Love Again

by Christina Marie

  I shook my head, “You need to leave—please.” I said to her, obviously frustrated. No matter what she would say or do I was not taking her back.

  She dropped her hand and wiped under her eyes, “Fine, you’ll realize some day that I was the best you’ve ever had and will ever have, Dom! Is there somebody else? Is that why you don’t want me? You know that no woman will ever be able to please you like I can, no other woman will ever give you the kind of relationship we had.”

  I walked to the door and opened it, “Leave, stop contacting me, stop coming to my apartment. If you keep this shit up Ava, I’m going to put a restraining order against you.”

  Her eyes got big, she opened her mouth to say something but with the look I gave her she knew I was serious and she snapped her mouth shut.

  The door clicked shut behind her, I scrubbed my hands down my face. Ava annoyed the hell out of me and knowing her, she wouldn’t listen and actually stay away from me. It would be just a matter of time before she found out where I was moving to too.

  Sunday I did my normal routine that consisted of going for a run, going to the gym, checking emails and watching football. Numerous times I picked up my phone to call Lennie but decided not to. I would type out a text and erase it. I was confused as hell about her, I didn’t know her but I did know I needed to get to know her…convincing her would be the hard part.

  Monday morning I went for my jog then went back to my apartment. I showered, and then dressed in a black business suit. I checked my watch and rushed to gather my cell phone and call my driver. I didn’t want to be late and keep Lennie waiting for me. Okay, honestly I just wanted to get there as soon as possible so we could hopefully have some extra time to talk about things that happened at the club. Lennie and I had agreed for me to be there at ten o’clock, but with traffic I showed up at five after ten.

  The secretary greeted me with a smile then led me back to Lennie’s office. Her sweet voice came from behind the closed door. “Come in!”

  After Lana, the secretary, opened the door I stepped past her. Lennie was typing on her computer, a pair of black-rimmed glasses on her face. Her hair was in a loose bun with a pencil stuck in the middle. She looked up from the screen and did a double take, “Oh…Hi Dominique I was just printing the last few pages. Thank you Lana.”

  I smiled at the secretary as she walked out and shut the office door behind her. “Sorry I’m late.”

  Lennie took her glasses off, “It doesn’t take very long. Can I get you something to drink before we get started?” she asked and stood up from the chair.

  “Water’s fine.” I said to her. She smiled as she walked past me. The dress she wore was a form fitting gray one with a slit up the back, and the black heels she was wearing made her legs look fucking incredible. Before I could stop myself I walked up behind her and placed my hands on her hips, she was reaching into the cabinet and paused briefly before grabbing two glasses. I caressed my thumbs against the base of her spine and smiled to myself when I noticed her hands shaking with each scoop of ice she dropped into the glasses. She cleared her throat.

  “Please stop.” She said firmly. Then turned around her breasts touching my chest. “We need to get started before I say something I’ll regret.”

  I stared at her before taking the glass of water, “Say something you’ll regret?” I asked.

  Lennie walked around me, “Do you want to know my opinion is of men that do what you did to me at the club the other night while being engaged? None the less do you know how that made me feel?” She wouldn’t look at me as she sat down in her office chair.

  I sat down then put my water on the table between the two chairs. “Do you want to know what I think about the fucking internet?” I asked her, never taking my eyes off of her.

  She rolled her eyes, “I happen to think it’s a wonderful way to find things out.”

  I leaned forward and put my elbows on her desk, “I’m guessing you searched my name, came across some football pictures, modeling pictures, fundraiser pictures and lastly the engagement announcement on a paparazzi site. Right?”

  “Mmmhmm.” She wouldn’t look at me as she shuffled papers and slid them across the desk to me.

  “Then you probably should have scrolled down and read the article about me calling the fucking engagement off a few months later because Ava cheated on me.” I stated.

  Lennie finally looked at me, “I…”

  “Go ahead and look it up, I’ll still be here signing these papers.” I said with a grin. She never typed anything on her computer. Instead she signed a few papers after I had signed them. “Do you believe me?” I asked her as I scribbled my signature on a page then slid it to her.

  “I do.” She nodded.

  “So does that mean you’ll have dinner with me?” I asked hopefully.

  She shook her head and smiled but before she could respond there was a knock on her door. Lennie excused herself, “I’m almost finished here.” She whispered to the person at the door.

  “I’m sorry…this guy says these are urgent.” I heard Lana say. Then a man spoke.

  “Mrs. Ericson?”

  “Yes?” Lennie said quietly, “I’m kind of busy can you wait about fifteen minutes?”

  “No ma’am, I just need you to sign here.” The guy said.

  A few seconds later the door clicked shut and Lennie walked back to her desk, while opening a manila envelope. She pulled a stack of papers out and gasped, blinked a few times before shoving them back inside the envelope and putting them in her desk drawer. I gave her a few minutes before I said anything.

  “Everything okay?”

  She nodded a frown on her face, “I um…okay we are finished here.” She tried to smile but it wasn’t real.

  I raised one eyebrow at her, “Don’t you want a check?” I asked with a chuckle.

  “Oh, god, Yes! I’m sorry.” She shook her head.

