All of Me? The Trust Me? Trilogy (15 page)

To: Jenifer Taylor

From: Callie O’Connell

Subject: Hello honey.

Hello Jeni,

Just sending a quick email to say that I hope you’re feeling better today, and next time if I invite you over and you’re completely exhausted, please don’t feel obligated to come, darling. I always want you to look after your health and wellbeing first.

On another note, thank you for being so supportive of Mike and me. As you could probably tell, Mike was very concerned about how Aiden would take the news, but it seems that he’s more than happy with it. You would you tell me if he wasn’t, wouldn’t you?

I hope you have a wonderful day at work, and I look forward to hearing from you soon.

Lots of Love, Mom.

I love her subliminal way of asking me if Aiden is really happy with her and Mike being together. I write back immediately.

To: Callie O’Connell

From: Jenifer Taylor

Subject: Re: Hello honey.

Hi Mom,

Thanks for your concern, but I’m fine. I was completely exhausted.

Of course I’d be supportive of you and Mike. I’ve known for quite a while that there was a connection there. I’m glad you’re brave enough to pursue it. As for Aiden, I’m sure that he’s completely chuffed at the idea. He loves Mike like a father anyway. It’s kind of like Aiden getting the father he always wanted but never had. He’s very happy for you both. I wouldn’t worry at all.

My day started off a little rocky, but it’s looking up. A bouquet of flowers are being delivered to me from my fiancé.

Have a good day, Mom.

Love, Jeni xoxo.

I hit
Send
and stand to sign for the flowers. I look at the arrangement, a mixed box of gerberas, roses and Oriental lilies in various colors. They’re beautiful as usual. I take the card from the envelope.

“To my darling, Jeni. I will love you as long as the earth revolves around the sun. You’re my everything. Forever yours, Aiden xoxo”

Bree comes over to see the flowers.

“You’re so lucky,” she says as she bends down to smell them.

“I know. I’m extremely lucky to have found someone as special as your brother.”

I walk into Aiden’s office. He’s looking intently at his computer monitor
.

“Ah, right on time,” he says, waving his hand for me to come in.

“Right on time for what?”

“Right on time for me to show you this. Come and see,” he says excitedly. I make my way around his desk to stand behind him.

“What do you think?” he says, pulling up an email with photos attached

I scroll through the photos of our house, first the concrete slab, and then the frame work, and then another with walls. It’s huge and looks amazing. The last photo is a view from a window, overlooking over the city from the cliff at the scope. It’s magnificent. I smile broadly while clicking through the photos.

“Wow, we should take a drive up there and see it first hand,” I say excitedly.

“I was hoping you would say that. Want to go tonight after work?”

“Yes, absolutely.”

He swivels his computer chair to face me, and I bend down so my face is level with his.

“I will love you as long as the earth revolves around the sun,” I say.

“Oh, they’re here already?” He leans in to kiss me and then pulls me, twisting me onto his lap.

“I’m so happy right now,” he says, kissing my cheek repeatedly. I laugh at his playfulness and turn my face so he kisses my lips. I kiss him forcefully, taking him by surprise. We finally part lips, and I rest my forehead on his.

“I’m so happy, too. Being engaged to you. Our house being built where we can start our lives together. My life couldn’t be more perfect.”

Suddenly the door swings open and Alistair is standing in the doorway. I quickly stand up from Aiden’s lap and straighten out my skirt.

“What the hell is going on in here?” Alistair asks loudly.

Aiden stands up taking my hand in his. I look down at the ground to avoid eye contact with Alistair. He walks in and throws some papers on the desk making me flinch.

“Father, nothing is going on. Jeni was thanking me for the flowers I just gave her, that’s all.” Aiden says harshly.

“Well, she can thank you on her own time, not on mine. I’m not paying you to throw yourself at my son like a complete whore while you’re in my building. While you’re here you’ll work not jerk off my son’s… ego,” he says, shocking us both.

“Get out… get out now!”
Aiden yells.

“I own you, son. You’d do well to remember that.”

I look at Aiden, smile, and turn to leave his office.

