Mr. Always & Forever

by Ashlee Price

  Resolving myself and straightening the jacket over my shoulders, I made my way back to the exhibition to go talk to the innocent woman who possessed those topaz eyes that transfixed me. It was time to make my move. I knew that once I put my sights on her she was going to be no different than all of the rest. There was nothing that she could do. She would be mine.

  But my eyes moved across the room and I couldn’t find Erin’s long, flowing blonde hair. It became clear that the party was starting to wind down. There were fewer people there than before, and it seemed that Erin was one of those who’d already gone. I took my time, sweeping one side of the room to the other several times before I accepted that she had gotten away. I wasn’t used to not getting what I wanted, especially something I wanted this badly. I wanted her so badly.

  When I was sure that she was really gone, I didn’t quite know how to feel. In a way I was upset that I wasn’t going to be uncovering all of her secrets that very night, but there was no need to worry. I did know where she worked, after all, and I had a feeling that she was soon going to be a little more apt to hang around. Erin was about to get some news that was going to change everything for her, and I had a feeling that she would give me the time of day then.

  Chapter 3 – Erin

  “I am sorry Erin. I really am.”

  “But me and my father lived here for years. Mr. Bishop, I have lived here all of my life. This is all I have left of him.”

  The old man was softening, but I knew that my begging wasn’t going to make a difference. He had been offered a price that he couldn’t refuse, and he had given in. At sixty-five, he was ready to retire. He only came into the museum once a month to pick up paperwork, so I could see how the man must have been swayed by the temptation of a big pile of money all of a sudden. I knew that he wasn’t going to stop the sale. It was too much money. I was not only going to be out of a job, but also homeless. And the place wasn’t just my money and my home. It was the last place that I’d shared with my father. He had been gone a couple of years now, but I couldn’t imagine living anywhere else. It was like part of him was still there, and that was always a comfort.

  “I am sorry, Erin. You know how much the two of you mean to me, but I am getting old and I can’t do this anymore. The wife wants to move where it is warm, and my aching joints want the same. I just can’t hack it in New York anymore.”

  I could have argued and told him that I would have done what was needed. I could have managed it, just like I had been for the last couple of years after dad died, but I didn’t. I knew that his mind was made up and I was going to have to figure it out somehow. I just didn’t know at the moment what I was going to do. I did know that I was going to have to do something quickly, because he was giving me a 30-day notice to vacate.

  It was a shock to say the least. I thought he’d just stopped by for coffee, as he had done a few times a month in the several years since I had taken over. Even when my father was alive, Bishop was a normal fixture around the place. He said that he came for the conversation, but I was more apt to believe that he was there for the scones. Either way, it was hard to hear the news and even harder when it was coming from him. I could tell that he was as bothered by it as I was, so I decided I wasn’t going to make it harder on him, even if it was feeling hard on me.

  Putting the most sincere smile on my face that I possibly could, I tried to think of something to say. In the end I just told him that it was okay, and for a moment the relief on his face made the blow from the news a little easier to bear. All I had to do was get upstairs without bursting into tears and I would be okay. It didn’t sound that hard, but I could feel the first tear running down my face when I was halfway up them. I moved faster.

  My fingers squeezed on the banister as I tried to catch myself as I felt the stairwell around me sway. I didn’t know what I was going to do, and I didn’t know how I was going to figure it all out within 30 days. It just wasn’t enough time.

  My resolve briefly took over from my nerves and I told myself that I was going to be okay. It wasn’t until I got behind the door that the waterworks really started. I couldn’t stop them and I didn’t really want to. I wanted it to somehow cleanse me of everything that I was feeling. It didn’t seem possible, but after only five minutes it started to ebb. I knew that I was just feeling sorry for myself and if I didn’t get it together, I was just going to make it worse.

  Leaning against the hard wood, I looked around the apartment that I had grown up in. I had lived there for more than 24 years. It seemed like just yesterday that I was a kid, telling my father how much I hated the place. It was too small, too far from my friends and too old. Now I couldn’t think of living anywhere else. The very idea of having to give the place up was enough to start the tears anew.

  This time, though, I didn’t succumb to the temptation to crybaby my way out of it. I had to think, and before long I remembered that I got a paper delivered and there would be places to rent. It was somewhere to start. I didn’t anticipate the prices, though. The museum had always been a perk that gave me a rent controlled option in a great location. It was considered part of my wages, and now I knew that I had gotten a better deal with that than I had first realized. I was starting to think that I was going to have to move out of the downtown area. There was going to be no way that I could afford to stay there.

  I got up, trying not to let the information bother me, but it did. How could it not? It was going to be hard to find anything close to the sprawling two-bedroom apartment that I had now. Time was running out and I was feeling it more and more acutely. After a while I just lay down and tried to get some sleep. I had to remind myself that tomorrow was going to be better. It just had to be.

  ***

  I went to work Monday morning knowing that everything was about to change. I now had a time limit of one month for my apartment and two months for the job that I loved. I couldn’t remember what all Bishop had said about either one by the time I got downstairs to work. I was feeling out of sorts and I didn’t even bother to do anything with my hair besides throw it up in a knot on the top of my head.

