by Cheri Marie
“What’s up Holt?” Damien answers.
“Hey bro, does Ashlan happen to be with you?”
“Actually she is, hang on a minute,” He hands her the phone.
“What’s up Landon? Is everything okay?”
“Yes… No... I’m not sure. Last night, as I’m sure you’ve figured out I slept at Arianna’s. Everything went great, then this morning her assistant called, she almost missed an important meeting. She said it was okay, that she was glad Tristan caught it so that she didn’t miss it, but after that she seemed distant.” I’m fucking rambling, what the fuck is wrong with me? “Have you talked to her?”
“I’m sorry Landon, I haven’t talked to her yet today. I’m moving some of my stuff there tonight, I’ll talk to her.”
“Thank you Ashlan.”
“You’re welcome,” she says. “Hey Landon?”
“Yea?”
“Please don’t give up on her.”
“I don’t plan to.”
“Good,” I can hear her smile behind the word before she says goodbye.
I hang up with Ashlan and get to work trying to temporarily drown Arianna out of my mind. I keep busy the rest of the day. My phone has been ringing off the hook today. By the time the day is over I’m tired. As I pull out of the office, I resist the urge to drive right to Arianna’s, maybe she just needs a little space. I’ll grant her that, though not for long. The nightmares started again, so I don’t get much sleep.
It’s been almost two weeks, I still haven’t heard from Arianna. I have talked to Ashlan however. She said Arianna was fine, that she’s been working a lot. I’ve tried calling a couple times but I just get her voicemail. I’ve also sent text messages and emails; nothing. I’m not willing to give up, not yet. I shake my head at myself. I’m used to getting my way with women, though none of them have been like Arianna. The women I’ve been with were just a piece of easy ass. Arianna is different, she isn’t just a piece of ass that you hit it and quit it.
I keep trying to contact her. I’m sure I’m driving Ashlan and Damien bat shit crazy with bugging them about her with my rapid fire twenty questions. Is she okay? Is she avoiding me? Is there someone else? Did I do something wrong? Even I’m getting on my own fucking nerves. It’s early and I’m at the office doing what I do. It seems like I’ve been here a while, checking the time, it’s almost noon. I decide to break for lunch. I jump in my car, trying to decide where to grab a bite to eat. I pass the little Italian restaurant where Arianna and I had lunch. Fuck this, she is going to talk to me whether she wants to or not. I’m done with her ignoring me or avoiding me, whatever the hell she’s been doing. I turn onto the street where her office is, pulling up out front. I throw my car into park. I climb out and slam the door a little harder than I intended. Take it easy Holt; it isn’t the cars fault, I think to myself. With a deep breath I storm into her office.
My alarm startles me awake. I hit the dismiss button and climb out of bed to get ready for another day at work. It’s been a couple weeks since I’ve seen or spoken to Landon. He’s called, texted, emailed me almost every day but I don’t respond. He’s even called Ashlan and Damien to ask if I’m okay, if he’s done something wrong. I feel bad but I can’t let myself fall into another relationship this soon, it’s too soon. It’s kind of a slow day at the office. It’s about noontime when I hear commotion in the lobby of my office. I can hear Tristan telling someone I’m busy and that they can’t just come in. My stomach drops, please not Liam. My office doors burst open and to my surprise in stomps Landon. What the hell is he doing here? Poor Tristan looks distraught.
“It’s okay Tristan,” I say dismissing her.
“Yes ma’am,” she walks out and closes the door behind her.
I look at Landon. I can’t really read his emotions; anger? Upset? Confused? We sit there looking at each other for a moment. I can’t help but let my eyes wander down his body and back up to his beautiful face. His hair is a little longer than it was last time I saw him and I feel myself longing to run my fingers through it. I shake it off. Snap out of it Arianna, he just came storming into your office like he owns the place. Suddenly I’m angry, how dare he come storming into MY office?
