Taking Her Curves (BBW Billionaire Erotic Romance) (5 page)

Amanda didn't last long. I was brushing her
off the payroll days later...only for Allison to bring in another
gorgeous woman who was far overqualified for the job, but actually
had connections and prestige with her. All of them oblivious that
they were being used as the devil's matchmaker, being paraded in
front of the girl they were meant to torture.

I tried to keep up a good front. But it was
getting more difficult. Every new girl was yet another twist of the
knife...

Memories of Will... every time I had doubts
before, he would say that I was the one, the only one that he could
ever fully love. But to say that in a world of billions, that just
one would ever be the one for you truly seems silly. There's more
than one person out there for everyone. One day, one of Allison's
plants will catch his eye, Will will realize that I'm not the only
one in the entire world for him.

Then he'd find happiness again. Happiness
that would reunite him with his sister, mend that fence. I was
suffering for him, it was how I cared.

Allison's relentlessness, though...wore at
me. She didn't want me still employed. It was Will's company, of
course, so he wouldn't accept an outright axing. All of the girls
in front of me were to make me quit, drive us further apart.

I saw Will ever so often, rushed about into
his next ride with his latest assistant, all from afar. My life was
empty without him...a constant reminder of what I used to have. I
kept expecting him to show up, take me again, no matter what I
said...save me.

Losing track of the days, weeks, only the
pain of each new potential assistant being shoved in my face making
me realize I was alive. I stared at my desk, and turned to pull up
a fresh document for my own purposes. Resignation...a resignation
from this company, a resignation to my fate.

I had it prepared up all nice and official. I
carried it onto that elevator and gulped as it dung up the floors,
heading up higher and higher, cold sweat on my brow again. They
drew open.

"I'm done here, Mrs. West, I can't work with
this guy!" The latest hire was screaming at Allison. I didn't even
know her name, despite the fact I was certain she was introduced to
me at some point. "He threw coffee at me. Not by accident, just
outright throwing coffee at me!"

"Think of him as a playground bully. That's
how he shows he likes you." Allison twirled her hair passively.

"I don't have to take this. I have an MBA!"
Will's newest ex-assistant stormed past me, not even paying me any
mind, taking over the elevator.

This left Allison's attention on me...and me
alone. "You...what are you doing up here?"

"I need to talk to Will."

"He has no business with you, Suzanne. If you
have something to drop off, hand it to me."

"This...is a very personal document."

The door creaked open, and out came a very
different William West. Once the picture of slickness, he bore a
considerable beard that clung onto his face, ungroomed, much like
his hair. It was combed, adhering a certain standard, but nowhere
near what I had come to know him as, a man who knew appearances
were vital to presence and impressions. "Suzanne..." he
managed.

"William, you don't have to deal with the
chaff. You have employees to do that for you."

"She is anything but chaff, Allison."

I wanted time alone with him. Perhaps one
last chance to peer into his soul. But not with Allison here, I
wasn't going to get that. So...instead, I'll give her what she
wants. "Will..." I approached him with the folder, and handed it to
him, my eyes closed.

"What is it, Suzanne...?" He took documents
and looked through them.

"I'm presenting my resignation, effective
immediately. I can't stand to be here any longer, Will...so close,
yet so far from you..."

"Suzanne..."

"Good! Took you long enough." Allison stepped
in and snatched away the folder from Will. "You were grossly
underqualified for your position, I have someone lined right up to
take over."

"You were trying to drive her away...?" Will
raised an eyebrow.

"She's a bad influence, brother. You need to
hurry up and get over her, move on. It's a phase is all."

"Do as she says, Will." I swallowed,
interjecting. "Don't suffer on my account. Please."

"Suzanne..." Will reached out for me, running
his hand through my hair for the first time in weeks. A shiver shot
through me, how much I missed his touch. "Reconsider. I need you
here."

"The hell you do." Sister had to butt in.

Will gave her a death stare. I took his hand,
and guided it from my head. "I wish I could...but..." Why couldn't
I? With the cruel glare of Allsion on me, I turned and ran for the
elevator, Will watching me until the doors closed. Would it be
perhaps the last I ever saw of him?

***

I returned home, in a blank daze more than
anything else. I dropped shoes, blazers, bags all along the way,
not caring if I was making a mess of my apartment. Comfortable
enough, I found the bed, and plummeted onto it, cradling a
pillow.

No obligations to rise at a certain time or
even do anything tomorrow. I had enough money saved up to live
comfortably for quite some time, so even a job search wasn't high
priority.

Freedom, in its own way. Oddly, I decided to
use it to cry myself to sleep, not caring if I ever woke up.

Regrettably, I did. I rolled over, arms
reaching for a Will that wasn't there. I moaned in grievance,
trying to force myself back to sleep, but the slits of my eyes
catching the clock. 4PM. I was sure I was in bed before midnight,
but here I am, sleeping my life away and wanting to rid myself of
more of it that way.

I failed in my efforts to further embrace
lethargy, pushing myself up. I stumbled through my routine, before
heading for my door to check my mail.

Limousines parked in front of my home weren't
completely alien, but I can't say I was expecting one today. The
driver spotted me, closing his paper and tossing it into the
passenger seat. "Ah, Ms. Carter! You're finally awake."

He smiled. The same driver Will always hired
for me, he was paid well to deal with my slowness and love of
sleeping in. "...This is a surprise..."

