It was too bad Sarah never took no for an answer, and my need to not upset Rachel was high on my list. For the last few years, every few weeks I would take Sarah out to lunch. I didn’t want to, but keeping the peace was vital in my world. More times than I could count, Sarah would show up at functions and terrorize my date, effectively screwing my chances of getting anyone into my bed. Once I started the monthly lunches, she calmed down drastically, that was, until Charlotte.
I’d never seen Sarah extend her claws quite so fast than when she met Charlotte. It was almost as if Sarah knew my feelings about Charlotte prior to me even knowing or realizing. After the last encounter between the two of them, I knew things had to stop. After sending Charlotte home, I marched back up to my office and told Sarah, in no uncertain terms, that if she wanted to act like an animal, I would treat her as such, before I threw her, figuratively, out of my office.
Looking at the time on my computer monitor, I realized I had just spent the last half hour sitting and thinking without interruption, but if I wanted to pick up Rachel for lunch, I needed to get my butt into gear. Rachel hated when those around her were late, although she was rarely on time herself.
Punching the intercom on my phone, I waited until Brigitte answered.
“Mr. Porter?” she asked shyly.
“I’m heading out of the office for lunch, I don’t know when and if I will be back.”
“That’s not a problem, Mr. Porter, I will make sure everything here is taken care of and you’re not to be disturbed unless it’s an emergency. Have a good afternoon.”
I turned off the intercom and stood up, straightening my suit jacket. Brigitte was an excellent assistant, but I still didn’t trust her. I glared at my monitor screen and studied her from the, above the desk, cameras. She looked like she was working hard. I decided that from here on out, as per Charlotte’s directive, I would attempt to be slightly less hostile to her. It would be difficult. My anger rose substantially every time I looked at her, and heard her voice. She had almost killed Charlotte. She hadn’t pulled the trigger. She hadn’t even been holding the gun, but she was the one who got Charlotte to that point, and I would always hate her. I didn’t have to like her, I just needed to be a bit nicer. I would try.
Making sure I had all of my essentials, I walked to my office door, opened it and headed for the elevator, giving Brigitte a small smile. Today was shaping out to be a pretty good day and I hoped that, for once, it would stay like that.
**********
Forty five minutes later, I sat in front of Mansfield Management waiting for Rachel to come out. Rachel always had a habit for being late, but I was used to it, and expected it. I looked down at my phone, thinking about texting her and letting her know I was there and waiting for her, but something pulled me away from my screen. Looking up from the front door, I saw the most amazing vision.
Charlotte was coming out of the front door, wearing a white fit and flare dress, her hair down around her shoulders and blowing in the minimal wind. I watched as she absent-mindedly reached her hand up and smoothed down her locks, trying desperately to stop them from flying around everywhere. She was talking to a man I didn’t know and it took every ounce of self-control I had to not jump out of the car and tackle him to the ground.
Looking back at Charlotte, I felt my breath catch in my throat. I knew that the windows in the car were black out tinted and there was absolutely no way she could see me, but she was staring as if she could. Her eyes blazed into mine and my heart went into overdrive. I felt like a teenage girl when her crush got to close to her. I couldn’t look away. Finally, she seemed to break from her trance and looked back at her companion, who had obviously asked her a question.
I couldn’t pull my eyes away from her, she was like a walking angel. Her eyes were glowing and she was laughing at something the guy had said. She was breathtaking. Without warning, she was blocked from my view, and the door opened, letting in the hot southern California sun. I scooted over and let Rachel in, feeling a slight annoyance that my gawking at Charlotte had been interrupted, but I managed to focus my attention back at Rachel and plastered a smile on my face.
“Good Afternoon, Rachel, you’re looking lovely as always,” I said, leaning over to graze her cheek with my lips.
“And you, my dear Alex, are a liar,” she said, swatting my arm and laughing.
“Bracks, can you head over to the Italian place in Pasadena that I like?” she asked.
