Cougar Boss

by Kerry Belchambers

  She made a valid argument, but I’d paid off her loans when I’d gotten her the professors. It had been supposed to be a new start for her. She worked so hard, I didn’t want her to have anything holding her back. “You’re right. I’m sorry.”

  She studied me for a long while before she spoke, then looked into the horizon. I could tell she had something on her mind, but I didn’t want to risk asking incase she said something I wasn’t ready to deal with.

  “You know at first, when you started doing all these amazing things for me, I used to be so happy and I felt so lucky. When I saw Rex again and realized what you’d done for him, my heart almost burst in joy.” She turned to face me, her eyes more serene than I’d ever seen them.

  “I know you have a plan and to be honest, I used to doubt you and your motive, but not anymore. I just want to know; do you care about me?”

  I thought about what the answer would mean, how it’d affect our current relationship, maybe even change its course, but that soft sincere look in her eyes practically forced the answer right out of my lips.

  “Yes,” I said, but I needed her to understand this didn’t change the nature of our relationship. “But this doesn’t mean anything changes between us.”

  “I understand,” she said with a smile on her lips.

  If she understood, then why did she seem so pleased? “Do you really?”

  She gently reached for my hand and moved closer to me so that we were almost touching. “Yes, and for now it’s all I need to know.” She closed the space between us and planted a light kiss over my neck, sending tantalizing shivers of arousal through me.

  It seemed no matter what I said she always had an upper hand. Her confidence was awe-inspiring and again, it felt focused on the wrong thing but at that moment, it didn’t feel right for me to correct her.

  “You know someday, someone is going to tell our story,” she said softly as she slowly pulled away.

  “Yeah?” I said, indulging her.

  “The author, whom I presume will be a woman, will probably have one of those weird English surnames, like …Belchambers.”

  I laughed and asked, “And how do you presume she’ll conclude this story?”

  Her face grew a bit serious as she shook her head. “To be honest, I don’t think she’ll know until the very last page.”

  I placed my hand over the nape of her neck and slowly pulled her closer, leaning my forehead against hers.

  I really couldn’t start thinking about how our lives would end up. My marriage had just ended and while that should’ve felt like an open way to do whatever I wanted, I couldn’t lose focus on the plans I had for Olivia. Unfortunately, that put what we were doing and everything else aside.

  Chapter Forty-Two

  I was dying to tell her how I truly felt, and if the circumstances had been different, I would’ve happily done so. I couldn’t help wonder if this roadblock between us would ever come down.

  I wanted her more than I’d ever wanted anything else in life, but I was a realist and after thinking it all through, I knew this was all we’d probably ever have. So instead of pining and thinking about things that would most likely just end up hurting me, I focused on the present and the present couldn’t have been more beautiful.

  I wanted to get to know Amelia, and I wanted her to know me.

  We sat down on the lounge seats as I sipped on the expensive wine she’d poured us and wondered if I should ask direct questions.

  “I’ve always wondered how you came to run all these businesses.” I’d tried to learn more about her from the internet but the scattered information was completely unreliable.

  “How many businesses do you think I run?” she asked.

  “To my knowledge, I’d have to say Winston Enterprises, Price Healthcare and I know you have shares in your husband’s business.” I tried to sound as casual as possible because I wanted her to voluntarily offer the information I needed to fill in the blanks.

  “Winston Enterprises is an old family business which has passed on from one generation to the next,” she said.

  “I kinda figured that. You must’ve started working for the business pretty early.” I was watching her in the moonlight glow, trying to capture her facial expressions because I wanted to absorb every second of that conversation. For some reason, it felt like this was the most open she’d ever be with me.

  “I did, but it was expected of me. If I’d had brothers or sisters, it probably would have been different. But after my dad died, all the pressure fell on me.”

  She had a flash of sadness but it disappeared almost as fast as it had appeared.

  “I’m sorry.”

  She shook her head, brushing it off. “It was a long time ago.”

  “Irrespective, you must’ve grown up very fast because of what was expected of you,” I said, trying not to give her a chance to think about stopping the conversation because of how guarded she was. I was even surprised I’d come this far.

  She went silent for a while and I thought I’d lost the connection, but she said softly and distantly, “I had to.”

  “I know back then things were very different, but something tells me you must’ve kicked ass,” I said.

  She turned to face me with a small smile on her face.

  “You did, didn’t you?” I asked.

  She nodded.

  I admired the fact that she wasn’t a showy or bragging type of person. Somehow, over the years, she’d managed to retain that humility in its sincerest form.

  I didn’t know much about her involvement with healthcare, there had never really been any publicly documented information about it but in a past, vague conversation, she’d mentioned something that I remembered.

  I had asked her if she’d gone into healthcare because she felt she hadn’t done enough charity, and she’d said someone she’d known had gone into it. When I’d asked further, she’d said she couldn’t talk about it.

  I wondered if she was ready now. “How did you end up owning Price Healthcare?”

