A Heart For Business draft 2 (3 page)

When Carter had finished eating Vanessa took the plate back from his tray, “Well, you managed to get two meals out of me today, but that will be all. I’m leaving now. It will be up to someone else to take care of the rest.”

“That someone will have to be me.” Carter said quietly. “I was always a jerk, but ever since the accident I’ve become a first class asshole. I can’t say I blame the agencies for refusing to take me as a client. I’m just lucky you were willing to give me second chance today. Thank you for everything. I mean it. You’re a good person.”

“You’re welcome.” Vanessa smiled.  He wasn’t as bad a guy as he pretended to be.  Trevor certainly wouldn’t apologize for being a bossy jerk.  She could tell that Carter Davis wasn’t inherently mean spirited; he was just in a lot of pain right now. She sat by his bedside and asked “So, what happened to you anyway?”

“Well, it’s a long story I’d rather not get into.”  Carter said. He liked her and didn’t want to bore her with his sad tale, but then he realized if he refused to talk she would leave and he really wanted her to stay.

With a boyish grin he said, “Suffice to say, I was a workaholic jerk who was paying more attention to the company’s bottom line than I was to the road and wound up in the hospital for a few weeks with a bunch of broken ribs, and now I’m stuck here at home every day. I’m struggling like hell to get the doctors to release me back to work before they hire someone to replace me, but at this rate it’s not looking good. Everyone tells me I’m lucky I wasn’t killed in the crash, but without my career it feels like I died anyway. It’s why I’ve been such a jerk to everyone.  I’m sorry.”

“Believe it or not, I get it.” Vanessa said with compassion in her warm eyes. She reached out and set her hand on top of his in a gesture of support.  He liked the way it felt, and let his fingers intertwine with hers; brown and white mingling together perfectly. 

“I know what it’s like to have nothing else in your life beside your career. I’ve worked my ass off my entire life to get to where I am today and I’m really proud of what I’ve accomplished, but it’s all I have.  Whenever I try to have a boyfriend they don’t understand my devotion to my career and get jealous of the time I spend at work. The last one I had said he got lonely when I was always at work and used it as excuse to cheat on me.  Now, I’m vacation for the first time in my life, and I don’t have anyone to spend it with.  Without my work, I’m just lost.”

Carter sat up in bed, his blue eyes sparkling with interest. “How long are you off work?”

“I’ve got a month and I want to take full advantage of it; but I don’t have the first clue how to relax.  I was up this morning at 6:00a.m. unable to sleep another wink.”

“Forget sleeping! You’re in New York! The Big Apple!” Carter cried out. The excitement in his face made him looking even more handsome than before. “You need to get out there and see everything this city has to offer! Don’t sit around being a couch potato like me. Here, I’m going to take you on a guided tour and show you all the best places in town!”

“Hold on!  You’re on bed rest, remember?” Vanessa held out her hands in a halting gesture.

“Don’t worry, I’ll stay in bed. We can do the entire tour by camera phone. I’ll guide you where to go and you can send me a picture of yourself at each location, so it’s like I’m there.”

Vanessa arched her eyebrow at him with mock skepticism. “You want me to give you my cell number after the way you’ve treated me?”

“Please?” Carter begged.  “It will be the closest I’ve come to getting out of this apartment in weeks!  It will be fun, I promise.  It will be my way of repaying you for helping me.  You can’t leave me with this debt on my conscience.” 

“Okay.” Vanessa said with a playful smile.

Chapter Four

Vanessa and Carter spent the whole afternoon together via their cell phones, as Carter led her from one terrific place to another.  She’d made sure he had all the medications and food he needed within arm’s reach before heading out into the city, and he made sure she had the time of her life.  He guided her through Manhattan and the Burroughs and showed her the best place to get an Italian soda, watch an off-off Broadway performance, eat the best hot dog, and listen to the best live music.  She hated to admit it, but he really did know a lot about the city.  He led her to places she never would have found on her own, apart from the traditional tourist traps, but still quintessential New York.  It was the most fun she’d had in a long time.

