Chapter 26 Chapter Twenty Six
CANDY’S POV
My morning alarm is one of the most annoying things to ever exist in my life, but I guess I still have to love it because it’s the only thing still keeping me in my new job that I stated just two weeks ago. And this job is important to me because, like I said, I’ve never been one for hand outs, I love to work for my own piece but it’s also the only thing keeping me sane in right now.
My dad had clammed up the moment I started asking questions at the hospital, telling me to stay out of his business and I’m learning to do just that by investing myself more in mine.
My job had come at the perfect time because it’s the only thing serious enough to keep me from going at him like a predator to prey. He’d gotten himself into this mess, put all of us at risk, the least he can do is be honest about it and look for the way forward.
Since he doesn’t want help, I hope the consequences of his actions swallow just him and him alone, not the whole family.
Our relationship have deteriorated more following my confrontation with him and ever since he’s been home after being discharged, I’ve noticed his preferred company for Peach.
That’s ironic, because that used to be me, glued to his side and doing everything for him and now, I’m standing on the other side of the rift, forced to watch them bond like there’s no one else in existence, not me, not mom.
Was this how Peach felt? Angry and frustrated? Nearly envious? At least she wasn’t burdened by the threat of impending doom then, sleeping with one eye open and waiting for someone to materialize from thin air to snuff the life out of the whole family because daddy dearest decided to stick his fingers in the wrong pie.
Sighing, I crawl off my bed, dragging my half asleep ass into the bathroom to start prepping.
I need to be out of here in the next hour or I’ll risk dealing with the hot tempered, cold hearted bastard I call my boss. If I wasn’t relishing the demanding aspect of this job, his attitude would have been my first reason I high tail it out of his company.
After brushing and taking a quick shower, I waltz back into my room to start dressing up. I’ve tried to always dress nice and professional, to look the part as Mr. Cunsulo’s personal assistant but even that seems to irk him. God, it’s like working for the devil himself.
Putting on my underwear, I pull my white, pin down, sleeveless top over it, pairing it with my belted, high waist cream pants. I finish off the look with my heels which don’t bother me now because my ankle is fully healed, my purse and jacket.
I put my hair in a high ponytail, touching my face up with very light, barely there make up. Staring in the mirror, I think I look good enough to face my day. It won’t matter what Mr. Cunsulo has to say, all that counts is that I know it and I believe it.
I take the subway to work, cursing every second of it because there’s always an adorable baby or two waiting on here to stain my cloth before I get off. Tony, the guy at Peach’s favorite auto repair shop is still working out something for me so I can get a good deal on a car but until then I’m stuck with this.
Thankfully, I make it to the office before my boss, a sigh of relief escaping me as I stand next to his table, staring at the empty chair behind it.
Sorting out his needs for the day, his documents, his schedule, his meetings, I carry myself quietly out of his office so he doesn’t catch me in it, going to mind my business in my own office just outside his.
As soon as I plant my ass on my seat, the elevator decides to so casually spit him out of nowhere, looking pissed as fuck from the jump.
“In my office, now.” He barks going into his office and expecting me to instantly follow.
Of course I do. Here we go.
“I missed a meeting with John De Luca yesterday, care to explain to me how the fuck that happened?” He asks and I discreetly roll my eyes. I should have known he’d do this today. He does this all the time, cause something and blame me for it.
“You asked that I cancel all your meeting from 12pm yesterday, sir. Mr. De Luca was scheduled for 4.”
He pauses, his jaws grinding down. “You should have specified that he was on my schedule for yesterday.”
“I tried to and you asked me to get the fu…… to get out of your office else I want to be applying for a new job elsewhere by the end of the day.”
He glares at me hard and without any other avenue to blame me, he asks me to get out. Just before I leave the office, I hear him warn, “Next time you roll your eyes at me Miss Kane, you really would be applying else where.”
Talk about the devil’s eyes, how did he see that.
“I’m sorry, sir.”
The rest of my day goes by in a flash between returning emails, fixing up tomorrow’s schedules, following him to and from meetings and running back and forth between his office and mine.
Everything fades next to this job and recently, even the heartache from Brent and Lindsay has started to dissipate. Surprisingly, I haven’t run into either of them since my return even though this is relatively a small town and that’s truly a blessing.
The only part of my past that have refused to fade Into the shadows of my job, is him.
My hot neighbor from the vacation.
I miss him. I miss the what we had and sometimes I find myself regretting my cowardice. Now I’m just a husk full of what ifs.
Recently, I’ve been plagued tirelessly by dreams of him, the memories of his deep kisses and soft touches getting me so horny I want to cry. It’s the one part of the past I visit every night before oblivion takes me and in the mornings before I face my day, enjoying it like a sweet, savory secret that’s mine alone to savor.
But in truth, it’s also the one part of my past I want to put to rest too, to shut down forever because there’s nothing left of it. It’s not like I’ll ever see him again, I have no way to contact him and even his name that I have is also borne by hundreds of thousands of people if not millions.
It’s a sweet dream I have to snap out of, I know.
My phone pings on my table where it lay forgotten as my finger hovered over my keyboard, my mind momentarily gone.
Snapping out of it, I snatch it up and stare down at my screen, lit with a text from Peach.
“Can we talk when you’re done from work? Maybe get dinner at your favorite place. I really need to talk about this with you and I don’t want to do it at home.”
Okay, what that the fuck is going on?