“You were… my biggest mistake,” I whispered, leaving his office in a hurry to go to the meeting room. He was right on my heels, but thankfully didn’t make a scene.
The meeting was going well, thankfully Darren didn’t keep up his unnecessary comments.
Mr. Turner was planning on making a site with expensive apartments, expecting us to come up with eye-catching designs for exterior and interior. This was a high profit business and it was exciting experience for me.
“Okay… I’m not an architect and this work jargon would bore me to death if this lovely lady wasn’t here,” Mr. Turner said, winking at me.
“So… let’s sum it up. Kellan will design the buildings, the lovely lady Melody will take care of the interior design, I’m gonna pay whatever you will need to build those apartments, and my friend Darren will sell them all, make money for me. Right?” Mr. Turner continued, leaning back on his chair.
“Yeah, pretty much,” Kellan nodded.
“Great. I’m not an uptight man. I don’t get lost in the details, but I want to be sure everything is going the way it should. So, one of my guys need to be in here, to keep an eye on things,” Mr. Turner said, meaning business for the first time since the meeting started
.
“Well, your employee your decision. We can provide an office as long as you pay the salary,” Kellan shrugged.
“That’s a great idea, but I think I should keep an eye on things here, Mr. Turner,” Darren blurted.
“Hell no, you won’t keep an eye on anything,” Kellan snapped at him, but Darren clearly ignored him as he continued to convince Mr. Turner, “Since I’m the one who will sell these apartments, I think knowing every details will be the best for us, Mr. Turner.”
“Darren’s right, Kellan. He’ll stay. I think I have every right to decide who will keep an eye on my money’s work, right?” Mr. Turner said, daring Kellan to disagree. But I knew he wouldn’t.
“Fine… but he’ll stay till we finish the first drafts of the project, then he leaves,” Kellan said sternly.
“Okay. We’ll talk about that later,” Mr. Turner said, standing up to shake hands.
Darren followed him with an irritating smile on his face, “We’ll see each other tomorrow,” he said, leaving Kellan angry behind him.
“You will not work with that guy, Melody,” Kellan told me with certainty.
“Why is that, Mr. Hawke? He’ll sell those apartments, which means he will be more interested in interior design than anything else,” I dared him. I wasn’t looking forward to working with Darren, but I didn’t want Kellan to boss me around without a good reason.
“Fuck designs! He is interested in you! And you will not work with him,” he hissed, not caring that we weren’t alone in the room. I knew Brian and Emily could hear us.
“Be careful, Kellan. Someone will think you’re jealous,” I snapped, heading to my office.
Finally, Friday came to my rescue. At one corner, there was Darren with his irritating self. I didn’t know how I could bear him for a year, he was an A-class douchebag. On the other side, there was Kellan. He was unaffected by everything between us while I couldn’t even breathe easily.
I walked out of my office, heading to the terrace. It was raining outside. I took in the beautiful smell of earth, letting that natural scent calm me, soothe the pain inside me.
That was when I heard the distant ding of elevator door. Normally, I wouldn’t hear it, I knew I wouldn’t. But that day, I heard it. I had no explanation how, maybe I was listening too carefully, maybe it was always loud but I didn’t care any other times. I didn’t know, but with that sound I turned back to reality and decided to go to my office.
On my desk, the report of charity project was waiting for me. I needed to take it to Kellan for his approval, he wanted to see it in the morning and all I did was prolonging it. I knew sooner or later I had to do this. I considered giving it to Emily so she could get the approval for me, but she wasn’t at her desk.
Taking a deep breath I hugged the folder to my chest and knocked on Kellan’s door. I hated the way I knocked, it was so soft, so hesitant. Instead of repeating the action, I opened his door.
It was like a car crash –you could see it happening, but you couldn’t understand enough to stop or change the ultimate end. I was standing there, trying to understand what I was seeing as two people looked back at me.
The guy was sitting on the arm chair in front of his desk, the armchair I always sat on whenever I was in his office. The blonde girl was on her knees in front of him. Guy’s shirt was open, revealing his tattooed chest. Girl’s hand stopped on his crotch, her fingers wrapped around him through the layer of his boxers.
I was watching them, as an outsider, trying to understand everything. Time slowed.
“Melody,” he rasped.
That moment everything fell into place. The guy was Kellan, the man I fell in love in such a short time. The man that made me feel alive, wild, smart, beautiful, and wanted. And the girl in front of him surely wasn’t me.
A lump formed in my throat, I didn’t know if I breathed, but the pain… it suffocated me, consumed me. I tried to swallow. I reminded myself this was the same guy that told me I didn’t mean anything to him.