Surrender To You (8 page)

The sound of him as he busted out laughing was the last thing I heard as the door closed.

I locked it for safe measure, just in case he had any ideas to join me in the shower. Though, if he did want to, Stefan could no doubt find a way to get inside. He had always been quite resourceful when we were younger.

~*~

After I’d finished showering, I opened the door to go to my room, and heard Stefan speaking to somebody.

Pausing for a second while trying to keep from eavesdropping, I peeked around the corner anyway. He faced away from me while talking into his cell phone, staring out the living room window.

“I only planned to take a week off work, so I should be back in six days.” He paused, presumably to listen, running a hand over his head. “I know, but I’ll be home soon.”

My curiosity knew no bounds. Who the hell was he talking to? Six days and he’d be gone? What was he hoping to accomplish in that time? Although, look what he had managed to do in less than twenty-four hours!

Attempting to tip toe to my room so I could keep listening, the floor creaked beneath my foot and I winced. Looking over my shoulder, I discovered that he’d turned around, staring at me with a less than amused look on his face.

“I gotta go,” he said into the phone even as continued to scowl at me. “I’ll call you later okay?”

I took off toward my room, but not before hearing him say ‘me too’ and hanging up.

He walked into the bedroom as I was zipping up a black pencil skirt. Ignoring him, I picked out a cream silk blouse and buttoned it up, all while he stood behind me with his arms over his chest.

“Do you always listen in on other people’s conversations, Ellie?”

Rolling my eyes at him in the mirror, I searched through my jewelry box and chose a pair of pearl earrings my mother had given me years before as a gift. As I fastened them in my ears, I flashed him a smile. “I didn’t intend to. I was trying not to interrupt.”

He quirked a brow and scowled deeper, as if he doubted my sincerity.

I also didn’t know why I was being nice in the face of his blatant distrust in regards to me. “I am curious about who you were talking to, I’ll admit that.”

Finished with dressing, I turned around as he replied. “If you were my girlfriend, I might think it was information you needed, maybe even deserved to know. But you’re not.”

Well, he was in a mood today. Two could play that game.

“Ah well, I’ll live without knowing then,” I quipped. “I need to leave for work now.”

Intending to walk past him to grab my things and put my heels on, he caught my arm in one hand.

“Please consider coming back with me. You know, back home. You even have your own place there now.”

Yanking my arm away, I laughed as I left the room.

“You’ve got to be kidding! I told you, I have a life here.”

He walked out of the room as I finally got my shoes on and slung my purse over my shoulder.

“Ellie…” If he wasn’t such a self-assured jackass, I might believe I heard a bit of pleading in his voice as he said my name. “You’ve been gone too long. It’s time to come home.”

“This
is
my home,” I emphasized. “But if you wanna go back there now, go for it. Me, I’m gonna be late if I don’t leave this instant. Feel free to eat whatever though. There is a ton of food in the fridge.”

He said nothing else as I opened the door and walked through, shutting it quietly behind me.

CHAPTER EIGHT

The moment I sat down at my desk, my boss buzzed me. “Elizabeth, would you come into my office please?”

Something in his tone of voice had my stomach clenching with anxiety.

Not bothering to respond to him, I rose to my feet on uncertain legs and walked slowly toward the door. Taking a deep breath, I opened it and walked in, choosing to just stand in the doorway until I was further instructed.

It didn’t take long.

“Please, close the door and have a seat. Would you like a drink?”

I shook my head and closed the door quietly, before walking deeper into the room and sitting down.

Nolan Reynolds was the nicest man I had ever met. Taking me in fresh out of college five years before, he’d given a chance to a Business student from the middle of nowhere. To be fair, I’d had a four-point-oh GPA and an activity filled resume. Even though I’d had horrible depression my final year, school was something I’d worked hard at and wasn’t going to let that go up in flames as my relationship with Stefan had. Getting a job across the country just when I’d needed it had been perfect.

Right now, Nolan was watching me with sad eyes and I knew this visit wasn’t a good one.

