“Alina,” Trystan whispered softly heading for the living room as he ignored Bea calling his name.
She shook her head curling her arms around his neck and as he sat down on the couch, she murmured, “It’s funny, or pitiful actually, but I’m not crying for Janice even though it hurts that she is gone. She never really loved me like a mother should because to her, I was merely her get-rich scheme that didn’t turn out the way she wanted. The only reason she didn’t leave me behind, or dump me off at the nearest children home, was because dad paid her every month so I would be taken care of properly. I guess I wanted to believe that she felt something for her own daughter even if it was small.”
She shook her head as tears flowed down her cheeks and Trystan loosened one arm to gently wipe the tears away as he asked, “So who are you crying for then, Alina?”
Alina was quiet for a few seconds her head resting on his shoulder before she spoke. “Selma,” she said so lowly ashamed of what she was going to admit. “And I guess myself because I would’ve given anything for her to have been my mother like she was Sam’s mother.”
After that comment, Alina didn’t speak another word and although tears ran down her cheeks she didn’t make a sound. When the others walked in not too long afterwards, she was fast asleep in his arms.
Bea’s eyes narrowed to slits and her face twisted into an ugly mask as she said sharply, “Trystan, I’m ready to go home but my car was acting up on the drive over here. Can you give me a lift home?”
Trystan lifted his head about to tell her to call a cab when Samuel said, “Take Alina up to her room, Trystan, and then take Bea home. I will have someone check her car out later.”
He turned to Marla with a soft smile although his eyes flickered with anger as he told her, “Show him to Alina’s room, honey.”
Marla nodded her head as Trystan stood up easily from the couch shifting his hold on Alina to get a more secure grip on her.
A gleam of understanding followed by satisfaction appeared in Bea’s eyes at Samuel’s words thinking he was siding with her. Unfortunately for her, she didn’t know that the words were said for her benefit alone so she wouldn’t cause any more trouble.
As they reached the top of the stairs, Marla said to Trystan, “I need to get something from our room so go ahead and take Alina to her room as you know the way.”
She gave him a small smile although her eyes flickered with sadness as they shifted to Alina, and Trystan sighed heavily as he shifted her slightly before nodding his head at Marla and started for Alina’s room.
Once there, he headed straight for the bed easing her down as she curled up on her side and Trystan sat on the edge watching her.
“Alina,” he said softly as he brushed her hair from her face and her brows puckered at the sound before her eyes opened slowly. “I have to get going, sweetheart.”
There was a haunting look in her eyes, but she shielded them quickly as she responded quietly, “Okay. Thank you, Trystan.”
He shifted his hand to her cheek stroking it gently, “You don’t have to thank me for anything.”
A sad smile came to her face at his words and he frowned wondering what caused it when a knock sounded at the door before Marla walked in a second later.
“You should get going, Trystan, for Bea is getting impatient,” she told him with a grimace unaware that Alina was awake.
Trystan nodded his head as he sighed gently and as he had turned to look at Marla when she entered, he missed the look that flashed across Alina’s face at her words.
It was gone when Trystan turned back to her as he leaned down and kissed her forehead before kissing her lips softly.
“I will call you tomorrow to see how you are doing. I know that you made arrangements to leave in a few days but I want to see you before then, okay?”
Alina nodded her head knowing that if she spoke he would hear the tears she was holding back in her voice.
He kissed her again before he stood up and hurried out of the room.
“Alina, I didn’t know that you were awake or I wouldn’t have…”Marla said shaking her head.
Alina only turned over on her other side not uttering a word tears sliding down her cheeks as Marla sighed and left the room closing the door behind her quietly.
“Oh mom,” Alina sobbed quietly as tears continued to slide down her cheeks as she did what she didn’t think was possible; she cried for a mother who never truly cared about her.
Two days later, Samuel and Marla dropped Alina off at the airport as Alina glanced around the busy airport although she knew that the person she was looking for wasn’t going to be showing up.
“Alina,” Marla said getting her attention as Alina turned to her with shadowed hazel eyes, “I’m sure that Trystan has a good reason for not seeing you off.”
Marla couldn’t admit to Alina that when she had called Trystan’s office, Trudy had told her Bea had arrived all in a panic about something, or other and Trystan had left with her.
The smile that Alina gave them was nothing like the ones they were used to seeing from her as she said, “He has a business to take care of so it’s no problem, Marla. After all, I’m only his sister-in-law so he doesn’t need to send me off.”
“Call us when you arrive,” Samuel told her grabbing Marla as she started to speak and he shook his head as Marla glanced up at him.
Alina nodded her head and hugged him tightly before giving Marla a hug, and as she drew back she looked over Marla’s shoulder one last time.
“I think I should check in now,” Alina told them in a soft voice giving them a small smile as she picked up her carry-on. “Goodbye Sam, Marla.”
She smiled one last time before she headed for the check in counter and Samuel suddenly paled as he stepped forward and called out, “Wait, Alina, you are coming back, right?”
