Accidental Heartbreak (The Accidental Series, Book 2) (6 page)

Carter took a breath. “At the restaurant,
all I was trying to say is that we used to communicate about
everything, which is why I can’t understand why you would write me
a note and leave like I’m nothing to you. Look at you…in here,
getting your stuff and ‘bout to leave like it’s
that
easy.”

Tears fell effortlessly from her eyes. “If
it was so easy, I wouldn’t be in tears right now,” she forced out,
avoiding eye contact with him then brushed the wetness from her
face. Even after she’d been gone for eight weeks, it still wasn’t
an easy task to gather the rest of her things, the reason why she’d
put it off for so long in the first place.

“Then if it’s not easy,” Carter said
stepping closer to her, “Why are you leaving?”

Shayla wiped her eyes, got herself together
and gripped both bags again. “Excuse me. I need to go. I have a
taxi coming and—”

“Why are you leaving me, Shayla?” Carter
asked and didn’t move a step. “You really gon’ do this to me?”

Still gripping the handle of the bags,
Shayla took a deep breath and said, “I left your house keys and the
keys to your car on the coffee table in the living room.”

“You really gon’ do this to me, Shayla?” he
asked frowning, feeling chest pains.

“I’m doing you a favor.” She dropped the
bags yet again.

“How’s breaking my heart doing me a
favor?”

More tears fell from Shayla’s eyes, yet she
managed to let out a sarcastic chuckle. “Breaking
your
heart…like that’s even possible. But one thing is for sure. You
don’t have to worry about sneaking around with women anymore with
me out of the picture.”

“What women? There are no women.”

“Whatever, Carter. Just—”

“Listen to me, Shayla. Jeez! Why won’t you
just listen?”

“Because I can’t. Not anymore.”

Ignoring her, Carter confessed, “Genevieve
and I work together. That’s it.”

Liar
. Shayla shook her head. “She
said y’all meet at the hotel for dates.”

“Yes,
work
dates, and it’s not just
the two of us. There’s a group of us that meet once a quarter at
The Blake Hotel.”

“I don’t care, okay? There’s no need for you
to explain anything to me. This doesn’t even feel right. Since when
does Carter Williams have to explain anything to anyone?”

Carter thought about what she said for a
moment. When had he ever had to explain himself to anyone? He was
the boss, the man in charge at work and in his own life. He never
had anyone to answer to, and now, he found himself in this
situation, guarding his front door so the woman he loved didn’t
walk out of it. He remembered how, in February, they stood in the
foyer together, when she’d first came to his place. He remembered
how her body felt on top if his as he consoled her, her warm
breathing tickling his skin. He recalled feeling her tears burn
down his chest like mercury, the first time he’d seen her smile,
the smell of her freshly washed hair. He asked himself for the last
time if he could live without her, feeling chest pains at the
thought of not having her. But what about Jacob?

The taxi cab driver honked for her, but
before Shayla walked out the door she thought for a moment how much
this man meant to her. He had provided for her, taken care of her.
This was a bittersweet moment. So instead of leaving him with angry
words like he’d left her with at the movie theater that day, she
turned to him and said with a shaky, trembling voice, “I’m grateful
for everything you’ve done for me, but it’s time for me to move on
with my life. Please give me the chance to start over.” With that,
she walked away.

How could he stand there and watch the woman
he loved walk right out of his life? He would’ve fought harder if
he thought he deserved her. Instead, he stood at the door, watched
her throw her things in the trunk and slide into the back seat of
the yellow cab.

When the cab drove away, he walked into the
living room, saw the keys to the Lexus where Shayla said she’d left
them – on the coffee table. He picked them up and squeezed them in
his hand as if they made him feel closer to her. Why did he let her
leave so easily?