“The company is downsizing,” he began and unable to handle the sudden empathy in his face, I looked away, desperate to see anything but his sad gaze. My eyes finally settled on my hands. “I’m afraid that although I tried to save your job, the board said we have to give preference to those with seniority and unfortunately, that list is long. There aren’t enough spots for me to keep you on.”

There it was. I couldn’t believe I was being let go.

As tears pricked at my eyes and slowly spilled down my cheeks, I sniffled. I heard rather than saw Nolan pull a tissue out of the box and lean over his desk, crumpling some papers beneath his body.

“Here, Elizabeth,” he said softly, hanging the tissue in my face. “I’m so sorry. I truly argued with them for hours about it.”

Grabbing it, I wiped my face and made sure I was okay before looking up. He had sat back down and was just watching me, hands clasped on top of his desk.

“Well, thanks for breaking it to me in private.”

He nodded. “They just brought down the final decision this morning. I was hoping they’d change their mind last minute but they said anyone who is being let go needs to be gone by Friday. I figured it a kindness to tell you sooner rather than later.”

“I will clean out my desk then. Thanks Nolan,” I murmured, standing up.

As I turned to walk away, he spoke. “Do you know where you’ll go?”

With a humorless laugh, I threw my hands up in the air, glancing over my shoulder at him. “Wouldn’t you know, as luck would have it, I just inherited a house last week. In my hometown.”

His wince at that told me he knew exactly whose house I had inherited.

“Just…,” he coughed. “Feel free to put me down as a reference. You were an excellent employee and I will help you try to get any job you desire. Whoever hires you will be one lucky s.o.b.”

Throwing a watery smile his way, I nodded. “Thanks. I will do that.”

With that, I walked out to my desk and starting placing the very few things I had there into my purse.

As I headed to the elevator, I really had no desire to go back to my apartment. Stefan would know instantly that I’d lost my job and then his harping for me to go home would never cease. Not that I wasn’t seriously considering it right now.

After all, I didn’t have many ties to this area. I had never been much of a social person - especially after that night so long ago - which made the job here most of my adult interaction. There had been an occasional late night where we’d order food and chat while working on projects. As Nolan’s executive assistant, I’d attended most meetings with him and we had become really close. I had taken him at his word that he’d fought for me but I also knew how business ran. He might have an important position here, yet when it came to hiring and firing, that meant nothing compared to the Board of Director’s decisions.

I had never gotten close to anyone though. The only person I’d dated in all these years I had met in my therapist’s office. She hadn’t been happy but we both avoided talking about the other during sessions. I hadn’t really wanted to discuss him anyway - I’d been there to work out other things. Once the relationship had ended, I’d stopped going to therapy and right now, I really regretted that. I could use someone to talk to.

So as I stepped off the elevator and exited the building, Pulling out my cell phone, I searched through the contacts until I found the person I was looking for. Someone who had never let me down and that I knew I could count on to give me some good advice.

Grace.

~*~

Grace sounded breathless as she picked up the phone.

“Hello?”

Then I remembered she still only had a house phone, which she had probably run to from across the house.

“Grace, it’s Elizabeth.”

“Oh! Hey!” Her voice instantly perked up. “How are you doing?”

“Besides just losing my job, I’m fucking terrific!” My voice broke.

“Wow, sorry to hear that. What will you do?”

I sighed into the phone. “Honestly, I have no idea! I’ve not got much keeping me here honestly. The good news is that I’ve still got three weeks of this month to move out if I decide to do that. I’ll have to eat my deposit with the lack of notice, though.”

“Are…are you coming back home?” Her voice had gone quiet.

“I might,” I admitted. “After all, I am the proud owner of Liliana’s house now.”

“Yeah…”

When she didn’t say anything else, I changed the subject as I climbed into my car.

“How is Lyndsey?”

I was asking about her daughter. I’d seen a picture here and there, along with our random Skype chats. She had green eyes and was the spitting image of her mother, except for her strawberry blond hair. Grace had found out she was pregnant just three months after I’d left town, which had shocked me but she told me it was the result of a one night stand. The father was a scumbag who apparently didn’t see his daughter and Grace refused to even talk about what would happen when Lyndsey got curious one day.

