Authors: Lilly Wilde
*****
Walking in to my office, I saw a panicked Raina at her desk. My mind went into overdrive, as in all the years Raina had worked for me, I’d never seen her panic, even with the many demands I placed on her; which at times could be overwhelming for anyone, let alone a lady with three kids and an insanely needy husband. She looked up at me with both relief and worry on her face.
“Miss Cason, finally,” she stated, her voice burdened with worry.
“Hi Raina. What’s going on?” I asked.
“Perhaps we should talk in your office.”
“Of course.”
We were about to walk through my door when Blake called out from behind us. “Aria, there you are! Why have you not answered your phone or my emails?”
“What?” I haven’t received any calls or emails from you Blake.”
“Well it’s neither here nor there at this point. We need you upstairs now.”
“I was about to have a meeting with Raina, can this wait?”
“I’m afraid not. That is what I have been trying to contact you about.”
I looked at Raina and saw confusion and worry in her eyes. What in the hell was going on? And why was Blake so freaked out?
“Whatever you were planning to meet with Raina about may very well be moot, let’s go.”
This seemed off. Was I being fired? The company restructuring announcement was of concern but was it really to a point of my losing my job? I placed my purse and laptop bag in my office chair and followed Blake to the elevators. I looked back at Raina and she managed a small smile. I shrugged my shoulders and looked at Blake who had worry draped across his face as well.
“Blake, what the hell is going on?”
“Aria, we were scheduled for a meeting from Raine’s son in the next two weeks, turns out he and his team arrived this morning. We have no idea what we’re dealing with but an email went out this morning that we were to all meet in my office at 9’oclock.” I glanced at my watch; it was five minutes until 9 o’clock.
My heart began to race. “Don’t worry Aria, I think we’re okay as far as our positions are but there is something more pressing that I need to share with you,” Blake said as we stepped off the elevator and headed to his office.
“More pressing than this? I can’t imagine anything more pressing at the moment. What is it?”
“Blake there you are. They’re here and he’s with them. They’re waiting in the executive conference room.”
“I thought we were meeting in my office,” Blake said.
“We were but there wasn’t room for the restructuring team. Hello Aria, welcome back. Sorry to hit you with all of this on your first day back but we tried to reach you.”
“Uh, thanks Adam,” I replied confused as to why I didn’t see any of the calls or emails.
“Come, we are already late,” he said.
We quickly entered the executive conference room. I was the last to enter and was immediately taken aback by the tension in the room; everyone was exceptionally quiet. I swiftly took note of the six new faces; astute, stern and unreadable.
Everyone was seated around the conference table with the exception of the man standing at the far end of the room. He was overlooking downtown Boston as he spoke on the phone. Something about his stance was familiar, the confidence... the power…the dominance. No doubt much like his father, he was a no-nonsense type of person.
I swallowed my nervousness, squared my shoulders and kept in step with Blake and Adam. We took the three seats on the left side of the table; leaving the chair at the head of the table for Mr. Raine who apparently was the man standing near the window. He ended the call and turned to face the room.
“Mr. Raine, we’re all here and ready to begin when you are.” My attention turned to the voice and saw it was the man seated directly across and to the right of me He appeared to be in his early 50’s. He was handsome and his voice didn’t fit his appearance. I was staring at him as he glanced at me with a wry smile which I returned.
“I would like you all to meet the new President and CEO of Raine Industries, Mr. Wyatt Raine,” he said.
I looked in the direction of the window and stopped breathing. I was staring directly into the green eyes of Aiden Wyatt.
Wait. What?
I sat there in a trance as his voice faded in and out. Too many images and thoughts in my head. Was this real? How did I miss this? Why did he keep his identity a secret? Is this typical behavior for him? Was he just using me to get his kicks? Was his internship a ruse to spy on RPH and report back to his father? I wanted to look at him, to see his eyes as he stared back into mine, but I couldn’t bring myself to look directly at him. I turned my head in the direction of his voice but I stared past him. I felt like such a fool. I wanted to crawl under the table and bawl my eyes out. Why? Why would he do this to me?
His words flowed over me like too-hot water. I could barely stand it. I had missed the sexy baritone richness of his voice. I had missed the dark beauty of his eyes. I had missed his touch. And here he was, a few feet away and he was more of a stranger to me now than he had been on his first day at RPH.
