Nicolai:
The rest of the previous night went by fast and somehow we were on our to way to work the next morning. I kiss her gently and we part as I leave.
I didn't bother to ask her about the Silas guy. I wanted her to tell me when she was ready, but there was a huge part of me that needed to know who he was now.
So much had gone on these last couple of days. Such a ridiculous amount of stuff shouldn't all happen in the time span of less than seventy eight hours-yet it had.
I get stuck in a mess of traffic which I was used to, but it wasn't something that I was keen on. I tap my fingers repeatedly on the steering wheel, and finally after what seems like hours-I reach the office.
Entering my floor, I get greeted by Scarlett who hands me a folder of information. "Sir, I have a few questions." I face her, "My first question is, have you decided on wether you'll be hiring Mr. Moore?" I remember back to a few days ago when I had interviewed the kid.
He seemed like he'd be a good asset to our company. "I have, yes." She smiles and writes this down. "Excellent. My next question is, will you be making the transaction for the Newman Brother's company today or tomorrow?", "Today, I want to close the deal with them as soon as possible." I say as I walk towards my office, she follows behind.
She writes this down too "Anything else?" I ask opening up my office door, she scans the paper and shakes her head. "No, sir." I nod and we part ways.
As I sit in my office chair, I pull out my phone and call Kirsten. "Hello?", "It's me. Look, I need your help with Tess' birthday present.", "You're her boyfriend...aren't you supposed to know what she likes." I'm shocked by her attitude.
"Kirsten?" , I hear her sigh "I'm sorry. It's been a long day. Fine, I'll help you but..." Her voice trails off. "What?" , "I don't know exactly what she likes." I find myself scuff. "You're her sister, how do you not know what she likes?" I put emphasis on the word you're. "Oh stop, her and I don't have as much in common as you might think."
"Interesting." There's silence. "Fine. I'll help you. On one condition." , "And what would that be?" , "You agree to hire a friend of mine to work for your company." And yet again, I'm shocked.
"Kirsten, I don't just go around hiring the next person that walks through my companies doors. There's a lot that goes into it." , "You hired my sister." I roll my eyes. "I never hired your sister. She was promoted a month before I even took on my current position." , "Would you have promoted her?" What was this? Quiz your sister's boyfriend?
"No." , "Why?" , "She's my girlfriend-just about everybody who works for me, knows of that. It would look like I was picking favorites." Silence again. "Could you at least consider it." I rub my temple. "Who is your friend?" , "Her name is Rachel Kelly." I write her name down. "I'll consider it."
"Thank you, she's been interested in your company for a while." My brow creases. "Why has she, herself not reached out to someone here to schedule an interview?", "I'm...um...not sure." I hear a dinging sound come from my laptop. "Kirsten, I need to go. I'll see you later." We hang up. That was an extremely odd conversation.
I respond to a few emails before taking a break to grab some coffee. As I stand in line at the Brew Stone cafe, I recognize a familiar voice. A blonde haired young woman turns around in front of me, "Oh-Mr...Mr. Piercy." She stutters as she looks at me and then at a brunette girl, most likely the same age-standing next to her.
"Miss. Conroy.", "Oh, please you can just call me Olivia." She brushes a strand of hair back behind her ear. I eye her and then her friend who was looking at her cup of coffee awkwardly.
Clearing my throat. "Caramel Espresso." The barista calls out, "Uh, that's me." I say taking the cup. "Thank you again for agreeing to do that interview." I rub my hand on the back of my neck. "It was no problem. Don't worry." The sound of my phone ringing interrupts our awkward conversation.
"I should take this. Good seeing you again." She bats her lashes and gives me a wide grin. "You too, Mr. Piercy." She and her friend leave and I answer my phone. "This is Piercy.", "Nick." , "I told you not to call me, Elias." , "Nick, no. It's important, please." I take a seat and sigh. "What do you want?" My tone is purely bitter.
"Nick...I need to explain this to you.", "You need to understand why I'm in contact with him.", "No Eli, you don't need to explain anything.", "Yes, I do. He needed somewhere to go and...", "And you went against everything you, mom, and I had discussed these last few months."