She stilled for a second before she continued on to the counter and Sam said louder, “Alina!”
She turned around once after she checked in and smiled at him sadly before she mouthed, “I don’t know.”
Then she was gone as she hurried away heading for the gate she needed to catch her plane and Marla clutched at her husband’s arm her eyes wide as he glanced down at her.
“She will come back, right, Samuel?” She asked him worry in her eyes.
Samuel sighed as he wrapped his arms around her and said sadly, “Alina will do what she thinks she is best for everyone even if it means hurting herself.”
Marla burrowed herself in Samuel’s arms as he hugged her tightly before he said quietly, “Let’s go.”
Marla nodded her head as they turned after one more look in the direction Alina went and headed out of the airport.
Trystan was pissed as he walked back in his office glancing down at his watch knowing that Alina had left over two hours ago.
“Marla called,” Trudy told him as she walked in his office. “I told her that Bea had an emergency and you went to go take care of it for her.”
The scowl he gave her spoke volumes as he walked over to his desk tossing his jacket over the desk chair and ran a hand through his hair.
“I’m guessing from that look the emergency wasn’t as important as Bea claimed,” Trudy said walking over to him.
“Emergency?” Trystan scoffed as he turned and looked at his office window. “It wasn’t an emergency, but a waste of my time although Bea was smart enough to know that I couldn’t just leave without upsetting a few investors for the restaurant. Damn her!”
Trudy flinched at his harsh tone as the phone on his desk rung and she walked forward to answer it listening as one of those same investors called to make an appointment for the following evening.
“Yes, sir,” Trudy said as Trystan turned and looked at her, and Trudy signaled to the phone before she grabbed his calendar and made a notation.
A few minutes later, she hung up before she told him, “Harold Jacobs requests a dinner meeting tomorrow evening about something discussed today.”
“I’m not changing what I have in mind for the restaurant,” he told Trudy without hesitation, and Trudy nodded her head in agreement as she believed in what he and Samuel Blairson were trying to do for Witt.
“Yes, sir,” Trudy said her voice conveying her support before she walked out of the office closing the door behind her.
Trystan sighed running both hands through his hair before he sat down picking up his cell phone from the desk where he left it dialing Marla’s number.
“Hi, Marla,” he said when she answered ignoring the angry hitch to her tone. “Did Alina get off safely?”
“She got off fine, Trystan,” Marla told him, but he heard an odd in note her voice that had him frowning as his hand tightened around the phone.
“Marla, what is it?” He asked as Trudy knocked on the door and coming back in with some work for him to deal with, but he waved her to the couch his attention focused on what Marla would say.
“Samuel’s not sure if Alina…” Marla began only to stop to clear her throat before she continued. “We are not sure Alina is coming back.”
At her words, Trystan felt his heart freeze in his chest as he asked hoarsely, “What?”
Marla said with a quiet sob, “Samuel asked her before she left if she wasn’t coming back and she said she didn’t know. He mentioned that she would do what was best for everyone else even if it meant hurting herself in the process. I don’t know what was so damn important that you couldn’t be there today because she was looking for you, Trystan.”
Trystan said urgently, “I had an emergency meeting at the last minute although it was orchestrated by…”
“Bea,” Marla finished for him with a touch of scorn before she sighed. “Maybe you should leave Alina alone, Trystan, and just marry Bea.”
With those words, she hung up on him for the first time in years and Trystan stared at the phone before he placed it on his desk putting his head in his hands.
“Trystan,” Trudy said quietly getting up from the couch where she had settled waiting for him.
“I screwed up again, Trudy,” he told her with a shake of his head before he lifted his head and stood up. “Let’s get to work, shall we?”
She nodded her head slowly as he walked over to the couch and sat down getting down to her work, but she sensed that he had something brewing in the back of his mind even though for the moment, he was focused on work.
Chapter 26
The following evening after a busy day at work, Trystan sat down at the table he had Trudy reserve for his meeting with Harold Jacobs sipping a whiskey he ordered as he waited. A few minutes later, the gentleman walked over to him and Trystan studied him as he came closer.
The man was in his late forties and he had been married twice although Trystan noticed the way he kept looking at Bea during their ‘emergency’ meeting that hinted he didn’t mind playing if the opportunity presented itself.
“Trystan,” the man said as he reached the table and Trystan got to his feet with a nod of his head as he held out his hand.
“Harold,” Trystan said as they shook before they both took a seat and Trystan reached for his glass again.
A server came over and Harold ordered a drink while taking a look at the menu as Trystan merely waved it away when the server offered him one.
“So why did you want to see me this evening, Harold?” Trystan asked staring down in his glass as he moved his hand slightly watching the dark liquor moving freely around the glass.
Harold scanned the menu before he closed it and settled back in his seat as he said bluntly, “We were told that you called the meeting yesterday and yet, although you answered questions and even asked one’s yourself, your head wasn’t really there.”