Bracks nodded his head and we pulled out into the traffic. I knew she’d make fun of me, but I couldn’t stop myself from swiveling around in my seat to look out the back window for a hopeful last glance at my daydreaming angel in white.
“Tsk, Tsk, Tsk,” she clucked. “You’ve got it bad, don’t you?” she asked, placing a gentle hand on my knee.
I turned around to look at her and process her words. I really did have it bad. Charlotte was all I could think about most days. She had invaded my mind and my heart and wouldn’t budge. More times than not, during a particularly long meeting, I found myself doodling her face on a scrap of paper instead of listening to the numbers surrounding my company's profit. It was juvenile, but I couldn’t stop it from happening.
“I do,” I whispered, “but I’m scared that things won’t work out.” I shoved my hands through my hair, giving it a much needed tug to center me. The pain radiated through my skull, pulling me from my thoughts and bringing me back into the here and now.
“I don’t think you have anything to be scared about, Alex.” Rachel said, confidence oozing from her voice as she pulled my hands from my hair like she’d done so many times in the past.
I looked up into her eyes and knew immediately she was keeping something from me. In any normal circumstance, and if she was anyone else, I would yell and threaten to get the information she was withholding from me, but this was Rachel, and it didn’t matter how much I threatened, begged, or pleaded, she would never tell me if she didn’t want to or couldn’t. The best I could do was ask, and see if she would divulge.
“What do you know that I don’t, Rachel?” I asked as nicely as possible, a small bit of sarcasm dripping from my words.
She smiled at me, and looked down at her phone, “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
Taking a deep breath and huffing it out, I crossed my arms and looked out the windshield. I wasn’t going to argue with her, in fact, I needed to get on her good side for the conversation I was hoping to have with her at the restaurant. Yelling wouldn’t help my overall cause.
Once we arrived at the restaurant and had ordered, I was feeling slightly better about things. I’d almost completely forgotten the fact that Rachel was keeping something from me. We both ordered our food and sipped on our drinks while exchanging light conversation.
“So,” she started, “You’re coming to the fundraiser next Friday, right?” She smiled at me, knowing how much I hated fundraisers.
“Probably not,” I responded, “You know how much I deplore those things.”
Taking a lazy sip of her wine, she looked up at me, mischief gleaming in her pretty brown eyes. “Oh, well, alright. It’s probably not a good idea for you to be around Charlotte anyway.”
The look on my face was probably priceless and, had it been anyone else but me, I would have laughed at the poor bastard. I hadn’t even considered that Charlotte would be there for Mansfield Management. How stupid was I?
“Why is she going?” I spluttered, once the words started forming in my brain again. “She just started with you. You can’t seriously be making her work it?”
“Not that my business decisions are any of your business, Alex, but Charlie is incredibly smart and she’s an excellent personal assistant, but I didn’t invite her to go because she’ll be working, I invited her because she needs something fun in her life. If you didn’t know, she has had a rough few weeks.” The harshness of her words threw me off guard for a minute. She’d never spoken like that to me as an adult and I wasn’t
sure what to make of it.
Seeing the look of confusion on my face and my lack of response, she took pity on me. “I know you didn’t do it on purpose, Alex, and I also know that you love her and that she loves you. Just give her a little more time and keep doing whatever you did last week. It was the first time I’ve truly seen her happy.”
My head popped up immediately at her words and I felt the grin slowly form on my face. “Really?” I asked, needing the verbal confirmation.
“Yes, Alex. She was really happy last week. It was a joy to see.”
“Tell me,” I stated, a little roughly than I intended.
She chuckled at me, and reached over and grabbed my hand. “I’ve never before seen the light in her eyes, and this week it was there. You really made her happy.” She tapped my hand twice and then leaned back in her chair.
I thought about her words for a while. I knew that Charlotte was into the lovey dovey romance stuff, but I wasn’t sure I would be able to pull it off. Romance was not my strong suit, to say the least, but I wanted to make her smile and it seemed I had completed that mission.
