Choices of Fate (Fate Series) (11 page)

I knew it. There is no way Ethan Kellar was really with her, I mean look at her. She’s a freaking mess and he can have any woman he wants. Hell, he didn’t even seem to notice me at the zoo’s charity ball and I looked a-mazing. He has to be gay, that’s the only explanation. In all the times I’ve seen him he’s never been with a woman, except her.
 

Alexa snapped her shields back in place. Clearly this girl wasn’t going to help her find Ethan, and the last thing she needed right now was to hear how far out of her league he was. She was however grateful to hear that Ethan hadn’t been dating anyone else recently.

“Yeah, well thanks anyway.” Alexa didn’t wait for the snotty girl to reply before turning and heading back to her car.

After she climbed inside and closed the door, Alexa leaned her head back against the soft leather seat and sighed.

Now what, Alexa?
 

Since nothing immediately came to her, she decided to head home, open a bottle of wine and take a nice hot bath.

✧

Sliding into the warm water, Alexa immediately felt some of the tension in her body start to dissipate. She took a large gulp from the glass of cabernet sitting on the edge of the large jacuzzi tub and picked up her pen. Trying to be organized and practical, she was an accountant after all, she had brought a pen and notepad into the bathroom to brainstorm ideas for locating Ethan. Keeping herself occupied and focused on a task helped to dull the ache in her heart that resulted from Ethan’s absence.

The process was actually soothing. She began listing various ideas, the first, and most obvious of which was a Google search. Of course, someone like Ethan wouldn’t simply have his home address and phone number listed in the white pages, but maybe she could find something about where he worked.
 

There’s probably a website for his family’s foundation, that would have an office address, maybe a business contact number.

Alexa bit her lip anxiously as she considered what she would say when she found him.

She gripped the dolphin pendant in her fingers, finding comfort in the tangible representation of her relationship with Ethan.
 

Straightening her spine slightly with determination, she turned back to the search and her notes.
 

If the internet search proved fruitless, she would try going to the club where they met and asking around. Surely he had been there before, and a man like Ethan didn’t go unnoticed. As a last resort she would return to the zoo and attempt to get a personal meeting with the President, but she really didn’t want to risk facing the bitchy blonde again and looking like a desperate stalker.
 

Feeling confident in her plan of attack, Alexa slid a little further into the water and really started to relax. She picked up the remote to the iHome on the vanity and clicked on the first song in a new playlist on her iPod that she made the night she met Ethan. She had searched for hours looking for the song that they had danced to, the lyrics were in another language, she believed it was African, but never found it. She did however find a variety of other songs that made her think of Ethan, which comprised the list that was now flowing through the room.

As she lay there, listening to the slow, sexy beats and soulful lyrics, she started to think about how it felt being in Ethan’s arms on the dance floor that night. She closed her eyes, touching the spot on her neck that had started to tingle and thought about Ethan’s mouth there against her skin. She moved her fingers down along her neck between her breasts, coming back up to circle each of her hardening nipples. All the while she kept imagining her hand was Ethan’s skilled mouth. She continued down, sliding her hand under the water and slipping her fingers between the engorged folds of her pussy. Her hips bucked up involuntarily when she grazed over the sensitive bundle of nerves that was begging for attention. With all the tension and emotion of the day, it was only a few moments before the powerful climax flooded her body. The sexual release prompted another kind of release and Alexa suddenly started sobbing uncontrollably as all of the emotions she had been holding at bay came crashing down.

✧

Alexa awoke the next morning feeling confident and determined. She dressed for work quickly in a smoke colored Armani pants suit and black patent leather Manolo Blahnik pumps. It was one of her favorite ensembles, and definitely one of the benefits of being single and living in a city with a low cost of living.
 

She decided the night before that she would put off her search until after work, hoping that given the time Ethan would come to his senses and be waiting at her apartment when she returned.
 

She hadn’t even gotten her computer booted up before Jenny sauntered into her office, a long list of questions and thoughts about Ethan bouncing around in her head.

