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He thought he got it, but he didn’t. Rachel lied, but she had always been pushing me aside from the moment she met me as Joshua’ girlfriend.
“Alessandra,” he said, his voice quieter, almost pleading. “I don’t know where you got the idea from in the first place. If I made you think that way, then I will apologize as many times as you want. But Rachel and I are not as good as we are, and you need to stop fighting it. Because there’s only so long I can be the only one fighting for what we both want before I get tired of it.”
I stood still, not looking at him, feeling conflicted. Had… I just been acting stupid the entire time? There was a part of me that wanted to take his words as truth, jump into his arms and say yes to everything. But that would be careless.
Nothing had been solved just yet.
Chapter Thirteen
Joshua
There was a knock on my office door. I glanced up.
“Come in,” I called.
The door opened, and my secretary walked in carrying a folder.
“I have the reports for you from the finance department, sir,” she said. “I’m still waiting on a couple more reports for the project.”
I waved her over. “Give it to me. When the rest arrive bring them in. Thank you.”
I reached my hand and took the folder, then she turned and walked out of the room. I sighed once I was alone again and dropped the envelope on the desk.
Technically, I was supposed to be working, but it was around eleven already, and I hadn't done a damn thing, even though I always got into the office at eight thirty. I didn’t feel like working, which was the worst kind of attitude to have as the head of a vast company.
My phone sat on my desk, beside my computer keyboard, and I picked it up. I unlocked the screen but froze before I could do anything.
What I wanted right then was to talk to Alessandra, but I was holding myself back. After how we left things the last time we met, I wanted her to try to reach out to me first.
As I waited, I’d been doing some thinking. Mostly, about Mom and Rachel.
The two of them were friends. I knew the reason was that Mom and Rachel’s mother had been close until her parents had a divorce and the relationship with her mom grew a little strained. Rachel spent more time with my mother than her own, and somewhere along the way, Mom started thinking Rachel would make the perfect wife for me.
Even before Dad passed away, she kept trying to push the issue. She kept telling me it would ease Dad’s mind if he knew I married into a good family, even though out of both of them, she was the only one that had a problem with my relationship with Alessandra.
“I made a big mess of things, didn’t I?” I groaned to myself.
I dropped my phone on my desk and leaned forward, holding my face in my hand, as I drummed my fingers on the counter with my other hand.
Alessandra and I started dating back in high school, so of course, my parents knew about the relationship early on. I didn’t even realize my mom had a problem with it until I finished high school. Her excuse was that she put up with it, thinking it was puppy love, nothing more than a childhood fling, that I would forget when I went to college.
Only, I didn’t.
I never thought I had to give my mom’s words much thought, figuring that as long as she saw things between Alessandra and me didn’t change, she would come to accept things.
For the moment, it was a good idea to give Alessandra her space. In the meantime, while she thought through things on her own and made up her mind, I had to talk
to both my mom and Rachel.
A first step, Rachel.
With a plan in mind, I picked up my phone. I found Rachel’s contact and called her.
“Joshua,” she said, sounding pleasantly surprised. “I was just about to call you and ask to meet up for lunch. I have another proposal for you to look at. Can I stop by your office?”
I understood her surprise. I was rarely the one that called her first. She usually showed up at the office, and I made time for her when I could. It had always been like that and hadn't changed much in the past year.
“There’s no need for that. It’ll be lunch in another hour. Why don’t you pick the place and I’ll meet you there?”
