Page 86 of Until He Confesses

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LUCAS

It was decided that I wasn't going to be able to see her for a week or even more, and the very thought of that put me in a sour mood for the rest of the day.

I hadn't been concerned after I left the house, as I tried over and over again to remind myself of what we were. The less I got attached, the better things would be between us. However, as I went about my day, the things I had felt and done with her during the previous night wouldn't leave my mind.

It kept me distracted with emotions until eventually, I couldn't stand that it would be so long before I saw her again, and so as soon as I got the chance, I invited Dahlia in to sort out the dilemma for me.

"Can my meeting in San Francisco be moved forward to next week?" I asked her. "I want to spend this week in Paris instead.”

She was instantly able to understand my words.

"Spend?" she asked, and I nodded. "Yeah, I'd like to spend it with Callie."

She looked at me in shock, but I didn't care. I just wanted her to find a way to make this happen.

"Um... I'm not exactly sure what you want me to do, sir," she said, so I explained. "There's something happening in Paris this weekend, maybe Fashion Week? If this is the case, see if I have an invitation, and if I do, then go ahead and adjust my itinerary as needed."

She quickly brought out her phone and began to type rapidly.

"Yes, sir," she said and turned to take her leave, but at the last moment, she stopped and turned back to me.

"What about the flight, sir?" she asked, and I was a bit confused as to what she meant.

"What about it?" I replied.

"Do you want me to request that Callie be among the cabin crew?"

I gave this serious consideration and ultimately decided that it wouldn’t be a good idea, even though I had the means to pull it off I refused.

"No. I'll only show up a few days later, depending on whatever function I have there," I said, and the room was thrown into silence.

I was well aware that I could make her do what I wanted and manipulate situations so that she could be where I wanted, but I knew her well enough to understand how easily she felt threatened if she began to feel like power was being taken away from her.

Thus, just showing up in Paris and giving her the option to join me or not was much preferred.

Dahlia took note of this and left, while I took a moment to wonder if I was being too considerate.

The moment the thought occurred to me, I had to ask myself if I would do the same for another woman, and the simple truth was that I would be just as considerate with them, but I wouldn’t want to see them as often as I wanted to see Callie.

This was a fact established from prior experience, so there was no speculation needed. Therefore, I concluded that a part of me had a vendetta against Callie, so when any form of courtesy that was normal to extend to others occurred to me to extend to her, I hesitated.

This made me smile, as the realization was brought to light. She deserved it because no other woman had shattered my heart into pieces and was still refusing to fix it. Shaking my head, and with an active plan set in place to see her, I was able to get back to work.

Later that evening, after a terrible meeting that had left me furious, I returned to my desk and couldn't help but think about her. In the past, when things got difficult, I would think of the times when I'd been able to call her. I would never say what was wrong outrightly. I never functioned that way, but over the course of our relationship, she had gotten so great at reading me that it wouldn’t be long before she would be prying out what was wrong.

These little, or not so little, perks were what had kept her in my mind throughout the years. She would ask so many questions and pester me until I spoke, and it was something I'd never imagined I would have missed.

Future experiences told me that I wasn't fond of it, but with her, I loved and trusted her opinions. Even if there was no resolution in the end, our bond strengthening, as a result, had been something magical to feel.

I pulled out my phone to contact her at my desk, but eventually, I got up so that I could walk off the impulse. I got out of the office and decided to take a stroll to my human resources manager's office on one of the employee's floors. From the glassed space, I was always able to get a feel of the work environment, and of course, Tammy always had updates for me without me ever having to ask.

When I stepped out of the office and informed Dahlia about my destination, she looked quite surprised.

"It's past eight," she said. "I don't think Tammy is available."

Frowning, I stopped in my tracks and realized that the bustle of the meeting we had just concluded distracted me from this fact. Sighing, I returned to my desk and decided that it was time to go home.