Torn (3 page)

“I know, but I… Courtney, I love you so very much. Will you… god I thought this was going to be easy
after having a couple drinks.” He took another sip.

 

“Are you okay? Jase?” Courtney asked with a worried look on her face.

“Look, I know I have been kind of a douche lately and working a lot and it’s my birthday, so I should be
the one receiving the gifts and not giving them, but Courtney will you marry me?” He quickly said and
pulled out a red box.

“Oh my god!! Are you serious?” Tears began to flow down her face as she shrieked. “Of course I will!!”

 

Jason slipped the ring on Courtney’s finger and Liam began to clap and signaled for the waiter to bring
over another round. I sat there with a smile on my face.

 

“Jason, I am so happy!” Courtney said wiping the tears from her cheeks. “Ow!” She said glancing back
over to me. “What was that for?”

 

I just gave her my all-knowing glare. She then straightened up in her seat.

 

“Umm. Jason, I have a bit of a surprise for you as well.” She took a quick sip of water; you could tell her
mouth suddenly went dry.

 

“Bigger than this?” He asked starting to have the look of worry on his face.

 

“Well, actually. Yes. Happy Birthday, I am pregnant!” She said in a quick blurt.

 

“Seriously? Oh wow! This night did get better!” He exclaimed with a smile that seemed to be growing
every second. He grabbed her in a tight embrace.

I looked at both of them so incredibly happy that everything at that very moment was going so well for
the two of them. But a sudden sadness overwhelmed me. I am not sure why it was that I got so down at
that moment, but I felt that I was missing something. I checked for my purse, had it. I looked up at my
amazing husband, who was just gleaming because he just witnessed to exciting events between our
great friends, he was there. What was wrong? Then I started to think about Caleb. Was he what I had
been missing? No, this was ridiculous! I had to snap out of it! I also needed to find a moment to tell Liam
I was going to be meeting him later this week, butthat could wait. This evening was all about Courtney
and Jason.

We grabbed our jackets after witnessing the guys fight over the check, Courtney and I gabbed about
how we would have to do some more shopping soon; for both baby and mommy. I couldn’t wait to find
out what she was having.

We exchanged our goodbyes outside and headed in ourseparate directions. The car ride was quiet and
felt different.

 

“You okay over there?” Liam asked grabbing my hand and kissing my knuckles.

 

“Oh, yeah! Just still amazed at all the events that took place this evening! What a great night, just kind of
taking it all in, why?”

 

“You were kind of quiet for the last part of dinner so I was just making sure, is all.” He gave my knuckles
one last kiss.

“Oh I’m good. I am a little tired; all that wine has kicked in.” I said, knowing that wasn’t the only thing
that was on my mind. “So.” I paused briefly. “I ran into an old friend tonight on the way back from the
bathroom. I was thinking, I mean, I am going to meet up with him later this week for lunch. That is if it’s
okay with you?”

“Him? Uh, sure.” He looked rather uneasy with the ‘him’ part of that sentence.

 

“Liam, honey, I knew him as a kid and I’m happily married to you. You have nothing to worry about,
okay?” I pulled on his arm while he kept his eyes forward while he continued to drive.

 

“I know. I love you more than anything, I am not worried. Just didn’t know an old friend would be a guy,
that’s all.” He pulled me in a little closer.

When we got home we headed straight to the bedroom. Our ‘to be continued’ was definitely needing to
be continued, but at that moment the spice had seemed to linger off. Why couldn’t I stop thinking about
him?

We made love for what felt for a lifetime. I could feel his hand caress every inch of my body, from my
hair to my toes. He felt like he knew something was bothering me and wanted to prove his love to me in
every way possible. We snuggled up next to each other for some time, when I realized he had fallen
asleep holding my hand and I still laid there wide awake. I grabbed my robe and made my way
downstairs to the kitchen to grab a glass of water.

As I sipped on my water, I noticed that the light on my cellphone was flashing. I picked up to see a text
message:

 

I am so glad that I saw you tonight. I can’t stop thinking about how beautiful you looked. Call me
in the morning- Caleb.