  I was looking at the most beautiful and natural form of reality I’d ever been graced with; the countless stars, bright misty moon on the dark blue-grey stained canvas of a sky, which held everything in place to create this magical view.

  I knew, because just the previous night, she’d made love to me in its glorious presence and it had been absolute heaven. So yes, I understood why she loved the penthouse. It wasn’t just because of its location, extravagance or magnificence; it was also because of the amazing view during the right seasons.

  “I didn’t,” she said.

  I turned to face her with questions, hoping she’d offer me a detailed explanation.

  “Someone I knew did. I just helped her acquire it,” she said.

  For a moment, I was lost. Every explanation that could exist lived and passed through my mind but none of it made sense.

  “Who was the original owner of Price Healthcare?” I asked.

  She took a deep breath, got to her feet and walked over to the railing of the balcony.

  Whoever this person was, she must’ve played a very big role in Amelia’s life which partly explained why in a past attempt to know her she’d refused to answer me.

  “Was it someone you cared about?” I asked, getting to my feet and making my way over to her.

  “Yes,” she said.

  I replayed every detail of my conversation with her that night in my mind.

  “Were you together?” From the expression across her face, I could tell it was someone who had been very special to her and for some silly reason I was jealous of her.

  “Yes.” I gritted my teeth, but before I could respond, she continued, “I was about to turn twenty-one when we met. She was unlike anyone I’d ever known at the time.” Amelia seemed to zone out as she spoke. “But she died and I didn’t even know she’d been sick. Her name was Isabel Price.” She released an angry laugh.

  I wanted to speak, but the anger in her laugh quickly translated
to pain in my mind and somewhere in my heart. I didn’t know what to say and at the same time, selfish reasons kept me from interfering with her momentum because I wanted to learn more.

  She took a long while to talk after that, but I waited, patiently, because this is who she was, the person I was so desperate to get to know.

  “You remind me of her,” she said softly.

  Suddenly every sentence and conversation that had ever been spoken between us ran through my mind making me realize I reminded her of someone she’d greatly cared about.

  “Did you love her?” At that moment, it didn’t feel like it was about me, it felt like it was about something bigger, greater than me or what I reminded her of.

  She turned to face me and took a breath as she said, “I didn’t know what love meant, but looking back after everything I’ve been through, I’d have to say yes. I think I did.”

  My heart ached for this Isabel. If she’d lived long enough to know Amelia had loved her, maybe things would’ve been different. I wasn’t quite sure how, but something told me, not everything would’ve worked out the way it had.

  “I’m sorry she’s gone. I’m sorry you lost her. I’m sorry she lost you,” I said softly as I moved closer to her, hoping she’d let me try to offer her some form of comfort.

  “I’m sorry too,” she said, but she never sought any comfort from me. She just turned away and frozenly continued staring at the sky, lost in the past, but the sky to me, had turned into a meaningless blur.

  “She left you Price Healthcare,” I said.

  It took a moment for her to answer because for a short while, it was like she was trying to set herself free from the past. “Yes,” she said.

  “She sounds like she was an exceptional person.” It only took a moment or two to realize the only other Price-related business I was aware of was Price Industries and the company was worth billions.

  Amelia took a deep slow breath, then said, “She was working on developing a cure for cancer. She wanted to save lives. She wanted to live, but her cancer was extremely aggressive. By the time we met, by the time she owned Price Healthcare, she knew she wasn’t going to make it but she kept strong and fought on.” There was such a deep sadness in her as she spoke.

  I couldn’t believe she was telling me something about herself I never would’ve imagined existed.

  “I tried so much to hate her for not telling me, but when I went to visit her and saw her, I understood for the first time, how it felt like to be normal, to be human, to feel and to be helpless and I despised it.”

  I saw myself living the story through her words, and my heart broke for her.

  “We’ve worked for years on a cure but still haven’t developed the perfect remedy. At times I feel like I failed her,” she said.

  I wanted to reach out to her, but something told me she wouldn’t eagerly welcome me, so I stood by her side, quietly wishing I could take her in my arms.

  “Amelia,” I said softly, “I’m sure you’ve done your best.”

  Seeing this fragile part of her was ironically refreshing. She’d always been this strong, focused and controlled boss lady to me. Only shortly after we’d started sleeping together had I noticed there was more to her than what she projected to the world.

  Knowing that she was sharing something so intensely personal with me only made my feelings for her stronger. That vulnerability she exposed to me was a part of herself I doubted she’d ever let the world see.

  “Did you ever fall in love again?” I asked.

  She slowly shook her head.

  “What about Mr. Gallagher?” I said cautiously, knowing I was treading on a sensitive path.

  “I loved him the best way I knew how,” she said.

  It sounded like she’d loved Isabel more than she ever loved her husband. My hands shook nervously because of the question I wanted to ask next and I was glad for the dim illumination because she couldn’t see it.

  “Are you two…?” I tried to think of a better way to phrase it. “Do you get intimate with him?” My heart raced and I wasn’t sure if it was because I had actually managed to voice the question or whether I was afraid to learn her answer.