“Jeni, you don’t have to leave,” Aiden says, trying to make me feel better.

“She should leave. I don’t know why you insist on keeping her here as your PA.”

Aiden glares at his father.

“It’s fine, I have work to do anyway,” I say, and leave the office.

“That’s right—
work
—that’s what I pay your for,” Alistair yells.

I shut the door and sigh as I walk back to my desk. He always knows how to ruin a good moment. I hear Aiden shouting at his father, but I tune it out when I hear the usual banter about Aiden leaving the business. Alistair storms out of Aiden’s office moments later.

***

By the time Mike picks us up from work, I can barely keep still or contain the grin on my face. I can't wait to see our new home for the first time. As we drive up the dirt track, through the gates, and climb up the steep hill, a massive two-story construction site comes into view. I gasp at the sight of it. I can't believe how huge it's going to be.

When Mike opens the door, we slide out and walk hand in hand to a grinning middle aged man. His skin is leathery from too many hours in the sun. He's over six feet tall and has a large stomach. His gray beard rounds out his odd appearance.

“Ah, Mr. O’Connell, nice to see you again,” he says, shaking Aiden's hand. He turns to me. “And you must be the lovely Jenifer I’ve heard so much about,” the man says. Up close, he looks like a big old teddy bear, and his smile is warm and friendly. We shake hands and I turn back to Aiden.

“Hi, Steve. Yes, this is Jeni. Is it alright if we do a quick walk through?”

“Of course you can. Just watch where you step. There are still some loose wiring and bits and pieces of piping lying around,” he says, gesturing towards the house.

I'm practically running to the house, dragging Aiden along with me.

“In a hurry, baby?” he says, laughing at my excitement.

“Um...yes! This is going to be our new house! How can I not be as excited as I am? Now, hurry up and show me around,” I demand.

We move around the house and at each room, Aiden tells me what it'll be. And at each room, I think of how I want to decorate it and try to visualize what it will look like with paint and furniture. The more time we spend here, I fall more in love with Aiden at how much thought he put into this house. Although it's nowhere near complete, it already feels like home.

CHAPTER 12

We arrive at work and say our good mornings. Alistair walks out of his office fiddling with his cast.

“I’m going to cut this
fucking
thing off in a minute,” Alistair says, taking one of Bree’s pencils in his hand and inserting it between the cast and his arm to scratch himself. I try to hide my smile, but I have to admit seeing him suffering a little is amusing.

“Aiden, cut this thing off, will you,” Alistair says, taking Bree’s scissors and handing them to Aiden who chuckles.

“This is no laughing matter, boy. I’m serious. Cut. It. Off.”

Aiden puts the scissors back on Bree’s desk. “Father, I’m not cutting it off. It needs to be on for a few more weeks. You need to heel first.”

Alistair looks at Aiden in disgust and picks the scissors up. “Fine, I’ll do it myself.”

“Father! Don’t be ridiculous. If you take it off now you’ll only hurt your arm further and then you’ll be in pain. Wouldn’t you rather have an itchy arm than a painful one?”

Alistair huffs, throws the scissors back onto the desk and storms off to his office.

“Great, now he’s going to be in a terrible mood all day,” Brielle says under her breath.

I sigh and walk to my desk as I know this is going to affect me. Aiden kisses me on the cheek and proceeds to his office, and I get on with my day.

As the day progresses, I go to the bathroom to freshen up. On my way in I see Alistair walking behind me; I decide to quicken my pace to ensure I don’t run into him on the way out. Unfortunately, being quick didn’t work because when I step out of the bathroom I see Alistair waiting for me, and he’s standing between me and the way out. I look down and go to walk past him but he blocks me in. I sigh and try to push past him but he puts out his hand and pushes me hard back against the bathroom door. I start to feel those nerves creeping back. I look up and see that his face has a glimmer of a smirk. He’s truly enjoying himself. I want to call out to Aiden or Bree, but he knows I won’t.

“Look, I have work to do and you like productive workers, so if you let me go back to my desk, I can get on with things,” I say, looking down at my sweaty hands.

