Mirage - Alice Tribue Page 0,46
comes up behind me, placing the sugar on the counter using his body to cage me in.
“Are you better?” he questions quietly, his lips barely grazing my earlobe.
I answer honestly. “Little bit.”
He takes a step back, giving me space, resting his hip on the counter.
“Is there anything I can do to help?”
I take a sip of my coffee before responding with a smile. “No.”
“Why do I have the feeling that you’re not telling me the whole story, babe? I don’t want to push you, but I didn’t like seeing you like that last night. If there’s something I can do to help, if you’re in trouble and need help, I want to help you.”
His eyes are guarded, the warmth from earlier is marred by something more, an intensity that frightens me. I can’t wrap my brain around it; I don’t understand my reactions to him or his to me, but I desperately want to unload it all on him. Open my mouth and let it all come out, but he would never understand. Why ruin our relationship over something that will soon be part of my past?
“Please, don’t worry about me. I just care about my employees, all of them, and I felt bad for this young girl who had to go through this random act of violence and lose her baby. It took a toll on me seeing her hurting like that; I can only imagine what she must be feeling right now.”
He cocks his head to the side and takes me in, assessing my words, wondering if I’m lying or being honest. After coming to some sort of conclusion, he nods at me then starts pouring batter onto the griddle.
“Bacon’s done; pancakes will just be a few minutes.”
“Sounds great, thanks. I’ll get the plates.” My heart feels heavy, weighed down by the lies I tell. I feel trapped by them, and I have the sinking feeling that my carefully constructed life is about to come crumbling down around me. It’s almost inevitable, and for that reason, I need to end things as quickly as possible. I have to get out of this messy life I lead by whatever means necessary. It’s time.
***
“What am I going to tell them, Ivy?”
I can feel her eyes on me as I pace the circumference of my office. We’re in here because the new security, Rick, is out in the main office. And NDA or not, we don’t want to talk in front of him.
“You’re going to wear the rug out.” This makes me stop and glare at her.
“Happy now?”
“Yes.” She smiles sarcastically. “You tell them the truth. You’re closing your doors, moving on, game over.” She plops down into my leather chair dramatically with a very loud, obnoxious sigh. “Thanks for that, by the way.”
“You’ll be fine. You always are.”
“Yeah?” she questions, scrunching her nose. “Do I look like I’m set out to work a normal desk job? I’ll die if I’m stuck in an office inputting data and running reports.”
Like I said, dramatic.
“You’re better off at a desk job than you are behind bars, which is where we all could end up at some point. The bigger this service grows, the more dangerous it becomes. Besides, a desk job is not all that much different than what you do now.”
“They’d never be able to handle me.”
“I still have the spa to run, Ivy. Mirage is doing remarkably well, and I wasn’t kidding when I said I was looking to expand. You still have a job if you want it.”
She beams at me; her dazzling smile would bring any man to his knees.
“Of course, I want it, I just wasn’t sure…”
“You aren’t just my employee, all right, you’re my best friend. You are the most trustworthy person I know. You know all about me, everything I’ve done, and through it all, you’ve stood by me.”
“Because I believe in it. I believe in the reason for what you do. Right or wrong, you have done some good here. You have saved some girls here, and no one who knew your history would blame you for your choices.”
“Even Nathan?”
“Even Nathan. I think it would be a shock, but I think ultimately he would understand.”
Bullshit, I think to myself of what she’s just said, but I don’t say anything. I have too many other things to deal with right now. What to do about Brandon is one, and what to tell the girls who are currently waiting for me in the rarely used conference room