Unspoken - Sandi Lynn Page 0,1

time I turned thirty if I were to step into the position of CEO of Walker Capital. My father was thirty and married to my mother when he took over the company from my grandfather, and he expected the same from me. Ever since my sister died, I felt it was my obligation to be the perfect and obedient son. Life had already let them down and I wasn’t going to be the reason it happened again. I never got into trouble, I studied hard in school, and I graduated at the top of my class from Yale.

I’d dated a variety of women over the years. But for me it was just about the sex and having a good time. My work was my focus and running the family business was my legacy. I didn’t need a good woman by my side to do that. I wasn’t a believer in true love even though my parents seemed to have it. But did they? Or were they just good actors for the sake of the Walker name. Who the hell knew? I came from a powerful family where status meant everything.

Kirsten’s family owned a quantity of high-end department stores around the country. Higher end than Bergdorf Goodman and Saks Fifth Avenue. She was a Columbia graduate and a buyer for the company. My father met her father ten years ago at a global business event and they had been friends ever since. Since I was single and she was newly single, our parents deemed it a good idea we met. According to my parents, she was the perfect woman for me, and she would fit perfectly within our little family. But I wasn’t happy. I hadn’t been in a long time and marriage wouldn’t change that. In fact, it would only make things worse.

Chapter 2

Two Weeks Later

Henry

Since my fridge was empty, I was out of coffee, and my housekeeper, Delilah, was on vacation, I left the office early and stopped at the grocery store. I was almost finished shopping when I forgot to pick up some fresh spinach. So, I turned the cart around and headed back to the produce department. Between all the people in that section, a big cardboard box display filled with guacamole mix, and a cart in the middle of the aisle, I couldn’t get through.

“Excuse me,” I spoke to the woman standing there looking at the apples.

“Excuse me.” I sighed as she wasn’t turning around or moving her cart.

“Excuse me,” I asked one last time. “What the fuck,” I mumbled under my breath as I placed my hands on her cart and moved it, hitting the edge of the display of apples. The top row started to tumble causing a domino effect, and the apples started to fall to the ground.

“Oh shit,” I said.

The woman placed her hands on the tumbling apples as I placed mine next to hers out of panic to try and stop them. The moment she turned her head and looked at me with her beautiful green eyes, I was speechless.

“I’m sorry,” I spoke as we both tried to stop more apples from falling. “Your cart was in the way, and I couldn’t get through. I was asking you to excuse me, so I moved your cart myself. Obviously, I used a little too much force.” The corners of my mouth curved upward.

She stared at me for a moment and then brought her index finger up to her ear and then down to her lips. I cocked my head at her for I knew what that meant.

“Are you deaf?” I signed.

A bright smile crossed her face.

“Yes,” she signed as she nodded her head. “You too?” She pointed at me.

“No. But I do know sign language.”

We both bent down to pick up the apples from the ground.

“I’m sorry I left my cart in the way,” she signed.

“Please. You have nothing to be sorry for. Do you read lips?” I signed.

“Yes.” she nodded as a beautiful smile graced her face.

We finished picking up the apples and I felt compelled to introduce myself.

“My name is Henry,” I finger-spelled my name.

“Ellie.”

“It’s nice to meet you, Ellie,” I signed and then held out my hand to her.

“It’s nice to meet you too, Henry.” She placed her hand in mine.

She glanced over at my cart and then back at me with a grin across her face.

“You can tell a lot about a guy by the food he buys,” she signed.

“All good I hope.”

“Yes,” she signed. “All good.”

I let