“You could never be productive. You’re a waste of space.” He leans in and my breathing quickens, then he steps closer and closer to me.

“Do I need to remind you of what you are?” he asks quietly into my ear.

I shake my head.

“Oh, I think I do need to remind you. I think you have forgotten.” I hold back the bile rising in my throat while he strokes my cheek.

“I haven’t forgotten,” I say, trying to flinch away from his touch.

“Good.”

I exhale abruptly, and he walks away. I steady myself on the wall. He gets to walks away and I’m left trying to console myself. I eventually walk back to my desk. I once again try to distract myself with work. The Anderson’s arrive for the first meeting of the day, and I do my best to avoid eye contact with James. I quickly get up and walk to Aiden’s office before James has the chance to come over to me. I knock on Aiden’s door to let him know that they’re here.

“Come in,” he says happily.

I open the door. “Your ten o’clock is here.”

He stands up and exhales. “He better not try anything, Jeni,” Aiden says talking about James’ flirtation toward me. He walks over, stopping when he reaches me to give me a wink, and then he continues to the meeting. Alistair comes out of his office and smirks at me. I turn away and head back to my desk.

Brielle and I take in the refreshments, and I purposely avoid James as I hand them out. Aiden winks at me when I hand his coffee to him. Once finished, I start to move toward the door. I walk with my head down passing Alistair on the way out. As I walk past him he purposely puts his foot out. I trip and fall face first onto the floor, knocking my head on the door. The whole room stands to see if I’m alright, and Aiden and James both rush over to me. I see Alistair acting surprised, but the expression in his eyes tells it all. I can’t believe he just did that.

“Jeni, are you alright?” Aiden asks, reaching down to help me.

“I think so,” I say, rubbing my head.

“Jeni, do you need me to help you up?” James asks, taking hold of my arm. I frown at him and shake my head as he pushes Aiden out of the way to help me. I glance down and my knees have carpet burn on them and so do my palms.

“Please don’t handle my staff,” Aiden says, physically removing James’ hand from my arm. James looks at Aiden and furrows his brow.

“I’m not handling her, I’m helping her. Jeni, are you hurt, do you need me to take you to the doctor?” he asks.

I look at Aiden with that
don’t you dare
look and he huffs.

“No, I’m fine. Thanks, James.”

“If anyone is taking Jeni to the doctor, it should be me,” Aiden says.
Here we go with the pissing contest again.

“Why? Because she is your PA? You probably don’t even talk to her outside of work. No, someone who cares about her should take her.”

“Oh for God’s sake she doesn’t need a doctor, the girl is fine. Can we get back to our meeting now?” Alistair says. Bree comes back in to help me and James takes his seat. Aiden looks at me with that
are you really alright
look. I nod and he goes back to his seat, watching me carefully.

“Sorry, I’m such a klutz,” I say. Bree takes me back to my desk and sits me down.

“What happened? You were right behind me and then I look back and you’re on the floor.”

“Yeah, I must have tripped on something.”

“How’s your head?” she asks, while touching the lump that’s forming at the top of my hairline.

“It hurts and I have a headache,” I say truthfully. Bree walks to the kitchen and comes back with some ice in a hand towel.

“Do you think you have a concussion?”

“No, it’s only a little bump. I’ll be fine.”

Bree checks out my knees which are grazed and slightly bleeding. “Jeez, Jeni, you did a really good job on these,” she says, grabbing a tissue to dab my knees. She continues to fuss over me, walks over and grabs the first aid kit from her desk and comes back with some bandages for my knees. I laugh as she places the oversized bandages over the grazes.

“There that should do it.” A broad smile crosses her face. “Sorry, Jeni, but you look ridiculous.”

I laugh as I picture myself with ice on my head and oversized bandages on my knees. I bet I look fantastic.

The meeting finishes and Aiden is chatting with Mr. Anderson, but watches James closely as he walks over to me.

“Hey, are you okay?” James asks.

“Yeah, I’m fine, just a bruised ego. Thanks for your help,” I say, trying to be nice but not too nice so he doesn’t get the wrong idea.