Page 50 of Not Yet Yours
“And if he was married, why would he need a fake girlfriend to bring to family events to keep our Aunt Dorothy and the likes at bay?” Cullen says. “There’s no way he would hide a wife from them. It just doesn’t make sense.”
Again, I shrug my shoulders. Cullen’s right. It doesn’t make any sense. But it doesn’t change anything and saying it over and over again wasn’t going to magically make it all click into place and make sense all of a sudden.
“Come on Harriet. Think about it rationally. Why would Liam be married and need a fake girlfriend? Even if you believe he would cheat like that, that part doesn’t make sense,” Cullen says gently.
“I agree,” I say. “It doesn’t make sense. But I know what I saw.”
“I don’t know what to say,” Cullen says. “It’s so crazy yet I can see you really believe that it’s true.”
I nod.
“Ok, when did the wedding take place? What was the girl’s name he married? Who were the witnesses?” Cullen says.
“I don’t know,” I say. “I saw the thing. I saw Liam’s name and realized what it was and that was enough for me. Like I said to Max earlier I should have taken a photo of it, but I didn’t think of that at the time. I just wanted to get the hell out of there.”
Cullen is still looking at me like he’s waiting for me to magic up the answers to his questions, but I think he’s actually waitingfor me to say that he’s right, and I didn’t see what I think I saw. But I did. I fucking did. I want to be able to tell myself I didn’t see it much more than he wants to hear it, but it still isn’t going to happen.
“Look I know how this sounds ok? But why would I make this up?” I ask.
“I don’t think you’re making it up, I just think you saw something different to what you think you saw,” Cullen says.
I shake my head.
“For the last time, I know what I saw,” I repeat. “For the record, I didn’t come here to confirm if it’s true, I came to talk to my best friend because I was upset.”
“I get that, but I don’t want to see you throw something special away because of something that just isn’t true,” Cullen says. He holds up his hands before I can protest. “Look at least let me call Liam and see what he says this thing is. If he’s really married, he’s going to know he’s caught and admit it.”
I’m not so sure about that but I can’t exactly tell Cullen he’s not allowed to call his own brother and I do want to hear Liam’s explanation for it, for how he thought he would get away with it, for why the hell he pushed me and pushed me for more than just being friends with benefits while he was already married. He couldn’t have gotten a better ideal set up, someone on the side who doesn’t ask questions and doesn’t have any right to be angry even if they find out the truth. But once that relationship becomes an actual relationship, all that goes away, and people get hurt.
Most of all though, even more than I want the explanation for what the fuck Liam has been thinking these last few months, I want him to come here with the marriage certificate I saw and show it to me and prove it’s not what I think it is. I know that’s not going to happen, but it’s a nice little thread of hope for me to cling to. And right now, other than a broken heart, that’s allI have left of the first relationship I believed might actually go somewhere.
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Liam
Well, that went better than I had thought it was going to. I stopped by the hotel and retrieved the paperwork and then I went directly to the hardware store that was the supplier of the toilets. I didn’t mess about, I went in and asked directly for the manager. He came out and I explained the situation with the toilets to him and how they were the wrong ones that had been delivered to the site. He told me he had been speaking to someone on the telephone about this and that the mistake wasn’t at his end, so there was nothing he could do about it.
I asked him to confirm the item number for the toilet model we got sent which he did. I then asked him to look at our order form where the order number was clearly different. He had turned white and immediately started groveling and apologizing. I wasn’t there to have my ass kissed so I told him it was ok, mistakes happen, but that he needed to make it right. He asked me to wait a moment and he disappeared and came back after five or ten minutes. He handed me some paperwork and went through it with me.
It basically confirmed that the correct items had now been ordered and that he had put them through on next day delivery at no extra cost to us. The delivery guys would collect the incorrect models while they were there, and the best part of it all was the receipt to show that the card we bought the toilets on had been refunded fifty percent of the price, something the manager said was an apology which he hoped I would accept.
Although I was annoyed that he wouldn’t listen on the telephone and it had taken me to go down there to fix a thing that should have been able to be fixed over the phone, I have to say I was impressed by the way the manager made things right and I told him as much and that I accepted his apology, and I reassured him that it hadn’t made me not want to shop there anymore.
I did tell him though, that going forward, if we had a problem or if one of my team called him, I would like to think he would solve it without me having to come down here and see him personally. He assured me that going forward that would be the case and to tell anyone who was contacting the store on my behalf to ask for him personally. I thanked him and left the store happier than I expected to be and a lot happier than I had been on the way in.
I sit in my car in the parking lot and call the project manager. I explained all that happened and told him that there would be a new delivery tomorrow and that the incorrect models would be collected then too. I also tell him that if he has any issues whatsoever to call the store and ask for the manager directly.
Once I finish the call, I’m tempted to switch my cell phone off so that I can have the rest of the day away from work. After all, I was meant to be working from home today, but I wasn’t. Although the calls are annoying, everyone knows to only call me when they have exhausted all other possibilities and I have never once had a call from any of my staff about something that theycould have fixed without me. For that reason, I leave my cell phone switched on and put it on the passenger seat beside me. I put my car into drive and pull out of my parking spot. I drive across the parking lot, go into the main flow of traffic, and head back toward home.
I can’t wait to get there and tell Harriet what her surprise is. I know she will love it. I certainly love the surprise she gave me. I know she thinks it’s not much because it wasn’t expensive, but just because it doesn’t have a million-dollar price tag doesn’t mean it is worthless. To me, the fact that she spent the time to make it means more than any amount of money she could have spent on something. And how could I not love the message behind it? It’s the very embodiment of true and eternal love and the fact that Harriet chose to make that for me is no coincidence. It’s her way of telling me that she sees us as the real deal.
Once I’ve shown Harriet her surprise, I’m going to spend the rest of the day showing her how much I love mine. I’m going to start by stripping her and kissing every inch of her body. I will then lay her down and lick her pussy until she comes and then I will claim her with my cock and make her come again. When she has had multiple orgasms and is sated, I will run her a nice hot bath with some of that rose-scented oil she likes in it. While she’s soaking in the bathtub, I’ll order her favorite food and then we’ll eat it in front of the TV watching a series or movie of her choice. I will end the night by giving her a full body massage and I might even make her come again. I think that will show her how much I love my surprise gift. But if it doesn’t, I have no issues with spoiling Harriet every day that way until she gets the message loud and clear.
I’m on my street now and I drive to my building’s parking lot and turn into it. I drive to my parking spot and park my car. I grab my cell phone from the passenger seat beside me, and I get out of my car and go to the main apartment building’s doorwhich I unlock and then I head up the stairs to my apartment. I go inside, and I’m surprised to see that the living room is empty. I expected Harriet to be sitting curled up on the sofa with my laptop. Ah but of course, it needed charging, and the stupid wire doesn’t reach a single plug socket from the couch so she would have had to sit at the dining table or the breakfast bar. For that reason, she’s probably decided to just use it in my home office. Or she’s snuggled up in bed under the covers with it. That would save time if she’s already in bed. I can thank her for the sculpture first and show her the surprise I have for her later.
“Harriet?” I call out. “I’m back.”
There’s no answer and I move toward the hallway on the other side of the living room. I move along it and check the bedroom. It’s empty. The bathroom door is ajar, and I can see that it too is empty so she must be in my office. I go to the end of the hallway and push the door open.