“But I feel like I need closure,” Eli sighed. She raised an eyebrow and glared at him.
“Closure? Really? Are you the one who walked in on her with some stranger’s balls hanging out of her? Fucking no! She walked in on you humping the living daylights out of a stranger’s vagina. She is the one who needs closure Eli not you,” she said almost too annoyed. She could feel her blood pressure rising.
“But…” he started, a faraway look in his eyes as if he was trying to make up what he was saying as he went on.
“Damn it! Eli,” she said banging her hands on the table causing a scene even though she didn’t want to. “It has been so long since your stupid…whatever and honestly you have no right to anything, really. No right to talk to her, to even think of her or even the right to fucking closure. She is over you. She has moved on and I suggest you do the same,” she said as she pushed her seat back.
“Wait, what? She’s moved on? Already? But where…I’ve been trying…where is she?” he was struggling to get the words out but she was already walking away. “Emily…please, I need to know. Where is she?” he asked as he ran up to her. Emily turned around and looked at him. She was exhausted just standing there looking at him.
“Why the hell do you want to know?” she asked.
“Is she okay? Is she happy?” he asked even though she was not sure what his intentions were.
“She is happy. She has moved on and she is in love. This thing you had is dead and buried, Eli,” she added. She was about to walk away when Eli held her hand.
“But where is she? I need to see her,” he said. She rolled her eyes and yanked her hand away from him.
“Well you can’t asshole. She is in Athens,” she said before walking away.
*****
Emily was still jet lagged when she woke up three hours later and then realized what had just happened to her at the airport. She needed to give her sister a heads up.
“How the hell am I supposed to break this news to my sister?” she wondered as she splashed some water on her face. She took a long deep breath and walked out of the bathroom. She made her way to the kitchen and opened the fridge. “Really, Cassandra?” she wondered as she looked through the contents of her fridge. Clearly, Cassandra had taken the whole house sitting thing to another level. She grabbed a carton of milk and then got some cereal from the shelf. She poured her cereal and milk and then walked back to the bedroom. She ate it slowly and shrugged before she switched on her computer. She called Erica and waited for her to pick up.
“Hey you,” Erica said when she answered the video call.
“Hey, wait. I want to conference Cassandra in,” Emily said typing frantically.
“Okay. But you do know what time it is over here, right?” Erica asked. Emily smiled uncomfortably as she looked at her screen.
“Well, I am jet lagged and I have to tell you something,” Emily said before taking another bite of her cereal.
Erica raised an eyebrow and looked at her sister. “Em, should I be concerned?”
“Just…just chill,” Emily said.
“Hey Erica and deserter,” Cassandra said a bit too dramatically.
“Hey Cassandra. And before you continue hurling insults, I should tell you that I got you those cute black and silver peep toe Jimmy Choos you wanted since last spring,” Emily said. Cassandra put a hand over her mouth and squealed loudly. “Yeah, I knew that would shut you up.”
“So, Erica. How is everything in Athens?” Cassandra asked.
“Dark. Really, really dark,” Erica said.
“What? I thought you and that hottie were having a great time,” Cassandra said.
“Oh we are. It’s just that it’s one in the morning over here,” Erica said. Emily shrugged.
“Well, I could have waited to talk to you but clearly Miss Jimmy Choo here has something in mind,” Cassandra said.
“Yeah, Em. What’s going on? Did you have a good flight?” Erica asked.
“Yeah, the flight was awesome. I still maintain the whole Middle Eastern airlines are the best!” Emily said with a smile.
“I thought British Air was your bread and butter…and maybe Lufthansa too?” Cassandra asked.
“Oh honey, you haven’t had international treatment until you try Etihad, Emirates or Qatar,” Emily said. A smile played on Erica’s lips. “So anyway, I have to tell you guys something. It’s more your news Erica but I didn’t want to have to tell it twice,” she added.
Erica raised an eyebrow. “Like I asked before, should I be worried, Emily?”
“Well, not really except the fact that your ex knows where you are.”
“What?” Erica and Cassandra asked in unison.
“I bumped into him…or he bumped into me…at the airport. And he was going on and on about closure…” Emily started.
“Closure? He needs fucking closure?” Erica asked a bit too loudly making Daniel wake up. She put her hand on him and patted him gently before she got off the bed and walked out into the living area. “Why the hell should he get closure?” she asked as she sat down.
“See? That anger is exactly what I felt and I gave him a good tongue lash,” Emily said.
“Wait, where was he going?” Cassandra asked.
“I don’t really know. I was in the arrivals terminal. I just exploded Erica. I’m sorry,” she sighed as she looked at her sister.
“So, at what point did you decide to blab out where Erica is?” Cassandra asked. Emily looked at Cassandra’s side of the screen and rolled her eyes.
“He was really pissing me off and I had to tell him off. And rub it in his face that you had moved on,” Emily said. “And then he asked where you were and I just said it.”.
“Well, it’s not like he can just come and find me here. I mean Athens is huge,” she said softly.
“Yeah, I guess you’re right,” Cassandra said. “But there is the obvious fact that Eli has always been a psycho,” she added.