  My brain was still a little fuzzy when the place opened, but before long I had a cup of coffee in my hands and I was looking through the calendar to see what I had to do that day. My plate was full and I was just not in the mood for anything. I was in the mood to go back to bed and wallow like a normal person.

  I hadn’t gotten through the first cup when I heard a knock on the door. I had shut it so that all of the happenings didn’t disturb me and I hated to think of the look that I gave the mahogany wood. The last thing I wanted was to talk to anyone. I was feeling rather grumpy and coffee was the only thing that was going to change that in any way.

  “Who is it?” I was taking no chances and sat up and straightened myself just a little bit.

  It was Bishop. I was surprised to see him in the place. He had been there yesterday, so this was the most that I had seen him at the museum in years. He usually stayed away. It made me immediately think that something else was wrong. I really wasn’t sure if I was going to be able to take any more of his news. The last one had been such a doozy. I just knew that I was going to have to steel myself for whatever he was going to say.

  “I thought you might like to meet the man who is going to be buying this place, Erin. Maybe if you get to know him, it won’t be such a bad thing. I really like him, and I think you are going to like him too.”

  I kind of nodded my head, but I wasn’t really sure what I was going to say. I didn’t want to meet the man who was changing everything for me. I was under the impression that the museum wasn’t even going to stay open. One of the best and oldest museums in the city was going to be closed down and turned into another night club. It just didn’t make much sense, and I wasn’t really ready to celebrate that.

  “I will if you want me to, but my schedule is pretty filled up for the next week. There is a lot to get done if we are going to have everything shut down and packed up by
the end October.”

  “Of course, Erin. I was just thinking that maybe you could see him this afternoon after you get off work? I could set something up. He is eager to meet you.”

  I tried to keep the smile on my lips. The one that I knew wasn’t showing on the rest of my face. “I will see if I can push some things around, okay?”

  Bishop kind of nodded his head, but I had a feeling that he was thinking of something else. I hadn’t agreed, but I had a feeling I wasn’t going to have a choice. It seemed the buyer was sparing no time in throwing his weight around the place.

  Chapter 4 – Drake

  I hung up the phone feeling a little aggravated. I was feeling more of that emotion than anything else lately, and it was not a feeling that I was particularly used to. I wanted to see Erin, but it was becoming impossible. It was already Wednesday and I still hadn’t been given a time to meet with her. I wasn’t sure if she knew who I was, but either way, she didn’t seem to have any inclination to speak to me.

  Bishop had assured me that I would hear something soon. All I had heard at the moment was that he was still waiting for her to find time for me. I wasn’t sure what was going to be said or what I would do, but I was sick of waiting. My impatience finally got the best of me, and instead of waiting like every indication from her said to do, I decided to just go down there. I was about to own it all, after all, and it just seemed silly that I was taking so much time waiting on other people to do what I should have done in the first place.

  There was no stopping me when I got down to the museum, even though I had to let a few people know who I was to get them to see if she was in house. When I found out that she was, I didn’t wait for the third receptionist to call her. Instead I just went on down to the office that I had seen her go in before. I knew that it was hers because of all of the small pictures of her and an older man that adorned the wall. I had known her father in passing and he seemed like a nice enough guy. When I had heard the story of Erin from the ever-helpful Bishop, there was a moment that I had felt bad about what I was doing.

  It hadn’t lasted long, though. It was more interesting to see how everything would turn out. I had thought of Erin in one way, and she had exceeded my expectations with the way she looked. She had looked the part, but what I hadn’t been expecting was the way I felt being around her innocence. She was demure, and even from a distance she was something to really take notice of.

  When I knocked quickly and didn’t hear her say anything, I opened the door and walked in a little ways. I knew that she was there because the brunette at the front had finally said so. I got a startled look on Erin’s face, and it made the whole trip downtown worth it. I had just wanted to see her, and it was like my heart was automatically going a little slower now that she was in my sights. It was amazing. I smiled at her, waiting for the tell-tale sign of interest that I was so used to seeing.

  Instead I got another shy look when she had recovered from the shock of me barging in and taking a seat across from her. I had purposely left the door open so that she would not feel trapped, but it didn’t seem to help as her eyes darted towards the entrance. She really was acting like a scared little bird, and I couldn’t help but find it endearing. It slowed me down some, and I took a breath before I said what was really on my mind. The fact of the matter was that it was going to be a little slower going than I had thought, and I was going to come at her from a different angle.

  “It is nice to finally meet you, Erin.”

  “Do I know you?”

  I shook my head that she didn’t, but I knew that she recognized me from the last time I was there and from the glances we’d exchanged at the exhibit of Rose Wood’s art. Like then, there was almost no way to get her to look into my eyes. She just wouldn’t, and I wasn’t sure why that was. How could a grown woman as beautiful as her not realize that everyone who saw her would want her? She seemed to be surprised that I was looking at her so intently. A gentleman would have toned it down, or at least made an effort to do so. But I never was a gentleman, and even if I had been, I was not really sure that I could be one with her.

