***
The silver Mercedes parked next to his sister's car reminded Christopher of their conversation that morning. Caroline told him William was coming for dinner and she'd like him to join them. With everything else on his mind, he'd forgotten all about it. If he'd remembered he wouldn't have come straight home. In his current mood—one he feared was becoming permanent—he'd make a lousy dinner companion.
Since his breakup with Sara, he'd been like an enraged bull in mourning. Or at least that was how Caroline described him, and he thought it was a good comparison.
Christopher remained in his car weighing his options. If he went inside, he could easily avoid his sister and her dinner guest, the house was big enough. He disliked the idea of going inside and then intentionally avoiding his sister though. He knew she wanted him to meet William. He'd always been the first family member Caroline introduced to a new boyfriend. If he didn't like the guy, Caroline usually ended things with him soon after. Normally, he didn't mind the ritual. Tonight though the idea of assessing his sister's newest love ranked right up there with going to the dentist.
Dealing with the club scene on Friday nights held about as much interest. Before his relationship with Sara he'd stopped in some of the exclusive nightclubs once or twice a month—more for something to do than the love of it. It had been a while since his last visit, and he found he had no desire to go back. A drive held some appeal, but the rain ruled that out for him. If he had to worry about hydroplaning on slick roads he wouldn't enjoy it.
I might as well go inside. Resigned, Christopher climbed out of the car. Perhaps a quick hello would be enough and then he could retire upstairs, grab a beer, and turn on a movie. He could sit down with his sister and her new boyfriend some other night.
What he intended to be a short introduction turned into a twenty-minute conversation. Christopher suspected it would've been even longer if he'd allowed it. Now up in the privacy of his suite, he randomly flipped through his movie collection. So far he'd gone through at least one hundred movies, yet none of them interested him. After looking through the sci-fi collection, he scrolled over to the classics and Casablanca showed up as the first movie in his list.
Hell. He should have skipped the category altogether. Seeing all the classics they'd watched together only reminded him of Sara, especially Casablanca. It'd been the first of many they'd watched, and he didn't need any reminders of her. Even without them, she popped into his head throughout the day.
Christopher scanned through the collection of action movies, but his mind remained on Sara. He thought she'd come to her senses and call him, but the more time that passed the less likely it seemed. As much as he wanted to hear her voice, a call to her was out. While he may still want her, he wasn't going to beg, especially when he had done nothing wrong. She'd been the one to jump to some absurd conclusions, not him.
While the opening scene of the first Terminator film played out on the screen, the last time he saw Sara played out in his head. When she started accusing him, his temper flared and not long after that he walked out. Should he have stayed and tried harder to convince her? Would it have made a difference?
Probably not. At the time she hadn't been thinking with her head.
The way things stood now, he figured she either still believed her crazy ideas about him or had come to her senses but didn't care enough to work things out. Their conversation when they woke up in bed together in Hawaii reverberated in his mind. She commented how they were both adults and how often she'd slept with men while campaigning with the senator. Maybe he'd been just another guy in her long line of men. Perhaps he'd assumed the relationship meant more to her than it did.
Whatever the truth, he needed to move on and put their relationship and perhaps his friendship with Jake behind him. So far he'd avoided texts from Jake. Although he never referred to Sara, Christopher assumed Jake now knew they were no longer together. Avoiding Jake may be the coward’s way out, but he found it a better option. The alternative could lead to a very ugly situation.
Christopher ended up watching two more movies before calling it a night. He wanted to drift off into a dreamless sleep, but that never came. Finally after tossing and turning for hours Christopher gave up falling asleep and headed out for a drive. With no specific location in mind, he drove around for two hours before returning home feeling no more relaxed than when he left. The scent of freshly cooked bacon and cinnamon greeted him when he entered the gourmet kitchen.
"You're up early," he said to Caroline who sat on a stool at the island.
"William and I have plans for the day. He should be here in about an hour. Where have you been?" she asked, looking over his outfit.
Christopher poured himself a cup of coffee and took a sip of the strong French roast before answering. "Out for a drive."
Caroline frowned, her expression reminding him of their mother. With her wavy golden brown hair, dark brown eyes, and fair complexion, she looked like a younger version of Gail Hall. "Thinking about Sara again?"
To say he was thinking about her again gave the impression he'd stopped which he never had. He would never admit that, so instead he shrugged. "Didn't William spend the night?"
"This isn't my house, so I didn't ask him. If you would have stuck around last night you'd know that," Caroline answered sounding hurt.
Christopher snatched a slice of bacon off his sister's plate. "Trust me, you didn't want me around last night. I would've made lousy company."
"How's that any different than usual lately?" she asked with a fair amount of sarcasm. "What happened between you two anyway?"
He took another sip of coffee and debated how best to answer without going into details. "It just didn't work between us."
"Then I suggest you forget about her and move on for everyone's sake. Especially yours. You've been miserable for weeks."
He never meant to take his unhappiness out on anyone else.
“If you want to talk or anything, I'm here Christopher.” Caroline took the final sip of her juice and then put her dishes in the dishwasher.
How many times in the past had his sisters come to him when one of their relationships ended? More times than he could count, especially Caroline. With only eighteen months between them, they 'd always been especially close. Yet it'd never occurred to him to seek her out for help. “Thanks, I'll keep that in mind.”
Caroline walked over and hugged him. “I need to finish getting ready. I'll see you later.”
Long after Caroline left he remained, mulling over her words. This was the first time she'd called him out for his foul mood. Somehow he needed to move on and put everything with Sara in the past. His foul mood wasn't changing anything. The only thing it accomplished was offending others. His sister was right; he needed to forget about Sara Sherbrooke.
Often when he started a new project, it took over his life, blocking out everything else until he completed it. Perhaps that was just the thing he needed now. A new project to sink his teeth into. Something to keep his body and mind engaged.
Christopher grabbed an apple from the fruit basket on the counter and headed for his office. On his computer he kept a file of new ideas he thought he could develop at some point, and from where he now stood, some point had arrived.
The Billionaire Princess Page 36