Secret Affairs

EIGHT

Sam and I had arrived a few days ago. I had been avoiding work and playing hooky since I’ve gotten back. There was no reason for me to go back.

Sam was right, I could start my own empire. And that was exactly what I was going to do, I just had to figure out what avenue I wanted to take. I couldn’t do that if I was still stressing over a company that didn’t want me. Finding something I was interested in would be difficult, but I had to do it. For myself.

I called a meeting with Peters, my father, and Daniel for this morning. My father refused to answer his phone, so I had to get Janet to get him here. All I wanted to do was officially resign, and then he wouldn’t have anything to do with me. We could go our own way, and w

The car dropped me off at the front of the building, and all I could do was stare. All the years I wasted in this place only to be thrown right back in my face. This was it. I was free, and it felt f*****g amazing.

I was so lost in my own thoughts that I didn’t notice someone standing next to me until they spoke.

“What are you doing?” Nathaniel asked me.

I was surprised that I didn’t feel anything anymore. Looking up at Nate, I thought I would feel embarrassed or angry, but I felt nothing. I was finally letting go of everything and it was so freeing.

“Enjoying the view,” I responded simply.

The look on his face was confused. His eyebrows furrowed as he squinted his honey eyes at me. “You see the building every day,” he told me flatly.

I didn’t need to explain myself, not yet anyways so I just shrugged. This would be the last time I step foot in this place and I could finally start on my own path. I had no clue what I would do, but I would figure it out. Traveling sounded nice.

I closed my eyes facing the sun and enjoyed the warmth that contradicted the wind. Always running around or staying indoors never allowed me the opportunity to enjoy the small things. I was always so anal, and I can see that now.

Nathaniel stood in front of me blocking the little sunlight I was getting. “You look nice.”

Looking up at him stirred something inside me than annoyed me more than anything. Why would he say that. I was okay with letting it go and pretending like nothing happened between us. In fact, I was planning on never seeing any of them again. I could have just gone on with my life without the niceties. “Cut the bullshit.”

“No one has ever left the country for me,” Peters smirked with his perfect f*****g lips. I didn’t leave the country for him, I left to avoid my issues. To be fair he was one of those major issues, but I wasn’t going to let him know that.

“One, not for you and two, quit being an asshole. How did you even know where I went?” I questioned him. Was he having me watched? I hadn’t posted anything about where we went, and neither had Sam.

Nate chuckled lowly. “Next time you want to go off the grid maybe don’t use company resources.”

I knew I forgot to do something. Note to self, next time bribe the pilot.

From the corner of my eye I could see Daniel walking towards us. The collar of his coat was popped to stop the wind from hitting him. He was naturally handsome. Being from California, the sun was always out, Daniel still wasn’t used to the weather here.

I didn’t think I would feel anything when I saw him again. Yet here I was watching him walk towards me but not really. He wasn’t looking at me, not like he usually did. He was looking right through me and that hurt like a b***h.

“Good morning Daniel,” I smiled at him and greeted him softly. I didn’t know how he would act towards me after what happened between us. I hoped that we could move past it and be friends like we were from the beginning. But a part of me knew that I had f****d it up beyond repair.

Daniel stopped near Nate and looked down at me like I was the last person he wanted to see. “Why are we here Rowan?” he asked coldly. I guess this was what our relationship would be like now, short and cold.

I decided to shove down my annoyance and hurt deep inside and answered his question instead. There was no need for me to wait any further, one way or another I would end up at the same conclusion. “I’m resigning. The company is all yours Peters,” I told them. It felt so good to finally get that off my chest.

Daniel and Nate looked surprised at the fact that I was stepping back completely. I never thought I’d see the day either, but it was finally happening.

“Is it because of what happened the other night?” Nate asked me.

My mouth gaped opened incredulously while my eyes bugged out. I didn’t think he would bring that up like ever, especially not when Daniel was standing right next to us. I didn’t want Daniel to know. Hell, I wanted to pretend like it never happened.

“What happened the other night?” Daniel skeptically asked.

