I'm on edge.
I tried to keep myself busy during the past two weeks, just knowing that that annoying woman is currently roaming the streets of New York, is enough to have me in a jittery state. And if that isn't enough, I have no idea what to say to Riya after what happened that night. I haven't even been to the office since then, and I think she caught on to the fact that I needed some space, as she hasn't visited since.
That's alright though, her being out of sight gives me enough time to thoroughly think about what to say the next time I see her; which could be in the next three minutes or so. Leo being his usual self, has been keeping tabs on my attendance, screening the CEO's calls didn't do much good, as he flooded my work email with angry messages. It doesn't even make any sense for me to remind him that my work hours are actually flexible, somewhere in that thick head of his, is a vision of me running this company.
"...Mr. Palmer, I had no idea you were coming today..."
I sighed deeply as I looked at Neil, his purple velvet suit caught my eye, and once again I found myself wondering where in the world he buys his clothes.
"I'm only staying for two hours," I turned around in hopes of finding any sign of Riya, "any messages?"
The shuffling of papers brought my attention back to the secretary.
"Mr. Marshall sent a complimentary note, for the work the team has been doing with the Samsung collaboration project..."
I rolled my eyes, "...CEO Palmer says, and I quote, 'if Michael doesn't show up for work today, I'll inform HR to dock his pay'..."
I groaned softly, "remind me to go see him before I leave."
Neil nod his head as he made a note of my instructions.
"Oh, you have a visitor in your office," I raised my eyebrows, "she was here last week as well."
I blinked a few times, "when Miss Kim returns from wherever she is, tell her to not leave her office."
I instantly knew who this visitor is, I also know that there isn't anything of importance that she has to say to me, I thought she would've taken my advice and move on. Everything about Mrs. Doyle was bad for me; she could somehow sense that I was having a hard time back then, and instead of trying to help me, she played into my vices and used me. Like the idiot that I can be at times, I let myself be used as I drowned away my sorrows with bottles of alcohol.
"Mrs Doyle..."
She turned away from the floor-to-ceiling windows with a bright smile on her face, I my stare hardened as the middle-aged woman approached me, her dimpled cheeks stood prominent as she paused a few feet away from me.
"Michael Eaton," she sighed deeply as she looked around the office, "you've done well for yourself."
The strong scent of her expensive perfume surrounded us, and as it became too much for me to take, I quickly moved towards my desk and chair.
"Why are you here? In New York?"
She smiled softly at the questions then sat herself down on a chair before me.
"I came to a conference, a colleague of mine invited me to that gala, and to my surprise," she clapped her hands, "there you were!"
I nod my head, "I see," I sighed deeply, "so why have you come to my office?"
She shot me a look, "to visit one of my past-stellar student of course."
She leaned forward, and in doing so, exposed her cleavage.
"Mrs Doyle," I cleared my throat, "when I said we should part ways, I meant it. I didn't wish to be in contact with you, and I don't want to be anywhere near you."
I stood to my feet then walked over to the door.
"You were always like this," I paused, "callous, unfeeling, straightforward. That's why I'm so attracted to you," I turned around to face her, "my husband and I are divorced, two years now."
I stuffed my balled fists in my pockets, "why are you telling me this?"
She stood to her feet, "don't tell me you haven't thought about our time together," she took small steps towards me, "I have. Every, single, night. I want to feel you again Michael."
It took everything within me to not physically remove her from my presence.
"I'm not interested," her expression changed, "go back to Boston, where you belong."
"Is it because of her, that skinny Asian tramp?"
"Watch your mouth."
She recoiled at my tone but didn't back down.
"Is she even worthy of you? I can open even more doors for you, you can go beyond the shadow of your adoptive father-"
"Shut up," I grabbed onto her arm then quickly opened the door, "get the f**k out of my office."
I pushed her through the doors and she stumbled slightly.
"She'll never be able to handle the truth about you, no one will accept you with all your issues," her gaze softened as she looked at me, "only me. Remember that."
Luckily Neil seemed to be away from his desk so he missed our interaction.
