"There's always hope, Kat. They're spending time together. It can only help."
"So you're going to stew here because she says no?" She shook her head as she took a few steps away. "I'm telling you flat out to go with your heart and you do this. You can take a horse to water, tell them the water is perfectly fine and good for them, but they can be stubborn and still not drink. Or that's how I believe it goes anyway."
"My mind's been made up, Kat. You're a darling...just...I can't."
"You're frustrating as hell, Suzie..."
She stormed off away from me. I frustrated myself sometimes.
***
Work hard. Work so you can forget. That was the goal. I didn't want to leave the job. It paid well. The benefits were great. It kept important people to me near by.
Vice President of Human Resources...given it was my only job title now, I immersed myself further, dealing with payroll and the like, but interviews were still my thing.
"Suzanne..." I looked up from my computer, and found Allison entering my office. My face scrunched with scorn. "Have some new hires for you to process."
"I'm typically suppose to interview them first. See if they would be a good fit for the company."
"Not necessary. I've handpicked these individuals fresh out of the best and most prestigious business schools in the country. They are a perfect fit for William's new personal assistant."
"...I thought you wanted to do it yourself." My voice went meek.
"Me? I'm above such grunt work. Besides, I have my own empire to run, I can't be getting my brother coffee for the rest of my life. He needs...a partner to do that." She grinned. "Come in, Amanda."
Behind her walked in a beautiful leggy blonde, looking like she belonged on a runway in Paris more than running copies at a financial institution. Everything was perfect, manufactured, make up, the dress she wore, her hair. Everything I was not... my replacement.
"Amanda here was valedictorian at Yale, and her family wants her to get a better hold for business so that she may more excellently take over the reins of her own dynasty when the time comes. I informed them that studying so very...closely... to William West would be a great experience."
"Good Afternoon...Suzanne, was it...?" Amanda approached me, and put out a hand. It lacked malice, unlike everything Allison projected. I accepted it, realizing there was no point in hostility.
"Yes, nice to meet you, Amanda." Shaking the hand of your replacement, both professionally... and so obviously personally.
"She's hired, of course. I didn't pay her way here for you to turn her down. Just add her to the records. Have a wonderful day, Suzanne..." Allison grinned as she and Amanda departed my office.
Twist that knife, why don't you, Ally?
Amanda didn't last long. I was brushing her off the payroll days later...only for Allison to bring in another gorgeous woman who was far overqualified for the job, but actually had connections and prestige with her. All of them oblivious that they were being used as the devil's matchmaker, being paraded in front of the girl they were meant to torture.
I tried to keep up a good front. But it was getting more difficult. Every new girl was yet another twist of the knife...
Memories of Will... every time I had doubts before, he would say that I was the one, the only one that he could ever fully love. But to say that in a world of billions, that just one would ever be the one for you truly seems silly. There's more than one person out there for everyone. One day, one of Allison's plants will catch his eye, Will will realize that I'm not the only one in the entire world for him.
Then he'd find happiness again. Happiness that would reunite him with his sister, mend that fence. I was suffering for him, it was how I cared.
Allison's relentlessness, though...wore at me. She didn't want me still employed. It was Will's company, of course, so he wouldn't accept an outright axing. All of the girls in front of me were to make me quit, drive us further apart.
I saw Will ever so often, rushed about into his next ride with his latest assistant, all from afar. My life was empty without him...a constant reminder of what I used to have. I kept expecting him to show up, take me again, no matter what I said...save me.
Losing track of the days, weeks, only the pain of each new potential assistant being shoved in my face making me realize I was alive. I stared at my desk, and turned to pull up a fresh document for my own purposes. Resignation...a resignation from this company, a resignation to my fate.
I had it prepared up all nice and official. I carried it onto that elevator and gulped as it dung up the floors, heading up higher and higher, cold sweat on my brow again. They drew open.
"I'm done here, Mrs. West, I can't work with this guy!" The latest hire was screaming at Allison. I didn't even know her name, despite the fact I was certain she was introduced to me at some point. "He threw coffee at me. Not by accident, just outright throwing coffee at me!"
"Think of him as a playground bully. That's how he shows he likes you." Allison twirled her hair passively.
"I don't have to take this. I have an MBA!" Will's newest ex-assistant stormed past me, not even paying me any mind, taking over the elevator.
This left Allison's attention on me...and me alone. "You...what are you doing up here?"