Carter wasn’t sure, but he thought he might be having an even better time than Vanessa, if that were possible.  It had been years since he’d taken time off just for fun.   He felt like he’d found a kindred spirit in Vanessa.   She was hard-working, driven, and successful; so much so that she had never taken the time to play tourist in the very city where she lived.  It wasn’t uncommon amongst New Yorkers to live their entire lives never enjoying the many sites the city had to offer, it just never occurred to Carter that Vanessa wasn’t a New Yorker.  She was educated, sophisticated, strong, and straight-forward, with just enough of a quirky sense of humor to keep things light.

He wanted to the tour he sent her on to be as fun and unique as she was, and was pleased that she enjoyed the same things that he did.  He just wished he could have actually been by her side, laughing along with her instead of just hearing it on the phone, although the pictures she was able to send were the next best thing. By the end of the day, they were both exhausted but happy.

“This day has been great, but I think we’d better call it night.” Vanessa said into her phone, as she emailed Carter an image of herself standing in front of the Brooklyn Bridge with sun setting behind her.  “You sound like you need your rest, and I know I do. I’m going to go home now and soak in a nice hot bath.”

“Well don’t stop the tradition now. Send me a picture of that too.” Carter joked.  He knew she was right though.  He wasn’t used to so much activity and his healing body was desperate for sleep, even though his heart and mind wanted the day to last forever.

He could hear Vanessa’s smile over the phone as she quipped “Nice try, but I don’t think our relationship is quite ready for sexting yet.”

“Yet? So there’s potential that someday it might be?  I’ll take that!” Carter said enthusiastically, and they both laughed.   It felt good to laugh.  It had been a long time since either one of them had felt carefree and able to be silly with someone.  With Trevor, their relationship had been all about him bossing her around and her arguing with him about it.  They’d never had any fun together.  She realized now how much she missed that feeling and didn’t want to let it go now, although she had too.  It would be foolish to let Carter overexert himself now that his body was finally on the mend. 

“Goodnight Carter.” Vanessa said softly into her cell phone.

“Will you come over tomorrow?” he asked. His voice sounded desperate even to himself, but he didn’t care. He really wanted to see her again.  It had been a long time since he’d had so much fun too.

“If you’re a good boy.” Vanessa promised and hung up the phone.

***

True to her word, Vanessa came to see Carter the next morning, and every day after that too. A true bond of friendship formed between the two of them, and they spent long days together playing board games, watching television, and just plain talking. 

She told him about her childhood growing up poor in Chicago, her time at Harvard, and her years working her way up the corporate ladder.  He told her about his privileged childhood attending private schools and the job that had been handed to him on a silver platter by a boardroom full of his daddy’s best friends, and how dissatisfied it made him feel. 

“The jobs become so empty to me, and yet it’s all I have, so I keep pushing to work harder and be better hoping that will make me feel fulfilled.” Carter confessed. “I wish I could just walk away from the whole company, but then I’d be throwing away everything I’ve ever worked for.”

“I’m just the opposite.” Vanessa told him. “Work is where I get all my feelings of satisfaction.  No other aspect of my life makes me has happy and fulfilled; especially my personal life.”

She told him then about all her ex-boyfriends who had never understood her ambition and had been threatened by her success, including the last one.  Relationships for her had always come down to a choice between love and work and so she’d always chosen work.

Carter told her about the string of women he had dated but how he had never felt any true connection with any of them.  They loved his corporate image as some hotshot executive, they didn’t care that it didn’t really make him happy. They didn’t want to know about his dreams or disappointments, they just saw dollar signs. 

“I just want to find someone with whom I can really be myself, like when I’m with you.” Carter said, looking deep into Vanessa’s eyes.  He leaned forward, fearing that Vanessa would pull away, but to his delight she didn’t. Drawn in by his vulnerability, she closed her eyes and leaned into him too and their lips met in a gentle kiss, full of tenderness.

“That was nice.” Vanessa smiled, feeling her heart flutter just a bit.

