Falling for the Boss (26 page)

Victoria
stiffened.  “Just your brother will be there?”
  She didn’t want to hear the answer, knowing it would be more than jus this brother by the way he was asking her.  There was much more to this conversation and he wasn’t giving her details quickly, which meant he was holding something back. 

Thomas lifted his head and looked her in the eye but wouldn’t release her arms.  “There might be a few other people there.  I never know who is going to show up.”

She understo
od what he was saying.  It was
possible all his brothers and his extended family could show up. 
Victoria
shook her head.  “No.  I’m not sure that would be a good idea.”

Thomas sighed.  “Ok.  I can see that you aren’t ready for that.  But will you think about it for the next time we’re in town?
  I don’t want to push you.
”

Victoria
relaxed
and nodded her head, relieved that he had let the subject drop so easily. 
She wasn’t sure what
Sunday lunches
meant to Thomas so she didn’t want to venture into that area.

Thomas left a few hours later after a lazy breakfast and a shower.  He mentioned something about going to church with his family and then lunch at Sal’s house afterwards but she didn’t know what that meant in so far as family members and formality of the day.

She called her parents and talked to them for a while, then spent a boring afternoon washing clothes and packing for the next trip. 
She looked at the agenda for the next few weeks and was relieved that there were only minor audits coming up.  She’d done so many of t
h
em lately she knew she could handle them. 

Dinner with Laci was a trial.  Laci interrogated
Victoria
on her relationship with Thomas and wouldn’t relent until
Victoria
snapped at her. 
“Look, Laci, I don’t know where this is going with Thomas.  I know you want me to tell you that everything is going to work out well, but I can’t guarantee it.  Not all romances end that way.  Things are complicated.”

Laci was immediately contrite. 
“I’m sorry, Vic.  I didn’t know you were having problems.  From what I saw yesterday, everything looked wonderful.”

“Well, well, well, if it isn’t the litt
le world travele
r.” A familiar
, snarling
voice said
from behind
Victoria
. 

Victoria
looked up and s
aw Barry and a tall, blond woman closing
in on their table. 

“Hello, Barry,”
Victoria
said, tensing at his slightly inebriated state. 

“Aren’t you supposed to be in some wonderful, far off place cheating on me?”
he asked, his tone getting louder. 

Victoria
hated scenes and people were starting to stare at them.  “Barry, you remember my sister, Laci, right?”

Laci stood up and took Barry’s hand in hers.  “It’s great to meet you again, Barry.  We’ve only met once.”  Laci took charge of the situation wonderfully. 
“How is the practice going?  Is everything well?  You’re in criminal law, correct?”

Barry was taken aback by Laci’s questions
and her enthusiastic interest
.  He was off balance and didn’t know how to handle
Victoria
’s sister, who he’d thought didn’t like him. 
“Everything is going well, thank you for asking,” he replied politely despite the alcohol.  “And yes, I’m in criminal law.  You’re in law school, right?

“That’s right!” Laci said
excitedly
.  “I’m in my last semester of my last year, thank goodness,” she said, sighing deeply. 

“When do you take the bar exam?” he asked, desperately looking for an escape now. 
Victoria
smiled as she recognized his confusion.  Barry’s only defense against an unknown threat was to escape.  The idea didn’t bother her in the least since she hadn’t wanted to talk to him in the first place. 

“In a few months,” Laci smiled, then turned to the blond
woman who had been silent up to
that point. 
“I’m sorry, but I don’t think we’ve been introduced,” she said, turning to the blond woman draped over Barry’s arm. 

“I’m Ann,” she said in a grating voice. 

Victoria
could see the mischief in Laci’s eyes and knew her little sister was dying to make some remark about the woman’s vacuous expression.  Laci hated women who didn’t do something with their minds and this woman seriously looked like she was trailing after Barry. 

“Ann, that’s a very nice sweater you have on.  It looks wonderful with your eyes.”

Ann giggled and preened at the compli
ment.  “Thank you,
”
she said and smoothed the soft blue sweater more smoothly down over her black skirt. 

Laci waited, expecting the woman to continue the conversation but there was only silence afterwards.  “Well, I imagine you two have a wonderful night ahead of you, so we won’t keep you.  Thank you so much for stopping by to say hello.”

Victoria
was always amazed at how well Laci could control a situation and sure enough, Barry and Ann stepped away from the table
, just as Laci had directed them to do,
and moved on out of the restaurant with no other snide comments uttered.

“You’re amazing,”
Victoria
said, both laughter and pride in her voice.

Laci just shrugged and sat back down across from her sister.  “
I just didn’t want to deal with a scene.  You’ve come a long way as well.  I can’t believe how confident
ly
you act now.  You’ve always been very assertive, but the past few months, you’ve really started to shine.”