I caught the word ‘restructure’ and remembered the restructuring team which meant someone was being replaced. I knew I needed to pay attention to the words coming from this asshole’s mouth. So I listened. Listened and waited on my chance to get the hell out of this room.
He discussed the company’s leadership changes and outlined some immediate changes to the overall plan for RPH and some other affiliated divisions of Raine Industries. He would be at RPH for the remainder of the week and leaving one member of the restructuring team behind as he continued with meetings with the key RPH companies.
After his spill, he opened the floor for questions to which he replied very astutely. He was very impressive, which is something I recognized at every meeting I’d had with him. But today was an entirely new kind of impressive. The way he spoke with such authority and steely control. It was slightly intimidating. He closed the meeting and we all prepared to leave.
“Miss Cason, I would like a word with you,” he said.
I stopped dead in my tracks. I fucking hated him. As the others made their way out of the conference room, I returned to my seat. It took everything in me to hold back the tears that wanted to desperately run trails down my cheeks.
“Aria.”
I didn’t reply.
“Aria. Look at me please.”
My breathing accelerated as my heart pounded. I forced myself to look at him. I turned slowly until my eyes met his. They were hard and impassive. I was not looking into the eyes of the man I saw three weeks ago. I was looking into the cold green eyes of the head of a multinational conglomerate. A multi-billionaire. A huge fucking regret.
“Aria, I know this must come as a shock but I would very much like to-”
“If you have asked to speak to me for anything beyond business matters, I will excuse myself.”
His temples flexed. “Very well,” he replied.
“There will be a significant change in RPH's executive management team,” Aiden began.
Fuck. I
was
being fired. How fucked was this? This man had pursued, fucked and reduced me to tears on more than one occasion. Now here he was to humiliate me even further. Did it have to be him to deliver the blow? Couldn't he have had someone else fire me? Maybe he didn’t want to forgo the pleasure of doing it himself. Fucking asshole.
“Oh? What type of change?” I asked.
“I can see you mistook what I said. Maybe I should present this in a different manner. After having worked alongside you and reviewing your professional accomplishments and contributions to RPH, I would like to offer you the position of RPH's CEO.”
What the fuck?
“Excuse me? Surely I misheard you.”
“I’m certain you heard me correctly. I want you to run this company.”
“Me? What about Blake?”
“Blake is being replaced obviously,” he stated very nonchalantly, as if Blake was of no consequence. Who was this man? Obviously I didn’t know him as well as I should have but did I even know him at all?
“I don't understand. Is that why you’re here?”
“That is one of the reasons. Yes.”
“Dare I ask the other reasons for this absolutely nightmarish day?”
“Oh, so I'm the object of your nightmares, am I?”
“I didn't say that.”
“Perhaps you should tell me exactly what it is you are saying Miss Cason.”
“I'm not saying anything that you don't already know.”
“One thing I am not here for is to play games with you.”
“I'm sure. You’ve already done that,” I spit out.
“Aria.-”
“Don't bother replying to that,” I said.
“I won’t. Are you going to accept the offer?” he asked.
“And work for you? That would be laughable if I didn't know you were actually serious. To be honest with you, I've been seriously considering moving on from RPH.”
“Have you?” he asked.
“Yes.”
“Interesting. What are you considering moving on to? I seriously doubt you'll be able to easily obtain a job comparable to this in the publishing industry or any industry if it was deemed best you remain at RPH.”
He was threatening me. “What are you doing?”
“I’m doing what’s necessary.”
“And you find blackmail necessary? Because this appears to be more in line with extortion than a fucking promotion!”
“Careful,” he warned. “Aria, term it however you wish. The facts remain the same. I've hand-selected you as I know you are more than qualified to assume this role. Meade is out. So if it isn't you, it will be someone else. Either way, the decision has been made.”
“Unbelievable! Do you honestly expect me to take Blake's job, just like that?”
“You are not taking anything. He's earned the opportunity to move on from RPH just as you have earned the opportunity to assume this position. He's had five years to prove himself. As I see it, if he hasn't done that yet, he won't. This is a business, not a place for practice runs. This discussion is over.”
I stared at him, angry and hurt. I could feel tears about to spill over. The first time I’d seen him or heard his voice in weeks and this is what I get. I rose from my seat and headed toward the door.
“I’ll expect your answer first thing tomorrow morning,” he said.