“What are you doing here Landon? I’m sure the nature of your visit isn’t something that couldn’t have been handled over the phone.”
“Yes, it could have been handled over the phone except for the fact that you haven’t been taking or returning any of my calls or messages!” he snaps at me.
I put my head down and pick at the nonexistent lint on my shirt.
“Arianna, look at me,” he demands. I’ve never seen this side of Landon, it kind of scares me. Slowly I raise my gaze to meet his. He’s moved closer. He’s standing right on the other side of my desk, leaning across it, both hands placed flat on the table top. His eyes are burning but I’m not sure with what emotion.
“Talk to me, why have you been avoiding me?”
When I don’t answer he slams his hands down on the desk in frustration and I flinch. He stands up immediately, a look of horror on his face. Suddenly he comes around my desk, spinning my chair to face him. He kneels in front of me. I look at him and his eyes have softened. He takes my hands in his.
“Arianna, I’m so sorry. I would never hurt you; physically or emotionally. You have to know this. I am nothing like Liam. I have half a mind to go beat the hell out of him because of the way you just reacted to me.”
I can’t say anything. I just sit there staring into those beautiful hazel eyes. Deep down I know he’s nothing like Liam, I’ve just never had a connection with someone like I do with Landon and it’s terrifying. Tears build and one breaks free, running down my cheek. I’m not ready to tell him how I feel. Slowly he reaches up to caress my face again. I put my hand over his as he places his hand on my cheek. He sighs a sigh of relief. He puts his head down and when he speaks it's almost inaudible.
“Arianna, I can feel the electricity between us, I know you feel it too. I’ve never been pulled to someone like this before. It scares the hell out of me. When you wouldn’t answer my calls or call me back it made me crazy. I questioned Ashlan and Damien on a daily basis to see if I had done something wrong. Finally I couldn’t take it anymore and that’s how I ended up here.” I look at him, stunned. It was like he literally just read the thoughts running through my head.
I sigh, “You’re right,” I whisper, “I do feel it too; it scares the hell out of me. I’ve never felt this kind of connection with anyone before. I’m terrified to give my heart to you, giving you the power to completely destroy me.”
“Please sweetheart, I don’t want to push you into anything you don’t want to do, but give us a chance. We’ll take it slow. You have to promise me though, that this ignoring me won’t happen again. We have to communicate. If you feel like things are moving too quickly, tell me.”
I sit there for a minute and collect my thoughts; fighting an internal battle whether to take the chance of having my heart broken again or never feeling what love really feels like. I look at this beautiful man, still kneeling in front of me. Ashlan is right, I need to give this a chance. I know in my heart that this man is nothing like Liam. I take a deep breath and swallow the lump in my throat.
“Okay,” I whisper.
“Okay?” Landon repeats it as a question.
“Okay, I promise.”
Landon immediately reaches up and kisses me softly on the lips then rests his forehead on mine.
“Thank you,” he whispers.
“For what?”
“For giving us a chance.”
“You’re welcome, and thank you.”
“For what?” he asks.
“For not giving up when I tried to push you away.”
I can feel a smile dance on his lips as he kisses me on my forehead. He stands and pulls me up into his arms. I wrap my arms around him and lay my head on his chest. I’m not sure how long we’ve been standing like this when there’s a knock on my o
ffice door.
“Come in,” I say.
“Is everything okay Arianna?” asks a concerned Tristan.
“Yes Tristan, everything is fine. Thank you.”
She smiles sweetly, “Okay, well Ashlan is here. She locked herself out of the house.” I giggle and shake my head, I knew I was forgetting to do something this morning. I forgot to leave her a key!
“Send her in Tristan.”
“Yes ma’am.”
Ashlan walks in my office and does a dead stop.
“Well isn’t this a pleasant surprise. Hello Landon,” she says with a grin that almost makes me question whether she knew he was coming here today.
He smiles that big megawatt smile at her. “Hello Ashlan.”
