Whatever He Wants (26 page)

 
     
Noelle smiled at her cousin. “Thank you.”

 
     
“No need to thank me. Like I said, this is
your home too.”

 
     
“No.” Noelle shook her head. “I wasn’t
thanking you for letting me stay here but for being there for me. I know it was
hard for you to maintain contact with me over the years because of your falling
out with Aunt Frieda.”

 
     
Simone looked slightly uncomfortable for a
moment but she quickly shook it off. “I wish I could have taken you with me
when I first left, but I knew they wouldn’t let you go as long as they were receiving
money for your upkeep.”

 
     
“Have you heard from any of them lately?”

 
     
Simone broke eye contact and looked at her
nails. “Not for a while.” She was lying. But Noelle wouldn’t press her. The
mental abuse and isolation she’d suffered was nowhere near what Simone had
dealt with. Though her cousin had only told her some things that had happened
before she left home, Noelle could only imagine what she didn’t reveal. Simone
always seemed so strong and sure of
herself
, but now
Noelle wondered if it was all just a front.

 
     
Her cousin was stunningly beautiful but
she rarely dated. Noelle thought it was because Simone was so focused on her
career and now getting her boutique up and running, but now Noelle had to
wonder if her cousin still fought her own demons.

 
     
“I promise I’ll get out of bed today. I
think I’ll take a walk to clear my head and figure out what I want to do with
myself. You said I could stay here forever if I wanted but I’m going to need to
learn to stand on my own two feet. I don’t have much work experience beyond
retail but maybe I can find something at an entry level.”

 
     
“What about your art?”

 
     
Noelle shrugged. “I dropped out of art
school, remember?

 
     
 
“There are lots of people who make a living
doing caricatures or working with the city to beautify walls that have been
covered in graffiti. You might also try private art lessons. I don’t think you
need a fancy art degree for that.”

 
     
“To be honest, I’ve lost my passion for
it. Don’t get me wrong, I still love it but it’s not the path I want to take. I
believe the only reason why I went to art school in the first place was because
art was one thing I was actually decent at. When I was a kid it made me feel
good when the teacher would tell me how realistic my drawings looked when most
kids were still making stick figure people. I liked doodling in my notebook. I
enjoyed art class and learning different techniques. I even enjoyed some of my
art school classes, but when I think about trying to make a living out of it, I
just can’t fathom it.”

 
     
“Wow. I thought that’s what you wanted. I
never would have pushed you to apply if I’d known that’s how you felt.”

 
     
“No. It’s good that I went because I
learned it wasn’t what I wanted. I wish I were more like you. You love fashion
and you’ve always wanted to open your own boutique with your designs. And look
at you. Your shop is opening soon and it’s going to be a huge success. I can’t
think of anything that gives me that same drive.”

 
     
“There’s got to be something that makes
you happy.”

 
     
“Well, I have my mom’s old recipes that
I’ve been playing around with. Paul says they’re the best he’s ever tasted. He
asked me to do a cake for his sister’s wedding. He even suggested I make a
business out of it. That sounds crazy, doesn’t it?” Noelle laughed before Simone
could tell her how dumb an idea it was.

 
     
But her cousin didn’t. “Does baking make
you happy?”

 
     
“It makes me feel closer to Mom. I think
about how happy we were in the kitchen when we baked together.”

 
     
“Then maybe Paul is on to something. Why
not give the wedding cake a shot as a test run and go from there.”

 
     
“That’s crazy.”

 
     
“Crazy is having a dream and then sitting
on it. Do you want to wonder ‘what if’ for the rest of your life?”

 
     
“But I’m not like you.”

 
     
“And thank God for that. If you were like
me, then you’d have more hang-ups than you can deal with. I can barely deal
with them myself at times.” Simone laughed. “I’m not the smooth operator you
think I am. Do you think leaving a very comfortable, well-paying job was easy
for me? I was terrified, but what scared me even more was not trying. You can’t
live your life comparing yourself to others. I have faith in you. Think about
it.” Simone leaned over and gave Noelle a kiss on the cheek. “I need to get
ready. I’m meeting with some interior designers today to put the finishing
touches on my boutique. I’m so excited to see my vision come to life.”

 
     
“I’m really proud of you, Simone.”

 
     
“Thanks hon.” She got off the bed. “There
are some leftover turkey sausage
on the stove if you want
any.”

 
     
"Thanks.”

 
     
Simone smiled and waved goodbye as she
sashayed out the room. There was an extra spring in her step.  With her
cousin gone, Noelle fell back against her pillow. The dull ache in her chest
where her heart beat throbbed. One of these days she’d get over James, but it
didn’t look like today wasn’t that day.

 
     
James read the letter twice to confirm he
wasn’t imagining things.
“Son of a bitch.”
He picked
up the phone and punched in Paul’s number.

 
     
 
“Yes, Mr. Rothschild?”