I slowed as I reached for the door, my hand on the door knob. “This is not a side of you that I particularly care for.”
“Is that so? Why don't you tell me what side of me you do particularly care for? I'll be more than happy to oblige Aria.”
I exhaled, opened the door and walked out of the conference room.
I was deflated as I returned to my office. Upon walking through the elevators I saw guilt in Raina’s eyes that I didn’t quite understand.
“I’m sorry Miss Cason.”
“Excuse me?”
“I wanted to warn you before you attended that meeting?”
I looked at her even more confused trying to understand what she meant. She couldn’t possibly know what just happened. Before I could make sense of what she was saying, Adam was behind me asking to speak privately.
I left the office that day with so many thoughts running through my head that I could have screamed. The thought of Blake and his impending departure was weighing heavily on me. I remembered when Aiden first arrived at RPH. Blake had mentioned that he suspected that the powers-that-be would send someone to analyze RPH but neither of us thought it would be in the form of Aiden Wyatt or whatever the fuck his name was. He had been spying and conspiring this entire time. How could he have done something like that to Blake? To me?
I went home again in the same distraught manner as I had several times since having met Aiden. This was by far, the worst. The tears flowed without cease. I pulled over to the side of the highway in an attempt to gather myself. I just didn’t understand how he could have done this to me. He knew. He fucking knew how reluctant I was to a relationship of any sort with him. He knew how incredibly difficult this had been for me. Yet he pulled me in- kicking and screaming. He told me so many things that I honestly believed with everything in me were true. The countless hours we’d spent sharing. I gave myself to him in a way that I had never or thought I ever could give myself to anyone. And today, he was so cold towards me. It was as if we were strangers. I hated him. I desperately hated him. I hated myself at this moment for being so naïve to let him in. I hated myself even more because I still wanted him. I missed him like I missed air to breath. I sat on the side of the road sobbing. After several minutes I eased back into the flow of traffic. I cried all the way home.
I walked to the elevator looking downward hoping to avoid the inquiring eyes of the doormen. I saw Silas and turned away too slowly I realized, as I saw his face morph into one of concern or maybe it was curiosity. He’d never seen me like this in all the time I’d lived here. Another fucking first! I pressed the button for the elevator and was thankful that it was empty.
Entering the condo, I was taken aback by the change in its appearance. In the far corner of my living room, near the bar was a baby grand piano. I dropped my purse on the floor and looked around to see if anyone was there.
“Hello? Is anyone here?” I called out. No answer. I walked to the wall intercom to call downstairs.
“This is Silas, how may I be of assistance Miss Cason.”
Fuck… it would be Silas. I cleared my throat. “Silas, there is a piano in my living room. I didn’t order this and I didn’t give anyone permission to enter the condo.”
“It was delivered today ma’am. We attempted to reach you on your office and cell numbers as the delivery man requested. We were routed to a Mr. Raine and he said you were in a meeting but that you had left a message that it was okay to let them in.”
“Oh, I see.”
“Is everything okay Miss Cason?”
“Yes everything is fine. I simply forgot is all. Thank you Silas,” I replied, releasing the intercom button.
I turned around and looked across the room. With a heavy heart, I walked over to the piano. There was a beautiful bouquet of orchids displayed in an intricately patterned crystal vase situated in the middle of the lid. Lying beside the vase was an envelope. I knew it was from Aiden. Part of me wanted to rip it and toss it in the trash but the part of me that longed for him wanted to open it. I ran my fingers across the envelope wondering what he could possibly have written that would make any difference at this point. I wouldn’t throw it away but I also didn’t want to read it yet. I stood there for several minutes staring at it. The vibration of my phone severed my fixation on the envelope. I went over to pick up my purse. Seeing Aiden’s name on the display was actually not surprising as I was sure he wouldn’t be surprised that I wouldn’t answer. I pressed ignore and placed the phone on the table as I walked to the kitchen. I only had two bottles in the wine cabinet. I knew both of those would be empty before I went to bed tonight. I opened one and forgoing a glass, and drank directly from the bottle.
My phone was vibrating again as I flipped through the TV channels. I looked at the display. Four missed calls from Aiden and two texts. I read the first.
*I know the timing of my surprise was less than ideal but I hope you liked it. Please answer the phone.*
And the second.