  “I have been trying to coordinate with Bishop for several days to get a time to meet with you. I must say that, for a curator, you sure are one hard woman to get in to see.”

  Her face changed when she put it all together. She took the hand that I offered, and for a moment I let the tingling sensation run through me as we touched. It was that spark that I’d known I would feel, and she didn’t disappoint me at all. All I could do was let go when she started to pull away. I was lost in her pale blue eyes even as they tried hard to avoid my gaze. Could she really see what I wanted to do with her? She was beautiful today, even without the tight dress and the hair flowing down her shoulders. There was still something about Erin that was slowly driving me crazy.

  She blushed prettily and then finally met my eyes. “Sorry about that, sir. I have just been busy with everything that is going on. I just found out about all of this on Sunday, so I am just trying to wrap my head around what it is going to take to get everything ready for the shutdown.”

  I could tell that it was upsetting her, and I knew that she had a legitimate reason to feel that way. If it wasn’t in such a great spot and if I hadn’t already made up my mind, the way she looked in that moment would have been enough to change my plans. But the clock was already running on all of these things and there really wasn’t anything that I could do. I mean, there was, but the business side of me knew that the last thing I wanted to do was back out of the deal. I didn’t want to be known for that, so one way or another, the museum was mine, just like I wanted her to be mine.

  “It’s okay, Erin. It is good to finally get to meet you. I tried to say hello to you the other day at the art gallery, but when I came back from the bathroom you were gone.”

  She looked guilty then, and I realized that it hadn’t been an accident. She had been avoiding me. I wasn’t sure how I felt about that. Why was she so bound and determined to stay away from me when all I wanted to do was be around her?

  Erin didn’t answer me, and I realized that she wasn’t going to. She was going to pretend like she didn’t know what I was talking about. I guess she may not have. How was she supposed to know that I had been burning for her on the other side of the room? Did she know that I couldn’t think of anything else but kissing her and making her mine? It was an urge that I felt was impossible to ignore.

  “So I take it that you have heard the news about the buyout?”

  I didn’t know what to say and I was grasping at straws. I had been so confident in the beginning, but seeing her and finally being that close to her, Erin seemed to affect me even more than before. The fall of her face when I brought that up showed me that I’d put a foot in my own mouth. I couldn’t believe that I had been so stupid as to say something like that. What in the world was I thinking? For a man who was always thought of as smooth, I didn’t feel very smooth at all.

  “Yes, as I said, I was just told about it a few days ago, on Sunday. That is why it has been so crazy around here. I didn’t mean to ignore you. I told Bishop this morning that I was going to try to work something out.”

  “Well, I am here now. Why don’t we have a little chat now? I am sure that you have a minute.”

  She looked at the clock on the wall and then shook her head as if she actually didn’t have the time. I wasn’t sure if she was trying to ignore me or if she really had something to do. Her blue eyes went from the clock, to me and then down to her calendar that took up half of the space left on her desk. She was a woman who was married to her work and her desk was an indicator of that.

  After some time trying to find a reason why she couldn’t wait around, Erin finally got up and told me that she had a meeting that was going to start downstairs in ten minutes. I think she thought that it would make me back off, but she was wrong.

  “Would you like for me to go with you? I don’t mind, really.”

  Her face puckered a littl
e, and I don’t know why, but I liked the way she looked just then. There was something about her, even though she was trying her hardest to get out of spending any kind of time with me.

  “There isn’t supposed to be anyone that doesn’t work here at the meeting, so I am sorry, but I will not be able to bring you along. They are rather boring anyways, Drake, so I assure you that you are not going to be missing much.”

  She smiled at me, and it finally looked genuine. If only she knew that I wasn’t going to take no for an answer. I didn’t care how much she believed that I was just going to let it go. I wasn’t. “That is fine, Erin. I will stay here and wait for you. I made sure that I cleared my schedule before I came down here. I didn’t want any interruptions.”

  “Okay, that sounds good.”

  It sounded anything but good to her. Her face was one that didn’t seem able to hold all of the emotions in, and it was hard for me to press her. She didn’t want me there, that much was clear, but I wasn’t going to let her bow out gracefully. I couldn’t, if that meant that I wasn’t going to get her.

  Chapter 5 – Erin

  I walked out of the office without looking back. I didn’t know why he was there, and to find out that he was the same man who I had been avoiding the last couple of times that I had run into him was too much. He had looked at me as if I was a meal to eat, and the feeling was hard to shake. I didn’t know what to do or what I was supposed to do, but it was clear that he was not leaving. So however long the meeting was going to be, I knew that I was going to have to figure out something to deal with Drake.

  It didn’t occur to me until I got to the conference room that he was going to be alone in my office, doing God only knows what in there. I was torn between hurrying it along, so that he wouldn’t have that much time in there alone, or just taking my time and hoping that he left. He was a billionaire, from what I had heard, so I knew that there had to be something that he had to do. He would get bored with waiting and then he would be gone when I got back.