“Nothing!” I shouted before Peters could open his f*****g mouth. Panic was beginning to build up inside and I prayed that Nate had the common decency to not say anything. I used him, he used me, there was no reason for us to tell anyone. He was a willing and available body to let all my frustrations out. He had to have known that.

“Why don’t you tell him” Nate said. “I don’t mind sharing.” His lips curved up into a cocky grin and I wanted to punch him in the face. It was a f*****g mistake in more ways than one.

Daniel obviously knew something was going on, he wasn’t stupid and Nate was making it abundantly clear that something happened between us. Daniel narrowed his eyes at me and I couldn’t look at him because all I would see was disappointment and resentment. He would hate me all because I broke his heart and f****d Nathaniel Peters of all men.

“You shut the f**k up!” I ordered Nate when I saw that he was getting ready to say something else.

I started walking towards the building in hopes that we could avoid the impending conversation. I was going to submit my official resignation, call it a day, never see these men again, and getting over whatever the hell Daniel did to me.

“Benjamin,” I heard Daniel say from behind me. Quickly turning around, I met gazes with my father as he got out of his car. This was the first time I had seen him since he disowned me that faithful night and he looked even more furious if that were possible.

“I thought we discussed this Rowan,” he sneered coming to stand in front of me. “Why am I getting emergency calls from Janet?”

I regained my composure letting him know that he no longer had any hold over me. I stood as tall as I could and squared my shoulders in hopes that I looked more reassured than I felt. “I thought you would appreciate me submitting my resignation in person.”

“Your what?” my father practically growled.

That was not the reaction I was expecting. He should have been ecstatic that I wouldn’t be ruining his legacy. That I was doing as he said and leaving him behind. “I’m leaving the company. This isn’t for me anymore. I thought you’d be happy,” I answered a bit more unsure than I wanted to sound.

A part of me felt that the surprise in his tone meant that this wasn’t what he wanted. That he didn’t want me to give up just yet. But if that were the case, then he should tell me, tell me that I shouldn’t leave, that I can stay, that he loved me.

“Rowa—” he began. In the time that it took me to blink my eyes, blood splattered all over the sidewalk. Nate and my father collapsed to the ground.

I was frantic not knowing what was happening, or what I should do. Screams ripped out of my throat seeing them lying on the ground. There was a loud ringing sound, and I could see people running for cover in the background. I dropped to my knees, my hands instinctively going to my father’s chest trying to stop the bleeding.

My hands were trembling as I pressed down on his wound. I took a first aid class in college, I learned how to give CPR and how to clean a cut, but they didn’t say a f*****g thing about gunshots. Someone needed to help me, I didn’t know what I was doing.

I looked over and saw Nate with his hand over his abdomen as blood trickled through his fingers. Daniel pulled him over to the side of the car and sat him up snapping his fingers in his face making sure he stayed conscious.

What the hell just happened?

They just got shot. My father and Nate just got shot on the f*****g street. My hands were covered in blood, tears were streaming down my face. I was mortified. This wasn’t really happening; it was just a really bad dream. I would wake up and be back in that beautiful villa in Aruba with Sam lying next to me.

Closing my eyes, I counted to ten praying that I would wake up. That my father wasn’t bleeding out on the street. That Nate was being an asshole like always with his perfect face, that Daniel didn’t hate me. That this was all fake, just a mistake in the simulation.

Seven, eight, nine, ten…

Nothing. My hands were still clutching onto my father for dear life. He placed a hand over mine trying to get my attention as blood began to pour out of his mouth.

He was trying to speak, but every time he attempted to open his mouth, more blood spluttered out. I was kneeling in a puddle of blood watching everything unfold around me. Where the hell were emergency services. They were taking an eternity to arrive, or everything was just happening slower.

“No, no, no, please just wait,” I begged my father. He couldn’t die, not like this. It was never supposed to be like this. He was supposed to die of old age in his bed one day. I would have forgiven him no matter how much it would have taken out of my pride. He would apologize and then tell me he loved me. That was how it was supposed to go. Not like this.

Another shot rang out hitting a few feet away from me. The shooter was still here, and I was in a panic. I couldn’t let go. We were out in the open, there was nowhere for me to go. Why were they still shooting? How? And where the f**k were the police?

