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He stopped talking as tears dripped off his face. Rubbing his back, I comforted him, trying everything in my power to take away his pain. We sat looking at the stones until I started shivering from the cold wind. He stood up, and I followed. He kissed me softly with passion. After a few moments, he grabbed my hand, and we walked back to the house. That night we cuddled in bed, and I fell asleep in his arms. I was falling for this man. He was everything I dreamt of. He was broken like me, unable to love but for different reasons. The following day, I woke with him staring into my eyes. Pulling the covers over my face to hide the morning breath, I heard him say, “good morning.” He started to laugh.
“What?” I asked, not moving the sheet.
“It’s too quiet.” He looked towards the door. Moving to listen, he was right, which was odd, being my fourth day there. Moving out of the bed, I walked over to the door peeking out. The place was still. Closing the door, he stood up and opened a chest that I had just noticed in the corner of the room. Pulling out two wet suits, he handed one over to me. “My job was to make you forget, but you’re right. I can’t leave here knowing you don’t know how to surf.” Kissing him deeply in return was the most significant gesture I ever made.
On the beach, we had the new boards, which Brody already tested for us yesterday.
“Promise me that anytime you go surfing, I’ll be with you.” His eyes met mine, and I answered with a kiss.
We spent the morning surfing and making out randomly. It was peaceful, movie-like. The waves crashed down, and I looked up to see Miles standing next to Meg. My face was filled with plain horror, and Cole’s body tensed. They both waved from the backyard, but I couldn’t respond to it because Cole pulled me to face him. “Don’t ever lose sight of who you are no matter what anyone does. Do you understand?” Lost in his face trying to put meaning to what he was saying, he brushed my arm and made his way up to the house. I put my board down and walked up from the sand to the grass.
Miles embraced me with a kiss, and Meg’s face dropped. I stammered trying to break free from his embrace, “Hi, what are you doing here?”
Miles smiled, “well, it’s nice to see you too.”
I covered up, “I’m sorry, I just want to be a good guest to Meg and let her know when more company is coming.” Meg looked me in the eyes sharp.
“That’s okay. I’m sure it must be important to have one of your company CEOs interrupt your vacation.” Miles turned to her, giving her a half-smile. “Can we have a word in private?” Meg left towards the house.
We walked towards the beach, and Miles grabbed me from behind. “You’re not keeping up with your contract.” Lost in what he was saying, overwhelmed with emotion, I couldn’t look him in the face.
“Miles, listen.”
In a quick rigid motion, he pressed his lips to mine. I pulled away, and he had a look of anger. “Listen, I came to talk business as well.”
“Is everything okay with Forever Fitness?”
“Yeah, two things. First, I noticed that your real estate investments, pharmaceutical company, and restaurant chains are not linked to the LLC.”
Looking at him oddly I clarified, “Yeah, I keep all of them separate. The board is for my overall company, Boss Babe. Is that a problem?”
He looked toward me with a hardened face. “No, but I think I can bring value to your other businesses, but we can talk about that later. The second thing is I found out who might be trying to convince the board you’re unfit.”
Relief filled me as that was my most significant threat. “Oh really”.
“It’s Cole. We paid the prior CEO, and found that they are still in a relationship. They are in it together, wanting to take over the business. He was a big Wall Street guy until he got his high school sweetheart knocked up and left that world behind. She, I guess, died, and he moved back and has been in a relationship with Jamie for over three years. So you have nothing to worry about. We are working on the PR and looking to make a settlement with both of them to go away.”
My heart broke as I thought about how odd it was that the events lined up as they did. He was fucking her in my office less than two months ago. How could I be so stupid? Replaying the past twenty-four hours we spent together I couldn’t help but think that this was his plan all along. Who adds in conditions of going on a weeks’ vacation with someone they don’t even know?
“We have the photos and signed contract if you want to see it.”
My body froze. He had proof. How could I be so naive? I asked, my voice deadpan, “did you bring the Jet?”
“Yes, and Drake contacted the board to inform them that you need to move the next board meeting by sixty days so we could build up your reputation. His termination packet is being sent over as we speak.”
Looking at the surfboards in the sand, I was at a loss for words. “Corporate Wall Street?”
Miles looked out into the distance. “Yeah, he had a pretty big stash of cash which allowed for him to walk away.” My mind started racing as I thought about the two beach houses, cabin, nice boat, and cars. Pain and anger took over. Who was he to talk about losing sight of who you are?
“I’ll meet you at the car in ten.” My tone was mad, and Miles’s face lit up. Walking past him, I walked towards the house. Everything was moving in slow motion, and Meg was standing in the kitchen. I didn’t say a word, my stay was over, and I would never see her again. Packing my things, I went to walk out but was stopped by Meg’s sweet voice. “Everything okay?”
I turned to look at her. “Thank you for having me.”
She walked over to hug me. Pulling away, she looked me dead in the face. I had to confirm, I needed it once before repeating my past mistakes. I’d been judging him since the beginning, and I didn’t want to repeat it. Even though Miles had proof. I needed it. I inhaled, “Quick question, what did Cole do before pro surfing?”
She swallowed hard, “he was in finance.”
Tears welled in my eyes, but I refused to show her my pain.
“Listen, I don’t know what’s going on and but for what it’s worth. My son has never looked at a woman the way he does you.” Unable to smile in the time of pain, I pulled her in for another hug and walked out for good.