He's silent. "Well?", "Yes, I did. You're right." I shake my head. "I have to get back to work, goodbye Elias." I stand and walk out of the shop, "No, Nick-listen he threatened Gen and...he said that if I didn't comply with him then he'd threaten Tessa too.
He said that he'd hurt them." I stop walking and stand still on the sidewalk. "H-he threatened, Tessa?" , "Yes, please understand. I did this for them, I had no other choice." "He threatened her? Tessa?" I repeat myself, sounding like a record on a loop.
"Nick...", "That's it. This is between me and him now." I throw my coffee cup in a trash can with force and push past civilians. "Nick, no.", "Don't you dare try and fucking stop me, Eli." I find myself yell. "I'm calling the cops on him."
"What the hell are you going to tell them?", "I'm going to tell them to lock him up." I don't bother staying on the phone with Eli. Hanging up I get inside my office building and instead of taking the elevator up to my office, I take it down to the parking garage.
"This is Scarlett.", "Scarlett, reschedule my meeting at two for me." , "Oh, okay. What time would you like it to be changed to?" I tell her the time and hang up as I drive to the police station and walk inside. "Can I help you, sir?" A guy at the front of the building asks. "Yeah, I need to talk to one of your officers." He nods and radios for one. "If you'd like to sit right over there...it won't be very long." I sit on a silver bench that sits just underneath a wall of photos of officers.
A few moments later I see the same guy pointing at me, while an officer walks up to me. "Hi, I'm Officer Clark Whalen. What seems to be the problem?" I stand and greet him. "My name is Nick Piercy.
Could we discuss this somewhere a bit more...private?" He nods and we walk through a large office area, officers everywhere and back into an open office. He shuts the door and we both take a seat.
"My father...his name is Robert Piercy." The officer writes this down, "Go on.", "He's an alcoholic and he's unstable mess right now." , "He's threatened my girlfriend, as well as my brother's girlfriend." The officer nods and continues to write this down, then looks up at me.
"What were the threats that he made?", "My brother said that he threatened to hurt them." I say shrugging. "Where is your father living currently.", I give him Eli's address. "Are you in contact with him?", I scuff. "No, of course not...that bastard." He stares skeptically at me.
"Sorry.", "What are the current whereabouts of you and your brother's girlfriends? And what are their names?" , "Tessa Erickson and Genevieve Rodriguez." I tell him where Tess works and Genevieve's number. "Alright, Mr. Piercy, we will look into this. Would you like our officers to keep an eye on the two of them?"
Damn would Tessa throw a fit over that, "Yes." He nods and gives me a card with his name and information on it. "We will send an officer to your locations to check up on you." , "Thank you." I leave and get back outside. Could I have a day without drama?
~*~
Tessa:
I sit in my office chair, tapping my pen on my desk and trying to keep my eyes open. A knock comes at my door and I wave them in. "Question.", "Answer." I say to Naomi who sits across from me. "What do you want for your birthday.", "Nothing." She frowns. "God, is Nick going through this with you too?" I tilt my head and fold my arms. "Naomi you have known me for almost five years and you know I don't like getting gifts."
"Nope, I refuse. I'm getting you something." I watch as her hand reaches across my desk to grab a piece of the scone I had picked up from Starbucks-and eats it. "Sure, go ahead. I didn't want it that much." I say sarcastically, "Really coo-" I swat her hand back before she can make another move for it. "Fine, changing topics...how are things going with Nick and his cray cray family." , "Did you really just say cray cray?", "Yes, yes I did." I begin to play with my pen. "Things are still...complicated."
"Elaborate?", "His dad is still an issue, and yesterday I...", "Yesterday you what?".
"It's nothing.", "Tessa don't do that.", "Don't do what?" I say, Trying to avoid talking about personal things.", "It's not a personal thing."
"Yes it is." Why did she have to know me so well? I groan. "They're back.", "Who?" I don't say anything and it was at that moment that she knew. "Silas and Jordana?" I look away, an uneasy feeling running throughout my body. "Yes." , "Oh my god. Tessa."
"When? Why?" , "I don't know, they were at the event last night and..." I begin to break down. Naomi rushes over and throws her arms around me. "It's going to be alright." I hear the door creak open and we both look up to see Harold standing in the doorway, his eyes wide. "Oh-Oh no, I-I'm so sorry, I'm going." He trips over his words. "No, no it's fine. I'm fine." I gather myself and sit up, wiping at my tears.