 

He was reading my mind at that moment. I couldn’t stop thinking about him either. I quickly punched in
a text back:

 

Great seeing you too! Call you tomorrow. Good night- Ryleigh

I didn’t get a text back, I looked at the time of the message received, and it had been from two hours
ago. I probably just woke him up. I looked at the time on the stove it read 2:30am! Damn it, I couldn’t
believe I was sending a text back that late. Then Iheard a buzz.

I take that back, don’t call me tomorrow. Call me tonight- C
Was he out? I hope I didn’t interrupt anything. I didn’t want to reply because I knew that I could keep
talking to him and I didn’t want to have Liam getting upset.

What do you mean tonight? Now??

 

I hit send.

 

No, not right now… but it is morning. Why are you still awake?

‘Because I can’t stop thinking of you’,
I thought. I needed to get out of my head and my head was doing
some weird thinking while I was trying to fall asleep, why are you awake? I just sat there as I thought
what to really type.

Just grabbing some water. I will call you tonight. Why are you awake?

 

It was like we were teens all over again.

 

Couldn’t fall asleep. Lots on my mind. Better go get some sleep. Later.

What could he have on his mind? I sat there for a minute thinking if I should respond, but he was right. I
needed to get some sleep. I had a meeting in the morning and number crunching meetings were always
something that needed a sorted head. I set my glass down on the counter and headed back to bed.

Chapter Three

7:00 a.m always seemed too early to me. Today, especially, I couldn’t seem to get out of bed, maybe it
was the wine that I had or the late night venture into the kitchen, but I was just too comfortable to
move. Liam left a little sticky note in the bathroom that he had to leave early to get into the office. I
made my way into the shower and thinking if I wanted to make my own coffee this morning or hit up
Starbucks on the way and have Tiffany, the aspiring actress/barista make me coffee. Tiffany was
definitely winning today.

I headed out the door, grabbing my cell phone off the table and noticed I had a blinking light again.

 

Can’t wait to talk. Have a great day! Lunch?

A huge smile spread across my face. Lunch would give us a chance to catch up. Today would also be
perfect because all the corporate bosses would be in a lunch meeting after our morning gathering so I
could take a little longer than usual. The crazy world of finance, we rebellious number crunchers taking
an hour and thirty minute lunches, I chuckled to myself.

Lunch would be perfect. Noon? Do you know that pizza place off 17
^th
?

I shoved my phone in my purse not waiting for a response and headed to Starbucks. Tiffany seemed
extra perky today; she must have been on her 3
^rd
espresso. She definitely had the word “multitasking”
down to a talent; she rambled on about how she was going to try speed dating also mentioning that she
was going to go for a call back on Friday. The girlcould really talk. My mind was nowhere near Tiffany; I
couldn’t stop thinking about Caleb.

“Ryleigh, are you okay? You seem very quiet today?” Tiffany then asked.

 

“Oh, yeah. I am fine. I just have a big meeting that I am going to be heading to after this and I just am
mentally going over my notes.” I lied.

 

“Oh! Good luck! You will rock it, especially after drinking this!” She laughed.

 

I threw a couple bucks in her tip jar and I grabbed my cup. As I got back in the car, I could hear my phone
vibrate.

 

Perfect. See you there.

I drove into work and began to count the minutes. I found myself sitting in the conference room a few
minutes before the meeting and already feeling anxious. Once the meeting began, it seemed to drag on
longer than I had hoped. I was beginning to think that it was never going to end, never in my life had I
hated meetings more than I did this morning.
“Ryleigh, do you have anything further to add?” One of the board members asked.

“No, sir. I think that we are looking good. I just made the noted adjustments and then we can proceed
further. As for everything else, we are set to go.”

 

“Thanks to you and your team for working hard on this project.” He added.

 

“Thank you, sir. We appreciate hearing that. I willbe sure to pass on the compliment as well.” I said
rising and shaking his hand.

I left the room thinking this day was finally looking up. I walked back to my office and noticed a bouquet
of colorful flowers on my desk. I poked my head out of my office and glanced around the rest of the
office to see if I could find out who left them there and no such luck.

“Ava? Could you come in here for a second?” I hollered at my assistant.