The waiter interrupted my thoughts at that moment, placing our food plates in front of us and grating some fresh cheese over our dishes. As I lifted the first bite to my lips, I looked up and saw Rachel staring at me, food untouched.
“I have to ask,” she said, “For someone who is a tech whiz and has been for many years, I’m surprised you haven’t considered tapping into a certain set of cameras to view her for yourself.” And with that, she smiled at me, picked up her fork and dug into her pasta primavera leaving me with my mouth agape and wondering why I hadn’t thought of that sooner. I really was an idiot.
Chapter 14
Alex
The next part of my plan was going to be a bitch to execute. I needed help from other people, who weren’t exactly friends of mine. In fact, the two people I needed the most help from, I was pretty sure hated my guts and would be fine with seeing me struggle and suffer. However, I had to make them believe that Charlotte was what I wanted and what I needed. Besides, one of those individuals worked for me, and as much as I would loathe using his employment as blackmail, I was just desperate enough to do so.
Picking up the phone, I took a deep breath and called Jerry’s temporary extension. He picked up after one click, and was professional, but his voice was anything but friendly. Yeah, it was obvious I wasn’t his favorite person.
“Mr. Porter, How can I help you this afternoon?” he asked.
I looked at the clock, noticing that it was almost 5pm, and I knew Jerry would want to go home soon. Angering him when I needed his help didn’t seem like the smartest idea. I would need to make this quick, or at least make it memorable. I needed him to see me as a man in love, not his boss.
“Can you please come up to my office? I’ll try to be as quick as I can so you can leave at closing,” I said sincerely.
I noticed it took him a few moments to respond, and I took that time to plan what I would need to say if he refused to come see me. Luckily, it didn’t come to it. He said he’d be right there and hung up.
In all of my years as owner of Porter Industries, nerves were never a factor in any meeting I had ever gone into, including my very first. But today, waiting for Jerry to come up, I was attacked by a bout of butterflies fluttering around my stomach so hard I thought for sure one of them would fly through, tearing me open, similar to that weird alien movie.
In typical fashion, Jerry got to me faster than anyone else would be able to. I saw him exit the elevator and head to Brigitte. He may not like me very much, but his commitment to his job, and therefore, my company, was astounding. No matter how much I could threaten if need be, I knew I would never fire him. In fact, I needed to make him a permanent part of my staff, not just someone who floated as a temp. He needed a concrete position. While I waited for him to come into my office, I plotted a good position for him.
When my intercom buzzed, announcing that Brigitte was checking with me about his arrival, I clicked the answer and grunted in traditional Alex fashion. A moment later, the tension in my office skyrocketed to new heights as Jerry walked in, defiance clear on his face, his arms folded over his chest.
“Mr. Porter, how can I assist you today?”
I wasn’t looking forward to what I needed to say. My pride was going to suffer majorly, but if I ever wanted Charlotte back, I needed to do this.
“Jerry, thank you for coming, please have a seat.” I extended my arm to the chair, offering him a comfy place to listen to me beg. Maybe I should get him some popcorn and candy for the show. After he reluctantly took a seat, I decided to take the plunge, I may as well just rip off the Band-Aid.
“Jerry, I know I’m not your favorite person right now, and honestly, I can’t blame you. I’m guessing Danny filled you in on the circumstances surrounding my break-up with Charlotte. But I need you to know, that despite what it seems, I didn’t intentionally lie to Charlotte and I would NEVER purposely hurt her.”
I looked up to see Jerry staring at me, his eyes softening just a little. I had to continue and try to break through to him.
“I love Charlotte, Jerry. I really fucking do, and I want to do everything I can to get her back, but what I want to do, well, I need your help. I need you and Danny.” Holding up my hand to cut off his rebuttal, I finished. “I don’t expect you to want to help me, but I’m begging you Jerry. I need Charlotte. I need her more than I need my next breath. I need all of her. She makes my heart smile and she makes my sun rise. She is my everything, and I want to give her all of me. Please, Jerry.”