"What's going on?" He clears his throat, his face is red. "Uh, I was just dropping these folders off." He says looking down as he hands me them. "Oh, thank you.", "Harold, come here." His face goes pale as Naomi calls him over to her. "If you breathe a word of this-" she motions to me.
"To anybody in the office, you will feel my wrath." She says in a whisper, however still audible. "Do you understand?", "Yes, yes of course." He says stammering. "Great, now get back out there buddy!" She says patting his back and ushering him out of the room.
"Nay." I'm shocked. "What? I'm just looking out for you.", "Okay, now let's discuss...how are we going to get the two of them out of here?" I inhale deeply and then exhale. "I don't know...I can't go through this again.", "Have you told Nick?", I shake my head.
"He'd flip shit." Naomi seems to think about that and looks to agree. "Tessa, maybe Nick going off on them wouldn't be such a horrible idea.", "Naomi, the two of them ruined my entire high school career and black mailed me...for no fucking reason." She sinks into her seat. "I know." Her tone is soft yet sad.
"I went the last two years of high school afraid to even come to school. They got the entire school to think I was a slut and a drug addict.", "I constantly got texts from people that I didn't even know, calling me a whore and a bitch.", "And I wasn't the only one, they pushed Hayley over the edge...she took her own life because of them! I lost my best friend because of them." I break down again.
These memories flooded back to me at an overwhelming rate. The looks people gave me each time I walked down those halls. The things they called me. Then there was Hayley Reynolds.
My best friend since I was three. We did everything together, we always joked that we were separated at birth; the two of us had got mistaken as twins by just about everyone we met.
However, Jordana never liked us, we never knew why...and it wasn't long until she got her brother Silas to feel the same way. They degraded Hayley and I for years, and it was during our last year in high school when Hayley couldn't take the torment anymore.
I find myself shaking and Naomi's hands on both sides of my face, I begin to hyperventilate. "Tessa, Tess look at me. You're okay. You-" I don't hear Naomi speaking anymore and I feel her hands leave my face as arms consume me.
I open my eyes and realize my head is rested against someone's chest, "I'm here. You're fine now. I'm here." Tears run down my face when I recognize that voice. "Oh my god." My arms stay firmly around their body. Their thumb runs underneath my eye and on my cheek wiping the tears away. "You're okay, you're fine.", Nick looks at me, Naomi stands behind him and I see a few of my employees staring at us through the open office door.
"Tessa." Naomi's voice is soft. Still holding onto Nick, I extend my right hand out for her, behind him. She holds it. He kisses the top of my head and inhales, resting his jaw there now. "Come on, we're going home." His voice is low. I don't want to let go of him, he holds my hand as he grabs my stuff and drapes my coat over my shoulders.
We climb into the elevator and Naomi gives me a warm smile as the doors shut on Nick and I. I rest my head against his shoulder. "What are you doing here?" , "They arrested him." He says softly. "What?" I ask between sniffles. "I went to the police station and they were going to originally keep an eye on Robert but they arrested him a few minutes ago."
"I came here to tell you that.", I let go of the breath I was holding. He's out of our lives. Was this real? "He's gone?" I say in slight shock. "It's done, we don't have to worry about him anymore." His arm wraps around my waist again and he kisses my forehead. After my break down just a few moments ago, this news was solace to me.
"What did they arrest him for?", "He was arrested on accounts of two things. Drunk an disorderly conduct and when the cops got to him, he was trying to attack Gen-they got there just in time."
I didn't know what to think or do, but boy was I glad that it was over with him.
"Maybe it's not so bad that we're always comforting one an another." I say sniffling again. He smiles. "Maybe you're right. I...in fact like it. Hell I wouldn't be doing my job as as a boyfriend if I didn't...protect you. If I wasn't there for you." I take his words in.
He always was doing that, wasn't he? I kiss his cheek and nuzzle into him again. "Let's go home." And with that, we're outside and in his car, driving through the traffic. He turns on the radio and the song Beating Heart comes on. My eyes shoot to look at it.
This song, it brought back memories. Positive ones this time. I could use these memories. I sink into my seat and smile, he reaches over and grasps my left hand, kissing my knuckles.