Daniel pulled me away pinning me behind the car and covered me with his body. From the corner of my eye I could see Nate slumped over to the side, he had finally passed out, or worse. I wasn’t sure what to think. All I knew was that my father was still bleeding out on the side walk and Nate was on the ground next to me.

I tried pushing Daniel off. I had to get to my dad. He needed me. I couldn’t just let him die alone. “N—no I—I have to help them. I have to help my dad. Daddy!”

“Stay down,” Daniel commanded pushing my head back down so that I would be covered by the car.

Everything was happening so fast my mind couldn’t process it. No more shots rang out. The street was empty, everyone had finally found shelter. I could hear the sirens in the distance. I could only hope they weren’t too late. Too late for my dad, too late for Nate.

I looked over to my father one last time and he mouthed the three words I had always wanted to hear from him. Except I would never hear them.

I love you.

My father and Nate had been taken away as soon as EMS arrived and were rushed to the nearest trauma center. Daniel and I were taken soon after to be inspected for injuries that we didn’t have.

I sat in the hospital bed covered in my father’s blood as I waited for any type of update. It felt like days passed by without any word from anyone.

Daniel walked into the room and sat next to me in the bed. His hair was ruffled, and he only had light blood splattered over his white dress shirt. How the hell did we come out of this unscathed while there were two people fighting for their lives right now?

“Ro are you okay?” He asked me.

I didn’t know if I was okay. I wasn’t the one with a gunshot wound to the chest, so in that perspective I was dandy.

“Ro?”

All I had to do was keep it together until my father came out of surgery and chastised me for not keeping him from staining his suit. I would take him disowning me over this any day.

“Rowan?” Daniel called again. He lifted my chin so that I would meet his eyes. He looked tired. How long had we been here? I checked my phone for the time and I had missed calls and texts. Ignoring all of them I checked the time. We had already been her for over five hours. “I called Sam. She’s on her way with clothes for you,” he continued. “Ro, talk to me”

“Are they...?” I couldn’t even finish the question. Either they were barely hanging onto life, or they were already dead.

“Nathaniel is going to be okay,” he responded. I knew what the rest was, or rather what he omitted.

I had to ask. I had to be sure. Maybe I was imagining it to be worse than it actually was. “And— and my father?”

“The bullet hit his lung, there wasn’t much they could do.”

“He drowned in his own blood,” I didn’t have to ask. I knew this was the case. I could hear him choking on his blood when he was laying on that street still conscious. He suffered through it the entire time.

My father was dead.

My father was dead and my tiny brain and worthless heart couldn’t process that information. My brain was trying to find a reasonable explanation, and my heart was hoping that it wasn’t true because it wouldn’t be able to cope.

Daniel ignored my comment and instead opted to give me better news. “Nathaniel is in surgery right now. They’re trying to remove the bullet. It didn’t hit any major organs. He’ll probably just be an even bigger pain in the ass,” Daniel tried to joke bumping my shoulder.

I stifled a laugh knowing that if I started I wouldn’t be able to stop. “Did they find who did this?”

“They found the weapon.”

“But they didn’t find the shooter?” I practically screamed jumping up from the bed. I was f*****g furious. How the hell dis they let the shooter get away with this. “Who the f**k did this? How have they not found them? They can’t just get away on one of the busiest streets of New York!!!”

I began pacing the floor trying to clear my mind and think of a way to help, to find the person who did this. “They got away because it was one of the busiest streets of New York,” Daniel replied.

All I could think of was the dizzying smell of the blood on my clothes. The overwhelming stench of death was suffocating me. My hands tried to grip onto my head forcing myself to focus. Tears were clouding my vision, and my hands began to tremble again followed by the rest of me. “What the f**k is happening?”

Daniel stood up and wrapped his arms around me smoothing down my hair by raking his fingers through it. “Breathe Ro,” he told me in an attempt to calm me down. It wasn’t working, nothing was working. My hands came up to hold onto his shirt trying to find my sanity again.

My father was dead, Nate almost died, and I was being a little b***h about it.

“I—I can’t,” I cried out.