Did she go home with that guy? Why would he pick her and what the hell happened up at the bar? I wonder if she fucked him. What’s so fucking special about her? Shit, I love those shoes.
 

“Hey, Alexa, what happened to you the other night? I don’t know if you saw, but I guess there was a fight or something up at the bar, and we couldn’t find you after that.”

“Yeah, I saw. There was some drunk guy at the bar starting trouble, and I took that as my cue to head home. Don’t you remember, I was already about to leave before that guy came over?” Hoping to avoid further inquiry from her coworkers, Alexa thought it best to act as if nothing had happened with Ethan. “Anyway, Eli, or Ethan, or whatever his name was offered to get me a cab. He did, and then I went home.”

“Oh, well did you give him your number or anything? Did he ask you out? I mean, come on Alexa, I know you’re like shy, or don’t date or whatever, but that guy was seriously hot. You had to be interested.”

Alexa crossed her legs as she turned in her chair to face Jenny. After all, she was Jenny’s superior and they weren’t really friends, even if Jenny tried to fake it. These questions were completely inappropriate in the office. “Listen Jenny, I appreciate your concern, but my personal life is just that, personal. I prefer not to discuss it at work and I really have a lot to do today, as do you.”
 

Fucking bitch,
Jenny thought before saying. “Oh, yeah sorry, I was just curious, you know.”

Alexa replied coolly, “It’s fine. I appreciate you including me in social activities, but let’s just keep things professional while we’re in the office, okay? How are you coming along with the TCH Industries tax work-papers? I would like to review those in the next day or two so we can meet the client’s deadline.”

Oh fuck, I haven’t even started that. “
They’re coming along fine. I’ll have them to you tomorrow or Wednesday to review.”

“Great thanks, Jenny.”

Alexa turned to her computer without waiting for Jenny to say anything further. She felt a great deal of satisfaction putting Jenny in her place after the way she treated her Friday night and for all the nasty things Jenny had thought about her over the years. She usually didn’t hold any of it against her. Jenny was actually the senior employee by two years and really took it hard when Alexa passed her up.
 

Alexa had moved up extremely quickly, making manager after only three and a half years with the firm. Being a telepath definitely had its perks. Of course she was incredibly smart, but knowing what was expected without being told went a long way.
 

The rest of the workday passed without incident. At exactly five o’clock, Alexa opened up her internet browser and typed “Ethan Kellar” in the search field. After quickly browsing through the search results her confidence began to wither. Nothing jumped out at her.
 

She continued to browse through several pages of results, finding nothing useful. After about an hour running various searches, Alexa slammed her laptop shut, packed up and headed out, deciding she would just have to drive to the club and ask around.
 

Alexa walked into the building and headed through the crowd straight for the bar to a bartender that she recognized from that night. The place was surprisingly busy for a Monday night.

The girl looked up from wiping down the bar as Alexa approached and took a seat. “What can I get you, hun?”
 

“A glass of cabernet, thanks.”

“Coming right up.” She quickly returned with a glass that she filled from a bottle of one of Alexa’s favorite labels. “Hey, weren’t you here Friday night?” She asked as she pushed the glass towards Alexa.

“Um, yeah, I was. Work happy hour,” she said before taking a healthy sip of wine.

“That boyfriend of yours sure was something. I probably shouldn’t tell you this, but I have to admit I was a tiny bit jealous. I had been serving him drinks for a while, and flirting pretty hard, but he didn’t seem to notice me and then he saw you come in and there was no talking to him after that. Can you hold on a sec?” She asked as she moved down the bar to a guy that was flagging her down without waiting for a reply. After serving him a beer, she returned to Alexa. “You’re a lucky girl, he was a great tipper and in my experience only really nice guys tip like that when they’re not trying to get in your pants. That’s just my luck, I only seem to attract assholes.” She laughed.

Alexa took another sip of wine. “Actually, he’s not my boyfriend, I just met him that night. That’s kind of why I’m here. I was wondering if you knew anything about him.”

