Chapter 128: Don't feel guilty
1159words
Watching lynn walk out of my office with luis put a heavy feeling in my stomach. I knew she had insecurities about all of this, but I didn't know how else to show her that she was the only woman for me. I may need her best friend to help me through this one too. Thank God for luis.
Speaking of luis, I didn't understand why he didn't just come to me for a job right away. Here I thought I was meeting some guy named Jack who had all this experience in what I was looking for, and lyis walks in. I conducted the interview, but I already knew I was going to hire him.
He might be Lynn's best friend, but he was becoming an important part of my life too. I couldn't wait to start working with the guy and really start seeing the company move forward.
A light knock came from my door before it cracked open and Oliver's face popped in.
"Got a minute, boss?"
I waved for him to come in, but he wasn't alone.
Monique followed him in and I knew immediately where Lynn's little freak out had started. I had no idea that she was coming in today as I had made myself clear that she would be a silent partner. I only needed her for recruiting actors and actresses, nothing more.
"What can I do for you two?"
It was important that I kept this strictly professional and shut down anything that could ruin my relationship with lynn. I wasn't a fan of Monique, but I needed her even if I hated to admit it. At the moment, she controlled over fifty percent of the adult film actors in the Miami area.
"First of all, I want to know why you haven't returned any of my phone calls," Monique snapped as she placed her hands on her hips.
Fuck, here we go.
"I've been busy," I lied.
The truth was that I knew she wasn't calling to discuss business. That's what emails were for. She wanted more from me than what I was willing to give her and ignoring her was the best that I could at the moment without losing her contracts.
"Bullshit, Drake! You've been ignoring everyone since that bitch from Seattle came into your life, and-"
"Don't fucking call her that!" I snapped.
Rage pumped through my veins as I glared up at her. If she thought she could walk into my office and demand authority, she had another thing coming. And she better watch what she says about lynn or I might fucking snap.
"But it's true, Drake! Since you've been with her, you think you're better than all of us, all of this!" She waved her hand around.
"I agree, man," Oliver piped in before he looked at Monique. "But I think you should give lynn a chance. She's a really cool chick."
Monique scoffed. "What? Is she sucking your dick too?!"
I slammed my hand on the desk so hard that my pen holder knocked over before I shot up from my chair and pointed at her.
"One more fucking word out of your about my girlfriend and I'll cut this business relationship between us off. You can fuck right off, Monique."
Her eyes hooded as she glared at me, but she didn't say another word and I was thankful for that.
"Now if you want to talk business, I'm all ears. If not, get the fuck out of my office."
She crossed her arms over her chest and blew out a breath. "The meet and greet is this weekend and I wanted to make sure that everything was in place."
"Of course it's in place. Is that all?"
I was in a sour fucking mood now and didn't even want to talk business. I wanted them out of my office before I exploded.
"Did you hire someone yet to take over the PR and tech side of things?" Oliver asked.
"Yeah, I just hired luis for the job."
Monique scoffed again. "Lynn's little boyfriend? Are you serious right now, Nick? You're letting her into literally every aspect of your life! What happened to you?"
My glare turned to Oliver as my jaw tightened. I was five seconds away from personally escorting her off of my property. It would destroy our business relationship, but at this point, I didn't fucking care.
"You can leave now, Monique. We're finished here."
Her mouth opened and closed like a guppy, but I grabbed my desk phone and completely ignored her. I was fucking done with her shit and wanted today to be over with already. After this call, I was going home to see my girl. I think we could both use some stress relief.
Oliver guided Monique out of my office as I spun in my chair toward the window and made the few phone calls I needed to make. Until I figured out how to get a crew of actors and actresses, I needed Monique, but when I had that all set up, she was fucking gone.
~~~~~~~
As I drove home, all I could think about was Lynn. The only thing Monique had said that was true was how I was letting lynn into every aspect of my life. And I wanted her there. I never thought I'd ever settle down, but when I met lynn, I knew everything would be different. She was different.
When I pulled into the driveway, I was glad to see that luis wasn't here. I wanted to speak to lynn alone and figure out how to fix the trust between us. I knew my line of work was a lot to digest, but I wanted her to trust me more than anything. I've never given her a reason to doubt me; to doubt us.
"Lynn?" I called out for her the moment I stepped through the garage door.
"Out here!" She called back.
I followed her voice toward the back of the house, smiling when I found her out by the pool. The best part of it all was that she wasn't out there lounging in the sun. No, she was watering and pruning flowers that weren't there this morning.
"What are you doing?"
She turned and smiled at me. "It was very dull out here so I thought I'd add a touch of color."
"It looks great."
But my eyes were only on her. There had always been something about her that drew me in like a moth to a flame, and that hadn't changed. I didn't know what I had to do to fix things between us, but I'd die trying. My life would have little purpose if she weren't in it.
Her gaze shifted nervously between me and the flowers before I stepped closer to her.
"You said what you said, and you felt how you felt. Don't be ashamed of that, lynn."
