l finish placing the last article of clothing into the spare drawer where Mr. Hale granted me access. Everything seems too good to be true in the sense that only a month or so before we hadn't seen each other in almost a year. The project has now in the final stages of development. I was going to miss his presence in the office wearing those nice firm pressed suits.
Curiously I wander into his closet running my fingers through the firm material of his suit jacket. It smells of a cologne I'm unfamiliar with which makes my skin tingle. The notification tone on my phone startles me. I walk over to my iPhone that's lit up with a text message from an unknown number.
212-555-1481: You need to leave, conclude your relationship with Mr. Hale.
I was unfamiliar with the number considering I worked with multiple companies and I used a different number when communicating back and forth with them. The thought crosses my mind that it could have been several people.
Me: And who are you to tell me what I need to do?
212-555-1481: Take it from me you're either going to end your relationship or suffer from your own consequences. The club has its ways of taking care of unwanted guests.
Me: You think threatening me through text message is the appropriate thing to do?
212-555-1481: If you want to report this to the police you have my full permission, but do you really think they would try to interfere with an organization as big as this? Don't be naive now. If Xander has informed you of the dealings you are a loose end.
It would seem that the person texting me became clear as day. This club Paragon was going to become an issue. I felt it in my soul. Mr. Dalton was serious with his clients. I knew he wouldn't be the type of man to get his hands dirty worrying about someone like me exposing his club to the horrors that take place. It was an organization in which Politicians and even Policemen had been members of. My attempts at actually reporting the harassment taking place would be in vain for the police themselves had been corrupted by some sort.
Me: Mr. Dalton?
212-555-1481: If I find out that you have any ties to Mr. Hurst's disappearance in which I will find out. You will be personally handled by me.
Me: I assure you that Mr. Hurst is a grown man to make any choices he pleases. A woman like me cannot enforce or even impulse anything upon him. If Mr. Hale wishes to not in a couple anymore that's on our terms. So don't threaten me ever again.
212-555-1481:
Hmm... I see why he's drawn to you.
Me:
Goodnight.
I don't receive a text message after I send the last one. Mr. Hale is at work in which I do not want to disturb him in between his work, but keeping Mr. Dalton in the dark while he resolves this ordeal had been jeopardizing my safety. The suspicions arise that Mr. Hale could have been lying to me to protect me from getting involved. I was already involved. I run my fingers over the rim of his Oxford shoes each pair looking as if they never been worn. "See something you like?" His voice startles me as I drop my iPhone on the floor.
"Crap!"
Mr. Hale kneels down picking up my iPhone only to turn it around and see the text messages from Mr. Dalton. "Hey, don—," I attempt to reach for my phone but he holds a finger up stopping me in his tracks. His facial expression changed from content to neutral with wrinkles along his forehead stretching over his eyes brows almost making a frown.
This expression was called: "Don't threaten my girl".
I walk up to him placing my arms around his warm body taking in the scent of his strange cologne. "I'm sorry," my voice softly croaking almost.
"No. I am the one who needs to be sorry. I have dragged you into this situation in which you had no knowledge of Mr. Hurst's disappearance. I will handle this. Let's go buy you a new cellular device."
I know Mr. Hale had been taking precautions based on the protective aura he had been giving off. "I don't need a new cell phone. The one I have is perfectly fine," I look over to my beaten up iPhone 6 which had been in my life for a while. It functioned normally except for the freakouts whenever a new iPhone had been released.
"I'm not asking you. If he was able to obtain your phone number easily then you have compromised your whereabouts. Do this for me. Please," the concern in his voice doesn't take much to convince me. I obediently oblige him. "Ok baby... Oops, I'm sorry." The world slips out from my lips naturally.
"It's ok baby," he smiles placing his soft hand on my cheek. "What are you doing in my closet anyway?" He asks curiously.