"Michael?" Riya's voice filtered through the open space, "what's going on?"
I watched as she marched over to me, the opened door to her office, only proves that she was indeed waiting inside all this time.
"That woman was here all along? Is that why you told me to stay inside my office?"
"Grab your stuff."
She shot me an incredulous look, "no, stop ordering me around."
I massaged my temples as the small woman began to throw a tantrum.
"I can't believe that cougar-b*tch had the audacity to show up here after-"
"Riya," she paused at the sound of my tone, "get your things and let's go, I'm not f**king playing."
She quickly nod her head then hurried towards her office, I then proceeded to leave a message for Neil, instructing him that he can go home early today.
"Is it okay for me to leave like this?"
The soft tone of her voice caught my attention, her questioning eyes flashed me a worried look; and as I took in her appearance, I realized how much I had truly missed her these past few days. It wasn't a feeling which is synonymous to me craving her like I normally do, I just really wanted to hear her voice, see her smile, and I had wanted to hold her so badly. Why did I act like a coward?
Why am I still acting like a coward?
"...how rich are you?"
A few hours later Riya and I settled down in Leo's private jet as we prepared to take-off.
I flashed her a loopy smile, "why? Are you going to stay with me for the money?"
She slapped my arm, "that's not funny," I placed a kiss on her hand, "it's just that, people of a higher status normally get with people of a similar status."
I turned in my seat as I looked at her, "you watch too many TV dramas babe," she pouted, "if it makes you feel any better, I know every single thing about your family."
Her eyes widened, "I thought you stopped hacking."
I shrugged nonchalantly as the plane made its ascension.
"I know that your parents still live in that three bedroom house in Jeju Island, there's a lighthouse to the east, and your mother still does her daily catch," her eyes softened, "she should really take it easy with the diving, one hip replacement is enough, don't you think?"
I watched as her expression morphed from confusion to shock.
"Oh my God," she blinked rapidly, "before the fall semester of my second year, I thought I had to drop out because my parents had to take care of Mom's surgery fees..."
She ran her hands through her hair as the situation dawned on her.
"...Dad said a donor covered everything," she looked at me, "was that you?"
I remained silent but kept a smile on my face.
"And my brother's full-ride scholarship to Seoul University?"
I shrugged once more, "I don't know what you're talking about," I wiped a stray tear as it fell from her eye, "sounds to me like a case of probability."
She reached over and placed a swift kiss on my lips, "I love you," she kissed me once more, "and you drive me crazy."
I hummed in response, "we have about an hour and seven minutes," I raised my eyebrows suggestively, "got any ideas?"
She made a face as she picked up on the innuendo.
"I've never had s*x on a plane before," her gaze suddenly sharpened, "have you done it before?"
I cleared my throat as I leaned back in my seat, "forget it."
"How about car s*x?" I remained silent, "elevator s*x? Boat s*x?" she sighed deeply, "how s*xually active were you?"
I looked at her, "why do you need to know these things?"
She fiddled with her thumbs as she looked down at her lap.
"I'm worried, what if I'm boring? What if I'm not what you need?"
I unbuckled my seat-belt then quickly stood to my feet.
"Get up, and let's go," she flashed me a confused look, "maybe you need a reminder of how much I like being inside you."
With Riya now a new member of the Mile High Club, it seemed as if some of her worries were taken care of, I know for a fact that what she needs to hear are a few words from me. I keep telling myself that it's not that hard to express just how I feel, but no matter how I try to say the words, I can never get them out of my mouth.
But I'm trying as hard as I possibly can to be the person she wants me to be, but everything seems like a challenge lately. I just hope by the time I man up, Riya will still be around.
"C'mon Bourbon!" I shook my head at the two, "that's a good boy."
I frowned as I sat on the sofa, "stop talking to him like that," Bourbon barked happily, "why are you enjoying this? You do know that you're not a pet right?"
He barked once more while Riya giggled at the interaction.
"I'm surprised he seems to understand what you're saying," she got off the floor then sat beside me, "and if he wasn't a pet, you wouldn't take him everywhere with you."
