my room with no hesitation and implanted himself in my bed.
Groaning I rubbed my face and pulled myself off the bed and into the shower. Focusing on the tasks I set for myself today, I thought about the need to go through my mail and then go through Victoria's things to make a list of what she would need for school.
After my shower, I sat with my mail as I intended; however, there were some bills that needed my immediate attention, so I logged on to my laptop and began setting up some payments. Then a moment of brilliance struck me and I went to Victoria's school website.
Low and behold, they had a class list assignment posted and what materials would be needed for the start of school. I did mental happy dance and sipped at my coffee as I printed out the information.
As soon as I had everything I needed, I finished getting dressed and headed to check on Victoria. She was just coming out of her bathroom when I walked in. Her hair was frizzy and she was walking sluggishly.
"Rough night?" I giggled.
"I just woke up." She yawned.
"Let's get some breakfast." I extended my hand to her. She grasped it and headed to the kitchen.
The house was eerily quiet. I was so used to the chaos of the Bishop family from over the past few weeks. It was odd to be back to just Victoria and me like in the beginning. Briefly I wondered where Allison had gone and if both Connor and Juliet had gone with her. Shaking off my thoughts, I started breakfast for the both of us.