Boss Next Door

“Exactly. So, that’s what we will do. I will go now, but come back with a computer.”

We smile at one another, almost as if we are sharing a little secret with one another, and I can’t ignore the way that my heart flutters for this woman. Yep, it may well be crazy because we haven’t exactly known one another for a very long time, but we have also been through enough to last a lifetime, so I guess it makes sense as well. I have fallen in love, I am in love with this woman, she really is my everything. I need her back in my life for good.

But now isn’t the time, now is the time for me to go to the office and for Serena to spend some time with her mother. There is far too much drama in our lives at the moment and I think we need that to settle down before I can come back to her. Maybe it will happen naturally over time, or perhaps it won’t. I can’t push it anymore though. I need to take a step back and to allow things to happen as they will. There is nothing else I can do.

“Right, well I will see you later.” I give her an awkward wave. “Have a good time, okay?”

“Yep, and thanks again. This really does mean the world to me right now. I don’t know where we would be without you. I wouldn’t have been able to convince Mom to come here otherwise.”

I nod, understanding her completely, I get why this means everything to her right now because I really do understand her. She has peeled back the layers of herself and let me see her. She hasn’t ever had support like this, none of them have, and now I can be that for them for as long as they need me to.

Chapter 19 – Serena

“Has Will gone?” Mom asks me as soon as the door closes behind him. “Because if he has, I would like to have a talk with you.” She must have seen the horrified look on my face because she quickly laughs and rectifies herself. “Sorry, I didn’t mean that to sound quite so daunting. I just haven’t had a chance to speak to you about this yet.”

Mom takes a seat on Will’s couch and pats the chair beside her. I tentatively sit in it but I have to admit that I’m a bit shaken by the whole thing. Something about this feels nerve wracking, however much my mother tries to convince me otherwise. “What’s going on, Mom? You have a strange expression on your face.”

“What is going on with you and Will? And please don’t give me the ‘friends’ nonsense. And definitely don’t try and play me off with ‘he’s just my boss’ because I won’t buy it. I know you far too well for that. You might assume that I have always been distracted by David, and in a way you’re right because I was always on egg shells around him which made it very difficult to see anything else, but I have always seen you and I know that it’s more.”

I sigh loudly, knowing that I’m going to have to be honest with my mother now, however hard this is. “There was something between us, before I realized that he was my boss. When I assumed that he was just my neighbor we had a great time together. But then I walked in to my new job, and there he was in charge…”

“Wow, that must have been awkward.” Mom laughs and I think she can imagine the sight in her mind. I suppose if it wasn’t such a tragic heart shattering mess, it would be funny. “How did you get over that?”

“Well, I ended things right away because I thought that it would be a nightmare. Then…”

“He was the person that you called whilst in an emergency.” Mom’s expression softens. I’m transported back to the moment that I stood outside that stupid nightclub all desperate and in need. “And he was there for you. More than there for you. He not only gave you a ride, he took down David, he stayed with us and has now let us stay here.”

“You make it sound like he’s a hero.” I try to laugh, to make this less tense, but I can’t make it happen.

“He is a hero. And he is also madly in love with you. I can see it when he looks at you.”

I suck in a breath and hold it hard. I don’t think that I can let any more air into my lungs while the word love is floating around in the air. It might not have been Will who said it, but it was all linked to him.

“Oh, come on, Serena.” Mom rolls her eyes in my direction. “You must be able to see it too. The man adores you. And from the point of view of someone who has far too much experience with bad guys, I can assure you that yours is a good one. He is a wonderful man and you would be crazy to let him go.”