“Nice?” Carter mocked playfully.  “I can do better than that.”

He suddenly grabbed Vanessa and pulled into his arms and kissed her again, only this time with strength and passion. Her eyes flew open with surprise, then slowly closed again as she let herself succumb to the pleasure of his embrace.  She opened her mouth to him and let their tongues intertwine, as his hands caressed her hair and her arms wrapped around his muscular torso.

When at last they broke apart to catch their breath, they just stared at each other, wide eyed and excited like two teenagers.

“How was that?” Carter asked, his stomach churning in nervous anticipation.

“Better than nice!” Vanessa smiled and Carter grinned widely with relief and moved to take her into his arms again.

“I’d better go.” Vanessa held up her hands in a halting gesture. “You’re still on bed rest and I don’t want you to get hurt.”

“Then don’t go!” Carter said playfully, stretching out his arms to her in an exaggerated gesture like an actor on stage.

Spending his days with Vanessa had breathed new life in Carter Davis.  He’d discovered a newfound sense of joy for life.  His sense of humor had returned, as well as his generousity, curiousity, and ambition.  He couldn’t wait for each new day to begin, knowing that he would get to see her, and wondering what wonderful things she would have to say or what entertaining activity she would have planned. 

Before his accident, Carter had been like an automaton, blindly going through the motions each day, going to work, making boring conversation with others, and going to bed.  Even his career, the one thing that had always given him purpose and pride, was beginning to feel empty to him.  He no longer felt like he was making an important contribution to the world or that his actions mattered.  His relationships were even worse; one night stands with ignorant girls who left him feeling hallow and lonely. 

Since meeting Vanessa, he had rediscovered what it was like to talk with a woman as an equal and a friend. She was bright, interesting, and full of mystery and fun. Talking to her stimulated his mind in ways he had forgotten were even there, awaking his creativity, imagination, intuition, and innovation. Suddenly, he couldn’t wait to get back to work and share the idea’s that were spinning in his brain like hundreds of pinwheels. Vanessa brought out the very best in him, and his only regret was that once he was healed, he would lose his excuse to spend every day with her.

The following morning Carter met with his physician, Dr. Milner, for an examination of his injuries.  Vanessa offered to go with him, but he thought it was better if he went alone.  That way, if the news was bad he would have time to process his emotions without having to put on a brave face for her.

Fortunately, the doctor’s prognosis was good. “Your healing is progressing nicely.  I’m taking you off bed rest.  I want to start you on physical therapy three days a week and I’m reducing your medications.”

“Terrific! So that means I can go back to work?” Carter’s eyes were dancing.

“No, I’m not releasing you back to work.  You can resume light activities, but I want to monitor your progress and make sure your injured organs can handle the strain before returning you to full activity.  Come back here in two weeks and we’ll see how you’re progressing.  I might release you back to work then.”

Carter was a little disappointed he couldn’t go back to work yet, but his joy at finally being released from bed rest far outweighed that and put him in an extraordinarily good mood. He felt like a man released from prison and he couldn’t wait to tell Vanessa.  She was the one person he wanted to share all his news with, whether it was good or bad.  She was first person he wanted to talk to when he woke up in the mornings and the last person he wanted to talk to when he went to bed at night.  Now that he was finally free to leave his apartment and embark on light activities he knew just what he wanted to do first!

Vanessa spent the morning pacing around her apartment, thinking about Carter and worrying what the doctor would say.  Even though she had only known him for a short period of time, he occupied all her thoughts and was constantly on her mind whenever they were apart. He was smart, funny, and although he worked hard to hide it, she had come to learn he had a good heart.  He made her feel interesting, sexy, and alive.  Not to mention the fact that he was a really good kisser!

When the doorbell rang it took her by surprise, but not as much as when she opened it to find Carter standing there with a huge grin on his face. 

“Come on, let’s go! I’m taking you out on a real date!” he said, grabbing her gently by the hand and pulling.

“What are you talking about?” Vanessa squealed with surprise, letting him pull her out the door.