“How fucking freaky is this whole thing?”
“You haven’t heard the freakiest part yet.” I bit down on my bottom lip.
“Oh my God, tell me.”
“The apartment I’m renting is his old apartment. He’s my freaking landlord.”
“Shut the fuck up! You’re lying.”
“I swear on my grandmother’s grave.” I held up two fingers.
His jaw dropped and he was speechless. “Okay, Jill, this is all too weird. Like crazy universe shit weird.”
“I know, right? Anyway, I have something to tell you.” My light mood turned somber.
“What’s wrong?”
“The chemo and radiation hasn’t helped Kristen and the cancer has spread. She’s dying, Kel. The doctors gave her six to nine months.” Tears filled my eyes.
“Jesus, Jill. I’m so sorry. I can be on the next flight to New York.”
“It’s okay. Just come this weekend like planned. I know with work and everything, it’s hard.”
“Fuck. Are you okay? Of course you’re not. That was a stupid question.”
“I’m hanging in there. In fact, I’m getting ready to head to the hospital.”
“All right, go. I’ll talk to you later and I want to hear all about Hawaii guy. I thought you said you’re in a man-free zone. I knew it wouldn’t last.” He smirked.
“I’ll be honest with you, Kel. I don’t know what the fuck I’m doing. My head has so much shit going through it right now.”
“Maybe you need to go talk to a shrink or something.”
“Maybe I do. I’ll talk to you later.” I blew him a kiss.
“Bye, Bean.”
Kellan was right. Maybe I did need to talk to someone. Grabbing my phone from the counter, I sent Noah a text message.
“Morning. When is Kristen being released?”
“Morning, Jill. We’re on our way home now. She wants to see you.”
“Tell her I’m on my way.”
Chapter Twenty-Three
Drew
As I stepped into the conference room, Harrison and Lance both glared at me.
“You’re late, Drew. You know how I hate to be kept waiting,” Harrison spoke.
No one and nothing was going to ruin my good mood today.
“Well, Harrison, some things are worth being late for.” I smirked as I took a seat across from him.
“Is that so? Then maybe there’s another company out there that would respect my time and the contract to my new software program.”
I sighed. “If that’s how you feel, then you’re free to leave.”
“Hold up a second,” Lance interjected and shot me a look.
Harrison narrowed his eyes as he stared at me. Or should I say glared at me.
“I’m serious, Harrison. If me being late has you all hot and bothered, then maybe you should find another company for your software. But I will tell you this; you came to us for a reason. This is my company and I decide whom I want to do business with, and right now, I don’t care for your attitude. You think your software is unique? I can find someone else with something just as good, so it’s no skin off my back.”
“Drew!” Lance snapped.
Harrison sat there, contemplating his next words.
“You know what, Drew, I like you. You have balls and balls is what I need for my company. So let’s get started, shall we?”
After our meeting ended and the contracts were signed, I shook Harrison’s hand and walked him to the door.
“What the fuck was that all about?” Lance asked. “And why were you late?”
“She’s here.” I smiled as I grabbed the contracts and headed back to my office.
“Who’s here?” Lance asked as he followed behind.
“Jillian. The girl I met on the plane and spent some time with in Hawaii.”
“Huh? She’s here in New York?”
“Yes. We ran into each other yesterday on the street. We had lunch, talked, did some shopping, and I don’t think I need to tell you what happened next.”
“So you were late because you had sex with her this morning?”
“Yep.” I took a seat behind my desk.
“Okay.” He nodded his head. “That’s a damn good excuse for being late. So now what? Are you two officially dating?”
“I don’t know, to be honest. Remember I told you she was on that self-discovery journey? We hadn’t talked about what happens next. She just found out yesterday that her sister is dying.”
“Man, that sucks.” He looked at his watch. “But what matters is that you were reunited with her. You’re Drew Westbrook and you always get what you want. Remember that. I have to go. I have that meeting with the tech department. I’ll fill you in later.”
After he walked out of my office, my phone pinged with a text message from Jane.
“Mr. Drew. You didn’t sleep in your bed last night and you weren’t home this morning. I’m dying to know why you were going to look at dishes.”
I couldn’t help but laugh.
“I’ll fill you in when I get home. I promise.”
“You better.”
I was happy. Actually, I was fan-fucking-tastic. I didn’t know if I’d ever felt so good. Having her here in New York, in my apartment, was euphoric to me. I had missed her so much and I worried about her being out in the world all alone. But now, she no longer had to be alone and I was going to make sure she wasn’t.
****