And there was Kelly…but that had been handled for the most part. Ever since I told her I knew she was a patient at Polly Heights, she’d kept her distance, but it didn’t stop her from calling or texting and asking if she could visit the office or my home. I never responded to any of them, hoping she’d eventually give up and disappear.
There was a tap on my door and I called for the person to come in. Cora trotted in with a manila folder in hand. “I have your contract for Monhagen ready to go,” she announced, meeting up to my desk and placing it on top of the piled paperwork. “Do you want me to get some of the others out of your way?” She looked at several of the signed papers spread across my desk. “Yes, please, but be sure to look over them for me, will you? My damn eyes are starting to cross with this new deal.”
She laughed, taking some of the papers. “Of course, sir. And new deals are a good thing.”
“I agree. Oh—before you go, can you clear my schedule for the rest of the day? I have someone to meet in two hours but I’m not sure how long I’ll be with them.”
“Sure. Would you like everything pushed to tomorrow, same times?”
“No. Let’s push everything to next week if we can. Important seminar, remember?”
Cora gave a quick nod, tucking the papers under her arms and leaving the office. I was stressed from it all, but I refused to let the stress get to me.
After failing to close the deal with Zheng, many of my investors began to draw back. To hold onto the few that still had hope in my business, I had to pull a few tricks out of my sleeve and make promises that I’d hoped would pay off.
For the most part, it had worked. I did what I had to do to keep my business afloat. Were the things I did fair? No. It caused me to lose a good chunk of money, but at the end of the day, it had to be done.
My phone buzzed as I pushed out of my chair, going for the carafe of coffee on the stand. After pouring myself a mug, I took a glance at the screen.
Kelly was calling. I hit the decline button, sipping the coffee and dropping in my seat again.
After signing off on a few papers, my phone buzzed again, but this time it was a text from Lora.
Lora: Since you won’t be here tomorrow, can I go to your place to use the hot tub and watch movies?
Me: I hardly ever use the hot tub, Lora. Have fun. But no bullshit.
Lora: Yeah, whatever. Ready for ur flight?
Me: Still can’t believe you got me into doing this shit.
Lora: Oh, shush. You’ll be thanking me later. I’m tired of your wallowing. Plus this is the perfect time to build back up and get what you want!
I shook my head, sipping my coffee. My eyes shifted over to the sofa by the window. It was the last place I’d shared with Kandy. I don’t know why I hadn’t gotten rid of the damn thing yet, considering it was from Kelly.
Funny thing was Mindy sent the flash drive to my office several weeks after my incident with Derek. I rolled it between my fingers, stared at it all day, before caving and plugging it in to watch it.
I could understand why D was so pissed. I’d fucked Kandy on that couch like my life depended on it. From any man’s perspective, it seemed I was hurting her, but truthfully, I was giving her my all, a piece of myself that no one else would ever have.
I hadn’t spoken to Kandy in weeks, and that alone tore me up inside. I avoided sharing phone calls and text messages with her because I knew it would only lead us to regrets, and she deserved more than that. I didn’t have it in me to give her false promises, so saying nothing was better. Still, I missed the hell out of her.
Hell, I missed the whole family, and maybe the decision I’d made a few days ago wasn’t a wise one, but it was happening. There was a chance it could fuck everything up and put me back at square one, but it had to be done.
Chapter Twenty-Three
KANDY
My phone buzzed constantly the day after the party, and even the day after that. It was a good thing it was the weekend. I had no reason to bump into Brody. No classes to go to and MPA meetings were only scheduled during the weekdays. Speaking of, I wasn’t looking forward to that following Monday. We had a meeting, and I was thinking about being a no-show.