"I need to talk to Will."
"He has no business with you, Suzanne. If you have something to drop off, hand it to me."
"This...is a very personal document."
The door creaked open, and out came a very different William West. Once the picture of slickness, he bore a considerable beard that clung onto his face, ungroomed, much like his hair. It was combed, adhering a certain standard, but nowhere near what I had come to know him as, a man who knew appearances were vital to presence and impressions. "Suzanne..." he managed.
"William, you don't have to deal with the chaff. You have employees to do that for you."
"She is anything but chaff, Allison."
I wanted time alone with him. Perhaps one last chance to peer into his soul. But not with Allison here, I wasn't going to get that. So...instead, I'll give her what she wants. "Will..." I approached him with the folder, and handed it to him, my eyes closed.
"What is it, Suzanne...?" He took documents and looked through them.
"I'm presenting my resignation, effective immediately. I can't stand to be here any longer, Will...so close, yet so far from you..."
"Suzanne..."
"Good! Took you long enough." Allison stepped in and snatched away the folder from Will. "You were grossly underqualified for your position, I have someone lined right up to take over."
"You were trying to drive her away...?" Will raised an eyebrow.
"She's a bad influence, brother. You need to hurry up and get over her, move on. It's a phase is all."
"Do as she says, Will." I swallowed, interjecting. "Don't suffer on my account. Please."
"Suzanne..." Will reached out for me, running his hand through my hair for the first time in weeks. A shiver shot through me, how much I missed his touch. "Reconsider. I need you here."
"The hell you do." Sister had to butt in.
Will gave her a death stare. I took his hand, and guided it from my head. "I wish I could...but..." Why couldn't I? With the cruel glare of Allsion on me, I turned and ran for the elevator, Will watching me until the doors closed. Would it be perhaps the last I ever saw of him?
***
I returned home, in a blank daze more than anything else. I dropped shoes, blazers, bags all along the way, not caring if I was making a mess of my apartment. Comfortable enough, I found the bed, and plummeted onto it, cradling a pillow.
No obligations to rise at a certain time or even do anything tomorrow. I had enough money saved up to live comfortably for quite some time, so even a job search wasn't high priority.
Freedom, in its own way. Oddly, I decided to use it to cry myself to sleep, not caring if I ever woke up.
Regrettably, I did. I rolled over, arms reachi
ng for a Will that wasn't there. I moaned in grievance, trying to force myself back to sleep, but the slits of my eyes catching the clock. 4PM. I was sure I was in bed before midnight, but here I am, sleeping my life away and wanting to rid myself of more of it that way.
I failed in my efforts to further embrace lethargy, pushing myself up. I stumbled through my routine, before heading for my door to check my mail.
Limousines parked in front of my home weren't completely alien, but I can't say I was expecting one today. The driver spotted me, closing his paper and tossing it into the passenger seat. "Ah, Ms. Carter! You're finally awake."
He smiled. The same driver Will always hired for me, he was paid well to deal with my slowness and love of sleeping in. "...This is a surprise..."
Driver opened the trunk, and pulled out a sheet of plastic hung off a hanger. There was nothing there, outside a small note card. He handed it to me. "We're to leave immediately."
I pulled the card off, and read over it.
Come As You Are.
Will's handwriting...
"Shall we, Ms. Carter? I'm assuming no preparation is needed."
"I... I suppose."
***
I was driven to a remote bistro that I had never been to. There were no other cars in the lot, outside one, and one that told me who was there. The place was entirely deserted, but Will's driver urged me into the building. It was almost eerie. Even in the silence and desertion, this was a high class place. I glanced at a menu, the cost for the soup being something I would flat out refuse to pay if I had to worry about money. Polished floors, fancy plants, everything told me I didn't belong here.
And given I was wearing wrinkled, slept-in blouses and skirts, capped with ratty slippers I never got around to replacing with my improved income...and oh god, my hair was a mess. I caught a shine of myself in a chrome garbage can, trying to preen myself, but failing. I really didn't belong here.
A single lit candle sat in the middle of the dining room, the blinds closed. I was drawn to it, scanning the room for anyone, anywhere.
"You're beautiful as ever, my curvy diamond." William West walked into view, hands in pockets. He had shaved, gotten a haircut, groomed to perfection. He was wholly my opposite in every conceivable way. His steps rang through the room, as he closed in on me.
"Will..." I missed him. To be alone with him after so long...
