The next morning, I woke up with concentrated soreness located between my legs, a clear reminder that last night was indeed real. I turned around only to find the spot where Nathaniel once laid, empty and cold. A cloud of disappointment hung over my head, although I knew this was a high possibility, but I silently hoped I would be wrong.
Sighing heavily, I slipped out of bed and walked uncomfortably into the bathroom to get ready for the flight back home. I gasped at my reflection as soon as I looked in the mirror. Pink, purplish bruises were littered all over my neck. My hair was sitting on top of my head like a bird's nest, and my bralette was slightly ripped, allowing one of my nipples to show.
I threw my clothes off and hopped in the shower, and no more than fifteen minutes later, I was right back where I started, wrapped in a fluffy towel, staring at my reflection as I brushed my fingertips along my lips, reliving the memories of last night. Never in my life have I experienced an orgasm so mind-blowingly intense to the point where I started seeing stars, fucking stars. My sensitive core began to throb at the thought of Nathaniel sliding his—
"Anastazi." A husky voice interrupted my thoughts.
I lazily shifted my eyes towards the sound of his voice and saw Nathaniel leaning against the doorway with a white button-down tucked neatly into his black slacks. His shirt's sleeves were rolled up to his elbows, showcasing the gold Rolex strapped loosely around his wrist. I couldn't help but wonder if the man standing in front of me was the same man from last night, the same man that needed me in more ways than I could ever imagine.
His eyes didn't roam my body like they normally would, despite me being naked under the small towel wrapped around my figure.
Instead, his gaze remained locked on my face, not daring to look beyond that. I could already feel my hope beginning to fade the longer we stood there in silence, but I couldn't speak; all I could do was stare.
"Breakfast is ready, and the limo will be arriving in an hour, don't be late," he announced coldly, confirming that the Nathaniel I had grown close to was gone.
The twinge of disappointment I felt this morning resurfaced again, slowly eating me up inside. Nathaniel's back was already turned, leaving the bathroom, but I needed answers, an explanation, I deserved at least that.
"Last night—" I began, stopping him in his tracks.
"Was a mistake, something that will never happen again," he finished, not even bothering to turn around and deliver the blow to my face.
I sucked in a deep breath and nodded slowly, feeling tears forming in my eyes, but I refused to let them fall.
"Couldn't have said it any better," I whispered harshly before slamming the door behind him.
Maybe it was better this way. Getting involved with Nathaniel should be the last thing on my mind. I'll admit that I lost focus of my goal: to bring my father's company back to life—my company back to life. And that's all on me for getting distracted easily and falling for his charm, but not anymore. I'm done.
Just as Nathaniel said, the limo arrived exactly an hour after I got ready and ate the breakfast that was waiting for me in the kitchen. Somehow my bags were already packed and gone by the time I woke up this morning. I assume Nathaniel had someone to take care of that while I was still sleeping, not that I needed his help.
"Miss Faye?" A stranger's voice called out from behind me as I stood in the hotel lobby waiting for Nathaniel to appear, seeing that he left our room without informing me when he would be back.
"Do I know you?" I asked suspiciously, eyeing the strange man wearing a uniform.
He shook his head as he tilted his chauffeur hat to greet me. "I have instructions from Mr. Creed to drive you to the airport where the private jet awaits."
I scoffed and rolled my eyes as I heard the news. Nathaniel doesn't even have the decency to face me even after everything that happened two nights ago. I don't know why his actions continued to surprise me; he's always been a coward hiding behind that fake facade he puts on for the world to see.
"Lead the way," I finally answered, plastering a fake smile on my face as I shook my sunglasses out of my hair and slid them onto my nose.
Two hours later, we arrived at the private airport where the jet awaited, and I was actually surprised it was still there and not halfway across the world by now. Before boarding, I sent Stella a quick text letting her know what time the jet will be landing so she could pick me up. The less time I spent with Nathaniel, the better.
"Anything to drink, ma'am?" The flight attendant asked as soon as I stepped foot into the aircraft. I shook my head as I scanned the area looking for any sign of Nathaniel, but thankfully he was nowhere to be seen.
After the attendant kindly informed me that the jet would be taking off in ten minutes, I quickly slipped into one out of the two rooms aboard the craft and plopped on the bed. It was the same room that Nathaniel ordered me to go in when I got airsick on our first flight. As I flipped over to bury myself under the blankets, something on the nightstand caught my eyes. It was a small bottle of NyQuil with a sticky note attached to it that read,
"For your airsickness."
I rolled my eyes, recognizing his handwriting, and crumpled up the note, tossing it right into the trash can placed beside the bed.
Realizing I had about 5 minutes before take-off, I hurriedly took a swig of the medicine, not caring who it came from, and snuggled deep into the blankets, preparing my body for hibernation. It wasn't long before my eyelids began to feel heavy, and I was knocked out within seconds but not before feeling the bed dip beside me as a strong warm arm wrapped around my body. Or was I dreaming already?
~
The sound of hushed voices coming from outside the room pulled me out of my peaceful slumber.
"Do not wake her up."
Nathaniel?
"Why not?"
Stella?
"She needs to rest; why are you even here?" Nathaniel snapped irritably. I imagined him running his hand through his hair as he always does whenever he's frustrated.
"Because she asked me to be," Stella whispered angrily. "I don't know what happened between the two of you, but for some reason, she wanted to ride back with me, not you now move."