I frowned, "I don't take him everywhere..."
"Let's see," she cast her eyes towards the ceiling, "two weeks ago you brought him to the office," I shrugged my shoulders, "and he's here with us now."
I sighed softly, "he's good company," I looked down at her feet, "did you seriously buy NASA themed socks?"
"Of course I did," she wriggled her toes happily, "thanks to my super-smart, NASA employee boyfriend, I got a personal tour that I'll never forget."
I smirked, "what part of the tour did you like?"
She scooted closer to me, "the part where we tested the sturdiness of your new desk."
My eyes followed the curves of her plump lips, then trailed back to her own eyes.
"Maybe the bed needs testing as well, I normally sleep on the sofa whenever I'm here."
She threw her head back as she laughed at the suggestion.
"As much as I'd love that, we do need to talk about something," I furrowed my eyebrows, "the project's almost done."
"Oh."
"I have to return to South Korea soon."
"I see," I rubbed the exposed flesh of her thigh comfortingly, "what are you going to do?"
She smiled softly, "I had applied for a transfer to the Samsung office in New York," she shrugged nonchalantly, "it got approved."
I sat up, "babe, why didn't you tell me about this?" I sighed deeply, "are you seriously going to leave everything behind? What about your family?"
"It's not like this is my first time living overseas," she stood to her feet in an agitated flash, "I thought you would be happy about this, or were you expecting me to just go back to Korea and not think about you anymore?"
"Look-"
"No Michael," she huffed, "I don't care what you say, I'm not letting you go again. I'm not going to allow you to push me away again, I won't stand for it."
"Riya I'm-"
"Nope," she interjected once more, "this isn't a one-man show, I want to know what it's like to wear the pants."
What the hell is she talking about now?
I watched as she stuffed her hand into the pocket of my basketball shorts that she assumed ownership of a few weeks ago. She pushed her tiny fist towards me and I stared at it in confusion, her chest heaved up-and-down as she stared at me with a hint of nervousness in her eyes.
"Riya, you're kinda scaring me."
In a flash, the petite Asian got down on one knee before me. My body froze up in an instant as she opened up her fist to reveal a small box, I blinked rapidly as I began to process the situation. Bourbon barked then made his way over to me, I guess with his acute hearing he picked up on the rapid thumping of my heart.
"Michael Palmer-Eaton..."
Oh God.
"...marry me."
The command pulled me away from the impending panic attack.
"What?" she stared at me, "hold on, you haven't even asked me, you're ordering me to marry you. Have you even asked for my father's permission?"
She stood to her feet, "I'm not joking," she took my right hand and swiftly placed the silver band on the appropriate finger, "I don't care how long it takes."
I looked down at the ring, "you're f**king crazy. Riya if you knew everything about me, you wouldn't even be doing this right now."
She crossed her arms, "I don't care, whatever it is that you're hiding won't drive me away. I want to be Mrs. Palmer-Eaton. If I wait around for you to pop the question then I'll probably die before it happens."
She sat beside me then took my hand in hers.
"Maybe I should be patient and wait, maybe I should hold out for a few more months," she kissed me on the lips, "but I've been in love with you since we were at Princeton, and I know you love me too. So don't worry about saying the words anymore."
"Riya, I-"
She placed a finger on my lips, "this is a second chance for us, and I won't let anything or anyone jeopardize that."
I nod my head in agreement, "when do you want to get married?"
She smiled, "I'm giving you two years to get accustomed to the engagement," she sighed dramatically, "I know impromptu plans drive you nuts."
I rolled my eyes at her, "whatever. Sam and Leo are going to freak out."
Her eyes widened, "is that a yes?"
I chewed on my bottom lip, "I guess it is."
A loud squeal followed by Riya throwing herself at me resulted in the two of us landing on the floor. When our eyes met, we erupted in a fit of giggles at the situation; and as we laid there on the floor with Bourbon curled up by our feet, I could somehow feel that for once things will turn out just the way I want them to.
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