 

“Hey, heard the meeting went really well! Maybe you will get a great bonus!” She said as she came
waltzing into my office, she seemed a little too excited this early in the morning.

 

“Yeah, hopefully.” I said distracted while looking for a card. “Hey, do you know who sent these flowers? I
can’t find a card.” I said searching the bouquet once more.

 

“I can go look at the receipt, it’s over on my desk. I was the one who signed for it. The delivery guy was
really good looking, kind of made my day.”

 

“What did he look like?” I asked in a sort of panic tone

 

“Geez, you want all the hot men don’t you?” She said in a chuckled voice “He had black hair, darker skin,
and the most amazing brown eyes. He kind of reminded me of Liam but with darker skin.”

 

“Oh. Okay.” I don’t know why but I was hoping for it to be someone else.

 

“They are from your love! He is so sweet Ryleigh! How did you land an amazing guy?” She said handing
me the form.

 

“Pure luck. He is pretty awesome, huh? I better call him and thank him.” I walked back to my desk
without looking at her. I picked up the phone and dialed up Liam.

 

“Have I told you how much I love you?” He answered.

 

“Now what if I was Todd from the mailroom? I don’t know how he would feel about you confessing your
love for him.” I said smiling widely.

 

“Well, shit! I thought it was Todd! I mean, Hi honey.”

“Smart ass. I just got your flowers, thank you. Isthere a special occasion for these beauties?”
“Yes. It is Thursday and I am sending them to my beautiful wife. I figured you needed something to
brighten your day.”

“You’re amazing. They did. So, I wanted to give you a heads up.” I paused I didn’t know if I should tell
him or just meet Caleb and not go into it with Liam until later that night.

 

“What’s up babe?” He asked.

“Oh, I just wanted to let you know that the meeting went really good this morning and I managed to
impress the board. So I have heard rumors that I will be getting a promotion or even a bonus!” I did
want to tell him more but I just couldn’t get the words to come out.

“Oh, that is truly amazing! Maybe the flowers weregood luck then? We will do our own little
celebration just the two of us later tonight. I might be a little late; I have some of the marketing team
from the other branch in New York here to visit. So, you may want to grab yourself something to eat on
your way home and I will bring home some champagne or wine, maybe both. What do you think? Sound
like a plan?”

“Sounds like an amazing evening, just the two of us.” I said with a smile looking down at the clock. “Oh
wow, is it really 12:15? Honey, I’ve gotta run! I have a lunch meeting that I was supposed to go to at
noon. See ya later, love you.” I said in a hurry.

“Love you too.” We both quickly hung up and I grabbed my jacket and headed out the door. I didn’t
even bother to mention to Ava that I was leaving. I couldn’t believe that the time went so quickly and I
was going to be so late. Thankfully the elevators weren’t as busy as they normally were and the pizza
place was a minute walk from my building.

I started down the street and thankfully I was in heels or I would have been sprinting down the road. I
don’t think that I had walked that fast in heels without falling over. I grabbed the handle of the door,
took a few deep breaths and walked in. I glanced around and then he caught my eye, sitting in a back
booth. His green eyes staring up at me and his big smile were definitely hard to miss. I headed back to
him trying to look as confident as ever, but inside I was a nervous wreck.

“I am so incredibly sorry; I got caught up at work and didn’t realize the time. Have you been waiting
long?” I think that is the fastest I had ever apologized.

 

“Ryleigh, calm down I was a little late as well. I just got here like five minutes ago. Take a seat, I just
ordered us both a couple of slices of ultimate, I hope that is okay?”

 

“That is great, thanks. I am starving! I didn’t geta chance to eat this morning and my coffee was extra
strong.”

“Man, it’s great to see you again.” He was looking at me with such passion, that smile of his would be
able to make anyone forget what they were going to say. However, the words began to just spill out of
my mouth.
“So what happened, Caleb? I know that you usually ask the person how they have been and what they
have been up to, but I am just going to cut to the chase.” I said this so cold, I couldn’t believe it was me
that just spoke. I sounded so cold, it even gave me chills.

I could see the smile slowly fade from his gorgeous face. His brows began to furrow.