Victoria
realized it was all because of Thomas’s influence.  He had taught her to speak out
in staff meetings
and talk about an idea when she thought of it.  The team thrived on each other’s ideas and it was rubbing off into other aspects of her life. 

“I guess I’ve had to strike out a bit more in this job,”
Victoria
said.   But then she changed the subject.  “I wish I could see Mom and Dad.  I haven’t seen them for about six months.”

“They’ll be here for my graduation in a few months.  Will you be here?”

Victoria
nodded. 
“I wouldn’t miss it.”

“What’s your schedule like for the next few months?  Where will you be?”

They discussed the events that were happening
in
the next few months and where each of them will be.  They splurged on dessert before Laci admitted she needed to get back to study. 

The next month flew by in a whirl.  The team was in
London
for two weeks, home for a weekend, then off to
three
different cities, one every
three days
with a long weekend in between each.  The days were busy and seemed to pass by in a blur whereas the nights were long and slow as
Victoria
and Thomas made love each night, then fell asleep in each other’s arms.  But neither would discuss the future or anything serious.  They had been lovers for two months but it seemed that any ser
ious discussion was immediately shelved for anot
her time
.  Unfortunately, that time never seemed to arrive. 

Victoria
worked hard and, with the help of the team, came up with some great ideas on improving the efficiency of several of the branch offices or factories for the financial areas.  Professionally, she was soaring beyond anything she ever could have dreamed of doing.

Personally, she was living in limbo.  Until one afternoon in
Savanah
,
Georgia
. 

Victoria
was sitting at the conference table trying to concentrate.  Mike and Bob were at one end conferring about some issue while Thomas was at the other end.  She was having difficulty concentrating because she kept feeling Thomas’s eyes on her.  And each time she’d look up to find out, she was right.  The intensity of his gaze took her breath away.  Each time he looked at her, his message was clear.  He wanted her.  And
Victoria
felt the same way. 

It was mid afternoon and the phone started ringing.  Thomas immediately picked it up.  He listened for a moment then his eyes lit up.  “Hi!  Are you behaving?” he asked, laughing at the response. 

Victoria
’s stomach clenched.  She had no idea who he was talking to but she didn’t like it.  And she didn’t like the jealousy clawing at her heart.  She tried not to listen, but she couldn’t seem to block out the conversation.

“I know, I know.  I haven’t been back in a while,” he said and stood up to look out the windows.  “No I haven’t been hiding anything,” he said and glanced back at
Victoria
. 

Something inside her froze at that glance.  How could he?  Was he talking to that woman?  She had completely blocked her existence out of her mind but the conversation
Thomas was having over the phone
had to be with her. 
Victoria
didn’t know of any other woman
,
other than
the infamous and purportedly beautiful, amazing
Antonia
,
that Thomas had ever spoken to besides business associates. 
Victoria
had been working for Thomas long enough to know that he didn’t speak to business associates like he was now. 

“No, I’ll be there.  I promise.”  There was another long pause.  “Antonia, I told you I’d be there and I promise I will.  I know I’ve let you down for the past few months but I’ll be there.”  Another pause.  “Yes, hopefully I’ll have something important to tell you.”

Victoria
couldn’t take it anymore.  She felt as if she were dying inside as Thomas talked to his other woman.  She had to be another lover – and
Victoria
hated that thought.  Because
Victoria
realized that she
herself
was
actually
the
“
other woman
”
, not the other way around.  Antonia, whoever she is, had Thomas first. 
Victoria
had always known about Antonia.  So Thomas was cheating on his girlfriend, or worse – possibly his fiancé, with her. 
And what was the “big news” he hoped to convey when he got back home. 
Victoria
was sick to her stomach wondering what he might be excited to tell this woman and a jealous rage took over. 

She walked out of the conference room, needing someplace to break down and cry. 
Some
place private.  S
he would not embarrass herself in front of Thomas.  She needed
to have something left over and pride was about all she could claim right now.  And not very much of that, she thought as she stood up to leave, pretending a sudden interest in a file. 

Victoria
made it to the bathrooms before she broke down.  She put her face in her hands and sobbed out her misery.  How could he do
this
to her?   Of all the things about Thomas that she loved, one of them was his integrity and honesty.  But she couldn’t really blame him.  He had never hidden his relationship with Antonia from her. 
And he’d never claimed anything other than an att
raction with her.  No, Thomas had
never led her to believe that he wanted anything more than a physical relationship with her. 

S
he’d deluded herself into thinking that he was starting to care for her.  She knew that she was
already
hopelessly in love with him, and didn’t expect her feelings to be returned.  But she definitely wasn’t expecting this. 
She should have, she thought to herself, wiping the tears away with a rough paper towel.  It was a useless endeavor though.  As soon as she wiped one tear away, there was another immediately behind to take it’s place.