“I heard you blatantly used cash as an incentive if a woman said no. Not that you paid them cash, but you let them know you could buy them for the night,” he continued.
“Jeez, I can’t believe I was like that. Where did you hear that from?” I asked.
“Everyone at the office for starters, they have all seen how you bought your way into people’s lives.” Sadness rose inside of me due to the revelations.
“That explains it. I thought they all looked at me a bit strangely. I just thought it was because I had been away. They probably thought douche number one is back in town.” We both laughed at my comment.
“Do you think Kendall knows this?” I said as I questioned Peter.
“Probably. I’d already told her before she heard it from the staff,” he replied with a chuckle.
“A fine brother you are, just ruin my chances with a fine woman like that. Shit, and I have asked her to dinner!” I said as I threw up my arms.
“She’s much smarter than that, she knows about the accident and everything,” he replied. “You will be fine.”
“I was starting to think my own brother was letting me believe I was a complete asshole, who cared for no one other than himself,” I said as I placed my hand on his arm.
"You would have found out at some point, better sooner rather than later.”
I sat there disgusted, not angry, just disgusted. It sounded like I had alienated myself from everyone, even my own brother, yet he had put it behind him, or at least accepted it because of the accident. I could only blame myself, and maybe the accident was the best thing that could have happened to me.
When we arrived back at my ridiculously opulent house, I felt alone.
“You gonna be okay?” he said with a look of concern.
“Yeah, I’ll be fine, I got your number if I have a panic attack or something,” I replied as I laughed in sarcasm. “Now go and do your thing.”
“I’ll see you later. Just call if you need me,” he said as he waved me goodbye.
I entered the house and sat for a while, I had just gone back to the of
fice and had asked the first girl I had met out on a date; was this my old self? Surely, I would remember or have acted differently.
I decided to check my closet and see what I had to wear. It was for tomorrow but, at least I would have plenty of time. I walked into my closet and started to rummage through my clothes. I had to choose something casual. I didn’t want to look too flashy.
I spotted some plain shirts and trousers. They gave off no signs of being overly expensive. I thought they would be ideal. I looked at the watches I had collected, I guessed all of them were worth more than 10 grand each, apart from one, this had an old leather strap, the buckle had forged a dent into the leather where it had obviously sat for years. I wondered where this had come from, had it been my dad’s?
I had chosen my clothes and had become a little overwhelmed at the day’s events. I laid on the bed and thought about my upcoming date with Kendall. The thought suddenly hit me, I had no idea what it was like to be in the company of a woman, how would I act and what would I talk about? All my interests and things to say had gone. I had no experiences to fall back on. It would be like my first date ever.
I closed my eyes and tried to think of all the things that could go wrong, surely it would be a disaster and I would put my foot in it, or maybe she knew too much of my past and held that against me. Would she think she was having dinner with the boss who expects to sleep with her? Oh God, I thought, had I really done the right thing or had I spoken too soon?
I thought of doom and gloom for the date, it sounded like I had ruined it before it had even started, but then I realized, I started to panic, and the brother who Peter described had no sign of panic, he just bought his way out of a situation.
I closed my eyes and tried to cancel out the thoughts of my date, I suddenly started to doze and fell into sleep.
***
My body jolted as I woke up, my heart raced, and I was covered in sweat, not just sweat from the heat; all of my clothes were soaked. I had a vision of a man in my mind. It was Dad, it wasn’t a dream, it was just an image, an image of him looking down at me. I stood, and the room started to spin, and my vision became blurred, I continued to sweat and felt faint.
Something was very wrong.
Chapter Fourteen
Kendall
I exited the shower and stood looking into my closet. I had no idea what to wear. Should I opt for sexy or power dressing? I mean what would Elijah be expecting me to wear for our date? It was a business date I found myself thinking.
Bo was sat on the bed, he ended up being my go-to sounding board when I had hard clothing decisions to make, he had a good eye for fashion and had never let me down, so I had led myself to believe.