  After writing the check I ripped it out and held it between my index and middle fingers, “You can have it if you’ll agree to dinner.” I teased her.

  Lennie gave me a genuine smile before snatching the check out of my hand, “Mister Hasting’s it’s been a pleasure doing business with you.” She slid the house keys toward me. “Had I not just been served divorce papers I might actually take you up on that offer.”

  I laughed once, “How the fuck do you get served that fast?”

  She shrugged her shoulders, “I’ll just say that Justin’s mom has probably had them on file since we said our vows.”

  I shook my head, “Well, then I see it as a reason to celebrate. Don’t you?”

  This time Lennie laughed, “Mister Hastings…”

  “Stop calling me that. I’m pretty sure we are way past the formalities.” I grinned at her.

  “Dominique, what happened at the club is something that shouldn’t have happened. I’ve never been that type of woman and, in all honesty, I don’t like how I felt after our little tryst in your office.”

  If she was a frustrated as I was that night I’m sure she was feeling like she was about to combust with sexual frustration. I nodded my head, “Okay, just one drink, then we can go our separate ways.”

  Lennie blew out a breath, “Fine, ONE drink.”

  Inwardly I did a happy dance, “I’ll even wait for you to text me when you want that ONE drink. But I’m not going to wait months.”

  She laughed, “Just give me some time, I’ll have one drink with you I promise”

  “Works for me.” I extended my hand across the desk to her, “It’s been a pleasure doing business with you.” I smiled when I said it.

  Lennie laughed, “That’s my line! I hope you enjoy your new home.”

  Having Dominique in my office made it suddenly feel very small and overly hot. When he walked up behind me as I was getting us each a glass of water, the feel of his body slightly pressing against my back made me pause for a second. His hands on my hips, thumbs caressing the small of my back, my skin started to tingle with g
oose bumps and my nipples got tight. I had to stop him, he was engaged and had no business touching me.

  I turned around and looked up at him, those gorgeous blue eyes looked down at me and those lips…god those lips! I knew how they felt against mine and how they felt against my skin. My heart rate sped up, I pushed the memories away and handed him his water. I wanted to be as polite as possible when I told him I knew he was engaged, BUT, it did come out a little harsher than I could help. I could tell I struck a nerve, expecting him to give me some kind of excuse like; he wasn’t happy, didn’t really want to get married--et cetera et cetera. Imagine the surprise when he called me out on searching his name on the internet and coming across the article…then telling me I should have continued reading to see that he broke the engagement off. It didn’t matter though, I couldn’t let what happened between us happen again. No matter how much I had to fight my own mind and body when he was near me.

  As if the meeting hadn’t started off rocky enough, getting served divorce papers had to be the final straw. There was no doubt in my mind that Justin’s mom and dad had made the process happen practically overnight. A million thoughts ran through my mind, I wondered if they knew about Jill and Justin’s drug use. Did they know that she was pregnant? That thought alone made me feel sick, how could she be pregnant and still be doing the drugs?

  Dominique pushed a stack of papers across the desk, I read the information that he had filled in before I signed below his signature. One look at his current address and I almost dropped my ink pen, how could he live in the same building SAME floor as Corrina and me and neither of us know it? Then I remembered seeing a woman that looked vaguely familiar walking down the hallway yesterday. She smiled at me as I walked to the elevator, it was Ava. He might not be engaged to her anymore but obviously they still needed each other. I chose not to say anything about seeing her.

  When he asked me out for dinner I almost said Yes, almost, but I just couldn’t. If he and Ava were still seeing each other I didn’t want to be involved in a love triangle. Dominique was persistent though and I finally agreed to have a drink with him sometime soon. The smile on his face was contagious and when we shook hands the familiar heat from his touch spread up my arm. As soon as he walked out of my office I grabbed the phone and called Corrina.

  “How did the meeting go?” she asked excitedly.

  “Did you know that he lives in the same building as us ANNNND on the same floor?” I almost yelled.

  “What? There’s no way…oh my god, I bet that’s the friend that Trevor helped out that day! Holy shit!”

  “Yeah…are we both that dense that we never noticed him?”

  Corrina laughed, “Um no, I don’t know anybody on that floor. But I do believe we need to change that soon.”

  “You’re not going to believe this either.” I told her about being served divorce papers.

  “Are you kidding me? It honestly doesn’t surprise me really. His bitch of a mother probably had them filed right next to the marriage license.”

  I sat down in my chair, “You have no idea how hard it was to hold it together in front of Dominique. I want to just go curl up and cry some more, then Dominique asked me out for supper…”

  “You said yes, right?” she interrupted me.

  “No.”

  “Gahhh!” she said with frustration. “It’s just supper!”

  “I know, but, I can’t move that fast. I did however agree to go out and have a drink with him sometime.”

  “GOOD!” Corrina said.

  “I’m going to look through some listing and see if I can find a place.” I told her.

  “Lennie, you can stay with me for as long as you want. I like having you there!” I knew she was pouting but I didn’t like feeling like I was imposing on her.

  “I love being there, I’m just going to look through listings.”

  “Okay, I’ll go with you if you want me to.”