Erica sighed again. Cassandra was right. The possibility of running into Eli was very high.
“Okay, I guess we can always do a new country in a few days,” Erica said.
“Oh so we are now using the ‘we’ word,” Cassandra said with a smile. Erica smiled and nodded. “So, things are looking up, huh?”
“Things looking up is an understatement. Those two are going at it raw nowadays,” Emily said as she took another bite of her cereal. She smiled as Cassandra’s eyes grew wide and Erica’s cheeks flushed bright red.
“They are what?” Cassandra asked loudly.
“Em, that is really not something you need to tell her or anyone, for that matter,” Erica said as she looked at Emily. She rubbed her temples and shook her head.
“Are you still embarrassed? Come on, this is awesome. You guys are actually taking things to the next level,” Emily said.
“Next level? What level is that, grandkids?” Cassandra asked.
“I will kill you. Even from five thousand miles away,” Erica said looking at Cassandra’s side of the screen.
Emily smiled and shrugged.
“Well, it is obvious that you are moving at Godspeed with this guy which I very much approve from the photos Emily sent me. I mean, seriously? Can you say fifty shades of hot?” Cassandra said with a smile. Erica looked up to see Daniel walking towards her.
“I woke you up, didn’t I?” she asked as Daniel sat next to her and kissed her forehead.
“And there he is, in the flesh,” Cassandra said.
Daniel raised an eyebrow and looked at the screen.
“Daniel, Cassandra and you remember my sister,” Erica said. Cassandra was smiling a little too widely.
“Hey guys,” Daniel said with a smile.
“You know what, I will talk to you guys tomorrow. And Em, I got everything covered,” Erica said.
“Oh come on,” Cassandra started.
“One in the morning, Cassie. One in the freaking morning,” Erica said. “I love you guys,” she said and hung up b
efore giving them a chance to say anything.
“Do I even want to know what that was about?” Daniel asked as she held him tightly.
“My family might be a little infatuated with you,” she said as Daniel draped an arm around her. He could not help but smile when she said that. “Stop that, mister big ego,” she said as she slid her hand to his crotch.
“This is definitely better,” Daniel said with a smile.
Chapter 3
“So your sister had a date with your ex?” Daniel asked looking at Erica who shook her head.
“No, she bumped into him at the airport when she landed in Philly and he said he needed to talk so they ended up having coffee. Or at least she did and he just stared at her,” she said. She had just told him of the whole Eli and Emily meeting and Daniel was having a hard time understanding what the whole thing was about. The two were lying lazily on the bed after having brunch at the restaurant. They were initially supposed to leave and do something, maybe take in some sights but they ended up just staying in.
“So let me get this straight, your ex, the one who cheated on you wants closure?” he asked. Erica nodded and shrugged. “What the hell does that even mean?”
“I know right? The cheatee is the one who usually gets closer from the cheater,” she said matter of factly.
“You do know cheatee is not actually a word, right?” he smiled.
“Well, you got the point. So, down with that,” she said as she pulled herself up to a sitting position. She looked at him and sighed. “Do you maybe think we’ve had enough of Greece?” she asked.
He sat up and looked into her eyes. “Is that what you feel?”
“Well, if you want to stay you can…we can. I just don’t want to make you do something that you don’t want to,” she shrugged. He touched the side of her face and smiled at her.
“Everything I do with you is great, perfect. You could never make me do anything that I didn’t,” he said in a soft voice.
“Okay. What do you want to do?” she smiled.
He moved closer and caressed her thigh.
“Well, if you must really know, I want to ravage you,” he said in a whisper.
She giggled and pulled his hand away. “Come on, be serious babe. What do you want?”
“I want whatever you want,” he said in a soft voice. “Okay. Do you want to choose our next destination?” she asked as she looked at him.
“I don’t really know where to go next,” he sighed. She smiled and quickly climbed off the bed. “Where are you going?” Daniel asked as he turned around to look at her. She quickly ran to the living room where she had last seen the map. She walked back to the bedroom and sat down on the bed unfolding the map. “This is just Greece,” Daniel said looking at the map. Erica smiled and turned the map over.
“So, you choose whichever place you want us to go next,” she said.
Daniel looked at her and shook his head. “I am literally looking at the world.”
She smiled and looked at him. “Just close your eyes and point.”
“Come on, this is a map. Not a piñata.”
“What do we have to lose?” she asked as she looked at him.
Daniel shrugged and closed his eyes before he lowered his index finger to the map. “Did I touch anything?”
She shook her head.
“I think that is in the States,” she said looking at the map. “We are not going to the States for holiday,” she said as Daniel opened his eyes.
“This is stupid,” he said.
“Come on, babe. Indulge me.”
“No I mean, in this day and age, there are virtual maps,” he said. She smiled and grabbed her iPad from the night stand. She pulled up a map and Daniel shook his head.
“So, are we looking at the Americas or something different?” she asked.
“Let’s be adventurous,” he said as he took a long deep breath and closed his eyes again before he lowered his finger to the tablet.
“Okay, let’s see what this is,” she said as she double tapped on the screen. “Great Blue Hole? What the hell is that?” she asked. Daniel opened his eyes and looked at the screen.