I didn't hear Nathaniel say anything back, so I sat up against the headboard and used that opportunity to announce that I had finally awoken.
"Stella? Is that you?" I called out, loud enough for her to hear me through the door.
"See!" Stella hissed at her cousin. "She's awake, now go away before she sees your ugly face."
"Stella?" I called out again, in hopes Nathaniel would listen to Stella and leave.
Seconds later, the door burst open, and in came the small woman I'd grown to love.
"Cupcake!" She squealed as she jumped on the bed and wrapped her tiny arms around me. Her sweet familiar scent flooded my nostrils, and I didn't realize how much I had missed her until now.
"God, I missed you," I sighed as we broke apart.
"I missed you more," she pouted. "I was stuck with Carter and Gabrielle for two weeks; those two could not get their hands off each other."
I smiled, despite feeling sick at the thought of Carter with somebody else, but I had no right to feel that way, especially after what happened between Nathaniel and I.
"Anyway," Stella clapped her small hands. "We can catch up more in the car; let's go." She grabbed my hand and dragged me out of the jet and towards the hangar where her cute pinked out range rover awaited.
I unknowingly searched the area, looking for Nathaniel, and eventually found him sliding into his blacked-out Lamborghini a few feet away from where Stella and I stood.
His sapphire eyes locked with mine, and butterflies immediately erupted in my stomach but disappeared as quickly as they came the moment he snapped his head forward and peeled out of the hangar, leaving me to stare at the cloud of dust he left behind.
"We're finally alone, now spill," Stella demanded as soon as I shut the car door.
Straight to the point, just like her cousin.
"What?" I asked, feigning ignorance.
Stella pulled out of the hangar and onto the freeway as her eyes shifted eyes from the road to glare at me, knowing I was attempting to get out of talking about the uncomfortable subject.
"Don't play dumb with me Stazi, I know something happened between the two of you, or you wouldn't have asked me to pick you up now spill."
There was no getting out of this unless I was willing to throw myself out of the car, which, come to think of it, didn't sound like a bad idea.
"There's nothing to spill, Stella," I lied. "It's just Nathaniel being Nathaniel, that's it." I shrugged my shoulders, looking out the window watching the tall palm trees flash by.
"Okay," Stella replied with a sweet smile on her face.
That was easy. Almost too easy.
Not even a second later, his toe-curling voice boomed through the car speakers, making my heart skip a beat.
"What do you want Stella," Nathaniel sighed roughly through the phone.
"Hang. Up. Right. Now," I hissed lowly so he wouldn't hear me, panic evident in my voice as I looked around to find the end call button on her display screen.
But she just ignored me and continued with a wide smile on her face. "Hey there, sweet cousin, so I'm here with Stazi and--"
"Is she okay?" He asked immediately. I could hear the sound of his tires rubbing against the road as he slammed on his brakes in anticipation.
Like he actually cares.
"What?" Stella gave me a confused look. "No, she's fine, anyway--"
Before she could go on, I finally found the button, tapped the red icon on the screen, and hung up.
Stella flashed me a triumphant smile before turning her attention back to the road, clearly pleased with her plan that evidently worked. "Now, will you tell me?"
I sighed heavily and ran a hand through my hair, something I picked up from being around Nathaniel too much.
"We did....things throughout the trip," I finally confessed as blush crept up to my cheeks.
"You guys had sex?!" Stella screeched as she swerved off the road in shock, almost hitting the car in the next lane.
"Stella, keep your eyes on the fucking road," I screamed as I gripped my seatbelt, seeing my life flash before my eyes.
"Sorry," she pouted. "But you can't drop a bomb on me like that and expect me not to freak the fuck out."
"We didn't even have sex," I rolled my eyes as a small smile stretched across my face seeing how Stella reacted. "We did other things."
"Well, that explains the hickey's on your neck."
"What?" I gasped as my hands shot up to my throat to see if the makeup I had put on to cover the marks were fading.
"Cupcake, you can't hide anything from me; I saw them before we got off of the Jet."
Of course, she did.
"Anyway," I sighed, fidgeting with my fingers as I chewed on my lower lip. "He ended up saying what we did was a mistake and walked away." I summed up the story, not wanting to explain it in detail.
"He what?" Stella choked out in utter shock, eyes bulging out of her sockets. "I'm going to rip his throat out and feed it to my dog!"
Seeing how enraged she was on my behalf instantly made me feel better, and all the bitterness I've been feeling since seeing him faded.
"Are we actually going to let him get away with this?" Stella continued in dismay, her eyes wild eyes as she looked from the road to me.
"Honestly, I think it's better this way," I sighed, staring out the window again. "Pretending it never happened and going back to how we were before the trip."
She gripped the steering wheel tightly but nodded. "If that's what you want, but if you change your mind, let me know because I'll kill him, no hesitation."
"I love you," I smiled brightly at my psychotic friend, thankful that I had her in my life.
She blew me a kiss and winked before turning on the radio and blasting One Direction through the loudspeakers. We sang along to every song screaming at the top of our lungs with the windows rolled down.
But in the back of my mind, I couldn't help but think about what work would be like come tomorrow morning. Despite everything that happened, I wasn't going to let his actions control my emotions anymore. I was going to walk into his office tomorrow with a wide smile on my face, ready for whatever he had to throw at me.
Or so I thought.
--