*Aria, we need to talk. Call me.*
I took a swig of wine and dropped the phone beside me on the couch as I continued channel surfing. I had no intention of speaking to that fucker. I happened upon an episode of
Modern Family
and was glad to see that it was a marathon. I hadn’t watched this show in ages. I loved Eric Stonestreet’s character,
Cameron
. I needed a friend like him around, especially now.
I fell asleep on the couch and the sound of my phone awakened me. I saw that I’d missed 5 more calls from Aiden and several angry texts. I turned the TV off and drug myself to the bedroom. I didn’t have an appetite at all and I didn’t want to be awake. I was asleep almost as soon as my head hit the pillow.
I turned over in bed and slowly opened my eyes. I wasn’t awakened by my alarm so I wondered what time it was. I had forgotten to turn my phone back on. Aiden had continued texting and calling all night and I’d finally turned off my phone. Why would he try so vehemently now when he’d done absolutely nothing for weeks?
Turning it back on, there was ping after ping, Texts from Aiden and April. I quickly read April’s texts.
*What’s going on? Call me back.*
*Are you okay? Call me!!*
*Aiden called me. I’m so sorry about all of this. Call me!*
Why did he involve April in this? How did he even get her number? Oh I forgot; he’s Aiden Raine which meant he can do whatever the hell he wanted with the many resources he had at his disposal.
My thoughts immediately flashed back to St. Barts when he claimed to have made a call to the concierge to locate my villa. It dawned on me that he was able to obtain information on my whereabouts because of who he was. He’d said that his father owned property there and I conveniently assumed it was a timeshare of some sort. He didn’t bother to clarify. Now I was certain I knew why. His father owned that very property and it would be as easy as breathing for Aiden to find the name and location of my villa. Everything had been a lie. How much of a fucking idiot was I? Why didn’t I ask more questions? Better still, when I saw that things didn’t add up, why did I continue to go along with his demands?
I sat on the edge of the bed as the flood of a new day of tears began to flow. It hurt to even breathe. I was such a fool. I prided myself on being such an intuitive person, being able to read people but somehow I let all of the warning bells fade into the background. All of the weird intense exchanges between he and his dad – now it all made sense. He never wanted to talk to me about the issues with his father. The subliminal messages and questionable glances between he and his family when I was around…they were in on it too, but why? Why would they go along with something so insane? It made no sense!
Wait! His father’s name was Connor. So who the hell was Wesley Raine? I went to my computer and googled Wesley Raine and was overwhelmed with image after image of Connor. I went to Wikipedia and typed in Wesley Raine. I looked at the right side of the screen and saw his full name: Wesley Connor Raine. His children: Victoria Sloan Raine, Nicholas Carter Raine, Aiden Wyatt Raine and Allison Sophia Raine. Son of a bitch!
Rage. I was overwhelmed with rage! Of course, the other feelings were there… extremely close to the surface but I was actually grateful that another emotion was now overshadowing those. I angrily wiped my tears and went to reply to April’s text.
*I’m sorry Aiden contacted you about this. Everything is fine. I am running behind schedule for work but I will be in touch soon. Love you.*
I scrolled through the other texts from Aiden. Was he fucking kidding me? He was angry with me? I tossed the phone on the bed and rushed to take a shower and dress for work. Work. The one place where I had previously looked forward to going to everyday was now like walking into a nightmare by choice.
I went to the kitchen for a bottle of water and the piano whispered my name as I passed. I turned and remembered the note. I walked over and opened it.
Aria,
I’m sure you now realize that I have been less than truthful with you. I have reasons for that and I hope you will allow me the chance to explain.
I had selected this piano the afternoon after breakfast with my family. It was custom made- especially for you. I hope we have the chance to make beautiful music together.
-A.
I placed the note on the piano lid and walked around to sit on the bench. On the back panel above the keys was an inscription,
Kingston and Virginia …Making beautiful Music Since 2014
. My tears flowed, my chest feeling as if it would collapse. I sat at the piano as pieces of my inner being shattered around me. How was I going to survive this? Survive him?
I showered and dressed; simultaneously dispensing reassuring pep talks to myself as various Aiden-filled images and conversations teetered in the periphery. My head was pounding. This would be difficult but I would get through this, somehow. I’ve been broken before. I actually never reconnected the shattered pieces, I just hid them. I did it then and I damned well would do it now. I took a deep breath and opened the door of the condo ready to face another day of the hell my life had become.