  “Henry and James have some nice places. I’ll let you know.”

  “Love you, I’ll see you later. Don’t forget to put that big ass check in my account. I don’t want Justin getting his grubby hands on it!”

  “Love you too, I’ll go to the bank after bit. I’m not sure how they’ll handle that much money.”

  “Sounds good, if they need me down there let me know.”

  “Will do. Talk to you later.”

  We disconnected the call and I started looking through listings, I pressed the intercom button and asked Henry and James to come to my office. Within seconds they were both standing in the doorway. I smiled at them both, “I want to look for a place to live, no rush though. I don’t think I want an apartment. Maybe a town home?”

  They both smiled big at me, “Let’s go, we’ve got a few different ones. What’s your price point?” Henry asked.

  “Right now I’m just looking, unless something really catches my eye.” I grabbed my cell phone and purse out of the desk drawer and followed them out of the office.

  I stared out the window lost in thought as James drove through down town Chicago.

  “You sure you don’t want a nice pent house style apartment?” He asked me.

  “Nope, I want a back yard with a deck that I can sit on and read…I mean relax on. I want to be able to hear the birds chirping and to be able to plant flowers.”

  “Is your phone going dead already?” Henry asked from the back seat. I pulled my phone out of my purse and sure enough it was in the red with only twelve percent battery left.

  “Yep, the battery life has been horrible. I’ll get a new one eventually.”

  Henry pointed at the first town home, it was too close to down town so I shook my head no and smiled when he told me I was going to be hard to please. We drove around for two hours, none of the places he pointed out appealed to me though. “You know, maybe if you’d look at the inside of them you’d like them.” He told me.

  “Do you have any houses? Small little cottage style?” I asked.

  “Yep! I will bet my left nut you’ll fall in love with it too!” He said and pressed down on the accelerator.

  Thirty minutes later we pulled up in front of the most adorable little house ever, located in a quiet neighborhood. “Stop!” I grabbed his arm.

  James laughed, “Do you want to see the inside? It’s rat infested and…”

  “Bullshit!” I said and opened my car door.

  The house was grey stucco with white shudders, numerous flowers planted in front and a beautiful green lawn. I waited patiently for the Henry to unlock the door, when I stepped inside I knew that THIS was exactly what I wanted. It had been completely remodeled to perfection, all the original woodwork restored and soft smoky gray colored carpet covered the living room. Normally I didn’t like carpet in a home, but in this house it made it all feel very cozy.

  “The good news is, it’s fully furnished.” James said and stepped to the side so I could look around.

  “Wow! How long have you had it?” I asked as I walked through the living room.

  “Two weeks, wait until you see the master bedroom.” James said.

  I followed him down a short hallway where he showed me one bedroom that would work great as an office for me. The master bedroom was breathtaking; I pushed past James and dove on the bed. It was just as soft as I expected. The guys laughed at me, “The closet,” James opened a large walk in closet, “Bathroom,” Henry opened the door and I jumped from the bed.

  “Why hasn’t this place sold?” I screeched. A massive white soaking tub was against one wall. And by massive I mean two people could easily fit in it. The floor was cream-colored tile, everything was updated just like the rest of the house. A double sink vanity with clear glass sinks was against another wall and a glass shower with a massive rain shower head was in the opposite corner. “Is it haunted?” I spun around and looked at the guys. They laughed at me.

  “No, it’s just on the small side. Everybody I’ve showed it to wants a two bed two bath.” Henry told my.
r />   “Hmm!” I walked past them hopefully the back yard was as nice as the rest of the property. It was like I had hit a gold mine. I gasped when I walked onto the deck and found myself looking at a swimming pool with cobblestone surrounding it and beautiful green grass that went all the way to the privacy fence. “Seriously? You could have taken me here first!”

  James laughed, “You said a town home!”

  “I need to call Corrina, she will die when she sees this place.” I tried to call her but my phone died. Henry handed me his knowing that Corrina would more than likely freak out if she couldn’t get ahold of me.

  An hour later she showed up, I was still in awe of the house. Corrina loved it too, “I really think you should stay with me a while longer though.”

  “I have to buy this place, it’s perfect!” I clasped her hands in mine. “It really feels like a home. I might even get a cat or a little dog!” I said with a laugh.

  She rolled her eyes, “Fine! We need to negotiate the price though.” She said trying to sound serious and all business.

  Henry and James shook their heads, “I’ll take it!” I told them. “No negotiating necessary.”

  I rode with Corrina so we could go to the bank, after confirming the check with Dominique they deposited it into Corrina’s account but I had to agree to come open my own account within a month. Back at the office I filled out all the paperwork for my house and wrote the check for it. By the end of the day I was a proud homeowner and my day seemed to have done a complete three sixty. Since the house was furnished I didn’t have to buy anything but I would have to go shopping so I could add my personal touch. From now on I was going to live my life my way and take it one day at a time, life without Justin would be a huge change but it was a change that needed to be made.

  When we got back to the apartment building I was smiling from ear to ear, “Shit…tomorrow remind me to go buy a new battery for my phone okay?” I said to Corrina.

  “You haven’t had that one very long, let me see it.”