Misguided Heart

Thirty-Four

Aston

I was beginning to get restless waiting for Sloan to turn back up at the office. My stomach was in knots after having lunch with Nole. As good as it felt to reconnect with him, a part of me was pulling away. I knew what having Nole back in my life could mean, and I wasn’t ready to discuss anything with him.

My thoughts kept floating back to Sloan and I. What we had, or have, oh who knows what it was. I wanted more than anything to find out where this was all going, but something deep inside of me, didn’t know if he wanted the same from me. I paced across my office so many times, I was positive I was going to start wearing a hole in the carpet. When I finally had enough, I made my way over to Sloan’s office door.

Ariel, his assistant, caught sight of me and shook her head fiercely. “He’s not here, Ms. Boyd. He never came back from lunch. I’m sorry.”

“Are you sure he never came back?” I was pissed. His mood swings or lack there of, were making my head hurt.

“I’m positive.”

Just then her phone rang. I was about to head back to my office, but her tone of voice alerted me to who she was talking to.

“Is that him?” My voice came out strained and more irritated than I thought it would.

She shook her head back and forth, holding her finger up for me to be quiet. Who the hell did this little girl think she was dealing with?

“Yes Mr. Holden, she’s actually standing in front of me right now. Would you like to talk to her? Oh, okay. No, that’s fine. Do you know when you will be back in the office?”

There was a long pregnant pause and I was standing on the edge of my heels waiting to hear her response to whatever he was saying.

“Are you sure? Okay, I will see you after the weekend then. Have a good week Mr. Holden.”

I wanted to pounce on her the minute the phone slammed into its cradle, but instead, I waited with bated breath for the tiny girl in front of me to start speaking. I really didn’t want to have to force it out of her, but that’s exactly what I was going to do. “So?”

“He says he won’t be back in the office until Monday.” Ariel prattled about her little space, moving papers, filing some of them and then reaching for her purse. “He gave me the rest of the week off, paid.”

“What the fu-”

“Ms. Boyd, how are we doing this afternoon?”

Shit!

“I’m doing great Mr. Holden and yourself?”

“Oh you know, busy trying to get my son to concentrate on work.” He let out a throaty laugh before he continued. “I just wanted to give you this in person.”

I reached for the silver envelope he held in his outstretched hand. I wrinkled my eyebrows in confusion. “What is this?”

“The company is having a huge party to celebrate the opening of our new offices in New York. The party is this weekend. I hope you can make it?”

Ugh, seriously?

I absolutely loathed company parties. Maybe, it was because I always ended up going alone. I plastered a fake smile on my face, as Mr. Holden sat back waiting for my response. “Of course, I’ll be there. I wouldn’t miss it for the world.”

“Fantastic.” His hand was on my wrist as he leaned in to whisper something in my ear. “Please make sure my son is there as well Ms. Boyd.” He pulled back with a smirk lurking around the corners of his lips.

I stood back in complete and utter shock. For all of this hiding and sneaking around, I would have thought for sure his father hadn’t been paying enough attention to know what we were doing.

“Will do, Sir.” I gave a small wave as he disappeared around the corner.

Well, as much as Sloan was obviously avoiding me, he was going to have no choice but to talk to me now. I made my way back to my office, praying the rest of the day would go by at lightening speed. Annie tried to get my attention, but I halted her mid-stride as I slammed my door behind me.

This day was turning to shit!

I plopped myself down in my chair and spun around, looking at the dusty Phoenix skyline. I let my head fall back against the headrest and closed my eyes. Just as my heart rate began to slow and relaxation started sinking in, my cell phone started ringing from my purse. As much as I didn’t want to answer it, I was secretly hoping it was Sloan.

I jammed my hand down into the inside pocket and retrieved my phone. When I saw Nole’s name across the screen, I got a little bit excited. “Hey there, didn’t we just see each other?”

“We did, but I just wanted to warn you.”

“About what?”

“The huge arrangement you should be receiving shortly.”

“Nole, what did you do?”

“Have a wonderful rest of the day, sweetheart. I’ll talk to you soon.”

Before I could respond, the line went dead. I sat my phone on the corner of my desk and dropped my head down onto my arm. For the next half hour, I prayed and willed my phone to ring with Sloan’s name showing, but it never happened. As I picked up my last manuscript of the day, there was a small knock on my door. My heart leapt into my throat with excitement, but slowly deflated as Annie’s head popped through the small crack.

“Ms. Boyd there’s a delivery here for you.”

“Okay, send it in.” I waved my hand and went back to the thick stack of paper in my hands. A huge bouquet of roses caught my eye, followed by another and then another. Ten dozen roses sat randomly around my office. Every inch of surface was covered in vases full of pink, violet, yellow, white and red. A smile threatened to touch the edge of my mouth, but vanished as I searched for the card that came along with them. My hopes were high and pulling for Sloan. I was giddy and bouncing on the balls of my feet as I read the card out loud.

“For all the years I missed. Loving you forever, Nole.”

My smile faded and fell as my hopes were deflated, only to be renewed with a new sense of hope. Maybe Nole really had changed. With Sloan acting like an arrogant ass, I guess it wouldn’t hurt to explore what Nole had to offer.