The inner high school girl in me giggles as if I had been caught red-handed in my attempts to be sneaky. "I was admiring your wardrobe and the unfamiliar scent of your cologne which is so divine," I admit placing a kiss on the side of his hand. "What is it?"
"Creed, Tom Ford, Versace, Chanel, Paco Rabanne. There are a to choose from," he states pointing over to the drawer which had been in the center of the closet.
There's a drawer which he pulls on the handle where there's a spot where more ties were placed, and underneath were different colognes placed neatly from big to small order. I admired his neatness whereas my apartment had been cluttered and organized. The life of a wealthy single man would seem that he spent very little time detailing any area of his apartment or that of his clothing. "Who does your laundry or cleans your loft?" I ask tracing my fingers over the navy blue silk material with gold embroidering of flowers designed throughout the tie.
"I do."
I'm surprised by his answer considering that he's wealthy enough to have people paid to do it for them. "I don't see the point in having a maid for simple household chores. My mother had maids which I grew fond of helping with odds and ends every now and then," he explains as if he were reminiscing about his childhood. "The dry cleaners press my outfits so the least I can do is sort, and organize my clothing to my desire."
He's so attractive it hurts.
"Mr. Dalton," I pause for a moment contemplating if I want to finish my sentence. "Mr. Dalton seems to be dead set on the idea that I would have something to do with Mr. Hurst's disappearance. After the whole ordeal at my apartment a year ago. What happened between the two of you?" The clarification would ease the tension between everything.
Mr. Hale closes the drawer of the small dresser then catches my eyes with an intense gaze. "You have been the first woman in years that has caught my attention. As grown men, we had been childish to be playing a game of seducing as many women without falling in love. When you are a millionaire, borderline billionaire who has everything they wanted you are tempted to do things that others would call... egocentric. The club had been most of my life for as long as I can remember. Women from all over the world just wanted the company of a man with money to spoil their expensive habits. I didn't need love when I could get what I wanted no questions asked. When a woman who I didn't expect to meet and changed my views in a different light came into my life I didn't want anyone to use her how they saw fit. I selfishly wanted you to myself without any intention of ever-blossoming a relationship between you. Even though it did." He explains.
I place my fingers in between his for his honesty was the icing on the cake. "I called Mr. Hurst with the intentions of his pursuing you to stop, and then when you two.." He cannot finish the sentence almost in disgust. "You are the purest form of amazing I have ever been graced with. I threatened that if he were to ever just as so much breathe in your scent that I would sell his kidneys, even his damn eyelids on the black market. Any other woman I would have easily passed off to him, but he knew when I had been serious about a woman." His fingers wrap around mine and it's a yearning feeling I feel in my chest.
"I'm so in love with you that if you ever left again, I don't know what I would do with myself. I'm scared that you will leave me again," my throat clenches as I feel the uncontrollable sobs coming forth. "Please, please, I beg you. Don't ever leave me again."
Mr. Hale pulls me into his embrace as I cannot help the tears streaming down my cheeks. The thought of any man even jeopardizing his life for that of mine was enough to make any woman swoon. I know deep down that I should be worried that his respect for women had been so minimal, but if there was a chance I could change the way he perceived women that maybe he wouldn't feel as though he would be a replica of his father. I was going to have to nurture him like a wife would her husband even if we weren't married. My loyalty and devotion to him went unquestioned.
"Don't cry," he softly coos pushing strands of hair away from my face. "I don't like seeing you cry."
"I'm just happy."
The emotions on the inside were finally going to match the effort on the outside. I have begun to notice the evolution of our relationship. The Mr. Dalton issue would still remain a big factor in the present situation, but it couldn't ruin this moment.
"Let's go."
The weather seemed to be warming up quite nicely in New York. I choose a burgundy thin long sleeved shirt over my floral navy blue shirt and grab my handbag. I usually don't accessorize so much, but a few bangles, rings, and necklace later I look like your average Tumblr model. Mr. Hale likes the outfit as well from the way his eyes seem to survey my outfit.