At some point in the middle of that speech, my head had fallen. I should have been mortified with my desperation but, at the moment, I couldn’t bring myself to care. When I looked up at Jerry, I knew I had won him over. I watched as he wiped a wayward tear from his cheek and sniffed to himself.
Gathering myself, I stood up and sat in the chair next to Jerry and waited for him to speak. I didn’t want to rush his thought process, and I could see the cogs turning in his head. As much as I wanted him to agree, I wouldn’t force him to. If he wouldn’t, or if Danny wouldn’t help, I would figure something else out.
After a few, very tense, very long minutes. Jerry heaved out a sigh and looked up at me.
“Mr. Porter, I’ll help you, but we need to talk to Danny first. He won’t be as easy to convince, especially since he isn’t right here to see your sincerity. I heard what you did for Charlotte last week, and it was just so moving. I’m a hopeless romantic, while Danny, well, he isn’t. I will try and run damage control, but I can’t guarantee anything,” he said, taking my hand.
“Thank you, Jerry. I mean it. Really, thank you.” I didn’t think it would be appropriate to bring up a promotion, since I didn’t want him to think he earned it trying to help me get my girl back. Eventually, I would bring it up to him, after the Charlotte dust had settled. He had earned it and I’d make sure my employee was satisfied.
“So how should we do this, Jerry? Do you want to call him? Or should I call? Maybe we can both call from here on speakerphone?” I asked, my nerves kicking back in again, spiking my blood pressure. Jerry squeezed my hand and dropped it, pointing at my desk phone.
“Let’s call him from the speakerphone at your desk. He’ll recognize the main number and think it is me. Let me do the talking at first and try to loosen him up.”
I nodded my head at him and headed for my side of the desk, pushing the phone to the middle for easy access for both of us. Jerry moved his seat closer to the edge and looked at me, silently asking me if I was ready for this. Pushing out a breath, I nodded at him again and pressed the speakerphone button, letting Jerry enter in the phone number. I was eternally grateful that Jerry offered to speak first, since I didn’t know if Danny would even listen to me long enough to hear my plan.
“Hey, baby,” Danny answered.
“Hey to you. How are you?” Jerry asked.
“I’m ok, just got
home from that sunglasses shoot. It was great. OH! I got you a pair of those ones you loved!” Danny gushed. I silently thanked the heavens above that Danny seemed to be in a good mood. Maybe this wouldn’t be as hard as I thought.
“Aww, you’re so thoughtful, thank you. But, hey, listen, I need you to hear me out before you say anything, ok?”
Even through the phone, I could feel Danny stiffen and turn defensive. My hopes sank for an easy resolution. This would be anything but easy. I hated that I needed to beg, but I could appreciate and even respect the fact that he was so over protective.
“What is it, Jerry?” Danny said, skepticism lacing his tone.
“I wish you were here so you could see what I see,” Jerry whispered into the phone.
“No, Jerry, No! This is about Alex Fucking Porter, isn’t it? Don’t fall for his shit, Jerry. God, I can’t even believe I’m having this god damn conversation with you, Jerry.”
Knowing I needed to step in to save Jerry any backlash, I cleared my throat and spoke up. “Danny, I realize I’m the bad guy, please don’t punish Jerry for talking to me. I asked him to come up here. I need your help.”
“You need my help?” he asked, sarcasm dripping from every word. “Why in the hell would I ever help you, you asshole?”
“Please, Danny, please listen to me. Give me five minutes. If I can’t convince you, I will never ask again.” I pleaded with him, praying to God he would hear me out. If I couldn’t get him to listen, not only would my plans fail, but the likelihood of getting Charlotte back would be drastically reduced. This was her best friend, and I knew how highly she regarded him and his opinion.
“How about if you don’t convince me. How about if you never speak to Charlotte again,” Danny sneered back at me.
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