Shayla settled at extended stay hotel, a few
miles outside of Norfolk in the city of Chesapeake, Virginia two
days later. Her room was equipped with a microwave, refrigerator,
stove and a queen bed – not bad for a person trying to start over.
It couldn’t compare to Carter’s beautiful home, and he had given
her free reign in his place like she was part owner. But that’s the
thing, it was
his
place. Not hers, never hers and he made
that quite clear to her. So hotel or not, she had a place to live.
The bed was comfortable, the space was clean and it was her room.
She didn’t have to share it with anyone.

Today, she started her first day at Zenadel
Electronics. Her boss, Donovan Sharper, showed her to a cubicle and
gave her a tour of the office, introduced her to the entire
accounting department of twenty associates on the fourth floor of
the building, and a few other people from different departments to
which she would be interacting with the most. For the better part
of the day, she shadowed a woman named Natasha Clayborn who gave
her and overview of the accounting software program Zenadel used,
as well as showed her where the mailroom was located. Natasha also
took the liberty of taking Shayla to lunch and giving her a
mini-tour of downtown Norfolk.

At the end of the day, Donovan sauntered
over to her cubicle to ask her out to dinner. Said he took all the
newbies to dinner on their first day. He wanted to see if her new
job was something she could see herself doing for the foreseeable
future. He had hired a woman two months ago for the same position
and she couldn’t handle the demand of the job, ended up quitting
and thus put unnecessary strain on the other associates. He wanted
to avoid that from happening again if at all possible.

* * *

Shayla she sat across from Donovan at the
restaurant, wondering if he took all of his new hires out to dinner
like he said. Donovan was very attractive, a brown-skinned, tall
man, built like a linebacker. He didn’t look like the type of guy
who would be stuck in an office all day, working a white collar gig
but that’s what he was doing and according to Natasha, he was the
best at it.

“So, how was day one at Zenadel?” he asked,
staring at her like this was job interview number two.

Shayla interlocked her fingers and looked at
him. ‘Um…it was different.” She hadn’t had a professional career in
quite some time. It would take a while for her to get back into the
swing of things, she knew. But once she learned her new position,
she would be the best at it. And she wouldn’t quit like the woman
he had hired before. She was determined to make it on her own and
without any help from Carter.

“Well, we’re going to take good care of you
here. Our accounting department is a close-knit group. And they are
all very professional people. I only hire the best.”

Shayla glanced up at Donovan. The man was a
looker with his milk chocolate skin and chiseled face. She felt
nervous at the thought of being out to dinner with him, even if it
was an innocent business dinner with her boss. She hadn’t been to
dinner with a man since Carter and for some reason, she didn’t like
the way it felt to be out with someone besides him. Dinner with
Carter felt right. He was right. But apparently, he didn’t think
she was
right
for him.

“So where are you from, Shayla?”

“Charlotte.”

“Charlotte, North Carolina,” he sang, then
took a sip of Merlot. “Beautiful city, isn’t it?”

She watched Donovan take another sip of
Merlot. He’d ordered a glass for her also and all she could think
about as she smelled the aroma of wine floating in the air around
her was Carter. She remembered him being extra cautious of her
drinking alcohol when she was on medication, even taking it away
from her at times. And still on medication, now for high blood
pressure, she wouldn’t touch the wine.

“So, you’ve been to Charlotte, huh?” she
asked him.

“Lived there for about five years.”

“Really?”

“Yep. I transferred here when this job
became available. I didn’t want to leave Charlotte, but I couldn’t
pass up this opportunity.”

“That’s understandable.” Shayla took a sip
of water.

“But Norfolk isn’t bad. Not bad at all, and,
I’m right here by the ocean, so that’s a plus.”

“Yeah. It is.”

Donovan looked at her as if examining her
thoughts. “So I take it this job brought you here also.”

The waitress walked over, took their orders
and quickly walked away.

Shayla was still pondering his statement.
No, the job didn’t bring her here. A man was her motivating factor
for moving here, but Donovan didn’t need to know all of that. So
she looked up at him and said, “Yeah…if I could find a position
like this in Charlotte, I’d still be there.”