I roll my eyes at them both. As much as I try to ignore Ashlan’s advice she’s usually right.
“So I hear you locked yourself out of the house?”
“Yes, because someone didn’t leave me a key,” she says accusatory. I roll my eyes at her.
“Well, I guess we should get going so we can go get you a door key made.”
“Okay, let’s go. Landon are you coming?” asks Ashlan.
He looks at me, as if he’s asking permission.
“It’s up to you if you want to come, or you can meet us at the house later if you’d like,” I tell him.
“I have some business I have to finish up. I’ll meet you ladies at the house later. Should I bring dinner?”
“Sure, that would be great.”
“Okay, see you later,” he kisses me on the forehead and then heads out the door.
I look at Ashlan, and I can see that curious look in her eyes. I just shake my head at her and walk out of my office.
“Tristan.”
“Yes ma’am?”
“I’m leaving for the rest of the day. I’ll see you tomorrow.”
“Okay Arianna, have a good night.”
“You too Tristan. Sorry about everything that just happened.”
“It’s okay.”
I give her a sympathetic look and head out the door with Ashlan trailing behind me.
We get in our cars and Ashlan follows me to the hardware store on the corner of the street to get her key made. I come back out of the store, key in hand.
“Here is the key to your new home with your fabulous best friend. I hope you like it,” I say to her as I jingle the keys in front of her face.
“I’m sure I will love it. I couldn’t imagine a better roommate than my amazing, beautiful, talented, about to spill everything best friend,” she grins at me. I burst out laughing.
“You are crazy. Let’s get home and I’ll fill you in on everything.”
I pull out of Arianna’s office, pretty pleased with myself. I finally got my girl; well at least she agreed to give us a chance. That’s all I can ask of her. I head back to my office to finish up a few things before I grab dinner and head over to Arianna’s. I’m sure Ashlan is drilling her with twenty questions. She seems like the inquisitive type.
Things at the office take a little longer than I had anticipated, I call ahead to order the food and pick it up on my way to Arianna’s. I can’t wait to see my girl. As I’m coming down her street I see a car I don’t recognize. As I get closer I can see her try to run from someone, then he comes into view. Son of a bitch, it’s Liam. He grabs her and spins her around; slapping her in her face so hard it knocks her to the ground. A lump builds in my throat as I hit the accelerator.
All I feel is rage, pure fucking rage. I pull up outside, slamming on the brakes and throwing my car in park. I jump out and head right for Liam. He turns just as my fist connects with his face, then everything goes black. When I come to, Arianna is tugging on my arm crying and begging me to stop. I look down at the man under me, I’m pretty sure I’ve broken his nose, his face is swollen; one eye is already turning black and blue. Fuck, I must have blacked out. I stand up and grab Arianna, pulling her into me trying to comfort her.
Liam stands and takes a stance like he’s going to come at me, I snort in amusement. I step towards him so we're nose to nose.
“Ari is mine now, forever. If you ever touch her or come near my girl again, what you got today will be a walk in the fucking park,” it isn’t a threat it’s a mother fucking promise.
He says nothing, he just leaves. I wrap Arianna in my arms, apologizing over and over again. How could I let this happen to her? I couldn’t protect her the first time, but I should have been here to keep her safe this time.
When we arrive at the house, Landon isn’t there yet. I feel a small tinge of disappointment but this will give me time to fill Ashlan in so her overbearing self can cool down. Once we're inside I pour us both a glass of wine and dive into what happened today. When I’ve finish telling her everything she has a smug smile on her face. I roll my eyes at her. Suddenly there’s a knock at the door, it must be Landon. I hurry to the door, open it and my jaw drops, its Liam. Before I can yell for Ashlan, Liam grabs me and puts his hand over my mouth. He closes the door so Ashlan can’t hear us, as I struggle to get out of his grip.
“I’ll let you go, but don’t scream, I just want to talk,” he whispers in my ear as he slowly releases me. I can smell the liquor on his breath.