His fingers ran through my hair, almost combing them, gently pulling out those tangles. "Here we are... with the only two things that matter. Myself...and you."
"...Will...what about your sister, and everything..."
"I told you, Suzanne. This is all that matters. I want you to remember this. No eyes on us, no Allison, no nothing. Just me and you."
"But..."
"Nothing else matters. You think I give a damn about dynasty? What people think of me, Suzanne? I tried to be reasonable with my sister, because she's family. I entertained the thought of living without you. And it would be torturous. If she cannot accept you, then I cannot accept Allison as my sister. Damn her."
He held me close, his arms reaching into his pockets, and producing a familiar object. The ring I had returned to him back at his sister's home all those weeks ago.
"Suzanne. I want to ask you once more. Free of any coercion, any pressure, any judgment from the meaningless world around us. Think only of you, of me...of us. Will you be mine for a lifetime?"
Swallow. The world was chilled around me. I looked deep into his eyes, and saw that he was so certain of wanting me, choosing me above anyone else. I've seen that he wouldn't accept a world without me right there beside him. And myself, being so far from him...while I liked ice cream just fine, it was no way to live every day.
If all that truly mattered in the world was William West and Suzanne Carter, well, the answer seemed pretty clear to me. "Yes...Will. No more doubts...I want to be with you, for a lifetime, and whatever lies beyond that." I took the ring from him, and slid in onto my finger, letting its glamor clash with everything else about me.
All the dread that had been clouding my mind, all the uncertainty that had been so fully dominating me suddenly cleared. I was light in his arms, and he seized me by the lips, sucking all of the breath out of me, our tongues finding one another...it could have lasted an eternity. But nothing ever does.
"William! Why won't you return my calls...?" It's always interrupted by the worst thing possible.
Allison West stormed through the vacated bistro, and into our candlelit room. One look at me and her face turned to utter disgust. Given how I looked, it was slightly more understandable than usual.
"Her. We've been over this Will. She's not suitable for you."
"How so, Allison?" Will broke away from me, advancing slowly on her sister. "Not of my status? So I should marry like you then, shouldn't I? Does your husband even care you're across the country more concerned with your brother's personal life than say, your own business or your own marriage?"
"We have an excellent relationship, William. We understand each other." Allison returned the advance.
"That there's no love in your relationship, is there, sister? You've both married for reputation and connections. You have a loveless world...and it tears you up inside doesn't it, that your brother isn't sharing your foolish mistake?" Will crooked his head to the side, face to face with his sister.
"How dare you, brother. Thinking I'm driven by spite..." She wavered a bit. "I only care for the family."
"Bullshit, Allison! Bullshit!" Will clenched his fits, and I recoiled a bit in the distance. William West was not a profane man. "Family isn't about celebrity, it's about love. Find it yourself, sister. Leave your sham of a marriage."
Allison snapped a slap across her brother's face. "How dare you! I worked hard for my marriage, and I'm not about to give it up."
Will heaved a heavy breath. He was always taught it was wrong to strike a woman, and that was doubly so when it was your sister. "We are done, Allison. Leave my sight until you are willing to accept Suzanne, accept me...and until then, we are no longer family."
"Fine then. I'll let you be the laughing stock of the world, with your beast of a creature you'll call a wife."
"Allison..." I spoke up for the first time since she had entered the room. She walked over, still fully smug and venomous.
"Aren't you happy, you little gold digger, getting everything you want..." Her swagger annoyed me. So I slapped her across the face. She stumbled a bit, before snapping her furious gaze towards me. She grunted with rage before storming off out of the room.
"I...I thought you were classier than that, Suzanne." William placed his arm around me, and held me close. "Not that I'm complaining."
"If people think you're classless, sometimes you ought to embrace it."
Eternity resumed in one another's arms.
***
I can remember all the beauty that surrounded me. Everything really gets greater when you purge all those unworthy thoughts from yourself.
Well, mostly. I'm still convinced I don't deserve him. But we don't always get what we deserve. Sometimes we get so much more.
The wedding was a press coverage extravaganza.. I figured I only had to endure it for a bit...once they realized I was a boring, everyday person, they'd give up and look for their next tabloid fueling trainwreck. The vows were said, exchanged...I remember looking over the crowd. My family was flown in, perfectly happy for me, along with a few friends from the office and Kat.
Taking Her Curves (BBW Billionaire Erotic Romance) Page 4