Bedroom Business.

Chapter 15 C

After muttering what he hoped were the right words, Nick excused himself from the boardroom. He knew he'd left half the men in there wondering if they still had jobs. He'd spent three hours biting the head of the men off with sharp questions one by one. Three hours and he'd be damned if he remembered a word of what anyone of them had said. Of course, Stress was the reason and he'd apologize to the men later. Even as his mind echoed the untrue words, he knew he wasn't fooling anyone. The truth hammered at the back of his mind.

The reason was packing her suitcase right now at the ranch house. The reason was getting ready to leave Texas on his waiting jet in less than an hour. And he was irritable. Irritable, because there was a possibility that the magic of Texas might wear off when the jet touched down in New York. And they still hadn't talked.

They hadn't talked about the bomb which she'd dropped the night before. Nick had never found it hard to replace any staff that resigned or was sacked from his employ. Usually, he let Personnel take care of that or he used a temp agency. Which explained the clog of anger in his throat when he thought of the fact that she'd chosen to leave him? The unfamiliar feeling of helplessness that swamped him also did not help matters.

Right then and there in the cool breeze of the Night air, he'd offered to increase her salary, cut down working hours- anything to make her stay. But all of his generous offers had earned him nothing but an angry glare from Jade. Of course, he'd understood eventually why she wanted to leave, he just choose to be unreasonable. Nick glanced at his watch. it was just a few minutes past noon. If he hurried, he could still make it in time to see Jade before she boarded the aircraft.

                     

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Jade smiled tiredly as she handed over the last sealed box to the waiting attendant. As soon as he shut the door behind him, she fell into a chair with a sigh. The sight of the uncluttered desk was too disturbing so she twirled the chair back to face the window. It was almost dark outside save for the steadily disappearing sun. The entire floor was empty and quiet to suit her mood. She looked out the window seeing nothing. Taking a deep breath, she stood up and picked a key from the desk. Gently, she pushed the key into the lock of Nick's office door and turned it. She flipped on a light switch as she entered the office.

     Walking around the room maybe for the last time, sent out the tears which had been threatening to fall. As her eyes fell on the wall which housed the pull out bed, the tears fell harder. Deep down in her heart, Jade was sure it was for the best. She knew that no matter what happened, she could never ever hate Nick. But, she was angry. God, she was mad at him. Ever since the night before her departure, he'd avoided her like the plague. Worst still, Jade had against her will, let herself get hurt. Maybe, he saw it as an easy way out of what could have been an ugly situation.

Nonetheless, she'd never forgive herself if she let herself become one of his women who still leeched on when they were no longer wanted. Jade had too much pride for that. She fought to swallow the bitterness in her throat. She'd been in New York for the past two days and had got not a single word from Nick.

Oh, he'd had someone make packing boxes and movers available for her. But he hadn't not even the courtesy to say goodbye. She'd stood waiting for him in the Texan sun for a whole hour... delayed the pilot from taking off just to see if he would come, all in vain.

Jade was afraid to think of what he was doing now. No doubt, he wasn't mooning over her as she was over him. But surely, he wouldn't have replaced her so quickly? The thought felt like a million daggers through her heart. She spun around rigidly and walked out of the office, shutting the door. Jade put the extra key which he'd given her where she was sure he'd find it and walked to the elevator without a backward glance.

She'd start at the studio tomorrow.