“She’s great! She’ll turn four in just five weeks, I can’t believe it!”

“I can’t either.” And really, I couldn’t. Time seemed to have flown by and for the first time in years, I’d realized how much time had passed. It was like waking up after a very vivid dream that had seemed so real, but wasn’t. That was my life here, and now I was going to have to deal with all the feelings I’d buried, and the people I’d hurt when I’d left behind.

I wasn’t sure I could make it up to Stefan, nor was I convinced a second attempt at our relationship would work. With Liliana gone, I was glad I’d gotten to see her even if it had brought the memories rushing back with a vengeance. And my mother…I wasn’t looking forward to facing all our problems head on. Yet, right now, I knew that it was the decent thing to do.

“I suppose by then I’ll be in town. Are you throwing a birthday party for her?”

“Yeah! Mostly friends and family, but of course, you are welcome to come!”

She was back to her perky attitude again so I decided to leave out the fact that Stefan was visiting me. I’m sure I’d hear a long spiel about how I needed to move on. She’d never liked him after he’d walked away, even though she hadn’t understood my depression. I’d spent the rest of that summer with Liliana and Grace had never known the truth either.

But she’d never walked away like Stefan had. Instead, I’d been the one who had left town and gotten a job far away.

“Great.
 
I’ll let you know what I decide. I gotta drive home now.”

“Okay! Lyndsey is calling for me anyway! Talk later!”

Hanging up, I sat in my car for a few more minutes as I contemplated my options.

Losing my job was truly unexpected but I wasn’t surprised for some reason. I’d know that one day, my past would catch up with me and I’d have no choice but to deal with it. True, I didn’t have to go all the way across the country to my hometown. I could stay here and job hunt as I had enough in savings to last a year or more if I cut back just a bit.

Then again, that also meant I could go back and settle in, see if I truly wanted to stay there without needing to find work. Patch things up with my mother, which would involve divulging those long ago summer months when all I’d wanted to do was crawl into a hole and die. Aside from Liliana, the only blessing at the time had been the fact I had no recollection of the sexual assault - and I still didn’t. I couldn’t imagine what it would be like to remember and I stayed grateful for that small boon.

Either way, as I put my car into gear and drove out of the parking garage, I knew that only one thing mattered.

I had to do this for myself and myself only.

My head clearer, I prepared for the onslaught of feelings I knew I’d experience once I was in Stefan’s presence again and he knew I was going home.

CHAPTER NINE

Stefan was sitting at the table when I arrived home, tapping away at the keys on his laptop. He looked up at me with wide eyes and then at his watch. His brows drew down in apparent confusion.

“Isn’t it a bit early for you to be home? You just left barely two hours ago.”

Gritting my teeth, I dropped my purse on the table and leaned down to take off my heels.

“Really?” I dropped my mouth open as I straightened, bringing my eyes to meet his. “I guess my clock at work must be broken! I thought it was the end of the work day.”

His lips quirked up at the corners. “No joke. I’d have to reconsider working for a company with a broken clock.”

Dropping into the chair across from me, I tilted my head to the side as I studied him without responding.

He was looking at me, yet his fingers tapped at the keys as if I wasn’t even in the room. At some point in the last couple of hours he had showered and changed clothing. In a pair of khaki trousers and an unbuttoned white cambric shirt that bared his not-one-ounce-of-fat chest, he looked yummy enough to eat. His relaxed pose was at odds with the concentration on his face when I’d first walked in.

“What are you typing?” I was impressed by his typing skills, but only because I wished I could type that fast without looking at the keys or screen.

“Typing up an email. One sec,” he winked at me and clicked on his mouse. “There. All done. Now, where were we?”

Pushing away from the table, he turned the chair toward me and focused his eyes on me.
 

I bit my lip, looking away.

“Well…,” I swallowed, unsure of how to continue. “They…um…well, I got laid off.”

When he didn’t instantly start cheering, I faced him, only to find him staring at me with a look of complete surprise on his face.