“Oh I intend to,” I reply.
I sound more determined to do that than I feel. Chance’s words hit me hard. I should be glad to realise that Kimberley will be as happy to avoid me as I am to avoid her, but I’m not. The notion causes a lump to form in my stomach. God how did we fuck things up quite so spectacularly?
“Well if you’re sure you’re ok, I’ll let you go. I’ve got a mountain of paperwork to get through and I’ve got a couple of meetings lined up this afternoon. And then tonight, I have a dinner booked with a potential new client,” Chance says.
“Jeez Chance take a day off. The world won’t stop turning you know,” I say.
Chance laughs.
“You’re funny Seb. I’m glad you haven’t lost your sense of humour.”
He hangs up before I can explain that it wasn’t a joke. Chance is a complete workaholic. Even my father, another workaholic, comments on how much work Chance does and the amount of hours he puts in. Don’t get me wrong, I love my job, and I work way more than my fair share of hours, but Chance is on another level. Work is his entire life.
I turn back to my computer, but I already know I’m not in the right frame of mind for this. I knew it the moment I fired the thing up, but I finally allow myself to admit it. I decide to take the advice I gave Chance. I finish my coffee and put the cup in my desk bin and then I stand up and leave the office.
“I’m taking the rest of the day off,” I tell Bernie. “Can you reschedule my two o’clock. Hold my calls unless it’s to do with the Benton merger.”
“Got it,” Bernie says. She looks at me critically, assessing me. “You look like you need a day off. Go home and get some sleep. Just looking at you is making me feel tired.”
“You know, you’re enough to give a guy a complex,” I laugh.
“What can I say? Honesty is my middle name,” she replies.
“Yeah I get that. Maybe you should aim for tact instead,” I say.
“If you wanted tactful, you’d hire a Sheila,” she winks.
I can’t argue with that any more than I can face another minute in this suddenly too hot building. I throw Bernie a wave and hurry away.
Chapter Three
Sebastian
I’ve spent as little time at the office as I can this last week. In fact, I’ve spent as little time as I can anywhere but in my own house. I haven’t neglected the details of the merger. Everything is coming along nicely and I’ve been working on the financial side of it all from home. One thing I am sure of is that this is a great investment and I’m not going to let my crankiness affect the deal.
As much as I’ve tried to tell myself my recent state of apathy has nothing to do with Kimberley, I don’t really believe it. I mean I am over her; how could I not be after four years? But her name still has power over me. And I fucking hate that.
I’ve tried my best to keep her as far away from my mind as possible, so if anything, I’ve actually gotten through more work than I usually would have. I’ve not only been working on the Benton merger, I’ve also been doing some research for our next acquisition and I’ve found several good candidates. I’ve spent my so called spare time researching the firms and getting deep into their books.
Kimberley has still been a constant feature in my thoughts the second I step away from my laptop though. As much as I don’t want to see her and drag open old wounds, I can’t help but wonder why she has made the effort to see both Matt and Chance but not me.
Chance called me last Thursday to tell me that he had spoken to Kimberley. She’d called him and asked him to meet up with her for coffee. While there, she told him she’d grabbed a coffee with Matt too. That irritated me more than anything. Matt had implied him seeing Kimberley had been a chance encounter. I know he kept the rest a secret to save my feelings; even though he enjoyed winding me up, he didn’t really want to hurt me, but I still would have liked the truth.
Chance pretty much confirmed what Matt had told me. Kimberley is hotter than ever.
It’s such a weird place I find myself in. On the one hand, Kimberley is the last person I want to see. Really. I don’t need a reminder of the past. It’s not like I could ever really forget it anyway. But at the same time, I’m finding it so fucking hard to function just knowing that she’s in town and hasn’t made any effort to reach out to me when she had no problems reaching out to both of my brothers.
I know I could call her, but to what end? To have her confirm in person that she doesn’t want to see me? She made that much clear by meeting up with my brothers and not sending me so much as a hey how are you text message.
Screw it. Screw her. I have an important meeting today and I can’t let her into my head again. Matt wasn’t kidding when he said the meetings would be starting early this week. It’s only Monday and the first meeting is happening in half an hour. I just want to pop up to my office and grab the last of the files.
I walk along the hallway and when Rachel, the sexy as fuck
