Page 9 of Until He Confesses

“It’s not a blind date. It’s Bryan’s coworker,” she insisted. “Would I set you up with someone I wasn’t absolutely sure you were going to hit it off with? He’s wonderful.”

“Really?” I asked dryly. “How many times have you met him?”

“At Bryan’s birthday,” she immediately replied.

I narrowed my eyes at her.

“That was almost six months ago. If he was so wonderful then why are you only just now mentioning this to me? You know why? Because he didn’t stand out to you. Bryan probably talked you into it because he lobbied him or something.”

“And what’s wrong with that?” she asked sheepishly. “He’s handsome and has a decent job. Come on, hon. Give the man a chance.”

“Next time,” I said, and put her determinedly out of my way.

“Callie,” she implored as I hurried straight to the entryway. Before she could stop me, I slipped on my polished shoes, grabbed my purse, and was out the door.

“Callie!” she called out again as I was halfway down the hallway towards the elevator.

“Yes?”

“Bring me something nice from London, will you? And it better be special, worth disappointing me for.”

I sent her a smile and walked away.

* * *

The momentI arrived at the airport and met up with the crew, we went through the motions of security checks and soon we were aboard the Gulfstream G700 that would be flying us across the Atlantic Ocean.

I was excited, more so than usual, due to the extra days I had in the city before we had to return, and I planned to take full advantage of it.

I was one of two hostesses on this flight, and the other was a colleague I had flown with a couple of times, so I was comfortable. She too expressed her excitement of traveling to London again although she’d already visited several times before.

“It’s a wonderful city but the rest time has always been too short,” she told me as we sorted out the meals for our incoming guests and made sure that all was in place.

“I hope to go back properly but not through work. I’m going to take my husband with me and we’re going to have two whole weeks to ourselves.”

I envied her because two whole weeks was a stretch for me. I knew that I would get bored if I spent too long by myself and this disgusting lack of independence had been promulgated mostly due to the fact that I had spent the majority of my life so far, by a certain Anna Leewens’s side. I could always sense her loss anytime she got into a relationship and since it was rare for me to be in one, she made it her sole mission to ensure that I wasn’t lonely. It was amusing but I was aware for sure that I would miss her terribly if she ever had to leave for an extended period of time.

Especially since my dad passed away midway through college and I was left to my own devices and, of course, Anna’s.

“Client is on his way,” Julianne announced.

I turned around, adjusted my uniform and crossed checked the vibrant red of my lipstick in the lavish restroom mirror.

“Do you know who the client is?” she asked, as we headed down the aisle together towards the open front door.

“No idea,” I replied. “We didn’t even get many details about their preferences. There are three people though. Two men and one woman. I guess we’ll know who the boss is among them at a glance.”

“Always," she smiled, and we went ahead to take our positions just as two jet black vehicles pulled up. Two people exited the town car in front while behind yet another two exited the SUV with one of them going behind to pull the door open for the other.

“Ah,” Julianne sent me a look that made me smile. “The boss had been spotted.”

The weather was wonderful. It wasn’t too humid like it would have been in the middle of summer but was just perfectly mild and almost even cool as autumn approached.

I was in a great mood, but all of that soon came to a halt as the group of three started coming over. I couldn’t help the note a familiarity to the boss behind. That walk. No, it couldn’t be…

I watched intently; the professional smile plastered on my face slowly dissipating as they climbed up the short flight of steps. Thankfully I remained alert enough to greet the first two in front and introduce myself, but what a shock it was to feel the effect of the boss behind them on my entire being.

He was dressed casually, in a white dress shirt with the first two buttons undone and the sleeves rolled to his elbows.