Driver opened the trunk, and pulled out a
sheet of plastic hung off a hanger. There was nothing there,
outside a small note card. He handed it to me. "We're to leave
immediately."

I pulled the card off, and read over it.

Come As You Are.

Will's handwriting...

"Shall we, Ms. Carter? I'm assuming no
preparation is needed."

"I... I suppose."

***

I was driven to a remote bistro that I had
never been to. There were no other cars in the lot, outside one,
and one that told me who was there. The place was entirely
deserted, but Will's driver urged me into the building. It was
almost eerie. Even in the silence and desertion, this was a high
class place. I glanced at a menu, the cost for the soup being
something I would flat out refuse to pay if I had to worry about
money. Polished floors, fancy plants, everything told me I didn't
belong here.

And given I was wearing
wrinkled, slept-in blouses and skirts, capped with ratty slippers I
never got around to replacing with my improved income...and oh god,
my hair was a mess. I caught a shine of myself in a chrome garbage
can, trying to preen myself, but failing. I
really
didn't belong
here.

A single lit candle sat in the middle of the
dining room, the blinds closed. I was drawn to it, scanning the
room for anyone, anywhere.

"You're beautiful as ever, my curvy diamond."
William West walked into view, hands in pockets. He had shaved,
gotten a haircut, groomed to perfection. He was wholly my opposite
in every conceivable way. His steps rang through the room, as he
closed in on me.

"Will..." I missed him. To be alone with him
after so long...

His fingers ran through my hair, almost
combing them, gently pulling out those tangles. "Here we are...
with the only two things that matter. Myself...and you."

"...Will...what about your sister, and
everything..."

"I told you, Suzanne. This is all that
matters. I want you to remember this. No eyes on us, no Allison, no
nothing. Just me and you."

"But..."

"Nothing else matters. You think I give a
damn about dynasty? What people think of me, Suzanne? I tried to be
reasonable with my sister, because she's family. I entertained the
thought of living without you. And it would be torturous. If she
cannot accept you, then I cannot accept Allison as my sister. Damn
her."

He held me close, his arms reaching into his
pockets, and producing a familiar object. The ring I had returned
to him back at his sister's home all those weeks ago.

"Suzanne. I want to ask you once more. Free
of any coercion, any pressure, any judgment from the meaningless
world around us. Think only of you, of me...of us. Will you be mine
for a lifetime?"

Swallow. The world was chilled around me. I
looked deep into his eyes, and saw that he was so certain of
wanting me, choosing me above anyone else. I've seen that he
wouldn't accept a world without me right there beside him. And
myself, being so far from him...while I liked ice cream just fine,
it was no way to live every day.

If all that truly mattered in the world was
William West and Suzanne Carter, well, the answer seemed pretty
clear to me. "Yes...Will. No more doubts...I want to be with you,
for a lifetime, and whatever lies beyond that." I took the ring
from him, and slid in onto my finger, letting its glamor clash with
everything else about me.

All the dread that had been clouding my mind,
all the uncertainty that had been so fully dominating me suddenly
cleared. I was light in his arms, and he seized me by the lips,
sucking all of the breath out of me, our tongues finding one
another...it could have lasted an eternity. But nothing ever
does.

"William! Why won't you return my calls...?"
It's always interrupted by the worst thing possible.

Allison West stormed through the vacated
bistro, and into our candlelit room. One look at me and her face
turned to utter disgust. Given how I looked, it was slightly more
understandable than usual.

"Her. We've been over this Will. She's not
suitable for you."

"How so, Allison?" Will broke away from me,
advancing slowly on her sister. "Not of my status? So I should
marry like you then, shouldn't I? Does your husband even care
you're across the country more concerned with your brother's
personal life than say, your own business or your own
marriage?"

"We have an excellent relationship, William.
We understand each other." Allison returned the advance.

"That there's no love in your relationship,
is there, sister? You've both married for reputation and
connections. You have a loveless world...and it tears you up inside
doesn't it, that your brother isn't sharing your foolish mistake?"
Will crooked his head to the side, face to face with his
sister.

"How dare you, brother. Thinking I'm driven
by spite..." She wavered a bit. "I only care for the family."

"Bullshit, Allison! Bullshit!" Will clenched
his fits, and I recoiled a bit in the distance. William West was
not a profane man. "Family isn't about celebrity, it's about love.
Find it yourself, sister. Leave your sham of a marriage."

Allison snapped a slap across her brother's
face. "How dare you! I worked hard for my marriage, and I'm not
about to give it up."

Will heaved a heavy breath. He was always
taught it was wrong to strike a woman, and that was doubly so when
it was your sister. "We are done, Allison. Leave my sight until you
are willing to accept Suzanne, accept me...and until then, we are
no longer family."

"Fine then. I'll let you be the laughing
stock of the world, with your beast of a creature you'll call a
wife."

"Allison..." I spoke up for the first time
since she had entered the room. She walked over, still fully smug
and venomous.

"Aren't you happy, you little gold digger,
getting everything you want..." Her swagger annoyed me. So I
slapped her across the face. She stumbled a bit, before snapping
her furious gaze towards me. She grunted with rage before storming
off out of the room.

"I...I thought you were classier than that,
Suzanne." William placed his arm around me, and held me close. "Not
that I'm complaining."

"If people think you're classless, sometimes
you ought to embrace it."

Eternity resumed in one another's arms.

***

I can remember all the beauty that surrounded
me. Everything really gets greater when you purge all those
unworthy thoughts from yourself.