"Nice?"
I spin on my heels to show him my outfit from multiple angles. "You look magnificent," he says softly stepping closer which makes my race skip a beat slightly. He always has a way of making me nervous. I've undressed this man even emotionally and yet still with his eyes he can undress my soul just by the way his iris's make love to my every feature in one swoop.
"Thank you, Mr. Hale."
He places a chaste kiss on my forehead taking my hand in between his. I felt the security in between his fingers as we head to the elevator. "I like having a drawer at your place. It feels strange but right. Does that sound weird?" I admit as we step into the elevator. Mr. Hale's facial expression changes slightly as if he had a thought he didn't want to speak on, but then it turns into a grin with him catching my gaze.
"I feel like I'm going to enjoy your company in my place. It won't feel so vast and empty having your lively spirit around. It makes me content," he chuckles slightly squeezing my hand in reaction.
I ignore his first initial expression because he might not want to speak on it and immediately smile after the statement of him being content. The elevator reaches the ground floor with multiple people waiting for its arrival. I'm greeted by a few stares from random strangers who seemed just as surprised as I was being in the arms of Mr. Hale. I realized how private his private life had been when even the doorman waiting by the entrance smiled at Mr. Hale.
"What a lovely young lady, Mr. Hale. I am glad to see you in the company of another," he compliments nodding his head to the both of us.
We stop next to the older man in his late fifties holding the handle of the glass door. "Thank you, Mr. Charles. I'm sure you will be seeing her more often than you think," he articulated a matter of factly. The certainty in his voice made me smile at his reassurance that this is what he wanted.
Mr. Charles looks satisfied with Mr. Hale as he must not have seen a female enter the building with him at all. "I know your mother and father must be anxiously waiting for you to settle down," he comments rolling his eyes.
"Indeed they have."
Mr. Hale and Mr. Charles exchange goodbye's and we make our exit to the busy streets of Manhattan. I realize in him moving closer to the city that he didn't have to commute that far to work and conveniently my apartment hadn't been that far as well. "Did you move closer to the city for work or did you have another reason?" I ask curiously as his driver opens the door for the both of us to enter the blackened out vehicle. Even the vehicle had been changed to a newer model. I feel the cool leather against my skin as I slide across.
"Central Park is where we spent personal time together. Remember?"
I smile reminiscing back to when I was just his quirky little secretary scared to make a mistake. "I do remember," I comment giggling slightly to myself. "I thought you were an asshole, Mr. Hale."
The way he keeps a steady grin on his face makes me happy inside. Everything has changed since then. I distinctly remember calling him an asshole in that very park. The little lunch date turned out to be a moment of clarification for me. It would seem that Mr. Hale either bamboozled us all or just me. I wanted to clarify a few things with him as the car ride would somewhat be extended by the traffic ahead.
"When you first found out it was me in that chat what were you trying to accomplish?"
Mr. Hale runs a hand through his hair before he answers. "I don't really know what I was trying to accomplish. I honestly believe that I just missed having the company of someone. It had been different for me to even use a social website to seek company. When you have done so many things and have friends in which you spend thousands of dollars on lavish vacations it seems to get dull after a while." He explains.
This is a first for Mr. Hale. Confusion. Loneliness had been his ally for the longest time that even socializing became difficult for him. I considered the loneliness and confusion to lead to his aloof actions to which made me realize that Mr. Hale closed himself off not only to the world but himself as well. Central Park seemed to run forever which makes me abruptly decide to open the vehicle door and step outside.
"Ellie! What are you doing!?" An alarmed Mr. Hale calls out.
I smile from the other side of the SUV. "Indulge me, Sir," I playfully flirt urging him to come outside of the vehicle.