“I’ve heard of that place. It’s in Belize or something,” he said. Erica’s eyes grew wide in excitement.
“Belize,” she said with a faraway look in her eyes. She looked at him and shrugged.
“I think Belize sounds great but I still think we can squeeze a few more days out of Athens,” she said.
“I love how undecided you can get sometimes,” he laughed.
“That’s a good thing, right? I mean, I’m at a point in my life where making decisions is not exactly a priority,” she shrugged. Daniel frowned. “What?” she asked.
“If making decisions are not a priority then where do I stand?” he asked, a few strands of hair falling out of place, shielding his eyes. She leaned in and pressed her lips to his. She moved back just enough for him to feel her breath on his cheek.
“You are the best decision I ever made,” she said in a whisper. He held the back of her head and pulled her to his lips again to kiss her. She slipped a hand behind his neck and closed her eyes, feeling her tongue against his. She was blushing when he finally pulled away. She looked into his eyes and smiled.
“I think you are my best decision too,” he said softly.
“You think?” she asked with a smile. He caressed her cheek with his finger and smiled.
“I know,” he said with a smile. They were still looking at each other when his phone rang. He looked at her and frowned. “I’m sorry baby,” he said as he pulled away.
“It’s okay,” she said with a smile. He looked at her and quickly kissed her forehead before he turned to grab his phone from the night stand.
“Damn it, it’s the office. I really have to take it,” he said.
“I told you, it’s okay,” she said with a smile. Daniel climbed off the bed and walked out of the bedroom.
“Reese,” he said when he picked up.
“Mr. Reese, hi. It’s Proctor. We have a major problem.”
Daniel shook his head. “You people realize what being on vacation means, right?”
“Yes but there seems to be a problem with the new coffee maker model. The one endorsed by La Nacion de café,” Proctor said.
“What do you mean? La Nacion de café is our biggest project right now. You had better not screw it up,” Daniel said.
“Well, the model is a bit more complicated than I thought. We are going to need a bigger funding if we are going to make it work,” Proctor said.
“What do you mean?” Daniel asked and he heard Proctor sigh.
“Well, there was an unexpected…um…sir, is there a way we could video conference?” Proctor asked. Daniel sighed and reached for his own iPad and switched it on. He logged onto Skype and hung up.
“Okay, I can see you. What is going on?” he asked. Proctor had three coffee maker models on his desk.
“So the project aims at introducing two models. One is this, the regular coffee maker most people have at home and the other one, the fancy one which makes all the coffee beverages you can think of. Latte, macchiato, mocha, cappuccino…”
Daniel ran his fingers through his hair and sighed. “Proctor, let’s get this moving. Shall we?”
“This is the biggest commercial seller in the fancy machine category,” Proctor said pointing to the third coffee maker on his desk. “Now it has a number of tweaks we noticed that we will have to incorporate in our own model,” he explained.
“So what’s the big problem? Isn’t this a conversation you should be having with accounts and R&D?” Daniel asked.
“Well, I did talk to R&D and they are the ones who pointed this out. But I have to get accounts to approve it,” Proctor said.
“Then get accounts to approve it,” Daniel said matter of factly. He was fighting against his will to snap at him.
“Well, that’s the problem. After the whole thing with your uncle, you are the only one
who can approve it,” he said.
“Simple. Draft the letter, scan it and send it to me and then I will sign it, scan it and send it back to you,” Daniel said. “Was that so hard to think of?”
“Well, there is the other little factor of you meeting with the designers for the new platinum model,” Proctor said as he typed something. “I just sent you a link to the number one platinum coffee maker. Check it out,” Proctor said. Daniel clicked on the link and looked at the screen. He had to admit, the coffee maker he was looking at was perfect. “That’s the van der Western Speedster. Twenty grand is the retail price,” Proctor said.
“Twenty thousand dollars?” Daniel asked. “Twenty freaking thousand dollars, really?” he asked in disbelief. “I can get a model S Tesla or a used Ferrari with that,” he said.
“I know. The Speedster’s that good,” Proctor said. “And there are only four hundred machines manufactured every year. I think the rarity of the product also has a lot to do with how high the price is.”
“Well, that still doesn’t explain why the hell it is that expensive. I mean does it come with a mommy coffee machine and make little coffee makers?” Daniel asked as he scrolled down the page looking at the pictures of the machine. He closed the page and shook his head. “How much is the platinum model supposed to go for anyway?” he asked.
“Seventeen grand. And for that price we are bound to make great sales especially since we will be making double what the Speedster guys do,” Proctor said.
“So eight hundred a year, right?” Daniel asked.
“Sure. But we have a little problem. The design we had is already in use so we have to repackage the whole thing,” Proctor said.
“Repackage? We have to launch in three months. R&D is going to spend about that long in a new design,” he shook his head.
“Well, if you could come over and do some damage control we can maybe work something out with La Nacion de café. Maybe add a product to the line and see just how we are going to swing this,” Proctor said.
“What? We are going to spend more money that we don’t have,” Daniel said.
An Unconditional Love (BWWM Romance Book 1) Page 15