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James
“How did everything go last night?” Alisha asked as she walked into the room. She set some files on my desk and started scrolling through her iPad.
“Not quite as I planned.”
“Were the rings not sufficient?”
“They were,” I muttered, “but let’s say Rose wasn’t entirely happy about my secretary picking out her wedding band.”
“Executive assistant, and it’s not my fault you were stupid enough to tell her that.”
“You think I should have lied to her?” That didn’t sound like Alisha. I didn’t know her that well, but she didn’t strike me as the type of person to lie to others.
“Of course not,” she snorted. “No woman wants to be lied to, but you shouldn’t have offered up that information.” She handed over the iPad to me. “Sign.”
I read the document quickly and signed, handing it back to her. “And what should I have done?”
She stopped what she was doing and sat on the corner of my desk. I gave her a wry look, but she didn’t care one bit. “You should have thought of these things on your own. For instance, have you talked to her about moving in?”
I thought back over my conversation with her last night. “I think we cleared that up. I told her I would be home at seven tonight.”
“I’ll make sure to have the car ready,” she noted. “But that’s not the same thing as a conversation.”
I scrubbed my hand over my face, already irritated by the way this was going. “Things were so much easier on the island. I had time for her, and I wasn’t constantly drowning in work.”
“Well, you need to make time. If she’s anything like I imagine, she’s not going to be happy with you commanding her.”
“I don’t command her,” I retorted.
“You did something. I’m telling you, that woman was not happy with you when you left that board meeting yesterday. You need to find out what you did to screw it up.”
“What I need is to not be at the office until seven o’clock or later.”
“Then I suppose you should get to work.”
“Then get out of here and stop bothering me,” I shot back.
She smiled at me before sliding off the corner of my desk. “Don’t forget, you have a lunch meeting in an hour, and then back to back appointments starting at three.”
“Perfect,” I grumbled, getting back to work.
The rest of the day was just as chaotic as the day before, and by the time six o’clock rolled around, I was still buried in work. But I told Rose I would be home by seven, so I made sure I was out the door by seven-thirty. It was the best I could do given the circumstances. If it weren’t for Alisha, I would be even further behind. I glanced at my watch and cursed to myself. Rose was probably angry at me, and I couldn’t blame her. This wasn’t exactly the life we were used to.
When we pulled up to my apartment building, I was all too eager to get inside and see her. For the first time today, I was actually feeling happy. I grinned at Jeffrey when he held the door open for me, and made my way up to my apartment. But when I stepped into the foyer, the entire place was dark. Flipping on the light, I walked around, looking for any sign of life.
“Rose?”
Silence greeted me. I went to the bedroom, thinking maybe she was in bed already, maybe waiting for me. But the bed was neatly made exactly how my housekeeper Mrs. Bryant liked it. There was no sign of Rose anywhere. Pulling out my phone, I dialed her number.
“Yes?” she answered, her tone abrupt, tinged with anger.
“Where are you?”
“At my apartment.”
“Why? I thought you were going to be here.”
“No, you didn’t listen to me this morning. I told you I was coming back to my apartment.”