Trystan’s head snapped up at his comment as their server returned with Harold’s drink before taking their order, and Trystan asked for a glass of water as he handed the whiskey to the server before he walked away.
“I had plans to see a special person off at the airport,” Trystan told Harold as the server walked away. “I had no intention of calling any meeting regarding the restaurant until it’s opening because as of right now, things are progressing at the pace I wanted.”
Harold nodded his head as he sighed making himself more comfortable in his seat as he said, “And yet you sat through the whole meeting although we all could tell that you wanted to get up and walk out.”
Trystan chuckled at his words before he admitted, “I did, but you are investing in me, and my restaurant, so if I show disrespect then what happens to the restaurant?”
Harold reached over and grabbed his drink as he studied the man in front of him, and an angry look darkened his eyes at how he was used by that young woman.
“It’s interesting, isn’t it,” Harold started as the server came over with Trystan’s water before wondering off again. “I’m normally levelheaded when it comes to the women I choose to be my bedmates,” he waved his hand as Trystan looked at him in shock, “I’ve been divorced for a few months now and I’ve decided that staying single is probably better for me instead of breaking another woman’s heart.”
Trystan lifted his glass at that statement eliciting a chuckled from Harold who did the same as they took a drink.
They made small talk as they waited for their food and when it did, Harold admitted, “I’m hungry. My lunch meeting was more talking and less eating if you know what I mean.”
Trystan laughed in understanding as they both began to eat and as they ate, Harold talked as Trystan listened to him eyes flashing with anger at what he was hearing but he didn’t say a word as Harold started winding down.
They had finished dinner and Harold was eating a slice of cheesecake he had ordered when he suddenly said, “I hope that you don’t plan on making those changes that Bea had suggested yesterday.”
Trystan looked up in confusion which he hid as he said, “Well, to be honest, I thought that was the reason you wanted to see me so you can talk me into making those changes.”
Harold grunted as he finished the cheesecake before he said sincerely, “Bea is a beautiful woman but she doesn’t know a damn thing about business except for what she enjoys. We want Witt to be family oriented just as much as you do, and we will back Samuel Blairson with his project too.”
Trystan smiled as he relaxed against the chair letting out a relieved sigh getting a chortle from Harold at his obvious relief as Trystan waved over the server for the bill.
As they walked out of the restaurant a few minutes later, Harold said with a touch of sincerity, “I hope that you can talk to your woman, Trystan, and explain the situation to her.”
Trystan nodded his head as Harold got in his car and as he drove off, Trystan said, “Thank you, Harold.”
Harold smiled and waved as he drove away, and Trystan didn’t hesitate as he started for his own car pulling out his cell phone as he reached it.
“Marla,” he said when his sister answered. “What is the number where Alina is staying and don’t tell me that you don’t have it because I know that Alina would’ve given it to either Samuel or Trace.”
Marla shot Samuel a look as he glanced up from some work he was doing and he nodded his head before going back to his work and Marla smiled as she recited the number to Trystan as the man in question reached in his car and pulled a notepad writing it down.
“Thank you, Marla,” he said hanging up without waiting for her response.
He hesitated for a few seconds as he looked down at the number before he flipped open the phone and dialed the number hoping that he wasn’t calling at inappropriate time as it rung on the other end.
Alina laughed as she helped her friend, Amandi, clean up their dinner dishes who sighed in contentment and said, “I love the fact that I didn’t have to cook dinner today. I lo
ve cooking although I’m not as good as you, Alina, but after working in a restaurant all day then having to come home to cook, it wears one out.”
Alina arrived yesterday a little late as her flight had a delay only to be picked up by her best friend, Amandi, and her husband, Wayne Richards as they had offered her a place to stay while she dealt with arranging her mother’s funeral.
Once they arrived at the house, Amandi showed her to her room and Alina had put her things away before she went downstairs a little more relaxed now she was with friends that she trusted. Although she knew once she went to bed, her mind would be focused on the people she left behind in Witt especially one person specifically and she had been right.
Then when she awoke this morning, Amandi told her to take it easy because she could do everything tomorrow but today she just needed to relax and get her emotions under control.
Now here she was helping Amandi clean up after they had a delicious meal which Alina enjoyed making for her friends while they chatted as Wayne watched a movie with their two young children.
Alina laughed as the phone rang in the living room and they heard her friend’s husband trying to quiet them down so he could answer it, and they both giggled at hearing it.
The man in question came to the kitchen doorway with a slight frown on his face as he held out the receiver to Alina.
“Alina, it’s for you,” he told her watching a frown cross her face before it was placed by worry as she dried her hands and then grabbed the phone.
“Sam is something wrong?” She asked as she walked out of the kitchen, and her friend glanced up at her husband seeing the twinkle in his eyes as he walked over to her.
“What…” she asked in confusion.
“If I’m not mistaken, and I do believe I’m not, then that man on the phone is the reason our friend looks as if her heart is broken although if you think about it, it’s kind of sad,” he said with a frown.
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