 
     
“In my office now!”
James slammed the phone back on the receiver without waiting for a response.

 
     
When summoned Paul usually made it to
James’ office in under a minute but today it seemed like his employee took his
sweet time. Paul tapped on the door before poking his head in the door. “Yes,
Mr. Rothschild?”

 
     
“Get in here and close the door. I’m sure
you know why I’ve called you to my office.”

 
     
Paul didn’t reply. He took the seat in
front of James’s desk.

 
     
James held up the letter. Paul seemed
unimpressed with James, making James even
more mad
.
“What the hell is this?”

 
     
“My letter of
resignation.”

 
     
“Are you not being compensated enough?”

 
     
“My paycheck has always been more than
adequate.” Paul’s face remained expressionless and James tried to figure out
what game the man was playing.

 
     
“Were you offered another job?”

 
     
“Nope.”

 
     
“Okay, I’ll bite. Why are you leaving a
well-paying job without one to replace it? I’ve always pegged you for an
intelligent man.”

 
     
“With all due respect, Mr. Rothschild, now
that my resignation has been tendered to you and Human Resources, the only
thing you’re owed is the two months of my time it takes for me to find my
replacement and train him or her.”

 
     
James had had enough of Paul’s
passive-aggressive attitude of the last several weeks. “Bullshit. What the hell
has been your problem? You’ve been walking around with a major chip on your
shoulder.”

 
     
Paul’s eyes narrowed. “Why does it make a
difference why I’m leaving the company?”

 
     
“Because I want to
know.”

 
     
“And what you want trumps all, right?”

 
     
“What the hell is that supposed to mean?”

 
     
“It means you’re so used to getting your
own way you don’t care how you go about getting it, even if it means hurting
someone.”

 
     
James instantly realized they were talking
about two different things. The hostility in Paul’s voice was so palpable he
could touch it. Noelle. The conversation that had been interrupted by Gillian’s
hysterics came to mind. What had Paul been on the verge of telling him then?

 
     
“And you believe I hurt someone?” James
said with more calm than he felt.

 
     
Paul’s face turned bright red as he
gripped the arms of his chair. James could tell the other man was close to
losing his cool. “I don’t just believe, I know.” Paul leapt from his seat.

 
     
“Sit down,” James barked.

 
     
“No. You don’t get to tell me to jump and
I ask how high. Not anymore. You’re going to listen to what I have to say for
once.” Paul leaned over and pounded his fist on the desk. “I’ve followed your
career closely and have admired how you’ve managed to turn one low budget hotel
into an international chain. I idolized you, and to land a job working directly
for t
he
James Rothschild was
a dream come
true. You’ve been a tough but fair boss and
I’ve learned so much from you. I knew when I took on this job keeping order in
your personal life was a part of the package. But then Noelle entered the
picture. Any idiot could clearly see she wasn’t cut out for that lifestyle.
Those other women were seasoned pros, but Noelle was different and I think you
knew it too. But you chose her anyway and treated her like crap.”

 
     
James could feel the heat in his face as
his temper threatened to explode. He didn’t appreciate the tongue lashing even
if every bit of it was true. “How I treat my lovers are between me and them.
You get paid to do as I say, not question how I do it.”

 
     
“I won’t be quiet about her. “

 
     
James felt the vein throbbing in his
forehead as he forced himself to remain seated. He feared if he moved an inch
he’d fly across his desk and beat the shit out of Paul, not because of his
insubordinate tone but because it was now clear to him the other man had
feelings for Noelle. “Get out.”

 
     
“Gladly.”
Paul
pivoted and stormed out of the office, slamming the door behind him.

 
     
As tempting as it was to simply let Paul
go and pay him in lieu of that two month notice, James needed him in order to
ensure the transition went through smoothly.

 
     
What exactly had been going on between
Noelle and Paul? Did they have their own little affair behind his back? James
would have bet a million dollars Noelle wasn’t the type to take on more than
one lover at a time but then again, it wouldn’t be the first time a woman had
fooled him. The thought of another man touching her ate at him. But the worst
part was if it was true, James feared he’d driven her to it.

 
     
The ache was still raw upon discovering
Noelle was out of his life for good. He tried to tell himself it was for the
best, but it was a lie he had yet to swallow. His heart squeezed in his chest
as he remembered when he learned she’d left.

 
     
He’d
fucked up.

 
     
James
knew it the second he rolled off of Noelle. She turned over, exposing her back
to him, drawing her knees up to her chest and hugging herself into a ball. For
reasons he couldn’t explain even to himself, he reached out and touched her
shoulder but she flinched away from his touch.

 
     
He’d
been a lot rougher than usual, a bit mean and had said things he shouldn’t
have. In all his years of considerable experience, he’d never treated any woman
as harshly as he had Noelle and his only justification was she had defied him.
She stood up for herself and he didn’t like it. He didn’t like that she’d
changed and wouldn’t tell him why.