“You’re shittin’ me? Really? I would have put money on you two being a couple, especially after what he did to Jim for running his big mouth at you. That douchebag is a regular and is constantly hitting on me, like non-stop,” the red-headed bartender recalled. “You’d think he would at least give me a decent tip once in a while if he ever hoped I’d actually go out with him. Sorry though, I’d never seen your hottie before and I haven’t seen him since.”

Fucking great.
Alexa though to herself.

“
Thanks anyway,” Alexa said before downing the rest of her wine.

“Listen, I don’t know what happened with you two and I’m not trying to be nosey or anything, but that guy was seriously into you. I see a lot of shit working here, and he was not the kind of guy that is just looking to hook up.”

Alexa gave her a half-hearted smile, laid a five dollar bill on the bar and headed for the door. When she stepped out onto the sidewalk she let out an audible sigh as she considered her last option.

Maybe she won’t be working.

✧

After a short walk, Alexa reluctantly climbed into her car and headed to the zoo.
 

When she arrived at the entrance, she was grateful that the girl from before wasn’t anywhere to be seen. Steeling her nerve, she approached the admissions window and asked to speak to Mr. Ross. The attendant looked surprised, but then nodded and disappeared for a few minutes before returning with Mr. Ross in tow. The friendly gentleman came out to greet her enthusiastically.
 

“Such a pleasure to see you again, Miss….?”
 

“Ryan, Alexa Ryan.”

“Yes, of course, I apologize, I don’t believe we were properly introduced the other night. Are you here with Mr. Kellar again?” He asked as he looked around curiously.

“No actually, that’s why I’m here. Mr. Kellar and I are, um, fairly new acquaintances. I had his number but I somehow managed to lose my phone and he left something rather valuable in my car that I would really like to return to him.” Alexa hoped the lie would be more effective on Mr. Ross than it was on his catty employee.
 

“Since we haven’t known each other very long, I don’t know where he lives or how to contact him to return it. When we were here he mentioned that he donated some money to the zoo and I was hoping that you could give me his address from your records.” Alexa placed her hand on Mr. Ross' forearm hoping to convince him to go against protocol and give her the information.

“Ms. Ryan, I’m terribly sorry, but I couldn’t help you if I wanted to. Mr. Kellar only provided an address for a post office box when he signed up for his membership and made the donation.”

“Oh. Well, do you know the name of his family’s foundation?”
 

“Again, I’m sorry, but to tell you the truth, I really don’t know anything about him at all. I had never seen nor heard of him before when he showed up at the zoo’s charity ball a few months ago and made the largest donation in our history. He even requested that his generosity remain anonymous to the public.”

“Well, thank you for your time, Mr. Ross. I’m sorry to have bothered you.”

“It is no bother Ms. Ryan, please come back anytime.”

CHAPTER 8 -
Life Resumes

Nearly a month later Alexa still hadn’t been able to find any trace of Ethan. It was like he had never even existed. Each morning before that she woke up hoping he would show up at her door apologizing and professing his undying love, and each night when he didn’t she would sink a little further into despair.
 

This morning was different. She had finally given up. When she opened her eyes, she simply wanted to close them again and remain asleep forever. She saw Ethan in her dreams and now she knew that was the only way she could be with him.

Despite her pain, Alexa laughed at herself.
I have become one of those pathetic women I always made fun of.
Not having any close friends, other than Tilly, she had a lot of time to read and watch movies. For years she had scoffed at the women in the stories who immediately fell hopelessly in love with men that would disappoint them. It had always seemed so ridiculous to her that after a brief encounter, they would be in love, unable to live without this man they barely knew. Now here she was, living it. But in those stories, the men came back. For those women, there was a happily ever after.
 

It was a Thursday, and of course she was supposed to work that day, but she just couldn’t bring herself to get out of bed. She grabbed her iPhone and typed a quick email to work letting them know she was sick and wouldn’t be in for the remainder of the week. A four day weekend was just what she needed.