Mr. Hale follows my lead as I take his hand we walk through the busy traffic across to Central Park. "You really know how to take a man for a surprise," Mr. Hale comments as we stroll down the concrete path where the bicyclist, mothers, avid marathon competitors, and more appeared. The traffic in the park seemed to make a traffic jam look mildly empty. I didn't realize how crowded it would be.
"Would you like to have a hot dog with me, Sir?"
"I'm loving you calling me that."
"I bet you do."
We stop in our tracks as his thumb rubs over my bottom lip. I realize that I had been biting down on my bottom lip. "I want that lip in my mouth," he whispers softly staring into my eyes.
"I want you in my mouth."
Before I've realized what I said it comes out seductively and invites him in for more. "First we have this hot dog, we buy your phone, and then I will take you up on that offer, ma'am." He states placing a soft kiss on my lips.
Relationship. Check.
Using the "girlfriend" title. Check.
Public Display of Affection. Check.
There had been multiple signs of his commitment to this relationship. It made me proud to call him mine. Mr. Hale trying to contain himself is quite entertaining as I soon find out what a determined man he is. We have out the hot dog as promised which never tasted more satisfying in my life. The last couple of days have been expensive dining at restaurants I haven't even heard of except for the exception to Pheobe's.
The Apple store is crowded with people trying out the different technology. I heard that Apple had integrated with Mr. Hale on one of the products before. It was apparent considering the manager of the store knew Mr. Hale by name. I had a wealthy and semi-famous boyfriend. What's a girl to do? I sigh softly to myself considering that I hadn't been lucky.
I had been blessed.
Once at the register I notice two of the newest iPhone's in which he paid for outright no doubt. I didn't him spending his money as he pleased but somehow buying expensive gifts such as these always made me feel as if I had nothing to bring to the table. "I am going to pay you back. This phone is expensive, Mr. Hale," I sputtered.
"Ellie, I spend my money how I see fit. This is what I want to get you."
I had been contemplating if I wanted to counter the argument but decided best if I didn't. Mr. Hale could be very demanding sometimes and I did not want to ruin our day arguing over money. I hated the concept of the dollar bill. It seemed to cause so many issues when I was younger that I vowed never to disagree over money or have it cause such a major issue in my relationship whether it was a friend, family member, or significant other.
The Apple employee makes sure he is attentive to all of Mr. Hale's technical questions to which I am lost in. While everything was being set up before me I stroll over to the iMac computer to play around on Safari. I search Mr. Dalton's name on Google to occupy my time. A few searches come up in which I browse through most of the websites. It took a few clicks before I finally found a website in which is titled Paragon.
Mr. Dalton had been an owner of a few businesses as well as multiple clubs throughout the United States. The website doesn't show the club Paragon though which makes me think that I wouldn't be able to find this club through extensive research and more by word of mouth.
"You aren't going to find it there," Mr. Hale's voice chimes into my ear which startles me slightly.
A jump and gasp immediately follow behind my racing heartbeat. "Shit," I blurted and immediately cover my mouth. "I apologize."
Mr. Hale is happy with himself as he smiles. He reaches around me to scroll down the website in which has Mr. Dalton's cover page. "Mr. Vasquez designed this website for him," he comments looking back at me. "He is aware of the club, but declined the membership." He adds.
"Why?"
"Because he is an intelligent man."
"You are intelligent, Mr. Hale."
He deletes the browser history and closes out the Safari window. "Let's go," he nudges his head towards the exit.
I find myself thinking more about Mr. Hale's comment as we head back to his loft. Every time he says something questionable I want to implore him for more information as I seek to fix all of his problems, but it's becoming of me to feel helpless for he's a grown man who makes all the decisions for everyone. "You do know that you are an amazing man," I compliment him.
He turns his head to make eye contact with me. "Thank you," he says softly.
My hands creep over his suit pants up to his thighs where I gently squeeze. "Don't start what you don't intend on finishing, Miss Donovan." His words sound more like a promise.
"I intend on finishing everything I start.... Sir."