Donovan cracked a half smile. It was a lie
and he knew it. He was shocked when he’d gotten a phone call from
his old fraternity brother, Carter Williams, two days ago, asking
him to look after Shayla while she was there. Carter didn’t give
him any details about why he wanted Shayla to be monitored, and
that peaked Donovan’s curiosity. Was Carter simply cashing in on a
favor, or was there more? Donovan would try to find out without
giving himself away.

“So you moved here alone?” he asked her.

“Yeah. It’s a good way of starting over,
don’t you think?”

“Starting over from what?”

Shayla shrugged. “From being laid off and
other personal stuff.” She wouldn’t go into any further details
than that.

Donovan nodded. “And what about your living
arrangements…you find a nice place here?”

“No…still looking. I’m at an extended stay
hotel for the moment. I want to take my time and find a nice
place…don’t wanna rush into anything.”

“You shouldn’t be staying at a hotel. I’ve
had several employees who were like yourself… moving from out of
town and looking for apartments. In the interim, they stayed with
me. I have several guest bedrooms at my house. You can have one if
you like.”

There is no way I’m staying with you
,
Shayla thought to herself.
No freakin’ way
. “That’s very
generous of you, Mr. Sharper—”

“Please, call me Donovan.”

“Okay…Donovan…I appreciate the offer, but
I’m fine where I am. Plus, it won’t take me long to find a
place.”

“Okay, but just know the offer is on the
table. In the meantime, I’ll be glad to go apartment hunting with
you…show you were all the good neighborhoods are.”

“That would be nice.”

Once the food arrived, they were quietly
eating for a moment. Donovan felt his phone vibrate and when he
checked the display, he noticed it was Carter calling again.
Donovan was so busy showing Shayla around the office and attending
a few meetings during the day, he missed a call from Carter this
morning, too. He was dying to know why the infamous Carter Williams
had an interest in this woman. Were they involved? Who was she to
him? He slid his phone into the breast pocket of his shirt and
returned his attention back to Shayla.

“You have family back in Charlotte?” he
asked her.

“Nope.” She dabbed the corners of her mouth
with a white, cloth napkin. “Just a few friends.”

As a high executive at Zenadel, Donovan knew
it was inappropriate to ask her about her love life. And it was
really none of his business who she was dating, or if she’d been
one of Carter’s
victims
. From his association with the man,
Donovan knew Carter was a notorious player. And now he wondered if
that’s why she left Charlotte? And if so, why was Carter so
interested in her well-being when he could care less about any
other woman he’d encountered? He wasn’t the type to chase women. It
was quite the opposite.

“Well, you got a friend here, now.” He
winked at her. “I’m usually always tied up at the office, but if
you need anything, don’t hesitate to call me whether at work or
after business hours.”

“Okay. I appreciate that,” Shayla said then
finished her meal.

The two parted ways after dinner and Shayla
drove straight to the hotel. And she sat there, in the car because
she couldn’t bring herself to get out and spend another night alone
with her thoughts. She felt herself become emotional and before she
felt the first tears leave her eyes, she took some tissue from her
purse, wondering when this sadness would go away.

Shayla was amazed at how fast the week went
by. When she first moved, she thought it would drag on forever
because of what she’d left behind. So it came as a relief that her
life was going well and with no drama. Norfolk was a new beginning,
but she couldn’t lie to herself. She thought about Carter often. He
hadn’t tried to call her, not that she expected him too, but he was
the man who pretended to be interested in her well being, her
health, making sure she took her medication. She could clearly see
now that it was all a fraud. If the man really cared for her, he
wouldn’t have let her leave Charlotte in the first place.
Right?

Still, she couldn’t deny that she missed him
a great deal although she didn’t miss the drama and games he played
with her heart. That part of her life was over.

Remembering some pointers she learned from
Dr. Westbrook, she took up a few hobbies to keep herself busy. A
busy person didn’t have time to sit around and dwell on the
failings, tragedies and misfortunes in their life. So every morning
before work, she walked a mile or two to clear her head. On
Saturday mornings, she signed up to be a volunteer at a local
library, reading books to five-year-olds.