Into the Darkness

“Hey, Charlie.” Eric peaked his head through my door. “There’s someone here to see you.”

Who now, I wondered. As I stood up, Julian walked into the room. Oh, fuck. I hadn’t seen him since movie-night and since then I had fucked Lex more times than I cared to count.

“Hey, Gorgeous. I was starting to think you had disappeared.” He walked over to me and grabbed my waist. Pulling me into his arms, he placed his lips on mine. I kissed him back, an uneasy feeling washing over me. Something felt off.

“Sorry, Julian. Work has literally kicked my butt all week.”

“I see. I know there’s something I would like to do to that butt,” he teased as he placed his hands on my butt, caressing it slowly.

I pulled his hands off. “Mr. Baker, this is a professional environment. Plus, Eric is known for barging in,” I lied and almost instantly questioned what made me do it.

“Fine, but later you’re mine.” He winked. “I brought something for you.”

He placed a white shirtbox with a red bow in front of me. I looked up at him, curious as to what was inside. He motioned for me to open it and I did, stunned by what was inside.

“We haven’t spoken about the actual wedding plans,” he said, his eyes watching my reaction. I smiled, because I was afraid that with one look and he would know what I had done. I pulled the bridal magazines out of the box. My stomach felt queasy, the reality hitting me hard as I watched my hands shake slightly as I held the magazines.

“So much to organize…” I trailed off.

“We can always hire a wedding coordinator, however that would be a disappointment to my mother.”

“Your mother?” I asked nervously.

“Yes, she is dying to meet you. She’ll be traveling through New York in three weeks on her way to some sort of book convention.”

“As in, erotic romances?” I was trying my best to push away how awkward this conversation was. I had never met his mother. This was a big fucking deal.

“Thanks for the visual.” He laughed. “So a little birdie reminded me it’s your birthday on Saturday.”

“Little birdie has a big mouth. Yes, it is.”

“Any plans?” he asked curiously.

“Big-mouth birdie said he is taking me out to dinner. You’re welcome to join us,” I offered.

“I’m sorry, I have an important function to attend however I’ll join you after dinner, plus I’m free for breakfast on Sunday morning. Preferably in bed.”

“Oh, Batman, you sure know how to use those cheesy lines.”

“Hey, Batman resents that!” He kissed me goodbye, promising me he would call me tonight when I was done with work.

As he left the room, I breathed a sigh of relief. What the hell was I doing? These were not the actions of a sane person, so far from it. I sat down in my chair opened a magazine, casually flicking through the pages. Not an ounce of excitement stirred in me. Surely my bridezilla gene was supposed to kick in by now? I sat there almost numb—almost. The Valentino gown was literally to die for.

I was reading an article on the do’s and don’ts of wedding planning when a loud sound startled me. The commotion came from my doorway where Lex stood, and an extremely panic-stricken Eric and Emma stood behind him trying to catch their breaths.

“I’m sorry…” Eric said as he struggled to breathe.

“It’s OK, Eric,” I replied as I stood up.

Lex caught sight of what I was doing, forcing Eric and Emma to scurry away like two timid dogs.

“You have no right just barging into my office like this,” I said, trying my best to speak in a flat tone but the anger was all built up, ready to bite his head off and give him an earful about workplace protocol.

“What do you expect? You won't talk me, but you talk to everyone else. In fact you forgave everyone else but not me. Why?” he asked, exasperated.

What the hell was he talking about? “Excuse me?”

r />