“What the fuck do you want Liam? I told you the last time I talked to you that I wanted nothing to do with you. Why are you here?”
“I just needed to see you. I need you to know how sorry I am.”
“I don’t want to hear it. I told you we’re done.” Like flipping a light switch, I watch his demeanor change, he’s pissed. I try to rush to the door to escape him but he grabs me again, spinning me around and he slaps me so hard it knocks me to the ground.
“Listen bitch, I said I’m sorry. You will be mine again; the guy from the club can’t keep you from me.” Just then I hear a car pull in the driveway followed by a bunch of commotion. Liam lets me go and turns around just in time for Landon’s fist to meet his face, knocking him to the ground. Liam tries to get up but Landon punches him again and again. I step forward to stop Landon.
“Please stop!” I beg Landon.
“Why are you protecting him?” he snips at me.
“I’m not; I’m trying to protect you.” I feel the tears well up in my eyes as I start to cry. Landon steps away from Liam and pulls me into his arms, kissing the top of my head.
“I’m sorry,” he says. I nuzzle my face into his chest and wrap my arms tightly around him. I feel his body tense. I release him enough to turn around and see Liam getting up off the ground. Landon releases me and steps toward Liam so they’re nose to nose.
“She’s mine now, forever. If you ever touch her or come near my girl again, what you got today will be a walk in the park.”
Liam narrows his eyes at Landon and for a second I think he’s going to come at him but he decides against it and leaves. By this time, I barely notice that Ashlan has just realized what happened and Damien has arrived, he is trying to calm her down. I wrap my arms tight around Landon and bury my face in his chest again letting the tears flow. He wraps his arms around me, kissing my hair.
“I’m so sorry baby. I should have been here.” I cry harder. Why is he apologizing? He couldn’t have known Liam would show up here. I haven’t seen or heard from him in weeks. Landon puts his finger under my chin and lifts my face to meet his gaze. With his thumbs he wipes my tears away and lightly kisses the pink on my cheek where Liam slapped me. I choke back a sob.
I grab his beautiful face between my hands and look into his eyes. “Listen to me, I’m okay. Don’t go blaming yourself, there is no way you could have known Liam would show up here,” he sighs and rests his forehead on mine.
“I know,” he says. “I just don’t want you to ever have to go through that again. No woman deserves to be treated that way,especially not you. I want to be here for you. To protect you if you need protecting, to be your best friend and your lover.”
“You are and you do,” I reassure him and I kiss him
sweetly on the lips.
“Let’s go inside.”
“Okay,” I turn around to walk inside, Ashlan practically jumps on me, tears flowing.
“I’m so sorry Arianna, I’m so, so sorry. I should have come to the door with you. I thought it was Landon, I never imagined it would be Liam!” She’s talking so fast between sobs that I barely make out everything she says. I hug her tightly and kiss her on the cheek.
“Ashlan, it’s okay. I’m okay. There is no way you could have known. I thought it was Landon too,” she hugs me tighter.
“Come on, let’s go inside. I’m starving,” I release Ashlan and usher her through the front door.
“Damn, I left the food in the car,” says Landon.
Damien cuts in, “it’s okay, Ashlan and I will grab it.” He takes her by the hand and they head down the driveway to Landon’s car to grab the food. I wrap my arm around Landon’s waist and we head inside to set the table.
I put out four place settings for dinner. Landon grabs a small ice pack from the freezer and lightly places it on my cheek. He starts to apologize again but I stop him. This isn’t his fault. Damien and Ashlan have come in with the food and we all take our seats to eat. Dinner is delicious, Landon picked up a steak dinner from the steakhouse in town. After dinner I clean up the dishes while everyone else makes small talk. Once I’ve finished, I’m feeling exhausted and decide to go to bed.
“I’m really tired, I’m going to go to bed.”
“Okay Ari, goodnight,” says Ashlan.
Damien stands and gives me a hug. “Goodnight Arianna,” he says.