Forever You (22 page)

calm down. Did I mean what I just said to her? I don’t know if I did or not, but I do know she won’t

stand there and take it. I heard her walk over to me, and as I turned my head and looked at her, she

slapped me across the face. I didn’t move or say a word; I just stood there and stared into her

anguished eyes. She turned and walked out of the kitchen. I hurt her again, and she didn’t deserve it. I

stormed out of the kitchen and knocked over a vase that was sitting on the counter. I left the penthouse

via the front door and slammed it behind me.

I walked down the streets of New York City. I didn’t know where I was going or what I was doing.

Ashlyn had pissed me off by threatening to tell Ellery everything, and I can’t seem to believe whether

Ellery is telling me the truth about how she’s feeling. It isn’t her fault that Ashlyn’s a bitch, and I can’t

get her out of my life. I blew up at her for no reason, and like the ass that I am, I hurt her enough for

her to feel the need to slap me. I walked around for an hour and a half to cool off. I needed to

apologize to Ellery and tell her about Ashlyn. She’s been more than patient with me, and I owe it to

her. I pulled out my phone and sent her a text.

“I want to apologize for my behavior. I’m on my way back to the penthouse, and we need to talk.

If you’re feeling up to it, we can go out for lunch.”

She didn’t respond back. I walked back to the penthouse and went straight up to the guest room. I

stood there and looked around. I glanced over to the corner of the room, and her bag was gone. In

fact, the things she had sitting on the dresser were gone as well. Claire came in behind me.

“She’s gone, Mr. Black. Right after you left, she came up here, grabbed her bag, and left. I tried to

stop her, but she said there was something she had to do, and she apologized.”

“Shit, what the hell have I done?!” I yelled as I ran down the stairs to the living room. I pulled out

my phone, but there was still no reply so I messaged her again.

“Where are you, Ellery?”

A few minutes later, she replied.
“Connor, I had to leave. My being at your place was hurting

you as bad as it was hurting me. The only thing I can tell you is I’m ok, and please don’t worry

about me. I have a few things that I need to do, and I don’t know when I’ll be back.”

She doesn’t know when she’ll be back? What the hell is she doing, and where did she go? I was

pissed, and I could feel my blood pressure rise.

“What do you mean you don’t know when you’ll be back? Where the fuck are you going? You

have treatments to finish; you better get the hell back here, right NOW!”

When she didn’t respond, I sent her another text.
“I will find you, Ellery Lane, even if I have to

travel to the ends of the earth; make no mistake that I will find you.”

“I know you will my stalker,”
she responded quickly.

Enough with the text bullshit, I was going to talk to her. I dialed her number, but it went straight to

voicemail. I bet she turned her phone off. I decided to text her one more time to see if she would

respond.

“Ellery, you better answer your phone!”

There was no response, so I called her phone one more time, but once again, it went straight to

voicemail. Just as I threw my phone on the table, I heard the elevator doors open and a woman’s

voice.

“Where is she, Connor Black?!” Peyton said as she stormed in.

I looked at her with anger in my eyes, and she stopped dead in her tracks.

“Uh oh, what happened?” she asked.

“Your best friend decided to take off and take a little trip somewhere,” I said.

“Where did she go?” Peyton asked calmly.

“How the hell do I know? She just said that she had some things she needed to do, and she didn’t

know when she’d be back. What the hell, Peyton? You’re her best friend; what the hell is she doing?”

She shook her head and walked towards me. “I don’t know, Connor, but you need calm down.

We’ll figure out where she is, and we’ll bring her home.”

“I can’t calm down,” I said as I turned and headed towards the bar. “She’s sick, and she needs

someone to take care of her.”

“Why did she leave? What did you say to her?” She asked as she frowned at me.

“I yelled at her, but I didn’t mean it. I was angry about something else, and I took it out on her.

Damn it!” I screamed as I downed some scotch. I looked at Peyton and could see the worry across her

face. “Would you like a drink?” I asked her.

“No thanks, I’m good for now,” she replied. “I should get going; I have to unpack.”

I walked her to the elevator. “If you hear from her, will you please call me?” I asked calmly.

Peyton put her hand on my shoulder and smiled. “You bet I will. I know how worried you are.”

Worried isn’t the only thing I am. I’m pissed at her for doing this. Damn it. It’s my fault that once

again we’re apart. I haven’t even told her I loved her yet, and it’s killing me because I need her to

know how much I do. I had my back turned when I heard Denny.

“I already told you that you’ve met your match. She’s just like you, stubborn.”

“I know that, Denny. So, why the hell do you keep saying it?” I snapped.

“Because you need to realize that you just can’t go off on people the way you do. You need to

remove the number one stress in your life because she’s causing you and Ellery too much pain.”

I poured another drink. “I know, and I’m trying.”

“Obviously not hard enough,” he said as he walked out of the room.

I sighed and closed my eyes. My phone rang, and I jumped. I grabbed it. Peyton was calling.

“Hello?” I answered.

“I’m only telling you this because I know you love her, and that she loves you. If you ever tell

Ellery that I called you, I will string you up by your balls and let you hang for days. Do you

understand me, Connor?”

I gulped, this girl meant business. “Yes, Peyton, I promise.”

“She went to Michigan to take care of a few things and hopped on a flight somewhere else. Don’t

ask me where because I’m not telling you. You need to figure that out for yourself.”

I started to interrupt her. “Peyton...”

“Don’t interrupt me, Connor. Just let me finish. She wants you to find her, but there’s something she

has to do first. That part I can’t help you with because she wouldn’t tell me what is was. She said if

you find her, then the two of you were meant to be and that whatever it is she’s doing will be worth it.