  She looked at me for a long time before she answered. “No,” she said.

  I exhaled in joy and relief. I’d never known such knowledge would bring me so much peace or happiness. My heart seemed to expand at the thought of knowing I wasn’t sharing her with anyone else.

  “Have you been intimate with other people?” I asked.

  She placed her hand over mine. “I think that’s enough with the questions for today,” she said.

  I was a little disappointed, but she’d already told me more than I’d hoped to get from her and that was good enough for now. It was nice spending time with her, just getting to know her.

  I couldn’t help wonder if she’d ever shared that part of herself with anyone else, but thinking it all through, it became apparent what type of people she was accustomed to.

  Isabel Price had come from a wealthy and powerful family and had single-handedly acquired a billion-dollar company. Patrick Gallagher had also come from a rich family and his success grew by the day.

  These were the only two people I was aware of who Amelia had been with. One she’d loved, the other she’d married. I had no doubt they’d both immensely loved her.

  Amelia and I had a connection but I would never be able to measure up to the standards of these two. Whatever she felt for me, she’d made clear would never see the light of day outside that penthouse.

  The thought was depressing because I wanted to be with her and even that I wasn’t supposed to tell her. I was just an employee and someone she had sexual rendezvous with. She’d never look at me the same way she’d looked at Isabel.

  A memory crossed my mind and I remembered the party in Paris where I’d met Zola. Her friend, Jonathan, had posed a question, which at the time had sounded absurd. He’d asked if I was Amelia’s new pet.

  I’d not understood his question, but now, thinking about it made me wonder. Did Amelia do this sort of thing often? Did she pick out who she wanted to engage in an illicit affair with then walk away? Was that what she was doing with me? Was she using me for sex?

  Have you been intimate with other people? The last question I’d asked her rang in my mind and her answer resounded with an ominous chant which left a chilling effect in me.

  “Where are you?” She asked, placing her hand over mine and I looked up and took a deep breath. I laughed nervously and shook my head.

  “I’m right here.” Maybe I was over-thinking it. I was the one who’d gone after her. She could have her pick of both men and women, why would she choose me? Someone who had absolutely nothing to offer her?

  God, even my attempts to comfort myself were in vain. They left me feeling worse about the whole situation.

  “Hey,” she touched my face and my focus fell on her gorgeous face.

  Would she ever pick someone like me in any one of her lifetimes?

  “What’s wrong?” her voice was so soft and calm, it soothed me.

  “Nothing, just some stupid thoughts floating through my mind,” I said.

  “You want to share?”

  Her warm palm was on my cheek and my body was drawing incredible heat from it. “We’ve shared enough tonight,” I said, leaning close to kiss her.

  She met me halfway and all my disturbing thoughts instantly vanished. With everything else forgotten, her arms came around my body and she whisked me into the wonderful world we created together.

  Chapter Forty-Three

  I left the penthouse on Sunday afternoon feeling like my time with Mrs. Gallagher had ended far too soon but despite that, I left with a big smile on my face.

  Being with her had been different this time. She’d taken the lead and unlocked a part of herself I hadn’t expected to see. Despite my disturbing thoughts, it felt like she and I had grown closer.

  Since it was still early, I wanted to get ho
me, change and go see Rex. We didn’t spend as much time together as we desired and I terribly missed him. I didn’t know if I was ready to share what had happened between me and Amelia, but I figured I’d know when I saw him.

  I got home, took a quick shower and went to Rex’s art studio. I assumed he’d be there because he was always working, and I wasn’t wrong. He had a huge canvas hanging vertically on one side of his wall and his hands were covered in paint. From the look of things, he’d been working on it for a while.

  The sight made me think of Jaime. She’d probably look at the painting and see something profound because she was an artist. All I saw was a mixture of paint smeared across the canvas bringing together colors to create something that appeared to be really complex.

  I watched him from the door for a while as he worked. All of his attention was fully focused on his work. He was using his hands to paint, and was standing on a medium height ladder to reach the top. He was wearing a pair of overalls, which might as well have been part of the painting because it was covered in paint.

  “Hey, how long have you been standing there?”

  His voice startled me because I was stuck in a trance, watching the way his hands moved against the canvas, almost as though he was in a duel with his creativity.

  “Uhm, I don’t know, a few of seconds, maybe. How do you do that?” I said as I got inside.

  “Do what?” he asked, watching me from the position I’d found him in.

  “It’s like something was controlling you, like you were under a spell.” I approached him, getting closer to the painting he was working on. I regretted having walked in on him because I interrupted his flow.

  He smiled, getting down from the ladder. He reached for a towel and started wiping the paint from his hands. “I don’t know, something just moves in me.”

  I turned to face him and smiled as that tender feeling of having missed him and being around him again embraced me.

  “A hug?” he said, opening up his arms.

  I took in the poor state of his appearance and laughed as I shook my head, “Maybe after you take a shower.”

  He came closer to me and pecked my cheek. “You look good, Liv.”