Page 46 of Winning Her

I picked them up one by one and left them outside the door. Once I had everything outside, I closed the door behind me. It was early enough that I wouldn’t have to worry about anybody coming by and taking my things if I left them alone for a little bit.

I carried them one by one over to the elevator. I checked to see if it was in working order first, then moved the rest of the boxes to the outside of the elevator. Once I had them all, I pressed the button to head down, and when the elevator doors opened, I pushed all my stuff inside. I had to put one of the boxes in the way of the door when it was about to close early, but I finally got everything inside. I breathed another sigh and waited until I got down.

The process repeated, with me pushing the stuff out, leaving them on the outside of the elevator, then taking them one by one to my car, waiting outside in the staff parking.

After half an hour, I was ready to leave. And I did, jumping into the front of the car and putting it in drive. There were plenty of people I would have liked to have seen before I left, but they likely wouldn’t have been awake.

I drove out of the parking lot, easing the car into the street, then picking up speed. I knew the general direction I was supposed to be heading. I wasn’t sure how long I’d been driving when I lost the fight with my emotions and tears started streaming down my face as I cried silently. Familiar streets and buildings fell away behind me the further I went, until I was out of town, and there was nothing but a long stretch road ahead, and fields of grass to either side.

My phone rang. It made me jump but my hands on the wheel remained steady. I glanced over at my phone, checking the screen and seeing the name on it. I grimaced.

Emily.

I hadn't exactly been avoiding her along with Trent, but she and I hadn't really met up since he’d showed. I hadn't talked to her either, and I wondered if she even knew what was happening. She hadn't been to the hotel since her father got sick and her brothers came back.

She would be annoyed with me if I didn’t answer, so I used my hands-free feature to pick up her call.

“Hi, Jessi,” came her usually chipper voice, though I could hear some slight strain in it. “Sorry I haven’t gotten in touch, things are a bit hectic over here.”

“That’s fine,” I said quickly in reassurance. “I should have tried to call you first. My mom told me as much as she knew but I wanted to ask how your dad was doing.”

There was a short silence. “Dad is… doing just fine. He’s resting.”

I let out a sigh of relief and nodded even though she couldn’t see it. I’d been a little worried that what happened to Matthew Thompson was serious because it was so unlike him to not work. Even when he’d supposedly retired, my mom and I had known it was an excuse to stay at the mansion instead of traveling all over the place, but he still worked from home and at the hotel branch nearest to him.

“That’s not what I called about,” she said hurriedly. “I wanted to talk to you about Trent.”

I wondered whether or not I should be surprised.

“You know about him and me?” I asked.

She sighed. “Well, I didn’t at first. You mom certainly doesn’t know.” The words were accusing, and I winced. “But I heard the rumors. I don’t know how much of it is true, but… my brother played with you, didn’t he?”

I pursed my lips at the wording. “First of all, never say that. You can't call what went down between me and Trent ‘play’, Emily. I don’t know what you’ve heard, but it’s true that I’ve been in love with Trent for a long time, and… we clashed when he came back.”

Emily hummed. “It was a bit of a surprise when he suddenly started looking for me. Usually, he wouldn’t give me the time of day. And then I show up on his doorstep, and he’s asking me all about you. I was worried, Jessi.”

“There was no need for you to worry.”

“But something happened, didn’t it? I’m not going to ask what… but there was something?”

I couldn’t answer her. I wiped my tears away as they blurred my eyesight, but I could feel my throat tightening uncomfortably. I was far from done with crying.

“Where are you right now?” she asked.

I sighed, knowing she probably heard the news that I was leaving, too.

“I’m sorry,” I said first thing. “I should have told you first when I was going to leave. You’re right. Something did happen between me and Trent.”

“Was it enough to make you run away?”

I shook my head. “I couldn’t stay there, Emily. I just… couldn’t stay close to him after everything. I’m already in too deep, and I know him. He might not be outright plotting it, but he’s going to break my heart if I stay, I just know it. He’s already done it so many times without trying, this wouldn’t be any different.”

Except it might be, I thought.

I pushed that thought away, or I wouldn’t have made the decision to run away. I’d pretty much bared all of myself to this man. There was no way I could handle any disappointment from him after that.

“Couldn’t you try to stick around and work things out though?” Emily reasoned. “I mean… you probably know my big brother better than I do, but he can't be that big of an ass, right?”