She told me to be your friend. So, I’m being your friend and betraying my best friend. Start looking

for her, and get your ass on a plane when you find her.”

“Thank you, Peyton, I appreciate you calling me.”

“You’re welcome. I believe you’re the best thing in her life, and she needs you. That’s the only

reason why I’m doing this. Don’t let me down,” she said as she hung up.

I stood at the bar looking at my glass of scotch. What game is Ellery playing? I asked myself.

Chapter 18

A few days passed, and I had my tech guy at Black Enterprises hack into Ellery’s computer via the

email she sent me. She had been doing some research on a ‘Dr. Danielle Murphy’ from Cedars Sinai

Grace Hospital in California. She’s a cancer specialist and Hematologist. Denny took a quick trip

with me to Michigan to check out the airport Ellery was at. Peyton had told me that Ellery threw her

phone in the garbage there to throw me off her trail. She knew I’d have it traced and find her in no

time. I walked around and showed the different workers at the ticket counter Ellery’s picture. They

said they hadn’t seen her until I came across a woman who said she was the one who had helped her.

I found it strange because my tech guy couldn’t find any flights booked for Ellery. The woman told me

she couldn’t give out any information regarding Ellery. I reached in my pocket and slid two one

hundred-dollar bills at her and gave her a smile. She looked at me as I could tell she was thinking

about something. She looked around and then leaned in closer to me as she put her hand over the bills.

“She booked a flight to California; Los Angeles to be exact.”

“I couldn’t find any record of that,” I said.

She looked around once more. “She paid me off to put her ticket under a different name and let it go

through.”

I smiled at her, “Thank you.”

I walked away, and Denny looked at me, smiling. “She’s a smart girl, and she’s playing one hell of

a game. Have I told you, Connor, how much I love Ellery?”

“Knock it off, Denny,” I said as I shot him a dirty look.

We boarded my plane and flew back to New York.

***

A week had passed, and I was missing her. It was killing me not to know what she was doing or

what she was up to. I was in my office at the penthouse when I heard a light knock on the door. “Come

in,” I said. Peyton walked through the door.

“Peyton, is everything alright?” I asked in a panic.

“Everything’s fine. I just stopped by to tell you that Ellery is ok physically, but mentally, she’s a

wreck. She misses you, and I want to know when you’re going out to California to see her.”

I sighed, “Her birthday’s next week. I’ll fly there before her birthday. There’s no way I will let her

spend it alone.”

“Why don’t you just go now? What the hell are you waiting for?” she asked.

“I’m giving Ellery time. She went out there for a reason, and I’m giving her space. Remember,

she’s the one who walked out on me.”

Peyton rolled her eyes, “I’m going to be honest when I tell you that the both of you make me sick.

Get over yourselves, and just love each other.”

“I do and always will love her. Don’t worry, Peyton, I’ll make things right,” I smiled at her as she

turned and walked out the door.

Since I told Peyton that I would be in California for Ellery’s birthday, I got to thinking about what I

should get her. I’m going to make sure that she has the best birthday she’s ever had. I remembered that

time I was at her apartment, and I saw her list of things she wanted to do. It suddenly hit me; that was

her bucket list. How the hell didn’t I see it before? On her list, it said she had always wanted to go to

Paris, so I had Valerie make up two tickets. We would be taking the company plane, so we could go

whenever she wanted to and stay for as long as she wanted. I also wanted to get her a piece of

jewelry; something that represented the two of us. I grabbed my coat and headed to Tiffany’s.

I was looking at the necklaces in the display case when something to the side caught my attention. I

asked the saleswoman if I could see it. She pulled out a beautiful bracelet. It was made up of

numerous infinity symbols that were encased in diamonds. I couldn’t stop thinking about the infinity

symbol that was tattooed on her wrist. This bracelet was perfect for her as she was perfect for me. I

walked out of Tiffany’s and headed to the Apple store. Her last gift was a new iPhone to replace the

one she threw in the trash.

I spent the next few days working a lot and trying to keep Ashlyn calm. It’s hard work trying to

make up things to keep her busy and out of my hair. In a few short hours, I’ll be on my plane, heading

to California to be with Ellery. I packed my bag and made sure I had her birthday presents tucked

away safely. It’s almost a six hour flight, and I wanted to be in L.A. first thing in the morning because

I didn’t know where she was staying. She went to some serious lengths to make sure she didn’t leave

a paper trail. I had Denny drive me to the airport at 2:00 am.

“Thanks, Denny, I appreciate you driving me at this hour,” I said as I got out of the limo.

“No problem, Connor. Just bring Ellery home,” he smiled.

“I will, I promise.”

I boarded the plane and looked out the window as it took off down the runway and headed for

California.

It was around 8:00 am when I arrived in Los Angeles. I already made arrangements to have a rental

car waiting for me at the airport. I drove to the area surrounding Cedars Sinai Grace Hospital. If I’m

right, Ellery is staying somewhere close by because she loves to walk. I pulled up to a set of

apartment buildings and walked inside the rental office. I showed the manager Ellery’s picture and

asked if she was renting an apartment. The woman looked at her picture and said she had never seen

her before. I thanked her and headed off to the next set of apartments. I searched four different

apartment complexes in the surrounding area, and Ellery was not staying at any of them. I had one

more down the block to try. I pulled up to the curb and walked around the side to the rental office. As

I walked through the door, the manager gave me a strange look.

“How can I help you, sir?” he asked.

“I would like to know if this woman is renting one of your apartments,” I said as I showed him

Ellery’s picture.

The manager told me to hold on a minute and immediately called someone to come to the office.