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I grabbed her hand before she could make contact and I squeezed it hard. It seemed to be the only thing that snapped her out of whatever daydream had lodged in her mind. Her eyes went wide as she took in my facial expression, her mouth parting with a sharp intake of breath.
“Get out,” I seethed and let go of her hand before I broke it.
Shocked, Caroline took a step away from me.
“I-I’m sorry if that was out of line, but I thought you should know…”
“Know what? That my personal assistant, who is supposed to be in charge of managing my life and making it run easier, is actually trying to sabotage it? You are my employee, nothing else.”
“I know you’ve slept with your past PAs...” she started again, but I didn’t let her finish.
“Yes, I have. But you were actually good at your job, and I wanted to keep you. Furthermore, I’m not interested in that lifestyle anymore. What I want happens to be the woman I’m married to, as ‘bad’ as she is for me,” I told her, happy that the words were true.
I knew I was becoming infatuated with her. I liked her being there, liked getting to know her, andlovedwhat she could do with her mouth, but there was more there. I didn’t feel obligated to be with her anymore. I didn’t feel hassled by her anymore, and her presence was no longer a mere annoyance. Mix that with the fact that I put her in the same category as my son when I worried about the people I would leave behind if I died, and there was a good chance that I was actually falling in love with my wife.
“I release you from your contract. I will have someone from HR get in contact with you to talk about a severance package based on your outstanding performance as a PA.”
“No, please,” she begged, tears welling up in her eyes.
“Yes, Caroline. You’re fired,” I said and turned to go back into the bathroom to finish getting dressed. I locked the door behind me just in case she tried anything. I took longer than was necessary to put on my shirt along with my socks and shoes, hoping that she would be gone by the time I opened the door again.
She was, which was a good thing. I didn’t want to have to call security to escort her out of there.
Without hesitation, I left the office and drove home, breaking speed limits without concern. I would gladly pay the speeding tickets if I was sent any. I tried calling Natalia, but she wouldn’t answer her phone, and I could only hope she had gone home. If she wasn’t there, she probably went to her father’s, but if she wasn’t there either…
One step at a time. I took a deep breath and let it out slowly as I pulled into the garage and saw that her car was parked in the spot next to mine.
I took the elevator to the top floor and opened the door to our home.
“Natalia?” I called out. The place was quiet and dark. The only light was from the TV, which was playing a show on the screen but without any sound. The light flickered and cast shadows that made the whole place look like it belonged in a horror movie. I moved toward the couch, hoping she was there, lying down or something.
When I rounded the side of it, I saw a figure curled up in the butterfly comforter.
“Natalia?”
“Go away,” she ordered, and I breathed a sigh of relief. At least she was here. I would put up with any fight she wanted to have so long as she was willing to stay.
“No,” I told her, and she sat up. Her cheeks were streaked with tear lines. She had been crying, but not anymore. Apparently, she had moved past sad to angry. Anger I was better at dealing with, even though I was sorry I had caused either emotion. “We need to talk.”
“No, I don’t think we do.”
“Natalia—”
“No!” she yelled, standing up and facing me. “I am sick of it! This whole week I have tried to be understanding. You have work, you are a busy man. You told me before I moved in that you worked a lot and wouldn’t be home much. I understand that. So, I spent hours making you a homemade lasagna—made the noodles myself, the sauce, everything. I figured if you couldn’t get away, I might as well come to you to have dinner. There is no law saying that you need to eat dinner in your own house, right? So, imagine my surprise when I walk into your office and find your PA half naked, telling me you were taking a shower. Imagine what that felt like.”
My heart froze a little. I had thought Caroline had said something to her, had put Natalia down in some way, but this sounded like she thought I was cheating on her or something.
“Nat—” I tried again.
“No. You know what?Iget to talk. If you want to have a conversation, you have to listen to my side first. I have been doing my best to go with the flow about everything. I have been trying to get to know you, spend time with you. I have been giving this marriage everything I have because I believed we could make it work, and I wanted to make it work. It turns out that I actually like you, Jimmy, much to my surprise. And I like living here with you. But if you think for a second…”
“I didn’t cheat on you,” I told her with my hands up in a defensive stance. She raised an eyebrow at me and clenched her fists.
“I don’t believe you.”
“Why not? Because you saw Caroline half naked in my office? Well, I can’t blame you, but rest assured, I fired her. She started coming on to me after you left, and this was the first time that had ever happened. I don’t know what got into her head, but I wanted nothing to do with her, Nat. She’s gone.”
Natalia’s eyes went wide, and she gave a small nod. At least that was something.