Walking into the RPH building was menacing. Although they couldn’t possibly know, I felt that everyone knew what was going on with me. My heart tightened as I stepped out of the elevator onto the floor of my office. My eyes settled on Raina who looked uneasy. Really? I just got here!
“Good morning Raina. Is everything alright?” I asked approaching her desk.
“Good morning Miss Cason. I’m not sure. Mr. Raine was just here and he has called twice since I arrived. He said that it was urgent that he speak with you and I was to alert him when you arrived.”
I didn’t want Raina in the middle of this and quite frankly I was upset at him for behaving in such an unprofessional manner; even more so given his position.
“It’s okay, I will check in with him as soon as I settle in.”
The phone rang and she nervously looked up at me. “It doesn’t seem as though you will have time to get settled. It’s Mr. Raine.”
“It’s fine Raina, please forward the call to me,” I said walking into my office.
I closed the door and prepared myself for what I knew would be an unpleasant conversation.
I sat at my desk, took a deep breath and lifted the receiver.
“This is Aria.”
“Good morning,” he said.
“That remains to be seen. How can I assist you?”
“Did you receive my texts?” he asked.
“I’m not sure that I did. Were they of a business nature?” I asked.
“I can assume you aren’t sure you received my voicemails either,” he said, his irritation flowing through the phone.
“I actually haven’t had a chance to check any voicemail. As soon as I walked into my office, I was being bombarded with details of a rather large nuisance.”
“Oh. Is that so?”
“It would seem. I really have a full day so if you can enlighten me as to the purpose of this urgent conversation, I would appreciate it.”
“Aria we need to talk.”
“Isn’t that what we’re doing now?”
“We need to talk like two mature adults without the mockery and without the fucking attitude.”
Silence.
“When is the first break in your schedule? And before you say you don’t have any, I know that you do.”
Silence.
“We can do this the easy way or the hard way Princess, it’s your choice. But either way, we will do this.”
I knew he would do whatever he needed to do to make this happen. Maybe the faster we get this over, the faster I can eradicate myself of this unnecessary bullshit.
“Give me an hour. Should I come to you?” I asked.
“Yes, that would be best as I have back to back meetings scheduled and every minute is crucial to my day. I’ll expect you promptly at nine-thirty.” He hung up.
I fucking hated him. My eyes stung as the tears tried to force their way to the surface. There was a knock at my door.
“Yes.”
It was Raina, her face overflowing with compassion. She had never witnessed this behavior from me and I had no idea of how much was visible on the surface. I felt like shit.
“I thought you could use a cup of tea Miss Cason.”
“Thank you Raina,” I replied as she placed the tea on my desk.
She turned to leave and closed the door softly behind her.
I took a sip of the tea and closed my eyes wondering how I was going to make it through a face-to-face with Aiden.
I finished my tea as I worked on email. It was a quarter after nine already. The phone intercom beeped.
“Miss Cason, a Mr. Dane Patrick is here to see you. Should I send him in?”
I spit tea all over my desk. What the fuck?
I reached for my phone. I quickly texted April.
*Dane is here at my fucking office! Did you ever hear anything from him or his wife?*
I placed the phone on my desk and replied to Raina.
“Please send him in.” I knew I needed to see him and get rid of him.
Raina walked Dane into my office and closed the door behind her. I motioned for him to have a seat.
“Hello Aria. You look beautiful as always. How are you?”
“What are you doing here?”
“Wow. No hello.”
“Not for you. Liar!”
“So you know about my uh-”
“Wife? Uh yeah! What the hell have you gotten me mixed up in?”
“That’s why I’m here.”
He went on to explain that his marriage was ending and that his wife was trying to get everything on the grounds of infidelity and she was having her lawyer call me in to testify.
“Look, you had better find a way to fix this. Don’t bring me in the middle of your shit.”
“Aria, listen-”
My door opened abruptly and Dane stopped mid-sentence.
It was Aiden and he wasn’t happy.
He looked at me and then at Dane who stood to face him. I didn’t know what to do or say.
“This is Mr. Raine,” I offered.
Dane reached out to shake Aiden's hand. Aiden returned his gesture with an ice cold glare.
“And you are?” Aiden asked.
“Dane Patrick,” he replied, confused by Aiden’s immediate disdain with him.